Mormons. Everywhere.

There has been a lot of hype about "Mormon's" in the media these days. With the success of "The Book of Mormon," the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, the recent NBA draft of BYU's Jimmer Fredette, and the entry of Mormon politician's, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, into the Republican primary field, it seems that Mormon's are all the buzz these days. I guess you can say this is "The Mormon Moment" as Newsweek stated on it's cover of a recent issue. The cover shows Mitt Romney's head photoshopped over an image from a poster for the play "The Book of Mormon."


How do Mormon's feel about all this attention? I can't speak for anyone besides myself, but I think it is just plain exciting. I guess it all goes back to the old saying "There's no such thing as bad publicity."

For some reason The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a greatly misunderstood church. Throughout my life I have been clearing up misconceptions and answering questions about Mormon's and their beliefs, which I greatly appreciate the opportunity to do so. Due to the fact that "Mormon's" are currently in the limelight, many doors have been opened for others to have their questions answered regarding what I believe, and I LOVE it.

Some of these questions and misconceptions include:
-Do you believe in Jesus Christ? (The answer to this is a profound Yes! Mormon is our nick name, and this question can be answered if one knew the real name of our church, which is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
-I didn't know you could wear makeup. (Why yes. Yes we can)
-Do you worship Jon Smith? (The correct name is Joseph Smith, and no we do not, we worship Jesus Christ. We believe that God has always had prophets to communicate to people, like Moses and Noah. We believe he continues to communicate to us through prophets today. Joseph Smith was one of those prophets God chose to help bring back all the teachings that Christ's taught in their purity. more>>>)
-How many moms do you have? Or how many wives does your dad have? (One.)
-Can you cut your hair (yes) and do you have to wear skirts all the time (no)?
-Do you believe in the Bible? (yes)
-Why don't you live in Utah? (We live everywhere. Over half of Mormon's live out side the United States)
-Are Mormons and Amish the same thing? (Nope)
-Are woman suppressed in the Mormon church? (Nope. We actually have the oldest and largest woman's organization in the world)
-Are you Christian? (Yes! See above. Christ is our Savior and central to our beliefs)

I am often the first Mormon they have ever met and people are often shocked when they find out I am Mormon. I do not know what they expect Mormons to be like, but apparently I am not it! haha I believe this is why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has launch their new advertising campaign.

Through research, the Mormon Church, "identified that almost half of the people in this country say they know nothing at all about Mormons, with many saying they do not know any Mormons personally. "

This was troubling to church officials who felt that "the best way to understand Mormons is to meet and come to know us," Since they couldn't arrange to get more Mormons to live in more neighborhoods around the country, church strategists decided to harness the power of the internet in general, and social media specifically.

"We determined to use mormon.org to help people get to know our members...the campaign directs people to the website, where thousands of members have created profiles about themselves describing their interests and how Church teachings and practices make them who they are."

You can view my profile here.

They have recently launched this advertising campaign here in New York City with a billboard in Times Square and a few hundred advertisements on taxis.

It is exciting to see how the Mormon church is getting the message out how Mormons come from all walks of life and are Christians.

I liked the quote in an article that interviewed a few people on their impressions of this Times Square Billboard:

"'It's kind of neat,' said Dowd Timmerman, 35, of Augusta, Ga., who was staying at a nearby hotel and said the ad was one of the first he noticed in the crowded square. "I guess anybody can be a Mormon."