So we sometimes talk about the negative effects of the media and how destructive it can be. This week I was thinking about some of the positive effects, namely with what the church can do with media. General Conference broadcasts throughout the world, pass-a-long cards, mormon and lds.org, LDS commercials promoting the family, and family history websites that are amazing like new.familysearch.org are just a few awesome ways the church uses the media.
Another way that I have appreciated media is at the MTC. I teach spanish speaking missionaries and even being isolated in the MTC bubble they are surrounded by it. On Sunday nights the missionaries look forward to watching a church movie (i.e. The Testaments, Legacy, the new Joseph Smith movie, or other church movies). Their spanish learning is assisted by the TALL lab (Technology Assisted Language Learning) and we as teachers have access to a library of previous devotionals and church movies that we can show the missionaries, as well as missionary training videos like The District and other Preach My Gospel Videos. I have been teaching for a while now and I think I have shown every single district a devotional by Elder Holland called "The Miracle of a Mission". I just showed my missionaries recently this devo and they always say it changes their perspective of the mission for the better. It is such an inspiring devotional that he gave way back in 2000. But the missionaries can still enjoy it and learn from his powerful testimony and wonderful advice. It makes me so grateful that the media can have such a positive impact on the strength and growth of the church.
I love "The Miracle of a Mission." I used to always watch it with the English districts that I taught. Another use of the media at the MTC that is amazing (even though not Church produced) is watching clips from the 6 billion others website with the missionaries and helping them to see a glimpse into the lives and spiritual journeys of people worldwide. I think I am going to write a post about 6 billion others on my page. It is an amazing site.
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with you! I love the things, the GOOD media, that the MTC has to offer. 6 Billion Others is one of my favorite as well. Thanks for the good idea on the devotional! I'm going to show my missionaries that one!
ReplyDeleteI love this! I love thinking about positive aspects of the media because it is so negatively viewed. I know it's a wierd confession, but I have always wanted to go in the MTC. Haha
ReplyDeleteThe church commercials have gotten really good in the past few years. I used to think they were a bit cheesy but the new ones, along with the new mormon messages are really great!
ReplyDeleteThe media certainly can have a positive influence and I think the church does a great job of using this great resource for good!
ReplyDeletewhat a great post!
ReplyDeletelast night i was watching Footloose, and the cute little girl says "I think Ren is a fox!!" the cute little girl's dad gets all upset, and says something like "Look (wife) - and you say the television and radio doensn't have an influence on her!"
so looks like the argument of media being used for good or evil has been around for a while!
I just happened to stumble upon your blog, and was wondering if you could help me. I am trying to teach my children Spanish, and now find myself wishing that I would not have left my yellow vocabulry list and red spanish book in Guatemala. Do you know if there is a way that I can purchase these items?
ReplyDeleteHow can I get a copy of the video of Elder Holland's talk "Miracle of a Mission" I am so anxious to view this. Can you help me? You can e-mail me at BenOlson@cox.net
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