Mormon Magz

Music Download: “The Tender Mercies of the Lord”

mormonmagmeister — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:15:46 +0000

The New Era has posted a new music download titled “The Tender Mercies of the Lord.” Both the vocals and accompaniment are performed well, and it has a nice, simple message about recognizing the Lord’s tender mercies in our lives. There is also a piano-only version on the New Era‘s Music Downloads page, and the sheet music is available in the March 2009 issue of the magazine.

New Mormonad Video: “Gossip”

mormonmagmeister — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:25:07 +0000

Check out the latest Mormonad video from the New Era. It is based on the classic Mormonad titled “Gossip,” and its message is pretty self-explanatory.

New Era Survey: Teens and the Internet

mormonmagmeister — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:01:00 +0000

The New Era has posted a survey for teens, asking them to select from a list of possible online features those items that would be most important to them. For instance, do they want more photos, videos, or stories by teens? Or do they want a mobile Web version of Church Web sites? Or perhaps they would like guest blogs by teens. Whatever their preference, they can tell the New Era about it. If you know any teens who would like their voices to be heard, encourage them to take this survey.

New Era Photo Gallery: Guadeloupe

mormonmagmeister — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:53:23 +0000

The New Era has posted several additional photos related to the February article “Generations” about the West Indies island of Guadeloupe. The photos give a good sense of the place and the people featured in the article.

Joseph Smith: Campaign for President of the United States

mormonmagmeister — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:28:23 +0000

In the Ensign this month is an article that discusses the Prophet Joseph Smith’s 1844 campaign for President of the United States and asks what he hoped to accomplish. For those who don’t know much about this episode in Church history, this article explains Joseph Smith’s motivation for running, as well as the platform he ran on. Most of the information in the article has been readily available to students of history for some time, but through the Ensign it will now reach a wider audience.

I find it fascinating to see how Joseph Smith’s patriotism held up under the strain of the persecutions the Saints endured, all of which were either sanctioned or permitted by local governments and ultimately ignored by the federal government. Joseph’s reaction was not to condemn the nation and its government but to seek to reform it.

In addition, I find his platform fascinating. It contains some intriguing, practical approaches to the serious issues of the day.

This article doesn’t offer a great deal of analysis, but it doesn’t need to. Its intent seems to be to give basic information about Joseph Smith’s run for President,and it does so mostly through quotations from original documents and contemporary statements. I imagine there are several people in the Ensign‘s readership for whom this article will be something completely new. This sort of thing isn’t necessarily a new direction for the Ensign, but it is something I rather hope they do more of.

(By the way, for what it’s worth, the article takes the opportunity to yet again affirm the Church’s political neutrality.)

New Mormonad Video: “Wish You Were Here”

mormonmagmeister — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:54:20 +0000

Check out the latest Mormonad video from the New Era. It is based on the Mormonad titled “Wish You Were Here,” and it has to do with respect and courtesy, specifically text-messaging courtesy.

New Era Music Download: “Grandpa”

mormonmagmeister — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:17:55 +0000

The New Era has added another music download on its Web site. This one is a recording by a group of siblings featured in the January issue. This family apparently allowed the New Era to post the song as a free download, though it is also available commercially. It has an interesting piano line, as well as a nice, sentimental message about the love of a grandpa.

Mormonad Videos

mormonmagmeister — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:17:34 +0000

The New Era has added a YouTube channel with videos based on its Mormonads. You can view them at the New Era‘s Web site, or you can view them on YouTube. These videos are a great addition to the offerings from the Church magazines online and are hopefully a harbinger of more things to come.

Interactive Hidden Pictures from the Friend

mormonmagmeister — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:03:33 +0000

The Friend has posted some of its hidden pictures activities on its Web site as interactive games. Try them out to see if you can find all of the shapes hiding in the lines of the picture. If not, the Friend is gracious enough to give you hints so that you can narrow down your search. When you have found one of the hidden shapes, click on it and watch it turn to color and fly over to the key on the right. These fun activities are sure to be a hit with all LDS kids online (and, admit it, with the adults, too).

New Look for the Friend Online

mormonmagmeister — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:32:06 +0000

Check out the new look at the Web site for the Friend, friend.lds.org. There you can find links to things such as videos of Matt and Mandy and For Little Friends, interactive coloring pages, printable activities, and audio recordings of stories. You can also see that there are features yet to come, such as interactive hidden pictures. This site is no longer just for Primary teachers and leaders; it now is shaping up to be a great place for kids to go as well.