In a November of 2011 Fireside at Utah State University Elder Marlin K. Jensen, a General Authority Emeritus of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, engaged an attendee in the following conversation (Stephan Smoot. “Reports of the Death of the Church are Greatly Exaggerated,” January 15, 2013)
Q: Has the Church seen the effects of Google on membership? Have there been…is the Church leadership aware of—and, I don’t know, maybe I’m overstating what’s going on, but it seems like the people I talk to about Church history are people who find out and leave, quickly—
A: Yes.
Q: Is the Church aware of that problem? Is there anything…I mean, the new manuals would help, I guess, “inoculation” within terms of youth would help. What about people who are already leaving in droves?
A: We are aware. Maybe I’ll just say this: You know what, I often get this question, “Do the brethren really know?” They do.
A cottage industry of writers misrepresenting this interchange has arisen. Carrie Shefield (“Why Mormons flee their church,” June 17, 2012), makes such a misrepresentation.
