LatterDaySports.com joins the conversation

Elder M. Russell Ballard. Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

May 2, 2010—One of the motivating factors that pushed me toward producing this Web site was an address given by Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In his 2007 commencement address given to graduates of Brigham Young University–Hawaii, Elder Ballard encouraged members of the church to do their part and “join the conversation” via new media. Here is an excerpt from his address:

“Now, to you who are graduating today, and all other faithful members of the Church, and as you graduate from this wonderful university, may I ask you to join the conversation by participating on the Internet, particularly the New Media, to share the gospel and explain in simple, clear terms the message of Restoration. Most of you already know that if you have access to the Internet you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true. You can download videos from the Church and other appropriate sites, including Newsroom at LDS-dot-org, and send them to your friends. You can write to media sites on the Internet that report on the Church, and voice your views as to the accuracy of the reports. This, of course, requires that you, all members of the Church, understand the basic, fundamental principles of the gospel.

We are living in a world saturated with all kinds of voices, because now, more than ever, we have a major responsibility as Latter-day Saints to define ourselves instead of letting others define us. Far too many people have a poor understanding of the Church because most of the information they hear about us is from the news media reports that are often driven by controversies. Too much attention to controversy has a negative impact on peoples’ perceptions of what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really is.”

A complete transcript of Elder Ballard’s talk, can be found here: http://devotional.byuh.edu/node/145