The Best Thing You Can Do To Help Mormons on YouTube.com

[Moksha]

Originally Posted by LifeOnaPlate

Greetings, Kevin Graham, aka dartagnan, aka AlexanderX.

Sort of a homecoming week with GoodK too, eh?

[Hemidakota]

Originally Posted by justamere10

Apparently you are a fan of Dr. David Stewart. I have an email on file from him in which he says he's an active faithful member of the LDS Church, if I remember it correctly.

I do think that David is right about people who are rushed into baptism being excellent candidates for early inactivity. Some converts never learn even the basics of the Gospel beyond what the missionaries teach them. I personally read everything LDS I could get my hands on for years after my baptism. That was 40 years ago and I'm still learning. But I think what I did is rare.

Every mission president has their own style of leadership and I think many of them push for numbers of baptisms rather than quality of preinstruction. The missionaries then dump the brand new members on branches and wards thinking that it's the bishop or branch president's responsibility then, and I guess it is.

I served a senior foreign mission and was a little taken back when the branch president told me in response to my first announcement that there would be baptisms coming up the next week: "More hungry mouths to feed".

But after being there for a while I began to see things more his way as people were rushed into baptism by the missionaries who were pressured by their mission president. All too often those new members just as quickly dropped away leaving huge burdens of responsibility and often guilt upon the active members who felt it was their fault because they hadn't fellowshiped or home or visit taught well enough.

But I'm sure the Brethren are aware and doing everything they can to help new members and reactivate those who never really knew the Gospel. It's a sifting process, many are called but few are chosen.

Once while on my mission I was at a members home with quite a few other members. I asked them what their reaction was to the missionaries on the street. Every single one of them said they tried to hide when they saw the missionaries approaching! Each of them said they only joined the Church because another member had invited them to a Sunday meeting and while they were there the Spirit had moved upon them.

But of course the full-time missionaries are doing a wonderful job and enormous numbers of good people come into the Church each year because of their work and sacrifice.

I think the responsibility of the newly emerging "Cyber Missionaries" is to help move sincere truth seekers to the official websites, especially Mormon.org. When they get there away from the cybertumult the Spirit can reach and teach them in the same way those members told me happened for them in the real world.

It's a great time to be alive...

Not just Cyber Missionaries but may include Cyber Seventies.

[justamere10]

Originally Posted by Hemidakota

Not just Cyber Missionaries but may include Cyber Seventies.

It is my hope that every active Latter-day Saint who spends time on the internet will at least tithe a tenth of the time for Cyber Missionary work.

A whole lot of damage has already been done by the anti-Mormon publishing industry and it's going to take a whole lot of members anxiously engaged in a good cause to reverse that, or at least to provide an alternative choice for truth seekers.

It's interesting how the Spirit leads us in this virtual world, as He does in the physical one. One of the smaller boards where I started an "Ask a Mormon" thread was responded to by at least two people who are inactive LDS. We never know for sure when there are so many lurkers just who and what is waiting on the other side of the 'door'.

It's a great time to be alive, the Spirit is so evident in this virtual world when we get really involved in the Cyber Missionary work that I sometimes think it must be somewhat similar to what happened as the pioneers wended their dangerous way to Utah.

I feel that my entire life has been preparation for this virtual work that Elder Ballard has invited us to engage in. Perhaps many others feel the same way...

http://www.ldscybermissionaries.org

[Tough Grits]

Our Church is worldwide.

We have members all over the globe.

Our Church has records on each member, whether they are active or not.

There are very few churches in the world today that can say the same.

However, ALL churches have inactive members.

But because these individual churches (except maybe for the Catholic church) are not united, and do not share information on one collective database, then how would it be possible to know with EXACTNESS how many baptized Christians there are in the world vs. how many inactive Christians there are in the world?

Though such figures might be slightly interesting, they will not really provide my spirit with anything essential.

So, my question is this...if it does not really matter to my progression for me to know how many active/inactive Christians there are in the world, then why should it matter to anybody else how many active/inactive LDS there are?

There is just way too much distracting us from truly important matters.

The truthfulness of my faith does not depend on how many active/inactive members there are in the world.

As with Truegrits, even if I was the only one...I would still believe. At one time Adam and Eve were the only believers on this earth. At one time Noah and his family were the only believers on this earth.

So? The gospel did not die. Even before the gospel was restored to the Earth, God still existed and the gospel was still true. Truth does not vanish or cease to exist merely because there are no followers or believers.

2 + 2 = 4 will always be a true statement...even if every one of us rebelled and chose not to believe it any more.

[MichaelPAGuy]

Does the church keep records on those that have resigned?

[justamere10]

Originally Posted by MichaelPAGuy

Does the church keep records on those that have resigned?

I'm not sure what you mean by "resigned". I know it is possible for a member to request in writing that their name be removed from the records of the Church, and that be done.

I had such a request from a young man while serving in a branch presidency as a senior missionary. My wife asked him if he was ready to give up his priesthood. He thought about that and came to the next three or four sacrament meetings. He'd sit there with a beatific smile on his face obviously experiencing warm fuzzies. But I think they were more emotion than spiritual. He was soon gone from activity again and out of touch. But I think he's still a member of record...

Another route to having one's name removed from the membership records of the Church is to be excommunicated. I see excommunication as an act of love, care, and concern. Symbolically it let's the person know he or she has sinned grievously and for that has been cast out of the presence of God.

There is always a way home, but it always includes forsaking serious sins, so it is not the most well trod of pathways to baptism and membership in the Lord's Church.


Much better to enter in at the strait gate then endure to the end in righteousness...

[Hemidakota]

Originally Posted by MichaelPAGuy

Does the church keep records on those that have resigned?

Name removal? Yes..there is a file for them. But why? ...as Justmere10 asked.

[justamere10]

Originally Posted by Hemidakota

Not just Cyber Missionaries but may include Cyber Seventies.

I was a Seventy in the days when there were stake Seventies.

Funny thing about being a stake Seventy is everytime I was away from home and attending meetings in an unfamiliar ward I'd always know where to find the Seventies class during Priesthood meeting. I'd head straight to the kitchen! :-)

Is your thinking about "Cyber Seventies" that they would be a revised version of the stake Seventies and not GA's other than perhaps their leader?

[Hemidakota]

No. It should be included as another Quorum of the Seventies [6th Quorum] and fall under one of the Seventy Presidents to ensure that the basic gospel doctrines is taught. Any blogsite that falls under this premise should be maintained by the Church, with one or more Seventy at its head as a senior moderator.

As you stated, we live in an age of sharing the Gospel of Christ to the ends of the earth within minutes. To those lands that have closed doors to the church. We live in a time of greatness and filled with talented members of church.

[justamere10]

Originally Posted by Hemidakota

No. It should be included as another Quorum of the Seventies [6th Quorum] and fall under one of the Seventy Presidents to ensure that the basic gospel doctrines is taught. Any blogsite that falls under this premise should be maintained by the Church, with one or more Seventy at its head as a senior moderator.

As you stated, we live in an age of sharing the Gospel of Christ to the ends of the earth within minutes. To those lands that have closed doors to the church. We live in a time of greatness and filled with talented members of church.

It's a great hope, I'd love to see it materialize. But cyberspace is an enormous place and the Church has millions of volunteers available, most with the Holy Ghost as their constant companion and guide.

Is it your thinking that each of those GA Seventies would lead perhaps hundreds or thousands of members (in different languages) to leverage what they can do by themselves?

We already have official LDS websites, but many of the people LDS Cyber Missionaries are looking for won't even click on an LDS site. So it's largely a matter of going to them (knocking on cyberdoors) rather than expecting them to come to us.

In my own mind I sometimes liken Cyber Missionary work to the missionary work that may take place in the spirit worlds since the Savior bridged the gap between them. I picture missionaries from Paradise crossing the bridge headed to some dark corner of the spirit prison to proclaim saving truths.

After some time laboring in that dark place they are granted R&R and head back across the bridge to the Garden for some times of refreshing.

That's why I created a "Garden" on the LDS Cyber Missionary board...