Missionary Monday: Prominent Figures Gather For "Meet the Mormons" Movie Premiere

 If you are doubting the impact of Meet the Mormons, just read this article (the original article is posted HERE.):

Salt Lake City — 

More than 500 invited guests gathered in Utah this week for the premiere of “Meet the Mormons,” a feature-length documentary produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The crowd at the "Meet the Mormons" movie premiere.
They included well-known Latter-day Saint and community figures, including business leaders, educators, artists, performers, filmmakers, sports figures and politicians.

The cast of "Meet the Mormons."
The cast of the movie was on hand at the Megaplex Theatres on 7 October 2014 in Sandy, Utah, to greet the guests and watch the much anticipated movie that has been in the making for three years.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles greet the movie audience.
The festivities included a reception and a welcome from Elders Jeffrey R. Holland and David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who have asked moviegoers to share their impressions of the film on social media channels.

The Sullivans with Neon Trees drummer Elaine Bradley and bassist Branden Campbell.
Many of the attendees captured photos with the six Mormon families who were showcased in the 70-minute production, ranging from a humanitarian to a football coach to a missionary mom.

Some of the children in the cast enjoy time together at the movie premiere.
The inspirational movie takes viewers on location around the world to introduce them to diverse families in Costa Rica, Nepal and four cities in the United States. The families featured in the film say it has been a positive experience. In fact, friendships have been formed between the cast and crew members.

Singer Marie Osmond, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland attend the "Meet the Mormons" premiere.
Producers hope the documentary will change negative stereotypes people may have about Latter-day Saints. The film was designed to show the audience that Mormons are Christians who lead normal lives.

The Halvorsens at the "Meet the Mormons" movie premiere.
Col. Gail Halvorsen is celebrating his 94th birthday as the film debuts. Halvorsen was known as “the candy bomber” during the Berlin Airlift in the 1940s. He brought his wife to the premiere.

Humanitarian Bishnu Adhikari and his family meet artist David Archuleta at the movie premiere.
Engineer and humanitarian Bishnu Adhikari, originally from Nepal, attended the Utah event with his wife and children. The family of Ken Niumatalolo participated in Tuesday’s premiere. He’s the head football coach of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Kickboxer Carolina Muñoz Marin attends the movie premiere with her husband.
Carolina Muñoz Marin, an amateur kickboxing champion from Costa Rica, runs a charity with her husband. They traveled to Utah for the movie’s opening.

The Sullivan family attended the movie premiere with their sons.
The movie features a Mormon bishop and his family from Atlanta, Georgia. That bishop and now stake president, Jermaine, and his wife, Kembe, were in Utah with their boys to see the movie.

The Armstrong family poses with Dan Reynolds, singer of Imagine Dragons, at the "Meet the Mormons" premiere.
Utah missionary mom Dawn Armstrong, her husband, and their children also enjoyed meeting those who attended the premiere.

The crowd inside the theater at the "Meet the Mormons" movie premiere in Utah.
“Meet the Mormons” is being shown in more than 300 theaters across the United States beginning Friday, 10 October. Visit the website to find viewing locations.

Table decorations at the movie premiere in Sandy, Utah.
Proceeds from the film will benefit the American Red Cross.

Meet The Mormons Movie Coming To Highlands Ranch!

SHOWING AT AMC HIGHLANDS RANCH

OCTOBER 10-16TH

CHECK THEATER FOR SHOWTIMES.

Ramadan and Fasting: How They Compare

Recently members from the Public Affairs Committee in the Denver Metro Area were invited to attend an evening of cultural enlightenment with the Turkish Muslim Community. This group is part of the Multicultural MOSAIC Foundation, and their mission is to inform and practice open dialogue in order to promote peace and harmony in the world.

At this dinner, one of the leaders of MOSAIC taught us about Ramadan. After which, Elder Hillier of the Seventy discussed Mormon Fasting.

Here are some things that were taught:

-Ramadan is practiced by faithful Muslims throughout the world
-Ramadan is named after the month of the Muslim calendar that the community spends fasting
-Fasting during Ramadan occurs from sun-up to sun-down, about 16 hours a day. This includes food and drink.
-At the end of the fast each day, families are encouraged to engage in a Thanksgiving type feast and invite friends and family over to enjoy the meal
-After Ramadan, Muslims embrace 3 solid days of celebrations with family and food!
-Ramadan is practiced to promote humility and to learn to serve those less fortunate
-Muslims are asked to contribute a portion of their income (2.5%) to the poor. 

In many ways, their Ramadan is similar to the Mormon fast. Here is what the Mormon fast consists of:

-Once a month, usually the first Sunday of the month, Mormons are asked to fast for 2 meals or 24 hours. This includes both food and drink.
-Mormons are asked to contribute the money they saved by not eating (i.e., the money they would have spent on food) to the poor. This money is given to the Bishop of the ward (congregation), who uses this money to help those less fortunate in his congregation. If more money is collected than needed, that money is given to other wards in the area, or sent to Salt Lake City for the church as a whole to use throughout the world.
-Fasting is used as a means to help members be humble and to learn to serve those less fortunate.

From this evening, members of the Public Affairs Committee realized that Muslims and Mormons share many of the same ideals and beliefs. In fact, we are very similar in many ways. It was wonderful to share our mutual beliefs and learn from each other.

Plus, as an added bonus, we got to enjoy their fantastic feast after the sun went down- and it was DELICIOUS!!!! Truly, The Mosaic Foundation is a wonderful organization, and we were blessed to partake in such a wonderful evening.

What Is Public Affairs?

Many people have asked, "What is Public Affairs?"

Besides helping the stake with this blog, we work with the communities in which we live to build relationships with people not of our faith. Specifically, we try to build relationships with opinion leaders in each town (mayors, school board members, leaders of other churches, etc.) and work with them to make our communities stronger.

In Highlands Ranch, we help organize various service opportunities- such as the Hunger Stops Here Food Drive organized last April and the Teacher Appreciation Dinner also held in April. We also helped with the 4th of July Float and Parade as a way to try and inform people about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We do not proselyte, we simply try to build relationships with those not of our faith.

Serving on the Public Affairs committee has been both rewarding and fun! There is never a dull moment as we try to build relationships and dispel myths, and most importantly- to serve others.

For more information about what Public Affairs does, you can click HERE.

Missionary Monday: Fourth of July Parade and Booth!

For this week's Missionary Monday, we want to highlight the efforts of Sister Nalen in organizing  a float for the Highlands Ranch 4th of July Parade as well as putting together a booth at The Town Center for people to come and learn more about the church. Thank you, Sister Nalen, for all of your efforts- it really paid off as we were able to showcase the stake in a positive light!

The theme for the float was "Family, isn't it about, time?"

 About 30 people from the stake came and braved the 90 degree weather and walked with the float. It was great to see so many youth!

Some primary kids joined in the fun as well!

 The float had a camping theme:

 The booth (located in Town Center) had a fishing game for kids to fish. They fished out candy along with a pass along card. Over 400 pass along cards got handed out as a result!

 Inside the booth visitors could find various items to take home, ranging from Bibles to copies of The Proclamation On the Family as well as ask questions and find out more about the church.

 The missionaries were also on hand to try and talk to people about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 Thank you to everyone involved! It was a wonderful day, and a wonderful opportunity to spread the word about what we believe!

Teacher Appreciation!

On Wednesday night our Stake Public Affairs committee hosted the annual Teacher Appreciation Night. On this night, high school seniors have the opportunity to honor a teacher that has inspired them in their education. The teachers, along with a guest, are invited to attend a delicious dinner. The students write a tribute to their teacher, explaining how that teacher impacted them. Anne Trujillo, of Channel 7 News, attends and reads the tributes and presents the awards to the teachers.

Year in and year out, this evening proves to be a huge success! The entire stake comes together to make the evening a night for all to remember. Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers who put in thousands of hours to make this night so special!