I like to think that the Bloggernacle is filled with online missionaries: bloggers who testify of and explore Mormon topics in an effort to expand their own and others' knowledge. And while there are many missionary-theme blogs, usually featuring a missionary's experience on his/her/their mission, there are also \"missionary work\" sites — those with an express mission to further the LDS message through cyberspace.
Cyber missionaries: Take All About Mormons for an example. This tri-lingual site (in English above, Spanish and Portuguese) strives to answer questions posed by investigators and less-active members, hoping to \"dispel some of the many misconceptions about the church and its members.\"
Site author/administrator Jacob Durrant explains: \"When someone buys a car, they usually want to read the manual and other specs provided by the manufacturer. That's why there will always be a role for official church websites like mormon.org. However, when buying a car, many people also talk with friends who already own the same car. That's why it's so important that we as members voice our opinions, ideas and feelings on the Internet. We can serve as important 'non-authoritative sources.'\" And Durrant is quick to link to the authoritative sources throughout the site.
AllAboutMormons includes pages summarizing Mormon beliefs, Mormon humanitarian service and even famous Mormons. It includes links to videos and music as well as includes pages of testimonies with handy little testimony starter boxes so you can add your own!
Durrant took Elder M. Russell Ballard's now widely-shared-on-the-Bloggernacle talk to heart in beginning this site. \"Elder Ballard encouraged members to create blogs about the church. I also encourage others to create Mormon blogs, especially in languages other than English. However, not every member needs to create a blog. Elder Ballard also invited people to leave comments and to bear their testimonies online. AllAboutMormons.com is certainly a great forum for that kind of online missionary work.\"
AllAboutMormons.com employs volunteer \"virtual missionaries\" to help run the site. Durrant hopes this part of the website will grow: \"While there are a few regular 'virtual missionaries' who routinely visit my site and answer investigators' questions, we're not great enough in number to constitute a genuine 'online community.' Consequently, I end up answering most of the questions myself. I enjoy answering questions, but I can offer only one perspective. As the site grows in the future, I'd like to build an online community of virtual-missionary volunteers to distribute the workload more evenly and to provide additional perspectives. That's the power behind large sites like Wikipedia; there's an enormous community of volunteers working together to disseminate information. I'd love for AllAboutMormons.com to become more of a community-driven site in the future.\"
If you'd like to assist Durrant spread the online missionary work (in English, Spanish or Portuguese), click to help!
Cyber sites: One of my favorite new ways of cyberspace missionary work is the church history site missionary bloggers who provide virtual tours. I've highlighted a few before. But in the last month Elder and Sister Watts, serving in the Hill Cumorah Visitors Sites area, have provided a three-part virtual tour of \"The Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site\" in Palmyra. In Part 1 they welcome us to the site: \"This site is one of the sacred sites here in Palmyra because this is where the Book of Mormon was first printed, bound, and sold to the public.\" Then through the virtue of online, we are taken on a descriptive/photographic tour of the first floor of the building.
Upstairs to the pressroom we go for Part 2 of the virtual tour. It's my favorite part (as a journalist), since they invite us to \"Please come into the pressroom; it has been restored and furnished to show what Grandin's print shop looked like during the months the Book of Mormon was at press here. Below you see the typesetting cases which were located near the front windows; this provided plenty of light for the intricate work. The small letters were stored in the lower cases and the capital letters were stored in the upper cases.\"
Finally, they take us to The Bindery for Part 3. Watch how they would have bound and covered The Book of Mormon. Plus, take a look at many of the original paintings that were later included. And I love how they perfectly illustrate the power of cyberspace missionary work as in concluding the tour: \"This concludes our tour of the Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site. We hope you enjoyed your tour. To receive your free copy of the Book of Mormon call the phone number listed on this blog or go to mormon.org. We promise you this book will bless your lives.\"
Now let's find other posts from this last week in the Bloggernacle:
Power pick: \"I pray she hears what I'm trying to say, that she isn't overwhelmed with self-consciousness and embarrassment. I also hope I can find more opportunities to convey my beliefs to her without turning her off. It doesn't seem like living it is enough — I have to keep telling her. She has to know.\" So says this concerned dad about his 14-year-old daughter, in \"Can You Hear Me Now?\" He decides to use the opportunity of writing a letter for a youth activity to beautifully testify to her of his beliefs. Wow!
Techie tip: Although I've highlighted some of these new mobile phone apps, LDS Tech officially announces \"the release of the official Mormon Channel and Gospel Library applications on a variety of devices from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.\" These include Android, Blackberry, iPhone, iPod, iPad and Palm Pre and Pixi. If you have one of these devices, check out these downloads!