Latter-day Saint Youth Keep Surprising Us

[malkie]

"... it is somewhat of a surprise, isn't it (?), that missions and missionaries are on the increase."

For a church with the goal of spreading its message, why would an increase be a surprise, regardless of the number of "nones"? Don't you think that a deliberate decrease might be more surprising.
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" Especially in an online environment that has tried to stack the deck against the church". Can you explain this?

Perhaps it's just me, but I'm just not seeing this - it looks a bit paranoid to me, especially when you consider that the "online environment" is neither sentient nor goal driven.

Young people are ‘plugged in’. The anti-Mormon influencers and podcasters are prolific in their efforts to turn people away from the church. Even at that, we see the missionary force and missions increasing.

Earlier I mentioned that the MTC complex in Provo, Utah is going through a huge renovation/expansion. Almost as if the Brethren could “see around the corner”.

The work will roll on unhindered although impacted, of course, by those fighting against the cause of Zion and the latter day work of bringing souls to Christ.

Regards,
MG

I should have guessed that you meant a specific and very small part of the overall online environment. I'm completely unaware of anti-Mormon influencers and podcasters being prolific. I rarely hear anything from that part of the internet.

"Earlier I mentioned that the MTC complex in Provo, Utah is going through a huge renovation/expansion. Almost as if the Brethren could “see around the corner” "

I'm not sure which corner you're referring to.

[Gadianton]

Earlier I mentioned that the MTC complex in Provo, Utah is going through a huge renovation/expansion. Almost as if the Brethren could “see around the corner”

That's a very good point. I've never heard of such a thing ever happening before. The LDS church is the only institution in history to anticipate the need for more capacity and respond by building more buildings. How can this be explained without assuming the Brethren are getting revelation from God?

[MG 2.0]

I'm completely unaware of anti-Mormon influencers and podcasters being prolific.

They are and have been for many years now.

Regards,
MG

[malkie]

I'm completely unaware of anti-Mormon influencers and podcasters being prolific.

They are and have been for many years now.

Regards,
MG

Perhaps I need to get out more often.

I can think of only a handful off the shiny top of my head:
- Bill Reel + RFM
- John Delin
- Nemo the Mormon
- MRM

I don't listen to any of these regularly. I know someone who is a fan of Nemo, and I have met John Delin (not impressed by him) and Bill Reel (very much impressed). Actually, I met Bill in Hurricane on the same trip to Utah that you & I met. I walked away thinking that if I had encountered Bill much earlier I might still be an active member, albeit with a somewhat nuanced view of all things Mormon.

So, of the prolific crop of anti-Mormon influencers and podcasters, who am I missing that you think are particularly interesting?

[[Although I wouldn't consider them to be anti-Mormon, I've met a number of CoC folks, and would say that I know some of them well - at least, well enough to be on close hugging terms. If I were ever to associate with a religion again (not at all likely) I think I could live with being a mostly secular member of CoC.] I would expect it to be much less stressful than being LDS Mormon.]

[I Have Questions]

I'm completely unaware of anti-Mormon influencers and podcasters being prolific.

They are and have been for many years now.

Regards,
MG

One might reasonably ask why MG 2.0 is spending so much of his time researching anti-Mormon influencers and podcasters.

[MG 2.0]

They are and have been for many years now.

Regards,
MG

Perhaps I need to get out more often.

I can think of only a handful off the shiny top of my head:
- Bill Reel + RFM
- John Delin
- Nemo the Mormon
- MRM

I don't listen to any of these regularly. I know someone who is a fan of Nemo, and I have met John Delin (not impressed by him) and Bill Reel (very much impressed). Actually, I met Bill in Hurricane on the same trip to Utah that you & I met. I walked away thinking that if I had encountered Bill much earlier I might still be an active member, albeit with a somewhat nuanced view of all things Mormon.

So, of the prolific crop of anti-Mormon influencers and podcasters, who am I missing that you think are particularly interesting?

[[Although I wouldn't consider them to be anti-Mormon, I've met a number of CoC folks, and would say that I know some of them well - at least, well enough to be on close hugging terms. If I were ever to associate with a religion again (not at all likely) I think I could live with being a mostly secular member of CoC.] I would expect it to be much less stressful than being LDS Mormon.]

There are many online podcasts and influencers that have the purpose of damaging the church. Two that come to the top of my head are Mormonish and Alyssa Grenfeld (sp?). There are a whole bunch of them.

My point is that it's amazing that the youth of the church are as valiant as they are in a world in which online influences, including pornography and other dark influences, are running rampant.

The gospel is moving throughout the earth for all that will listen and obey. And again, agency reigns supreme. No one is forcing anyone to be baptized into the church. It is a personal commitment between child and Father.

Regards,
MG

[Res Ipsa]

I'm completely unaware of anti-Mormon influencers and podcasters being prolific.

They are and have been for many years now.

Regards,
MG

Only when one is confined to an LDS bubble.

[MG 2.0]

They are and have been for many years now.

Regards,
MG

Only when one is confined to an LDS bubble.

Go to YouTube and type in Mormon. You don't think more and more people are doing that?

Surely LDS youth have done so in many instances.

And yet, they are continuing to increase in numbers and serve missions.

Regards,
MG

[Res Ipsa]

Only when one is confined to an LDS bubble.

Go to YouTube and type in Mormon. You don't think more and more people are doing that?

Surely LDS youth have done so in many instances.

And yet, they are continuing to increase in numbers and serve missions.

Regards,
MG

I have no idea what people’s search habits are on You Tube. Is the rate at which people search for Mormon growing over time? What percentage of the total number of videos on You Tube address Mormonism, let alone are anti-Mormonis? Do you have, like, any data on this stuff.

Self-identified Mormons in the US have been about 2% of the US population for decades. In switchers and out switchers in the US have been roughly equal in the US for years as well. So, the growth of people who identify as LDS in the US has been growing, but only at the same rate as growth of the population as a whole. So, a very small fraction of the US that is not growing as a percentage of the whole.

Mormons are a tiny percentage of Christians, and an even tinier fraction of the world’s population, even using the Church’s official numbers, which don’t account for its well known retention problems. Surveys that ask people for their religious identification around the world show that many fewer people identify themselves as Mormons than the Church numbers report.

Whatever is going on in Mormon world, only a tiny percentage of people on the earth know about it, much less care about it.

Anti-LDS church You Tubers seem like a big deal to you only because the world of Mormonism is so small.

[MG 2.0]

Go to YouTube and type in Mormon. You don't think more and more people are doing that?

Surely LDS youth have done so in many instances.

And yet, they are continuing to increase in numbers and serve missions.

Regards,
MG

I have no idea what people’s search habits are on You Tube. Is the rate at which people search for Mormon growing over time? What percentage of the total number of videos on You Tube address Mormonism, let alone are anti-Mormonis? Do you have, like, any data on this stuff.

Self-identified Mormons in the US have been about 2% of the US population for decades. In switchers and out switchers in the US have been roughly equal in the US for years as well. So, the growth of people who identify as LDS in the US has been growing, but only at the same rate as growth of the population as a whole. So, a very small fraction of the US that is not growing as a percentage of the whole.

Mormons are a tiny percentage of Christians, and an even tinier fraction of the world’s population, even using the Church’s official numbers, which don’t account for its well known retention problems. Surveys that ask people for their religious identification around the world show that many fewer people identify themselves as Mormons than the Church numbers report.

Whatever is going on in Mormon world, only a tiny percentage of people on the earth know about it, much less care about it.

Anti-LDS church You Tubers seem like a big deal to you only because the world of Mormonism is so small.

I won't argue or quibble with your response. This is what would be expected from an outsider to the faith. What I will say, again...and was my point in beginning this thread...is that Latter-day Saint youth are an amazing group of young people, growing in numbers, sharing the gospel throughout the world. Rather than shrinking...growing in numbers. Influence...growing rather than shrinking.

Take it for what it' worth, I guess.

Obviously not everyone is going to hear and accept the gospel. But we do live in a time where the missionaries have great advantages through technology to get the message out to all that can/will receive it. Something that would have been impossible not that many years ago.

Regards,
MG