Have you seen the church’s series on Mormon’s introducing themselves on www.mormon.org? What a great idea! I’ve been seeing these all over Facebook too. Not only is it a great missionary tool, but what I love about it is how it shows the world that Mormons are just like everybody else! Well, we aren’t in our religious beliefs maybe, but in our everyday lives, we have a lot in common with those around us.
I love how you can click on different Mormon’s profiles on this site and read about everyday members of the church. But, I especially love how someone can specify the type of person they read about by ethnicity, age, gender, or even by entering in a keyword. Then, a whole range of people will come up with their glowing, smiling faces, and you can read all about who they are, what they love to do, etc.
From there, you can narrow it down by where they live, and even what their previous religion was before converting to the church. How amazing is that? That way, not only can people relate to us as members of the church, but maybe, they can see someone who has converted that comes from the same background that they do.
Sometimes in the church, I think we become stuck in our little Mormon circles, and we find it hard to relate to people of other faiths. I have many friends and family of other faiths, and I am amazed at how much we have in common. But, what also amazes me is their commitment to their own beliefs. I respect that. I love being able to talk to them about what they believe in, and finding the common ground. We shouldn’t let something like religion stop us from gaining a lifelong friend. We should realize that in reality, we have so much in common just by sharing this same earth experience.