180th Semiannual General Conference

Today and tomorrow, members of the LDS Church all over the world will participate in the Church's international "General Conference", a worldwide event for Mormons held every 6 months. For more information, or to view the conference via simulcast online, please visit this page.

Church in Jamaica

The Church is growing in Jamaica and has attracted attention of the Jamaica Gleaner News. 

Taken from the article:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is also known as the Mormon Church, has congregations in every parish in Jamaica, and there is the prospect that two more congregations will be established by 2010 - one in Port Antonio and the other in Old Harbour.

BYU football: loss of Teo?

Report: Cougars lose out on Te'o

Several recruiting publications, including Total Blue Sports, are reporting that BYU has lost out on the Manti Te'o sweepstakes.

Teo, the top outside linebacker in the country, has narrowed his top three choices to USC, UCLA and Notre Dame. Te'o told TBS that "when it came down to it I just thought I could make a bigger impact and be a bigger influence elsewhere. I think at a school like USC or UCLA, I could really represent the Mormon church well."

New Young Women general leadership

The new presidency of the LDS Church's Young Women program was organized during General Conference in April 2008.  
Sister Dalton proclaimed that, “We have met with many government leaders and many have asked us what we have to offer for the young women in their nations,” she said. “We have stressed education, standards and virtue.” She said that when a person is virtuous they are free to do and accomplish many wonderful things.

She recounted that one leader from Africa saw the Church’s booklet, For the Strength of Youth, and asked for more copies in French. When Sister Dalton offered her four more, the government leader said, “Oh, I need boxes and boxes of this book for my country. This is what the women and young women need to help them rise up.”

Church warns against financial fraud, etc.

This morning a letter from the First Presidency was read during Sacrament meetings at LDS wards and branches across the United States.  The letter warned Church members from the many financial scams that threaten people's livelihood, etc.  

The Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City, Utah, covers the story here.

BYU-Hawaii Devotional

John Muaina gave a great talk at a recent BYU-Hawaii Devotional.

Following his mission in Samoa, Muaina enrolled at BYU-Hawaii and began working at the PCC, where he met his wife. Like many young couples here, the Muainas

"loved our experience at TVA [Temple View Apartments married student housing]. It embraced the true spirit of fellowship and being with the Saints. It would solidify my feelings about this BYUH campus of destiny and the Polynesian Cultural Center."

Trailer to American Mormon

A fun film made a few years ago to see what people think about/know about Mormons:

So people confuse Mormons with Amish?  Lots of interesting opinions about Latter-day Saints, even in the U.S. where there are nearly 6 million of us!

(The guy in the white t-shirt on Venice Beach in Los Angeles is my favorite.)

Newly Organized First Presidency

President Monson, President Eyring, and President Uchtdorf

Mormon Church's lay ministry & service organization draw attention in media

The following text (and the above photo) has been extracted from the LDS Church's Newsroom.

According to Terryl Givens, professor of literature and religion at Virginia’s Richmond University, the practice of providing universal volunteer service opportunities to youth and adults in any given congregation leads to personal and social benefits.

“The value of the system is that it prevents religion from ever becoming a spectator sport. One doesn’t go to church to be ministered to, but to minister,” he said.

“And since we tend to love those people and institutions we invest in,” he adds, “lay service forges powerful bonds of interdependency and unity.”

In order to understand what makes Mormon congregations “unusually cohesive faith groups,” as Givens calls them, a closer look is necessary.

According to former Mormon bishop Chris Rutter, lay service “gives members a chance to learn new skills and knowledge, strengthening their faith and enhancing their religious experience.”

Rutter says that young people, new members and all others who are capable of contributing are given a church duty, such as leading the music, teaching a class or organizing the scout troop.