Posted on 12/04/2009 8:00:35 PM PST by Saundra Duffy
SALT LAKE CITY 3 December 2009 Since the launch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Mormon Messages channel on YouTube in August 2008, its influence has grown to reach millions. Situated among the endless variety of videos available on YouTube, the dozens of videos currently available on Mormon Messages have been viewed a total of 7.5 million times.
During the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, the Church posted a Mormon Messages video showing random people on the streets of New York City sharing a variety of responses to one simple question: “What are you thankful for?” The video become so popular so quickly that it was featured twice on the front page of YouTube. After two weeks, nearly 300,000 had viewed the video.
Last month, the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City, a local chapter of a larger organization, named the Mormon Messages channel the “Best Use of YouTube” during its 2009 awards ceremony. The judges said it was “a great use of a very accessible media medium for an organization with a growing global audience” and remarked that “regardless of your position or affiliation, being a good person, as exemplified by content on this YouTube channel, is universal.”
But the real impact the videos are having is even more apparent in the thousands of positive comments that come from their viewers. The videos reach a wide audience with inspirational messages that can be viewed in a variety of settings. Viewers in over 190 countries have watched the messages.
One individual who left a comment on a Mormon Messages video about finding hope after September 11th said he was “sitting waiting for my next class… and this video is almost bringing me to tears.” Another viewer commented on a video featuring President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: “I'm not a Mormon…but I adore the message in this video and believe it's universal…we all should understand we were created to create, to give, to live, to grow. This is the road to true happiness!”
“The comments we’ve received in response to the channel have been overwhelmingly positive,” said Dallas Petersen, the project manager for Mormon Messages. “Viewers are continually asking for more of these videos.”
A new video for the Mormon Messages channel is produced about every two weeks. They’re featured on the home page of lds.org, the Church’s official Web site, and on the official Mormon Messages Facebook page. Some of the traffic to the videos comes as a result of Church members posting them on their personal Facebook pages or on Twitter. The short length and uplifting messages of the videos make them ideal for sharing on the Internet.
To date, 38 videos have been produced and many have been translated into Spanish. Topics include Jesus Christ, hope, fatherhood, creativity and perseverance. While some videos are meant to coincide with a specific event or season, others are more timeless.
Some videos, such as one featuring Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s address about Jesus Christ that was posted during the Easter 2009 weekend, are particularly timely and relevant. Elder Holland’s message was viewed hundreds of thousands of times in a matter of days and became the top viral video on the Internet during the Easter weekend.
"Our hope would be that the Church members would first be inspired by these messages," said David Nielson, managing director of the Audiovisual Department of the Church. "Secondly, that they would desire to share these messages with friends and family, both member and nonmember, through the various media channels that are now available."
Wow...
Merry Smithmas indeed...
I wouldn’t be surprised if there already is one.
Thought control at its finest.
Details, details......
Wow. Thanks grey, now I have something valuable to watch tonight.
:)
Awesome. I was thinking do doing something like this when I had time. Glad someone else did it already.
Great info.
Don’t forget the Jesus is the half brother of Lucifer because Jesus was not virgin born part.
And there’s something about a Mormon woman’s ideal is to be eternally pregnant by her god husband.
ETERNALLY PREGNANT?!?!?!?!
Doesn’t sound like my idea of heaven or paradise to me.
Three times was enough....Thank you very much.....
LOL. No problem. I get that often in fact, people thinking I am LDS, then reading my tagline and going “oh!”.
Most LDS would not admit so openly their beliefs. They are much more likely to either change the subject, tell a half truth, deny it all together (if they are not familiar) or couch it in “Yes, but...” usually followed by “we don’t believe/practice that anymore” or “well they were speaking as men, not prophets, when they said that.”
I figured the Merry Smithmas was sarcastic, but several of us “inmans” say it to each other so I didn’t think much about it.
An a very Merry Christmas to you and your family as well! It is so wonderful to celebrate the birth of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings!
LDS=big brother
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Oh yeah, did I tell you about the guy (Logan UT IIRC) who was excommunicated for apostasy after his bishop saw him going into a Christian bookstore? Not kidding we have a mutual friend.
You know very well that the 13 million are of living people, and not from baptisms of the dead. Yet you bring it up over and over, hoping no one will correct. Consider yourself corrected. 13 million living members.
2 how many of those 13 Million mormons are real full members with a temple recommend to go into the mormon gods’ temple ???
About 40%.
3. How many actually attend a service on Sunday ??? Count them just once...
About 40% attend at least one service on Sunday.
9. How many of those 13 million are actually still alive and not dead and still carried on the rolls ???
I am sure there are some at any given time that have died and are "still on the rolls." However, the church is very determined regarding record keeping, and this is a very small number. Certainly, there are some 40-50% included in the 13 million that avoid contact with the church, and therefore their passing on might remain unnoticed for a while. But it is safe to say that there is very few non-living counted in that 13 million. Probably less than a few thousand.
10. How many of those 13 million are still active TBM and not exmos who cant get their names taken off the rolls ???
When I was ward clerk I saw this process up close. It can be difficult for folks to get their names off the rolls. The process can take months or longer. However, it is not a symptomatic conspiracy. The vast majority is the failings of the unpaid humans that are running things. Of the 13 million about 40% or so (the temple recommend holders and their children) are "TBM"s.
You all realize that is a fake letter? There is this concept called sarcasm.
You all realize that is a fake letter? There is this concept called sarcasm.
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ROFLMBO!!!!! I am still laughing at that. THANK YOU for making me laugh so hard. LOL!!!!
First of, believe me, there was absolutely NO sarcasm involved.
OF COURSE I know this is a fake letter. I am the one who wrote it. I did not expect it to be taken seriously. :)
However, it does illustrate a common LDS attitude and is reflective of LDS mindset.
LOL. I am still laughing at you.
I do have a question for you, though. Did you call your bishop and check with him first?
lol. “Having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have.”
You ever think of writing for Scrappleface?
What with the Mormon churches stand on coffee, why WOULD we think this couldn’t be real?
Maybe it’s prophetic......
;)
Nana: 1. How many of those 13 Million members are the result of dead dunking ??
TP: You know very well that the 13 million are of living people, and not from baptisms of the dead. _____________________________________________________
No I dont...
And nor do you...
That's because GOD did not want to confuse people who knew his word in the KJV.
--MormonDude(Well; it makes sense to ME!)
Nana: 2 how many of those 13 Million mormons are real full members with a temple recommend to go into the mormon gods’ temple ???
TP: About 40%.
_____________________________________________________
So now we are down to 5,200,000 mormons ...
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Someone fudged the numbers...
as in error, mistakes...lyin for the mormon lord...
and half of them are said to live in the US..
So thats 2,600,000 mormons going to the temple in the US ??
Is that right ???
You aure ???
Busy temples...
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