missionary

Answering Questions about Mormonism

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A few months ago we showed a TV news story of an interview with a missionary who, how should we say, didn’t quite know how to answer questions about the Church or the temple, and which just left more suspicion and misunderstanding than it dispelled.  We concluded that we must have a good grasp of our own religion in order to answer questions intelligently and articulately, and to teach others about our beliefs.

Yesterday I received an email with a link to a videoclip of a Harvard student, Rachel Esplin, who answered questions about the Church and Mormonism in a very clear and forthright manner.  It looks like the event was an “Engaging Religious Differences” panel discussion, in which many different religious views were shared. Greg has more details at Believe All Things, who referenced aquinas at Summa Theologica on the same topic.

Take a look below.


Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose – 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 1

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San Diego California Temple exterior (click for larger view)

San Diego California Temple exterior (click for larger view)

A week ago my parents took a trip down to California to see my younger brother dance with the BYU Ballroom Dance Team at the Embassy Ball in Irvine, California.  As part of their trip they had the chance to do some fun things, like go to Disneyland.  Whenever they are on a vacation during the sabbath, however, they try to do things appropriate for that day, such as visit any nearby temples.  The San Diego California Temple was only about 80 miles away, and so they made their way down I-5 last Sunday afternoon to see it.

They enjoyed their visit at this unique temple, but by and large the most interesting thing that they experienced there that day was a story that the service missionaries told them who serve there.  [Read more…]

Promises of Calling & Election in JS Lesson 13

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Live in strict obedience to the commandments of God, and walk humbly before Him, and He will exalt thee in His own due time. -Joseph Smith  ((HC 1:408.))

Last week was the Joseph Smith manual chapter 13 lesson for Priesthood and Relief Society entitled, “Obedience: ‘When the Lord Commands, Do It.'”  This was an excellent lesson, and I particularly liked the the last section.  Unfortunately, if most wards’ lessons are like my own, you may not have got to that point in the manual by the end of class.  In my own Elder’s quorum we only made it through the first 3-4 pages of the lesson.  But I believe there are some powerful messages from Joseph in the last 5 pages that could easily be missed. I’m glad that my wife and I read the whole lesson before attending church, or we too would have missed this.  [Read more…]

Educating the Media (and Others) about the LDS Temple

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The television station KREX Channel 5 from Grand Junction, Colorado, aired a news piece yesterday about the “Sacred Secrets of the LDS Church.”

I think that the news anchors, save being as objective and unaffected as anchors could possibly be, did a decent job of trying to understand what the LDS temple is all about. The members interviewed, on the other hand, I think missed a tremendous opportunity to share more and clarify our beliefs and practices of the temple. Stake President Richard Landes did a substantially better job than Elder Smith in explaining some of the reasons for the temple, but it still left the anchors with misconceptions.

At one point the anchor asks Elder Smith, “What goes on in the temple?”

Our missionary unfortunately replied, “I don’t know how to explain that. . . . I’m going to pass on that one.” [Read more…]