The Latest News: SLC & The Qur'an

Well, this blog is not something I've placed a lot of emphasis on thus far, but I thought I might as well throw some news on here. I had my last interview for my mission 2 Saturdays ago on April 11th and my papers are presumably in Salt Lake City right now. I'm super excited for my call, which I would expect in about 2-3 more weeks. Here's the picture I sent with it:

The next bit of news is very convenient because it has been keeping me distracted and is making this waiting period fly by. I met a beautiful young woman from Turkey. We've been talking regularly, but I think the coolest part is that she is Muslim. In addition to my study of Preach My Gospel and, currently, the Bible, I'm also reading the Qur'an and she is reading the Book of Mormon. It's really exciting for me; she's going to the branch in Istanbul this Sunday. I've been very impressed with the Qur'an so far, it really contains a lot of great truths. I believe, as many church authorities have expressed in the past, that Muhammed truly was an inspired man.

Now, invariably, everybody will ask where I want to go on my mission. First off, I'll say that this is probably the most annoying question anybody could ask. Secondly, I'd reply, "if you were going, where would you want to go?" Usually this solves the problem. Honestly, I feel 100% prepared to accept any calling the Lord throws at me. Whether it be Montreal, Oregon, Provo, or Tahiti. I know that people are waiting to hear the good news all over the world and that I am meant to share it with some of them. I love languages and I will be very excited if I am called to learn another one; but again, I'm prepared for an English mission. I also speak French and Portuguese and I'm currently studying Russian, so we'll see what happens.

P.S. I actually had a dream a few weeks ago that I got called to Vancouver Mandarin speaking. I don't know if it means anything, but regardless it has helped even more to prepare me for anything, including being called to my country.

In The News

I realize it's already been discussed in quite a bit of detail, but I'd just like to add my two cents to the mormon "vandalism" story. A quick search at Google News pulls up 144 articles on the event. I'm not sure why I wasted my time, but I did end up reading more than one of them.

"Photos posted on the Internet showed three Mormon missionaries mocking a Catholic shrine and holding the broken head of a statue of a saint there, a church official said." (San Luis, CO, USA)

I certainly acknowledge that it was offensive for those Elders to do the things they did and especially to post those pictures on a public photo sharing website. But I feel like some things may be exaggerated. Most of the articles I read mention that "Mormons" were accused of "vandalizing" a catholic shrine. I haven't read one article that says there's any evidence that the missionaries vandalized anything. One picture features a missionary with the head of a statue in his hand which wasn't even noticed as being broken until almost 2 years later. It seems to me if could have easily been broken before they took that photograph.I think it's really too bad this blew up into something so big. Especially when the same days there was news from the other side of the globe about members helping clean up in New Zealand. One missionary, Elder R. Thompson was sent home and apologized while the other two were already home and are apparently facing "church discipline." The sheriff's department from the town is also investigating the incident but I really don't see how they'll be able to find any evidence. It's really sad this had to happen and it's a blow to the church especially in that region where the missionaries have been pull for some time. I guess all we can do is keep on preachin'. Haha.

Miracles?

Sometimes things happen that just make a person wonder. Perhaps it's even happened to many of us personally. You hesitate just a split second as a car zooms past on the street your attempting to cross. Or perhaps you felt the urge to get a medical check-up and identified an issue that would have been fatal if not attended to immediately.

I suppose instances like these could be simply coincidences or subtle promptings from the Holy Ghost, but what about bigger things like a baby being thrown in a tornado and surviving with minimal injuries. I think one must ask at some point is there some divine intervention going on here? And do "miracles" really occur?

My inspiration for this post came from this article:
- Pregnant woman uses train toilet, baby slips out

Here I Am, Very Excited.

Alright, so this is a blog, and here I go. I have been inspired, firstly, by Elder Ballard's address given to the graduating students of BYU-Hawaii on December 15th, 2007. He urged the graduates to be witnesses of the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

"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. You can download videos from Church and other appropriate sites, including Newsroom at LDS.org, and send them to your friends. You can write to media sites on the Internet that report on the Church, and voice your views as to the accuracy of the reports."

I would like to take Elder Ballard's words and apply them to my own life in hopes that the countless hours I have been spending on the internet may be used to serve a glorious purpose. Secondly, I've been motivated by the significant influx of LDS websites, materials, and resources that have been appearing left, right, and centre all over the web during the past few months. It is amazing, exciting and exhilarating.

Members of all ages are testifying to the truthfulness of the Gospel everyday via internet. There is a real buzz about this and I think a big part of that is due to the fact that this is pretty easy and really anybody can do it.

I don't really know where to add this in, but for anybody reading this who may be confused by the subject or some of the terms used I'll add a little bit about myself here. I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Members of this church are commonly referred to as Mormons.

For this first blog post, I'd like to just point out some of the work I've taken note of that's being done online to move the work forward.

• Various video posts on YouTube including those of lds9999, SethAdamSmith, mormonstories, and even LDS Public Affairs.
• The More Good Foundation is making huge strides in making LDS material available online, including projects such as LDS.net, MormonWiki, LDSBlogs.com, and Mormon Testimonies, to name a few.
  
• The Book of Mormon Online features an extensive attempt by KC Kern to make the Book of Mormon more exciting and understandable.
• Liahona.net provides a significant amount of LDS music.
• Mormon.org is looking great after it's big makeover last year.

As I said, these are just a few, the work extends much further. Let us all gather together and stand strong for truth and righteousness. I need to cut it off here to go pick up my girlfriend, Roberta, at school.

Head up. pZ.