LDS Media Talk

The LDS Church magazines are begining to post galleries of images to enhance articles in the Liahona, Ensign, New Era, and the Friend.

• The New Era has posted a gallery of photos from the article “From Generation to Generation“ in the September issue. The article centers on two teenage members of a family in Guatemala. They tell the story of a hard-working family trying to pass along important life skills to the next generation.
• The Friend’s Web site has posted a slideshow of “Our Creative Friends” drawings from the September issue.
• You can always find the gallery of Mormonads from the New Era organized by topic.
• And the Friend coloring pages are also online by topic.

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The Church’s Ensign magazine has just posted on online survey to gather information to help make the Ensign even better. Please take a moment to take the survey.

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The Ensign magazine is including more articles for young single adults. The August 2008 issue contains a mini-package of articles for unmarried Church members who are between 18 and 30.  Learn more about this issue at Mormon Magz.

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Check out the Mormon Magz blog to learn more about the magazines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The purpose of Mormon Magzs is to encourage people to read the magazines by helping them see how the Church magazines are fulfilling their mission to “help individuals and families stay closer to the Lord” and “help build…testimony and offer aid in coping with the problems of the world.”

Mormon Magz is not an official blog of the Church. Its founder began the blog to help “counter some of the misperceptions about the magazines among those in the online chattering class who seem to seldom actually read them. As the First Presidency promised in 1971, the magazines ‘can be a great influence for good if you will read [them]‘ (emphasis added).”

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The July 2008 issue of the Ensign is now online. (Remember, you can view the full magazine layout in PDF format by clicking “View” on the format bar.)

This is the special issue that David Frischknecht recently blogged about. Find out how to join the online conversation about the Church by reading Elder M. Russell Ballard’s advice on “Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet.”

After reading the article, you may want to consider the following ways to share the gospel online:

1. Blog what you’ve learned and how you know. Start a blog, then write what you learn in Church or in your scripture study, or explain how living the Gospel has blessed your life.
2. Post your testimony online. Write your testimony or conversion story then post it on a personal blog, Web site, or one of the many LDS-oriented sites. Then do it again in your mission language.
3. Comment on existing blogs. Well-known blogs on religious topics, such as the On Faith blog at newsweek.washingtonpost.com are great places to share your beliefs because people of many faiths participate there.
4. Post a video on a video sharing Web site. Join the ranks of thousands who have shared their testimonies and stories by video. Perhaps you could video tape your parents or grandparents and capture their stories too. While there, rate and comment on other good videos you find.
5. Post mission and wedding photos on photo sharing sites. Why not share photos from your mission, your wedding, or your family home evening at the park? Be sure to comment about them as well.
6. Edit entries in online encyclopedias. After signing up for a free account, you can edit or create articles immediately. Be sure that entries on gospel topics are accurate and positive. If you speak a foreign language, even better to do it in that language!
7. Link to good Web sites. If you have a Web site or blog, create a link to other good Web sites. You can also link to Church sites. For example, link to your favorite talk at LDS.org or your favorite video at videos.lds.org. Link to the Gospel Topics section in the Gospel Library that has great answers to common questions, or to other key sites, such as JesusChrist.lds.org or the Church’s site on Joseph Smith.
8. Volunteer with a community group of members. Volunteer your talents in graphic design, programming, writing, translation, or videography.

“…the people began to be astonished, seeing there was more than one witness who testified…” (Alma 10:12)

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Ensign readers will find the cover of the July issue unique, even unusual. It draws attention to Elder M. Russell Ballard’s article “Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet” (p. 58), which is adapted from his talk at BYU-Hawaii in December 2007. Many Church members have read this talk on the Internet. Printing it in the Ensign gives non-Internet readers access to Elder Ballard’s instructions on using new technologies to share the gospel. In addition to the unique cover, readers will find something novel about the sidebar, “Helps for Home Evening” (p.61). It invites families to view Elder Ballard’s video clip at www.youtube.com/LDSPublicAffairs and discuss ways they can share their testimony of the gospel using the Internet.

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