Before Mormon Mommy Blogs, I didn’t volunteer my beliefs with others.
I thought it was enough that I went to church. I thought it was enough that I didn’t go to the store on Sundays. I thought I was doing my part. Sure, I knew I could do a little better, but I was doing the best I could....
Or was I?
This blog has facilitated so many missionary opportunities for me, and I am now actively seeking those experiences. I have discovered that as I search for those opportunities, good things come my way.
Manna from Heaven doesn’t begin to compare.
So when we were in Relief Society today, talking about missionary work, I was frustrated.
All of my life, I have heard “Every Member a Missionary” and I didn’t know exactly what that meant.
Readers: If you have a blog, you have a responsibility to share WHAT YOU KNOW with your readers.
As a Mormon, I want to share the gospel.
As a Mommy, I want to share the joy I experience in motherhood.
And as a Blogger, I want to record my life and connect with other people.
Mormon. Mommy. Blogger.
I read a lot of blogs. I spend a good portion of my day connected, and I often hear mommy bloggers talk about how they want to share the best parts of their days. There blogs are shiny, happy places, full of vividly colored photographs. They talk about birthday parties and summer vacations, they share school projects and crafts. To another Mormon, their blog practically screams, “I’M LDS!” but to a non-believer, it’s just another insanely cute and happy mommy blog.
You have a responsibility to share the whole truth.
You have a responsibility to share why you believe the things you do, and why you behave the way you behave. It is not enough to make generalizations and to mention gospel doctrine in passing. It is not enough to have a link on the sidebar of your blogs. It is a start, but it is not the end.
The saying “Every Member a Missionary” applies TO YOU.
In Lord is:
“inspiring the minds of great people to create inventions that further the work of the Lord in ways this world has never known”
Russell M. Nelson, “Computerized Scriptures Now Available,” Ensign, Apr. 1988
Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites provide an easy way for you to share the gospel with the world.
With so many social media resources and a multitude of more or less useful gadgets at our disposal, sharing the good news of the gospel is easier and the effects more far-reaching than ever before. In fact, I am almost afraid that some listening have already sent text messages like “He’s been speaking for 10 minutes and still no aviation analogy!” My dear young friends, perhaps the Lord’s encouragement to “open [your] mouths”9 might today include “use your hands” to blog and text message the gospel to all the world! But please remember, all at the right time and at the right place.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Waiting on the Road to Damascus”, April 2011 General Conference
Mormon Mommy Bloggers, we have a responsibility to proclaim the gospel.
We owe it to ourselves to share what really makes us happy in our life. We owe it to our readers to be honest, and we owe it to our children to bear record of the testimony we have.
Mormon Mommy Blogs has opened many great doors in my life. I have had the opportunity to speak with news sources and medias that never would have contacted me before. We have appeared on television and in radio. Each day, we have at least one opportunity to share the gospel with someone, all because of this blog.
I encourage you to share what really makes you happy. I challenge you to publish something that makes you a little nervous. Forget about the possibility of rejection. I promise that the more you do this, the easier it will become, and you will experience even more joy in your life, and in your blogging. Do not be ashamed or afraid to share who you are.
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Caroline Bingham, managing editor MormonMommyBlogs.com
