Now you can follow the words of LDS leaders through Twitter. Elder M. Russell Ballard now has an official Twitter account and he tweeted the following message after his Church Education System fireside on Sunday: “Thank you to all who tuned in to the devotional. It was a joy to be with you, both those in San Diego and throughout the world #CESDevo.”

Elder Ballard is the first LDS Apostle to tweet, but I expect that others will begin tweeting soon.

You can follow Elder Ballard at @M_RBallard (twitter.com/M_RBallard). The account has nearly 6,000 followers.

The First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Presidency of the Seventy, Presiding Bishopric, and the General Officers of the Church have pages on Facebook and Google+, and now have accounts on Twitter. There are Twitter handles reserved for all 15 of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve, but until each account becomes active, the handles may possibly change.

Social media is a great way for the top leadership of the Church to share the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“In addition to the official Facebook and Google+ pages for Church leaders that the Church has maintained on their behalf for some time now, these senior leaders have begun using Twitter to share their words, thoughts and teachings,” said Jessica Moody, Church spokeswoman. “Elder Ballard’s tweet is the first to be shared, but other Church leaders will be also be using Twitter in the near future.

“This is another step Church leaders are taking to use social media to share the gospel and communicate with the world.”

Update: May 6th: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland also sent his first tweet tonight: “Being with missionaries is the greatest. Tonight it was the MTC in Provo, with all international MTCs listening in.” And he included a picture at the MTC.