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SALT LAKE CITY -- It isn't even two years old yet, but a YouTube channel launched by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has already reached millions of viewers around the world.
The Mormon Messages Channel was launched in August 2008 and has been gaining in popularity ever since.
A video called "What Matters Most," featuring a short message from President Thomas S. Monson, has been viewed more than 400,000 times. A two-minute long message called "He Lives: Testimonies of Jesus Christ" was posted just three days ago and is quickly approaching 30,000 views.
"In April we will have surpassed 10 million total views of Mormon Messages," said David Nielson, Audiovisual Department managing director.
They have also been seen in more than 190 countries. Neilson says his department uses Facebook and Twitter to get the word out about new messages, and Church members take it from there.
Last Easter weekend a 4 1/2 minute video with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland talking about the final moments about Jesus Christ was posted, and traffic began building right away. Church members spread the word and shared the link, and it was the top Internet video that weekend.
"Our hope would be that the Church members would first be inspired by these messages. Secondly, that they would desire to share these messages with friends and family, both member and nonmember, through the various media channels that are now available. The response has been has great -- we have seen many members share these videos with family and friends via social media sites," said Nielson.
He says thousands of positive comments have also been expressed.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
