The viral nature of a popular online video was not on Harvard undergraduate Rachel Esplin's mind when she participated in a campus panel discussion in September about faith.

A high school background in speech and debate, a service trip to Mexico last spring with Jewish campus organization Harvard Hillel and experience on Harvard's interfaith council are among the experiences that made Rachel very comfortable accepting Hillel's invitation to participate on a student panel moderated by The Washington Post's Sally Quinn, a co-moderator of the newsweek.washingtonpost.com blog "On Faith."

The 20-year-old junior from Blackfoot, Idaho, signed a media release and knew the panel was being videotaped. But she gave little thought to that as the moderator's questions started coming -- about the church, missions, garments, religious diversity, the priesthood and the church's view on women. For more than 20 minutes, Rachel's delivery was as unstoppable as the incoming tide.

"It was really awesome that (Quinn) directly asked me, 'What is your relationship with Christ?' It was my favorite question," Rachel said in a phone interview from Cambridge, Mass., last week.

Absent was any hint of confrontation or suggestion of a doctrinal or cultural ambush, something Rachel credits to a "genuine curiosity" that is part of the dialogue in the Harvard community. "There are virtues to that. There is a certain permissiveness here, but also a tolerance."

Harvard Hillel posted videos of the panel discussion on its Web site, where Rachel's segment intersected with an online LDS community had just been supercharged by Elder M. Russell Ballard's admonition for church members to add their voice to the online discussion about the church. "... you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true. You can download videos from church and other appropriate sites," the apostle said in the cover story of the July 2008 Ensign.

Rachel was concerned some of her remarks might have made her sound "a little too anti-BYU, anti-Idaho. That was not my intention -- sometimes people get like that out here." But bloggers have reacted to Rachel's experience by musing about how they would have handled the moderator's questions on the fly, and how they were encouraged by a young person's eagerness to speak up.

"Thank you Rachel Esplin for the tutorial" on making friends through a gospel discussion, summarized Whitney Johnson on the LDS blog "Know Your Neighbor."

Rachel said she was completely shocked at how viral the video has become, "Especially since I was only vaguely aware of the possibility that it might be posted on Harvard Hillel's Web site and completely oblivious to the possibility that it would be circulated around the LDS online community."

Caryn Esplin, Rachel's mother, is on the faculty at Brigham Young University-Idaho. "I get e-mails almost daily about (the video), too. We are quite amazed at how many people have been so moved by the interview. She answered the questions openly and honestly, but perhaps, that is what's so unique?"

Rachel said the number of e-mails and other messages she gets is still picking up. She credits "long-term preparation" and an open-minded forum for the way the panel discussion received. "My patriarchal blessing talks pretty directly about talking with people who have different beliefs than my own."

Her short-term preparation for the panel discussion included jotting down a few thoughts, preparing an opening statement in case she was asked to deliver one, and a prayerful attitude. "I was really trying to have the Spirit there."

Rachel's recommendations for others who want to be better prepared to talk about being a Mormon include looking for opportunities to talk. "Make sure you engage in those kinds of conversations on a regular basis. If you hear the Catholic community is hosting a road-side cleanup, go participate in that and break down the barriers along the way."

She also recommends some advice her mother gave her: "Be sincere and honest and show love."


E-mail: sfidel@desnews.com