This week we welcomed Eliza Ruth Smith into our family. She’s our fifth baby and second girl. She weighed in at 6 lbs 13 oz. My wife, Heather, and Eliza are both doing well. We love them both so much.

Eliza is named after three great women: Eliza comes from LDS pioneer Eliza R. Snow, and both my wife and I have grandmothers named Ruth.

Brief Biography of Eliza R. Snow

Eliza R. Snow was the second president of the Relief Society and served in that capacity 21 years, from 1868 to 1887. Many people called her “Zion’s Poetess” because she wrote so many poems and songs. In fact 10 of her songs are in the present day LDS Church hymnal. Eliza was instrumental in the organization of the Young Women’s and Primary organizations in addition to her work with the Relief Society.

Joining the Church

Eliza R. Snow was among the first people to join the Church in these latter days. Joseph Smith visited the Snow home in 1831 and baptized Eliza’s mother and sister that same year. Eliza wasn’t baptized for a few years later, however, in 1835. She moved to Kirtland, Ohio, at that time and there lived with Joseph and Emma Smith working as their family school teacher. in 1836, Eliza’s brother, Lorenzo, decided to join his family in Kirtland. He joined the Church that year, and eventually succeeded Joseph Smith as the fifth prophet and president of the LDS Church.

Organization of the Relief Society

Eliza R. Snow was present at the first Relief Society meeting in Nauvoo in 1842. She is credited with suggesting the name that was finally settled on by the group: The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo. She departed Nauvoo with many of the other Saints in the winter of 1846, and carried with her the records of those first Relief Society meetings on the long journey west.

Re-organization of and Presiding over the Relief Society

In 1866, Eliza was called by Brigham Young to help reorganize Female Relief Society. She traveled all over Utah encouraging sisters to join Relief Society “for the good of the poor,” for “saving souls,” and “for the accomplishment of every good and noble work.” Among the programs instituted by the Relief Society during Eliza’s tenure as president were a grain-saving program, and a special emphasis was placed on hygiene and nursing. Also during this time, Eliza and other LDS women published their literary writings in the Women’s Exponent. Relief Society news and national political updates, often related to women’s suffrage, were also included in the publication. (see Mormon Wiki’s article on Eliza R. Snow)

Trip to Jerusalem

In 1872, President Brigham Young called his First Counselor, George A. Smith, to go to the Holy Land and dedicate the land to the Lord. Lorenzo Snow, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and his sister Eliza R. Snow were among those who traveled with President Smith. The group left Utah in October 1872, traveled to New York, and then took a steam ship to Liverpool England. The group visited Rome and Naples, Italy, Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt, Athens, Greece, and other sites in Europe and the middle east. In due time, the group arrived in Palestine and beheld the city of Jerusalem. The group slept in tents and traveled by horseback on roads that Eliza R. Snow described “uneven” and George A. Smith called “a rocky, barren and almost desolate country.” (See The Path of Jesus on LDS.org) All this took place in Eliza’s seventieth year.

The delegation of Church leaders had been sent to Europe and Palestine to see what opportunities there might be for preaching the gospel and to rededicate the Holy Land for the return of the Jews. Orson Hyde had conducted a similar mission in 1840–41 but had been forced to go alone. Now the Brethren felt it was time to reassert the great interest the Church had in a regathering of the Jews to Palestine while the Saints were gathering to a new Zion in the West. On March 2, 1873 both President George A. Smith and Elder Lorenzo Snow offered prayers of dedication on the Mount of Olives (see Church History in the Fulness of Times Institute Student Manual Chapter 32). The group returned to Utah in July 1873, nearly a year after leaving.

Eliza R. Snow was a dedicated, faithful, stalwart Latter-day Saint and servant of the Lord, and we hope our new Eliza R. follows in those footsteps.

A New Eliza R. in the World is a post from: Mormon Mission Prep

Though this isn’t exactly related to Mormon Mission Prep, I thought this would nevertheless be a good forum to publish a summary and highlights of official LDS Church Website traffic. As some of you may know, I work for the LDS Church and I am in charge of their Web analytics. Therefore people often ask me, both in my professional and personal life, for data, facts, and figures about Church’s Web presence. For some, it’s a matter of curiosity, for others, they want to use the information in firesides, or fifth Sunday lessons. With the Church’s permission, I’m happy to provide a few data points. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Download One-Page Summary of LDS Church Websites’ Traffic Stats

How many people visit Church sites?

The family of official LDS Church sites (LDS.org, Mormon.org, FamilySearch.org, etc.) gets about seven million unique visitors per month.

What are the biggest LDS Church sites?

FamilySearch.org is our biggest site with about 3.5 million visitors a month. The LDS.org Home Report Suite* gets about 2.5 million visitors a month. The Gospel Library, which has current and past magazine articles and other content, gets about 1 million visitors each month.

*The LDS.org Home Report Suite includes the home page and several other miscellaneous pages, but it excludes other major site sections such as the Scriptures and General Conference.

How many websites does the Church operate?

The LDS Church operates over 100 different websites. We have international sites for about 65 countries around the world, plus more than 50 other official Church sites (and the number keeps growing).

What are the top international sites?

Brazil’s site is our biggest international site with almost 40,000 visitors each month. It is followed by Argentina, Mexico, Japan, and Germany.

What are some of the newest official LDS Church sites?

• LDS Online Store: A place to order official products and materials from the LDS Church.
• FamilySearch RootsTech: The site for a new Church-sponsored family history research conference.
• Helping in the Vineyard: A site that provides access to volunteer service opportunities of the LDS Church.
• Combating Pornography: A Web site dedicated to helping prevent and overcome pornography addiction.
• Sites for newly announced temples such as: Phoenix, AZ Temple; Cordoba, Argentina Temple; Gilbert, AZ Temple; and Rome, Italy Temple.

What time of the week do LDS Church sites get the most traffic?

Weekends see the most traffic. LDS.org usage peaks on Sunday mornings, with about to 35,000 visitors per hour. There is also a peak on Saturday nights with about 30,000 visitors per hour. Fridays are the lowest day per week in traffic.

Has mobile traffic been on the rise lately?

Yes, the volume of mobile visitor traffic to Church websites has more than doubled over the past year. The Sunday spike in Church traffic is even more pronounced in relation to mobile, with Sunday traffic from mobile devices about three times the volume of the average day of the week. Sundays see about 45,000 unique mobile visitors, while weekdays generally have about 16,000. The iPhone and iPad are the most frequently used mobile devices browsing Church websites.

LDS Church Websites’ Traffic Stats is a post from: Mormon Mission Prep

Hello!  I’m Heather, wife of Jimmy, the founder of this website.  From time to time, I’ll be posting as a guest author.

Here’s a little info about me.  I grew up in a small town in Idaho, 5th of 7 children.  I graduated from Ricks (BYU-I) and BYU Provo way back in the 1990′s (my 7-year-old daughter acts like we’re sooooo old-fashioned because we were born in the 1900′s).

I met the love of my life after I graduated from BYU.  We crossed paths at the drinking fountain and were married 8 months later in the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple.  We’ve had fun adventures living in Florida, Arizona, Tennessee, and Utah.

I’m mama to 4 cute tots, ages 7, 5, 2, and 6 months.  Our home is a little crazy with energetic kids (especially those 3 boys!!!), but we are constantly striving to teach them that happiness comes from living the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We’re all a work in progress – especially me!

I love hiking in the mountains, playing the piano, reading a good book, eating dark chocolate, and being with my family. I  love my beautiful, ordinary life!

Introducing Guest Author: Heather is a post from: Mormon Mission Prep