May 11, 2014, is the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day in the United States.
In an effort to share the Church’s beliefs about the divine calling of mothers, the Church is releasing a new video through a social media campaign that began May 8 and runs through May 12.
Shareable content can be found about the importance of mothers on mormon.org social media pages (facebook.com/mormon, google.com/+mormon, andinstagram/mormonorg).
The images include a link to the website mormon.org/motherhood, where people can learn what Mormons believe about the importance of mothers, have the option of chatting online with a full-time missionary, and watch an inspiring video tribute to mothers called “It Was Mom.”
This new, downloadable, English-only video features statements emphasizing all that mothers do in our lives. Members can participate by becoming familiar with the content of mormon.org/motherhood and providing a link to the website or sharing the video on social media pages. When posting on social media sites, include the hashtag #ItwasMom.
“There are two primary purposes for this initiative,” said Elder David F. Evans, Executive Director of the Missionary Department and a member of the Seventy. “First, it’s a reminder of the importance of mothers and women in our own lives and to society. We hope through viewing the video and visiting the mormon.org/motherhood web page we will be reminded of the incalculable influence mothers and righteous women have in our lives. Second, we affirm our belief that motherhood is the highest, holiest service assumed by mankind. The divine role of mothers and women is key to God’s plan of happiness for all His children.”
The mormon.org YouTube channel also includes an #ItwasMom Mother’s Day playlist that features 21 individual mormon.org portraits from mothers. For example, the third portrait features Lesley Toro, an expectant mother (in Spanish with 1,340,931 views to date). The 18th portrait in the lineup is the most popular portrait, Rochelle Tallmadge, a Texan and mother of two disabled sons (2,927,002 views).