Mormon Identity is a weekly, half-hour talk radio program on the Mormon Channel (radio.lds.org) featuring discussions on Church subjects important to Latter-day Saints throughout the world. The 22 episodes explain the Mormon viewpoint to those outside of the faith. Mormon Identity is hosted by Robert L. Millet, Professor of Religious Education at Brigham Young University.

See previous posts about other great programs on the Mormon Channel.

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The FamilySearch Family History Library is now making its popular classes available at FamilySearch.org, where you can access them for free anytime you want.

There are 23 Family History Library classes available online for beginners and experienced researchers, with subjects ranging from European research to United States military records. The classes vary in length from 6-58 minutes, with most lasting about 25 minutes.

To access the classes, go to FamilySearch.org, and click “Free Online Classes” in the center of the page.

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Have you read the article “Digital Detachment and Personal Revelation” by Elder Scott D. Whiting in the March Ensign? Elder Whiting says that the need to constantly be attached to our digital devices hinders us from building a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

He mentions that technological advancements can be both good and bad. Modern technology, when purely and judiciously used, can help us hasten the work of the Lord and spread the gospel. But an overreliance on technology can be a problem. “Being constantly ‘plugged in’ can drown out the quiet whisperings and subtle impressions of the Holy Spirit, breaking our personal connection with God and making it difficult, if not impossible, to receive personal revelation.”

Later in the article, he said “While modern technological advancements can enhance the work of the Lord and bless us and our families, we must be careful not to fall victim to their destructive side. We must not only avoid the base and degrading content some sources contain, but we must also recognize when electronic distractions keep us from quieter, more significant uses of our time. We must guard against becoming so attached to digital devices that we become detached from God.”

What suggestions do you have for using technology wisely? One family I know decided that their children were spending too much time texting–even staying up late at night sending thousands of text messages. So the family decided that the cell phones would go on the kitchen counter at 9:00pm each night.

What family rules have you instituted that help?

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Here’s a great success story.

We told you previously about the site Reflections of Christ (ReflectionsofChrist.org) that testifies of the Savior, as well as the sequel Another Testament of Christ (AnotherTestamentofChrist.com)

Missionaries serving in the Moscow West Mission knocked on a door and asked the family if they could share a video with them about Jesus Christ. They were invited in and the missionaries chose to share with them the Reflections of Christ video. The family was moved to tears and invited the missionaries back. Not long after, the entire family was baptized.

Mark Mabry (the photographer of the work) was so touched by this that he gave permission for a Russian language version of Reflections of Christ.

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The Church is trying an experiment with community-sourced (i.e. crowdsourcing) translation as a way to do routine translation work more quickly and at less cost.

If you or someone you know speaks Spanish or Portuguese (plus English) and would like to volunteer for this pilot program, please contact Michael Eckerdt for details.

This is volunteer work (no pay involved) and will last about a month (April to May). Unfortunately, not everyone who expresses an interest will be selected. Also, there’s no guarantee that the Church will move forward past the pilot, nor is there a guarantee that participants in the pilot will be given further assignments, either for pay or as a volunteer.

I think that those selected will find the work interesting and they’ll have the satisfaction of helping the Church see if there’s value in doing work this way.

Tell Mike that you read this on LDS Media Talk!

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This is an informative video about depression. The video is based on a 55-minute talk by Carrie Wrigley from the 2005 BYU Education Week.

We encourage you to view it, rate it, and share it with your friends and family. The popularity and success of this video may determine how many other videos like this are created from sources like talks at BYU Education Week.

The full talk, Christ-Centered Healing from Depression and Low Self-Worth is available in video and mp3 format from BYU Broadcasting. A transcript of the full talk is available from Morning Light Counseling.

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A recent poll by the Pew Forum shows that the Internet is now the third-highest platform for receiving news coverage. So, what can members of the Church do to help shape public perceptions, conversations, and media-talk news about the LDS Church online? Here are some suggestions adapted from a blog by the More Good Foundation:

• Bookmark your local and national online news media outlets.  Search religion content, and comment on articles about the Church in positive ways.
• Share with your friends links to stories about Mormons in the news in your area. You can also send links to the More Good Foundation for them to share with others.
• Check the Church’s Newsroom, LDS Church News, and Mormon Times for the Church’s position on key news issues before responding to articles on sensitive issues and link to their content.
• Subscribe to the More Good Foundation’s blog to stay updated on ways to contribute to the conversation.
• Join the More Good Foundation’s page on Facebook for additional updates as well.
• Create your own news blog, or adopt-a-site from The More Good Foundation, where you can comment on the news.
• Place links to positive news stories on Facebook and tweet about them.

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Youth.lds.org is featuring new videos with inspiring stories about LDS youth. Meet a young woman from Texas who is a world champion at horse reining, and then get to know two young women from Missouri who wanted to change the world and did something about it.

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Thinking about buying an e-reader device? Which one should you buy? Kindle? Sony Reader? Or do you wait and get Apple’s new iPad? I’ve just spent 3 days attending sessions at the Publishing Business Conference in New York City about e-readers and the future of publishing. (See my posts about the current status and the future of the publishing industry.)

Modern e-readers provide a very nice experience in reading. E-paper devices are not backlit like a computer screens, so they are very easy on the eyes. It’s very similar to reading ink on paper. They are slim and lightweight and allow you to sit back and enjoy reading. And you can’t beat the average price of about $9 per book.

E-readers are still a bit clumsy for reading magazines, but they work great for reading text-based books. (It’ll only be a few years until larger, color, foldable e-paper readers will be available for a great magazine experience.)

So, back to the original question, which device should you buy?

• Kindle (Amazon): Is the most popular reader. It has lots of momentum, but you are limited to Kindle’s proprietary content format. (Although there are free tools that can convert standard ePub files to Kindle-compatible files.)
• Librie and Reader (Sony): I like my Sony Reader. It’s lightweight, easy to use, and easy to read. Books are available from the Sony library and other sources (see overdrive.com), since this reader accepts files in the standard ePub format, as well as PFD, RTF, Word documents, text documents, and Sony’s own .lrf, and .lrx formats.
• The iPad was introduced recently by Steve Jobs and is getting a lot of hype. It’s not yet available in the market. The iPad has a multi-touch color display, which will open great opportunities, especially for magazines. Hoever, the iPad has a backlit computer screen, not e-paper technology. Also, it will have slow connectivity until 4G networks are more broadly available.  If you’re the type to buy the latest, greatest Apple product, this is definitely for you (if you have $499). But if that’s not you, it’s probably not worth buying.
• Finally, you may want to consider the PocketBook , which has 75-80% of the market share in Europe and is just starting in the USA. It is an open reader that reads all e-book formats, except Kindle. It holds 1,500 books, plus external memory available up to 32 G. It supports all languages (you can add your own fonts), has 6 font sizes, allows you to create your own folders and themes, and allows firmware upgrades. (This is important because the technology is changing so quickly.) You can also download games and new models have text to speech and handwriting to text functions.

If you’re not willing to pay a few hundred dollars to get an e-reader today, don’t write off the idea completely. In 3-5 years, the devices will come down in price to $100 or even $50. The devices will also become lighter, have better color, and roll up or fold up to fit in your shirt pocket.

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The Mormon Channel has a great series of programs called Questions and Answers. The 13 episodes produced to date pose a series of questions about gospel topics, and provide answers from General Conference audio clips, the Church’s Web site, and other publications from the current and previous First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

This is a great way to learn simple ways to answer gospel questions from your family, friends, and neighbors. Another great source for answers to gospel questions can be found at Gospel Topics (GospelTopics.lds.org) on the Church’s Web site.

See previous posts about other great programs on the Mormon Channel.

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