By Lin Floyd

Have you discovered “blogging” on the Internet? Although I’m somewhat computer literate (my technologically-savvy son would laugh at that self-description), I’ve avoided blogging. Not understanding what a weB LOG was all about, I thought it was just another webpage to publish on the Internet with the option of getting comments from others. Feeling it was a waste of time to put my daily thoughts on the web, I’ve spent all my efforts on the Internet pursuing family history. I have uploaded my ancestors’ photos and histories to create a webpage1 (which was a huge stretch for me but with the help of another son who was in high school at the time, I learned how to do it.)

Then I found a former sister-in-law, Susi, who I had lost contact with many years ago. She was a blogger. Through reading her posts and making comments, we got reacquainted. I was able to read her daughters’ blogs and got to know them better. Because of my divorce in 1975, during the ensuing years I’d missed being an aunt to her children. Now I began to see a purpose in blogging, to make new friends and connect with others, including family. It could be a tool for building relationships, offering support to others in their daily lives and proclaiming the gospel.

Susi suggested that I make a blog to share my life and photos of my growing family. I thought––why not? With her help, I soon joined the world of blogging2. Now I blog almost daily and find it’s a wonderful way of sharing my thoughts and testimony with family, friends, other members, and those who might be interested in the gospel. It’s a convenient forum to publish my poetry and photos, my thoughts on any issue, or just interact with family and friends in a different way. Plus it’s fun.

My relationships with my grown children and grandchildren have been strengthened as I’ve recognized their special occasions and accomplishments on my blog. Allowing comments on my blog has opened up dialogue with others including a son who has distanced himself from the Church and lives in another state. We’ve discussed together some gospel concepts through the medium of the Internet that we couldn’t discuss in person.

I posted a poem on my blog about performing temple work for my mother who died a year ago, and received many positive comments and interesting questions from friends of other faiths and from my son about why we do vicarious work for the dead. This gave me an opportunity to share my testimony about an important gospel principle. Blogging can be a family activity as the younger generation in our families are naturals with computers and love to teach their parents and grandparents what they’ve learned in school about the Internet and computers.

Are there dangers in blogging? Yes––of course, but there are safeguards that can be set up as you create a blog: you can determine who can access your blog or be allowed to make comments, etc. Many sites online will help you in setting up a free blog.5 Remember to be careful what you publish on your blog as far as your personal information, email address, last name or location or specific information on family members to protect their privacy and yours.

Blogging allows us the opportunity for LDS voices be heard on the Internet and fulfills the advice given recently by Elder M. Russell Ballard, Quorum of the Twelve:

“May I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet, particularly the new media, to share the gospel and to explain in simple clear terms the message of the Restoration. Most of you already know that if you have access to the Internet you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true.” 3

It’s also is a way to fulfill the scripture…. let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify our Father which is in Heaven..4

1www.geocities.com/famhistory1867
2 www.lettersfromlin.blogspot.com
3www.lds.org Commencement Address, BYU-Idaho,
April 11, 2008
4 Matthew 5:16
5 I used www.blogger.com to make my site, it’s sponsored
by Google, but there are many others. Just do a web
search for “free blogs.”