Hello friends, counting down to Mother’s Day, I assume! Me too, with some reluctance (see the two newest articles at the LDS Families site—more on that in a jif.) As I have recently passed my three year anniversary as editor of this site, I thought I’d take the time to re-introduce it and myself in this newsletter.

Weirdly, even many of my friends and family members are uncertain as to what the site itself is, or what exactly I’m doing there. I have heard several people introduce me as a blogger—in complimentary tones, I must say--and others introduce me as working for the Mormon Church. Either would be great, but neither is true. So here’s the real scoop—

The LDS Families Site at BellaOnline is a content site containing articles on topics of interest to LDS families. Most of the readers are LDS (that is, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known more generally as Mormons). I am pleased to say, however, that a good deal of the emails I get come from non-members who find something of value from the site. The LDS Families Site differs from a blog in that it is not, alas, about me. It is not my “web log,” journal, dairy, random musings, or emotional vent. This is the distinction of content sites from other formats; the star of the show on a content site is the subject itself, in this case, LDS families. Though I do use personal anecdotes in some articles--in the same way I would in giving a talk or a lesson—I am not the issue. (Alright, there are rare exceptions. The latest article is a message from me to women who are suffering through infertility. I’ve been there. This one out of all of them deals heavily with MY Experience.) There was an editor responsible for the site before I popped up and I am sure that there will be others after me (though hopefully my tenure will be long and happy! ;) ) BellaOnline is the parent site, containing over 400 individual content sites on topics ranging from Chinese cooking to children With Special Needs; Unemployment to TV Comedies; and including Embroidery, Online Gaming, Senior Living, Adoption, Atheism, Human Rights, Urban Legends, Cacti and Succulents, and, well, I said there were over 400, right? Each of these is run by a different editor who is responsible for ensuring new content is posted regularly, answering communication from readers, and running the site’s forum. Oh yeah, sending out newsletters, too.

Most of the new articles posted on LDS Families are written by me. The site is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by the church it is dedicated to covering, and I am not an official spokesperson for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am an active, lifelong member of The Church who is striving to raise my own family according to its precepts and to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. As such, I take my responsibility to give accurate information very seriously. I rely heavily on the scriptures—“The Holy Bible”, “The Book of Mormon”, “The Doctrine and Covenants”, and “The Pearl of Great Price”--especially when covering a doctrinal topic. I also research the teachings of modern day prophets and apostles on The Church’s official website, lds.org. I put a great deal of prayer and thought into my articles. I would hate very much to turn someone off of The Church because my voice is too jarring. (As to that, I know my voice is an acquired taste, and I am grateful I have found a few people who don’t gag on it.) I love the gospel more than anything. I am so grateful to have this opportunity to write about it every week.

I try to cover a wide variety of topics and issues; currently featured on LDS Families are two Mother’s day articles, a recipe for monkey bread, a FHE lesson on family unity, an article on teaching kids reverence, and one about learning from trials. I try to provide at least one book or product review per month, and am disciplining myself to offer more FHE lesson ideas than in the past. I love to share recipes, so those pop up frequently, and much of the rest comprises parenting articles and discussions of gospel principles. Whenever you get something in your inbox from me it is a newsletter, not an article. It will contain whatever tidbits or fodder is floating around the ether of my brain, as well as links to the most recent articles available. It will also provide a link to the LDS Families forum, and just in this edition—our twitter and facebook links.

Please do visit the site, and contact me with any feedback, suggestions, or questions. I’d love it if you’d like us on facebook, follow us on twitter, and pass us along to your friends. Thanks for hanging out some. I promise next week’s newsletter will be far less business-ey!

Here is the link to the LDS Families Site: http://www.bellaonline.com/site/LDSFamilies

Here is the LDS Families Site Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/LDSFamilies1

Here is the LDS Families Site Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LDSFamiliesSite

Here's the latest article from the LDS Families site at BellaOnline.com.

To My Sisters Who Want To Be Mothers
The day that celebrates mothers with joy is a sorrow for those of us who'd give anything to fill that role but can't. Here's a message of love from someone who has been there.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art33759.asp

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about LDS Families located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=392

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!

Jamie Rose, LDS Families Editor
http://LDSFamilies.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com