We Believe…

“That word conversation is important. There are conversations going on about the Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches. While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller.  But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time.

The challenge is that there are too many people participating in conversation about the Church for our Church personnel to converse with and respond to individually. We cannot answer every question, satisfy every inquiry, and respond to every inaccuracy that exists.  As I said at General Conference in October, we need to remember that there is a difference between interest and mere curiosity. Sometimes people just want to know what the Church is. And some who seek answers want them to come directly from a member of the Church, like each one of you.  They appreciate one-on-one conversations…

… May I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet, particularly the New Media, to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration.  Most of you already know that if you have access to the Internet you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true…

We are living in a world saturated with all kinds of voices. Perhaps now, more than ever, we have a major responsibility as Latter-day Saints to define ourselves, instead of letting others define us.  Far too many people have a poor understanding of the Church because most of the information they hear about us is from news media reports that are often driven by controversies. Too much attention to controversy has a negative impact on peoples’ perceptions of what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really is.” -Taken from the transcript of a speech by Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Using New Media to Support the Work of the Church,” given at Brigham Young University-Hawaii’s graduation ceremony on 15 December 2007. To read the whole transcript go to http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/using-new-media-to-support-the-work-of-the-church

 Hello!  I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as the Mormon church, and I know and have a firm testimony of all of its teachings.  I want to use this blog to share, discuss, and answer questions about basic principles and teachings of the Church.  I have wanted to create this blog for a long time now, and Elder Ballard’s talk finally gave me the motivation to do it.  If any other members of the Church would like to share an experience and/or their testimony of anything that is posted please feel free to do so. 

This is not an official blog of the church, but most of the information that is posted can be found on the church’s official websites, www.lds.org or www.mormon.org and their sister sites.  If you would like to know more or have any questions about the church, please feel free to visit those websites, comment, or email me at answers_to_questions@hotmail.com. If you disagree with anything that is posted on this site, please also feel free to email me, but know that I did not make this site to argue or debate, only to inform and discuss.