Don't Get Caught!!!

As much as I love fly fishing, I've never been good at it. Thus, I probably wouldn't be good at the Devil's job either. What really matters is the job we've got head of us as we try to avoid the devil's lures....

Fantastic Blog Badges!

This morning after studying in Ezra which was a great example of how important temples should be to us.  The Book of Ezra in the Old Testament accounts how the Jews returned to their homeland to rebuild the temple to the Lord that had previously been destroyed.

And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, [Ezra 6:16]

In response, I felt like displaying how important the temple is to me and my family in some way on my blog to celebrate a bit.  I admit, going there myself and walking the grounds or serving inside is a better way to show my gratitude for the temple, but I won't be able to go to see the temple at least until Sunday afternoon.  I looked online for a picture of one of my favorite temples and found a great blog with a ton of temple blog badges ready made to put on a blog.  I know it's called "One Cute Blog Blinkies" and that a lot of the badges are just too cutesy for me, but I still found some that were sufficiently manly.  :D
The Washington DC temple has always stood out to me as one of the most beautiful.  I chose it to show on my blog today, and also found a great badge with a quote by President Gordon B Hinckley about books.  See if there's a badge you'd like, especially about the temple.

The missionary social media experiment on the Bloggernacle | Mormon Times

To our surprise today, Missionary Media was featured on 'the Bloggernacle' of Mormon Times:

And did you know that there is a new community blog that features 20 current contributing missionaries? Wow! It’s called Missionary Media: A new way to display the gospel and features online testimonies from these missionaries, essays, video features, links to other missionary resources and one of my favorite features: some Prezi powerpoint interactive slideshow creations that simply explain such gospel topics as “The Plan of Happiness” and “The Gospel of Jesus Christ” and more! I’d love to see more blogs that utilize missionaries in this collaborative and creative way! 

We're glad to hear such high praise of our handiwork and for the help in spreading the word about these resources.   I hope you'll check out that full article if you haven't seen it already, and take a look at the missionary Prezis that we've made or navigate to the missionaries' blogs to get to know us more personally.  Please share them with friends, family, or use them in a lesson or ward activity if you've got the setup.

In Others' Words: Absolutely Essential

In Others' Words: Absolutely Essential:

I apologize for the last post. I'm simplifying. I will return to the real purpose of this blog and minimize my own commentary (soap-boxing) on the quotes I provide. I can't really say it any better anyway.

I am reprimanded by the words of a favorite author of mine, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In his book The Little Prince, the title character so truly teaches (as I have now illustrated):

"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."

Saint-Exupéry was a French pilot during WWII. In spite of his involvement on behalf of his country, he despised war and viewed life with the eye of a poet. He wrote much concerning charity, which the prophet Mormon defines as "the pure love of Christ."

The insights of Saint-Exupéry are simple but profound. For fear of saying anything to detract from their greatness, I will refrain from comment, but merely place quotes in a pleasant order.


"Charity never humiliated him who profited from it, nor ever bound him by the chains of gratitude, since it was not to him but to God that the gift was made."

-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"If a man say, 'I love God,' and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also."

1 John 4:20-21

"For true love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow."

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"Love does not cause suffering; what causes it is the sense of ownership, which is love's opposite."

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Let go. Let God. Without charity, life is meaningless. With it, life is given energy and purpose. In it's pure unadulterated form, Love is the greatest thing in the world and the greatest absolute essential.

As a summation of his philosophy, we can take these words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry to heart.

"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye."

By Elder Thatcher

See his blog at http://inothers-words.blogspot.com/

Who are these missionaries?

Watch to learn a bit about these Mormon Missionaries.  There's a fun surprise at the end.

"Make Your Own Mormon Message"

The call for members to share the gospel on the internet by creating their own videos that explain our beliefs has been brought to a higher level.  Most members have seen the variety of entertaining Mormon Messages that have been produced through official media. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is calling out to members to create their own Mormon Messages and post them on YouTube.  As an additional incentive, the Church has started an international video contest that will pick finalists and award prizes to the members with the best videos.  The Church looking for submissions from individual members, auxiliary groups, or whole wards and branches.
Here is a great example by the Palmhurst Ward in the Las Vegas Nevada Sandstone Stake.

We shouldn't be worried if we feel our videos are amateur or we don't feel that they are the same production quality as the official Mormon Messages.  There's actually and amateur category.  I know mine will fall in it.  "The power of personal" is exactly what we're looking for and the Mormon Messages should reflect who we are.  That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to keep them from being sloppy either.
For mine, I've started working on a message about what my parents have taught me about the resurrection.
Also, the Church has given specific guidelines for using approved music and use of copyrighted materials.
Before you begin, I'd recommend looking through the Church's existing Mormon Messages and videos already posted on YouTube for ideas.  You'll also want to become familiar with the guidelines the Church's audiovisual department has given to be eligible.  If you have an idea that does not meet these requirements you can still make it to share if it doesn't break any copyright laws.

It doesn't take much equipment to get started either.  If you have a digital camera or webcam, most have a record feature or you can make a slideshow of still photos.  There's lots of free software out there like  Windows Movie Maker or One True Media that you can use to sharpen it up, add simple effects, and make it more professional.

When you're all finished with your Mormon Message, you'll need to post it publicly on YouTube and fill out the Entry Form to submit your video for the contest.  Be sure to invite everyone to see it.
Let's see what we can make!

Attending Church

Interested in checking out a Mormon Church meeting for the first time and don't know what to expect?
...or are you bringing a friend to church and want to get them ready?


This video by Mormons Made Simple will show them exactly what to expect.  It's sure to get you really excited to go tomorrow too.

O, That I Were an Angel!: Publishing Media as a Missionary

Gideon Burton, an English professor at BYU, who has been acting as a mentor to missionaries who work online, inspired me to create this new blog for posting media created by full-time missionaries and member missionaries working to share the message.

On Tuesday, August 10, 2010 he posted O, That I Were an Angel!: Publishing Media as a Missionary. He challenged missionaries to use and create personal media for their teaching. Since then missionaries serving online has responded by creating a variety of videos and presentations for explaining our beliefs in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.