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Share faith, Elder Ballard urges LDS

My philosophy professor and I are enjoying a wonderful dialog as he now sees that what he's learned about us from others simply is not true. It's easy to share the truth!

And that's exactly what I am doing. I'm not afraid to stand up for my beliefs and I don't back down from them either. I have a very strong testimony and I will share it with all who want to listen.

Great talk by a great, humble leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I believe that it is important to share our beliefs, but only with those who really want to know what we belief.

Critics will always be out there to condemn the Church for what they believe to be true; i.e. readers' comments at deseretnew.com that the church was racially biased. What those people don't know is that there were black saints who crossed the plains with the Pioneers, & that Joseph Smith was anti-slavery and helped some families buy their relatives out of slavery. Also, there were hundreds of black Saints ready to be baptized long before missionaries were sent to Africa. They were eventually sent, and many were baptized before the revelation on the Priesthood in 1978. When the revelation came, the black saints were estatic, and other members were thankful that it was time. I remember where I was when it was announced that Pres. Kimball had extended the priesthood to all worthy males. He had prayed long because he was so concerned about the fact that it wasn't available to all men. Now it is, and I'm pleased.

I enjoy using the church conference videos, downloaded to my iPod with an external speaker, to share with my home teaching families, prospective members, and family members. I share a short, spirit-filled snippet and share my testimony of the spiritual construct explained by the general authority. (Romans 10:14) One must hear the word in order to feel the Spirit. The Lord provides us with these tools to forward his work. As we use them, additional tools will be provided. Just one more way we can be instruments in his hands.

The first question is Why is half of Utah Non Mormon, so lets go blogging to get more? But next questions is how long can they hold their tongues when people start talking bad about them. Are they above it or are they going to fall it to the trap and not response respectfully?

I am glad to see these positive comments from Elder Ballard. I do know that about 3 or 4 years ago the LDS Church was encouraging bloggers to close down their sites and defer to the Church in explaining it's beliefs. Unfortunatley, the bloggosphere is too large and unwieldy for there to be one source for information. And double unfortunately, many in the bloggosphere consider information from the prime source to be suspect. There are a lot of good blogs and information sites asking hard questions and giving intelligent responses.

What a great day in which to live. The opportunities for us as members of this amazing world religion to share our story of the Restoration are growing. We have a responsibility to rise up and open our mouths. Rip off the camouflage. Tear down the walls of superstition and ignorance and prejudice. This is how the Church mission is accomplished, by common ordinary members like me standing up and doing more good and telling others how it has blessed our lives. I am 100% behind Elder Ballard's statement, because it has brought me peace, hope, love, compassion, more caring and generally made me a better person. I am closer to my Savior and to my neighbor. So many would flock to this Church if their phobias and fears were dissipated by us, those they meet, those they live among, and those with vocal cords and/or a keyboard. That is why the prejudice, because without it they would be flocking in droves. Satan knows that. The opportunity is ours. Seize the day.

As an East Coast Mormon, I've grown used to the snickers and hostility shown to members of the Church here. No one else at work has more than two kids. You're the only one in the office not going out for drinks after work. Some families in the neighborhood won't let their kids play with your kids. All of the children's sports teams have Sunday games.

Many people are curious about our lifestyle, and most have issues with our beliefs. We're seen as racist, sexist, homophobic, and naive. A few people have been interested enough to attend a church function, I have not had any of them join our church.

We do our part to be good examples for others, and help people understand us better. We live and let live, and don't judge others because they don't share our beliefs or lifestyle. We find common ground where we can, and realize that there is some good in everyone we meet.

Thank you, Elder Ballard! 'have to get back to my blog.

Although I am a non-Mormon, as an African American I see common threads from the key points in this article that can be used to change what others believe about your religion.

African Americans try to educate and enlighten the media to replace "negative perceptions" and beliefs about our people.

The media continues to present too many stereotypes and one-sided stories designed to foster prejudice and bigotry against African Americans. Therefore, our people realize that we must always be prepared to assertively rather than passively enlighten others and replace wrongful conclusions with truths.

Just as the article states that the media promotes bias and prejudice about LDS peoples beliefs, so to have African-Americans been subjected to negative portrayals and media stereotypes.

Too often these sterotypes and biased conclusions were institutionalized and unfortunately fostered wrongful conclusions about an entire race and our ancestors were terrorized and treated as second class citizens.

Knowledge of the truth is the beginning of wisdom.

Many of today's graduates should not only defend their faith but they can also be examples of those who practice dignity and respect toward persons of a different ethnicity and skin color.

Share, yes, but don't cram it down our throats, and saying its the only true religion.

Perhaps all LDS who comment on these and other LDS-related articles should state the facts as they know them and not resort to name calling. On another Desnews story many LDS told a lady who complained about mormons in Orem to just leave Utah. I think those are the comments Elder Ballard wishes us to avoid. Sometimes the passive approach of stating what you know to be true and leaving the situation is the best approach. That's what missionaries should do rather than "bash."

All you can do is set a good example, be prepared with pass along cards and have a Book of Mormon with you. Be loving and kind and someone will eventually be impressed enough to take a look into your faith. I am going to make a consious effort to tone down my arguing side.

Dear James, simply by saying that we believe this to be the only true church on the earth, is not cramming it down your throat, is it? I mean, yes, some members may not say it with humility, and I hate that, but just to say that we believe it is the true, restored Church of Christ on the earth is not to cram it down your throat. I hope that's not how you feel.

This is fine, but not without risk. So much of what I see on the blogs from church members comes from the lunatic fringe on the far right and is unbalanced and mean-spirited, if not outright incorrect. It portrays us as intolerant and unkind. Much of it only reinforces the negative image that others have of us. Non-members are told to get out of Utah if they don't like the way we treat them.

I hope that they do not see this as the go ahead to vent their disdain for those who are not LDS. I hope that those who blog will be able to keep things positive and not embarrass the rest of us who respect and love our friends and neighbors who have chosen a different way to worship or have chosen not to worship at all.

I think it is a great idea for members of the church to share their beliefs and views on the blogs. What I'm wondering though is why at this time when the church is in the spotlight the church is not putting forth a major television and ad campaign responding to the lies that are being put out there. It seems like now would be the ideal time to get the attention of quite a few individuals.

I think the Church is making this request of its members because it feels it has no other choice.

But if you genuinely want to engage (not bash) someone in a discusion regarding legitimate (not anti) concerns then you need to become fairly educated around BOTH sides of a question. And that will be very eye-opening and potentially damaging to testimonies.

Let's take one example:

A wealth of information exists suggesting that Joseph Smith did not accurately translate the egyptian papyra into the Book of Abraham. One can make very honest, reasoned, educated arguments highlighting many problems with the BofA translation. One does not have to be "anti" to have questions around this subject. However, the problem is that a heartfelt testimony providing details of many wonderful experiences gained through the Church will not address the honest, legitimate questions one might have about the BofA.

This has the potential of exposing many members to honest issues that could create more questions than answers. A simple testimony, while powerful, does not answer many sincere, honest questions. Perhaps the positive thing about this is that this may begin an era in which the Church will eventually have to honestly answer certain questions.

An example in follow-up to my "Danger" post:

I personally have long been perplexed by the Necene Creed - it's origin, seeming lack of biblical support, and questions as to how Christians can honestly support it. My question around this is not with an anti-Christian spirit. Therefore, if a fellow Christian were willing to discuss this with me in person or over the internet - a testimony of his or her belief in Christianity and the Nicene Creed and examples of how his or her Christian lifestyle blessed their life would NOT help answer my honest questions. I may appreciate their sincerety but I would continue to look elsewhere for answers to my questions.

How is this different from what Elder Ballard is asking members to do? Many will simply go away with unanswered questions, a sense that members either can't or don't want to actually answer their questions. And the likely result is that members will often obtain a few nagging questions of their own from the exchange.

The Church KNOWS what issues are generally out there. The Church refuses to answer them instead leaving it to apologists and now rank and file members!!
This will not help.

Mormons did not break away from Protestants.
Members and member missionaries have been spreading the word since the early days of the church. This isn't a new request. If you want to know, ask a member or one of the 60,000 at their own expense missionaries.

Elder Ballard's advice to share accurate representations of our faith reminds me of this statement: "It is our duty to concentrate all our influence to make popular that which is sound and good, and unpopular that which is unsound." -- Joseph Smith

That which is "sound" is based upon principles. It involves searching reliable, primary sources and the ability to withhold judgment until all pertinent facts are gathered in...and in context. This requires patience and is not easily had in a knee-jerk, armchair quarterback world. Churchill allegedly said that � a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.�

That which is "unsound" is based upon bigotry, lies, and distortions. This results in the ful, fiery invective as displayed by msnbc's Lawrence O'Donnell last week against the LDS Church.

May we do our homework.