Comments about ‘LDS apostle's blog may be a first’

Outstanding!

Dear Elder Cook,

Thank you!

In light of Elder Ballard's enlightened encouragement coupled with Brother Gary Lawrence's challenging analysis, your example profoundly continues the pioneering "faith in every footsteps" legacy and persists the 3-decade-old clarrion call from President Spencer W. Kimball:

"So much depends on our willingness to make up our minds collectively and individually that present levels of performance are not acceptable either to ourselves or to the Lord. In saying that I am not calling for flashy, temporary differences in our performance levels, but a quiet resolve to do a better job, to lengthen our stride."

You and your brethren have set the standard and are quietly inviting the Latter-day Saints to join with your lengthy strides in this day and time.

As a token of our collective faith in sustaining you, our family is exploring how we, too, can use our electronic resources as we ponder D&C sections 4 and 123.

Dear Brethren, "we ever pray for thee."

I'll assume that Scott Trotter meant that he isn't sure whether this was the first time an apostle has communicated through a blog. Of course they've communicated through websites before! For instance, the full proceedings of every General Conference have been posted on the Church website for years, as are the First Presidency messages each month, and many more examples could be given.

The reasons the brethren don't usually participate in things like this is because the pedistal they are put on is so high, any hints of mortality might cause a crisis of faith and the whole "brethren will not lead you astray" dogma comes crashing down. It's easy to keep that allusion up by saying nothing new in general conference talks and articles for the Ensign that first pass through correllation.

Sterling I think the reason is more because, like my dad, they are old and blogging is unfamiliar territory. They didn't grow up with this type of communication. Much like when I use a home phone now it feels kind of funny. They'll be the first to tell you they make mistakes, but they handle those mistakes so much better than the majority of us.

can anyone pls explain how someone becomes "sustained as an apostle"? not being rude or condescending. and is apostle and prophet the same thing, or is there only one prophet at a time?

or direct me to a website that would explain it. thank you in advance.

charlie - go to mormon (dot) org, scroll to the bottom and click Frequently Asked Questions. Then scroll down and click Prophets (on the left hand side). There's some great explanations there about prophets and apostles, as well as other questions answered.

Charlie - The apostles and prophet is the same thing. There are 12 apostles in quorum of 12 and 3 in the first presidency making it 15 total. They are picked through fasting and prayer by the existing apostles and moved by the spirit on who the next apostle will be. Then during General Conference (during April and October), they are sustained by members of the church by the raising of right hand to show support and given the opportunity to oppose. You can find the basic information at mormon(dot)org.

The church is led by a president (who we also believe is a prophet) and two counselors. Right below that is the group of 12 apostles who are each in charge of some function of the church and also give sermons. The longest-serving apostle is next in line to be the president. When an apostle dies, the surviving apostles select a new one by unanimous vote.

None of these people are elected by the general church membership. But the church members are asked to raise their hand indicating whether they are in favor of the new apostle (sustain him) or object to the selection.

That way everything happens in the open and everyone has a chance to publicly "sustain" or object. Any objections are addressed privately to see if there are issues that might not have been known when the person was selected.

One more comment for Sterling - the apostles words are definitely held to high scrutiny, but your "infallibility" theory is just paranoia. There are always people either trying to criticize the apostles based on some comment, or to justify some action/sin they are doing by an apostle's comment.

High-profile positions, religious or non-religious, require people to be careful with what they say. And blogs posts are notorious for becoming viral if there is any hint of a controversy.

I think the headline of this article was misleading. A more accurate way to report this would be:

"LDS apostle's blog POST may be a first."

The article implies that an apostle created a blog, which would be much bigger news to me than him guest blogging on another blog. Either way, it was exciting, but the idea of an apostle blogging was very exciting.

Anyway, I love the post. I like that the leaders of our faith are trying new ways of communication. Great things are happening.

Re: sterling

The dogma crashing down is a good thing. I do think there is dogma, but it is not propagated by the leaders, it is propagated by the members of the faith. We would all be wise to know that the leaders are men who have fallacies (I am reading Harold B. Lee's biography and it definitely portrays a man with problems he struggled with) and it is good to know they can be apostles and have things they are working on. The New Testament clearly portrayed leaders who were still trying to master themselves. Being mortal and an apostle is congruent with the message of Christ.

The Apostles don't tell us anything new. Even in General Conference, you would be hard pressed to find something you haven't heard before. I think Apostles should refrain from posting on blogs. We got the message a long time ago, and if we didn't, repeating it a million times isn't going to do any good.

For "I M LDS 2"....

1st, with your negative attitude, I seriously doubt whether you really are LDS.

2nd, if you really do belong to the LDS church, with your negative attitude, you're LDS in name only.

3rd, are you saying "all is well in Zion"? I mean you're saying "we got the messag a long time ago". But, so many of us did not "get the message". That's the reason they keep going over the same gospel basics.

I welcome the words and teachings of the living Apostles any time, any place, in any type of forum, including blogs, because they are indeed the words of the Lord.

You're welcome.

I M LDS 2 - I would like to comment on your statement that the Apostles don't tell us anything new and General Conference doesn't tell us anything we haven't heard before. With the LDS church being one of the fastest growing religions in the world, the best way for new members to be taught is by repetition. Also, you may hear something in the Spring General Conference that sails past you, and the same statement made in the Fall General Conference is embedded in your soul because you were open to receiving it. And lastly, we are taught that our Apostles receive revelations from our Heavenly Father on an ongoing basis, We must always be attuned to what our Apostles say.

The Caravan Moves On
I don't know you but I have followed your comments as they appear and I can tell I like you.

I'M LDS 2
AS one of the apostles said at the conference priesthood meeting in Alberta. Once we have 100 % tithe payers each and every yr we will quit talking about it.
Are you living everything you hear perfectly? I'm not so I doubt you are.
We are being told how to make it to the Celestial Kingdom what more do you need or want to hear?
If you are a parent I suppose your children only every had to be told once and they had it right?














bedan

Someday, I hope to be able to say (truthfully) that I don't need to listen to general conference anymore because I have it all down pat. Unfortunately, that day appears to be a long way away for me which probably explains why I still get something of general conference.

I don't go looking for new doctrine (though I have to admit it was really nifty when Pres. Hinckley made that sly announcement about the small temples). What I do look for and get is a deeper understanding of the gospel, some better ways to apply the teachings of the Savior, and a bit more resolve to do my best.

I figure if Presidents of the Church can leave general conference resolving to do better, I probably can to.

HughCPA, I'm still laughing several hours after reading your comment. I've forwarded it on to several people who all agree--It's hilarious!

We appreciate all the good work you do. Put your shoulder to the wheel. Rise up and shine forth, good brother. We ever pray for you, too.

This is good news! How many institutions allow access to the very core of information, free of charge? This will allow those who are frustrated in their efforts to find out about Mormonism access to the pure undistorted truth about the mission of the Church, and its message of salvation for the world.