CNBC reports on Mormons, missionaries, and LDS business leaders

CNBC's Erin Burnett traveled to Taiwan, Utah, China, and Brazil to explore the world of LDS missionaries and former missionaries who have become international business leaders. Overall a pretty good report - one of the most favorable we've seen from the mainstream media in a long while. Watch the report in this video:

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.

Canadian students research Mormonism because of David Archuleta

This is an interesting, kind of random video. Some Canadian schoolgirls decided to look into Mormonism because their favorite American Idol finalist, David Archuleta, is LDS.

Take a look:

LDS Missionaries in Taichung, Taiwan help Mayor

The Mayor of Taichung, Taiwan, Mr. Jason Hu, has requested that the Mormon missionaries serving in his city assist in a city-wide translation service project.  As Taiwan is attracting more and more international business and investment, the need for good English is stronger.  The LDS Missionaries will help the city correct poor translations, etc.  

For more information, read this story from the LDS Newsroom.

I was in Taipei, Taiwan, last week and found many examples of "Engrish":

LDS Mission Reunions April 2008!

The Church's annual General Conference is coming up soon (April 5-6, 2008), which means that LDS mission reunions are being scheduled for that week.  Mormon missionaries love to get together and remember the good ol' days of full-time missionary work.  Check here to see information about dozens of mission reunions, mostly in the Wasatch Front area in Utah.  

Mormon Open House in Alabama

President James Tate of the Alabama Birmingham Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will sponsor an open house and Q&A session on the Mormon faith in Birmingham, Alabama.  The mission president commented that the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney has recently prompted more interest about the LDS faith.

The Birmingham First Ward Chapel, 2768 Altadena Road, will have an open house on Sunday, January 27, at 5:30 p.m., with tours and refreshments.

For more information, please contact the Birmingham Mission office at (205) 979-0686

Missionaries in Mongolia

In his blog, Howard Friedman makes mention of Mormon missionaries in Mongolia, probably being the largest religious mission there. "They bring in groups of young people often excellently trained in Mongolian language," he states.

(This photo is somewhat reminiscent of my own mission experiences in Brazil.)

Mormon missionary work in Ventura, California, and Gov. Romney

This article in the Ventura County Star (here in California) discusses the faith of Mitt Romney. 

Few people understand anything about the life of an LDS missionary... this offers some good insight.

The article brings up the point that Mormonism is the second largest religious denomination in California, with over 800,000 members.