Three weeks ago, some 600 young single adults converged on Boston for the LDS Education Conference. Missionary work was the theme. The speakers were David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue Airways; Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School; and Elder M. Russell Ballard.

Brother Neeleman spoke about sharing the Gospel on the Internet and the More Good Foundation. (Disclosure: I previously worked there.) Elder Christensen taught several great principles for sharing the Gospel in person. Elder Ballard called David and Clayton some of the best member missionaries in the Church.

The day included a “science fair” for missionary ideas. Each table of 10 people brainstormed ways to better share the Gospel and then created a presentation using large notepads and colored markers. During the “fair”, we circulated among the presentations, voting for our favorites with paper tickets.

Here were some of my favorites:

• WhyIBelieve.org (hypothetical) — Give each Church member a page and unique address for posting a testimony and photo. Offer easy-to-use templates. (More Good Foundation operates a similar website at mormonsbelieve.org.)
• AskaMormon.com (hypothetical) — Visitors pose questions to everyday members. (They can already pose questions to missionaries at Mormon.org.)
• Custom pass-along cards — Members pick their own picture, message, language, and size (wallet size or larger). Available for physical printing, or as a blog widget. The card could link to a specific testimony page, e.g. www.mormon.org/john-doe instead of www.mormon.org.

• Facebook app — Indicate that you’re a Mormon on your Facebook profile page. Post your testimony. Allow friends to ask questions anonymously and read your previous answers. (More Good has a similar Facebook app called The LDS App.)

• iPhone app — Basic beliefs, “find a Mormon”, meetinghouse locations, events, and videos all on your iPhone.

• Sacrament meeting agenda on LDS.org — Allow visitors to see upcoming sacrament meeting schedules in their area and bios of the speakers. For example: “Next Sunday, Sarah Smith, a sophomore at Palo Verde High school, will speak about faith in Jesus Christ. She’ll be followed by Tom Jones, an orthopedic surgeon in the area, who will speak about forgiveness. The meeting begins at 11:00 at 9011 Hillpointe Road.”

• Ward blogger — Who will keep the sacrament meeting schedules on LDS.org up-to-date? The ward Media Missionary Correlator, of course. Each ward will call its own specialist to manage their portion of LDS.org and do online testimony drives.

• Gospel sharing at work — How can you better share the Gospel at work? Post quotes on your cubicle or a picture of the Savior as your desktop wallpaper. If someone asks what you did over the weekend, don’t shy away from where you were on Sunday for 3 hours.

• Mormon.org email addresses — Give each Church member his/her own mormon.org e-mail address (e.g. john_doe@mormon.org) to drive interest in Mormon.org. The footer of each transmitted email could optionally include quotes or scripture citations.

• The Mormon Challenge — Challenge people to walk in a Mormon’s shoes for 14 or 30 days. (One group suggested 14 days, another suggested 30.) Try living the law of chastity and Word of Wisdom. Can you do it? (Reality TV show?)

• Give away Mormon Tabernacle Choir music, and other beautiful music, for free. Invite the Spirit through music.

• Several groups emphasized the need for training programs to teach members about social media.

• Likely due to Elder Christensen’s comments on service, several groups suggested websites for coordinating community service projects with members of other faiths.

• A few other ideas:

You can watch David Neeleman’s talk here:

David Neeleman 2009 LDS Education Conference

Clayton Christensen’s talk here:

Clayton Christensen 2009 LDS Education Conference

And watch presentations from the top ten groups here:

Team Presentations at the 2009 LDS Education Conference

Read more about this conference in the Church News.

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If you’re going to be in the DC area this Christmas or have friends who will be, check out the Festival of Lights. Click on one of the share buttons on the web page to invite your friends or link to it from your blogs!

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The 64 videos on the Mormon Messages site have been viewed more than 6 million times!

Below is a list of the most popular videos at MormonMessages, along with the number of times the videos have been viewed, as of 10/7/09:

• An Apostle’s Easter Thoughts on Christ: 568,095
• Why Mormons Build Temples 455,492
• What Matters Most 311,322
• Finding Hope 281,410
• Dieter F. Uchtdorf – Create 272,943
• Gordon Hinckley – Lessons I Learned as a Boy 212,796
• You’re Never Alone 212,796
• The Blessings of the Temple 212,796
• The Women in Our Lives 189,839
• Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time 188,238

Most of the videos are in English, but some have been posted in other languages. I’ve enjoyed reading the many comments that have been posted about the videos, both from members and nonmembers. This is a great way to share gospel messages with your friends!

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See the new site at bookofmormonwitness.com created by Connor Boyack in response to Elder Holland’s testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Declare your witness of the Book of Mormon to the world!

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In a major address to BYU-Idaho students yesterday, Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke on the importance of preserving the religious freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution. 

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Have you read the article “Finding and Sharing the Gospel Online” by Michelle Stocking in the October Ensign magazine? It gives several great ideas about how you can create a blog to share the gospel.

At the end of the article, on page 27, see “Better Blogging: Tips for Safety and Courtesy.”

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From Deseret News, August 14, 2009

Stop being defensive about your religion.

That’s the message Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve delivered to 2,422 BYU graduates at the Marriott Center Thursday during commencement exercises for the Class of June 2009 and August 2009.

Ballard recounted the early struggles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns the university, and a resulting sense that church members need to adopt a defensive posture. Things have changed, he said.

“This isn’t 1830, and there aren’t just six of us anymore,” the Mormon apostle said. “Constantly anticipating criticisms or objections can lead to an unhealthy self-consciousness and a defensive posture that doesn’t resonate well with others. It is inconsistent with where we are today as a church and as a great body of followers of Jesus Christ.”

 He said the church’s rapid growth has given the religion, now the fourth largest in the United States, a higher profile than ever, and that church members would find themselves in more discussions about their beliefs than in the past.

“You need to be honest, open, forthright, engaging, respectful of others’ views and completely non-defensive about your own,” Ballard said. “If we want to be respected today for who we are, then we need to act confidently – secure in the knowledge of who we are and what we stand for, and not as if we have to apologize for our beliefs.

“That doesn’t mean we should be arrogant or overbearing,” he said.

Ballard offered two suggestions to remaining non-defensive in conversations.

“Don’t let irrelevant issues drown out the more important subjects,” he said, mentioning polygamy as a specific example.

“This ended in the church as an official practice in 1890. It’s now 2009. Why are we still talking about it?” he asked.

His second suggestion: “Emphasize that Latter-day Saints follow Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ teaches.”

“Whenever you are having a conversation about the church, you should try to make this a point. We follow Jesus Christ. We try to live as he taught,” Ballard said. “That’s the basis of our faith and our lives. This is the strongest non-defensive position you can take.”

Refer to our previous blogs about advice Elder Ballard has given on how to use modern technology in sharing the gospel.

See news report in the Church’s Newsroom

Read full text of Elder Ballard’s address

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The July 2008 issue of the Ensign magazine included an article by Elder M. Russell Ballard titled “Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet.”

Many people have asked to get translated copies of this article in other languages. Here’s where you can access them:

• Elder Ballard’s article in Cambodian
• Elder Ballard’s article in Cebuano
• Elder Ballard’s article in Danish
• Elder Ballard’s article in Dutch
• Elder Ballard’s article in English
• Elder Ballard’s article in Finnish
• Elder Ballard’s article in French 
• Elder Ballard’s article in German
• Elder Ballard’s article in Italian
• Elder Ballard’s article in Mongolian
• Elder Ballard’s article in Norwegian
• Elder Ballard’s article in Portuguese
• Elder Ballard’s article in Russian
• Elder Ballard’s article in Samoan
• Elder Ballard’s article in Spanish
• Elder Ballard’s article in Swedish
• Elder Ballard’s article in Tagalog
• Elder Ballard’s article in Tongan
• Elder Ballard’s article in Ukrainian

After reading the article, you may want to consider ways you can share the gospel online.

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The More Good Foundation has just offered a new way to help members of the Church share their voice online and have a positive impact on the content that honest seekers find when they google information about Mormons.

The foundation is offering you the chance to “adopt” one of their existing Web sites in an area that you might have an interest. Learn more at siteadopt.org. For example, if you have a great interest in single adult life, Mormon youth activities, German food, the Frankfurt Germany mission, the arts, or student life, the More Good Foundation is willing to create a Web site around those themes and let you manage it to share your thoughts, photos, videos, and posts about that topic.

The fact that you are a Mormon doing this means that people who visit the site will automatically learn more about who we are as a people, our diversity, and our varied interests. This can often lead to further interest in our faith and serves in a significant, yet simple way to dispel misperceptions that are otherwise prevalent on the Internet and in the media about us. You can share your interests online and be an influence for good.

If you decide to adopt a site, the foundation will design and host the site and then train you how to upload content, photos, videos, and posts. It can be an individual or group project. All you need to know is how to type and have an interest in a particular topic that you would like to share online as a Mormon in a positive, non-preachy way.

If you are interested, please contact Karen at the More Good Foundation at adopt@moregoodfoundation.org.

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The PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life just released a study titled A Portrait of Mormons in the U.S. which has some very interesting facts about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (”Mormons”).

Key findings:

• Mormons make up 1.7% of the American adult population, a proportion that is comparable in size to the U.S. Jewish population.
• The Mormon population in the U.S. is heavily concentrated in the West (76%). In fact, roughly one-third of all American Mormons (35%) live in Utah, the state founded by its early leaders. An additional 13% live in California while 7% reside in Idaho, 5% in Nevada and 4% each in Oregon and Arizona.
• Mormons make up 58% of Utah’s population.
• As a group, Mormons are among the most devout and conservative religious people in the country.
• Mormons tend to be slightly younger than the general population. Two-thirds (66%) are under age 50, compared with 59% of the public as a whole.
• A majority of Mormons are women (56%), although women make up more than half of other major Christian traditions as well.
• Nearly three-quarters of Mormons (71%) are married, compared with 54% among the general population.
• Mormons (83%) and Hindus (90%) are the most likely of all the major religious traditions to be married to someone of the same faith.
• Nearly nine-in-ten Mormons in the U.S. (86%) are white, compared with 71% of the general population. Just 3% of US Mormons are African-American and 7% are Latino.
• Mormons are significantly more likely than the population overall to have some college education. 61% have at least some college education, compared with half of the overall population. However, the proportion of Mormons who graduate from college (18%) or receive postgraduate education (10%) is similar to the population as a whole (16% and 11%, respectively).
• US converts to the Church tend to be older than lifelong Mormons. 48% are over age 50, compared with 29% lifelong members. Converts also tend to be less educated than nonconverts (16% did not graduate from high school, compared with just 6% of lifelong members) and they earn decidedly lower incomes (40% make less than $30,000 a year, compared with 21% among nonconverts).
• US converts are more likely than lifelong members to come from minority racial and ethnic groups. One-in-ten converts to Mormonism are black. An additional one-in-ten are Hispanic. Just 72% are white; by contrast, 91% of lifelong Mormons are white.
• Converts also are less likely than lifelong members to be married (64% vs. 74%)
• Mormons are remarkably observant in their religious practices, with three-quarters attending church and reading Scripture outside of services at least once a week and more than eight-in-ten praying daily.

A better understanding of ourselves and how others view us can help as we share the gospel with others.

Read more details from the PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life about demographics, Religious Beliefs and Practices, and Social and Political Views.

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