Monday, June 1, 2009

AN APOSTALIC WARNING FROM ELDER BEDNAR

It appears that Elder Bednar stunned his CES audience last May when he used an Apostalic warning to urge us to be very careful about the dangers of online life. He specifically referred to the wasted time, the ability to be "drawn in" where cyber-fun entices us away from interpersonal communication and opportunitities to strengthen home and family relationships, and the justification that we can participate in activities we would never do in real space and time because they are only occurring in a cyber world.

He went on to describe the danger of engaging in online relationships and creating cyber worlds where we escape our real relationships and responsibilities.


"Today I raise an apostolic voice of warning about the potentially stifling, suffocating, suppressing, and constraining impact of some kinds of cyberspace interactions and experiences upon our souls. The concerns I raise are not new; they apply equally to other types of media, such as television, movies, and music. But in a cyber world, these challenges are more pervasive and intense. I plead with you to beware of the sense-dulling and spiritually destructive influence of cyberspace technologies that are used to produce high fidelity and that promote degrading and evil purposes.


He went on to say that is we are playing games that include behavior we wouldn't do in real life, then neither should we expose our souls to it electronically.


"[A] simulation or model can lead to spiritual impairment and danger if the fidelity is high and the purposes are bad—such as experimenting with actions contrary to God’s commandments or enticing us to think or do things we would not otherwise think or do 'because it is only a game.'"

"If the adversary cannot entice us to misuse our physical bodies, then one of his most potent tactics is to beguile you and me as embodied spirits to disconnect gradually and physically from things as they really are. In essence, he encourages us to think and act as if we were in our premortal, unembodied state. And, if we let him, he can cunningly employ some aspects of modern technology to accomplish his purposes. Please be careful of becoming so immersed and engrossed in pixels, texting, ear buds, twittering, online social networking, and potentially addictive uses of media and the Internet that you fail to recognize the importance of your physical body and miss the richness of person-to-person communication. "


The youth leaders have been worried that we are becoming a people who can't function without something on a screen before us or buzzing in our ears. Dad and I are going to try to turn the computers off earlier and spend more time talking and working together.

You can watch the entire broadcast at http://www.lds.org/move/index.html?type=ces&event=1&lang=english.

Come to the House of the Lord



Church was wonderful yesterday. Being the fifth Sunday, the sacrament meeting was dedicated to missionary work. Our two full-time missionaries spoke and did a wonderful job. But for me, the best part was hearing from a fairly new member named Bob. He is from Thailand and joined the church about a year and a half ago and on Saturday, he went through the temple for the first time. They asked him to bear testimony of his experience there and it touched my heart so deeply that I had to share my thoughts. He explained that in the year and a half since his baptism, he had been to the temple three times. His first time was a visit to the visitor's center where he first saw the temple. He said from the moment he saw it he knew he wanted to go there someday. His second trip was to do baptisms for the dead, another experience that only deepened his desire to receive his endowments. His third trip was one with his son. He brought his son to the grounds to clean. But I am sure this wasn't his only purpose. I am sure he wanted to teach his son how important and sacrad the temple was. He wanted his son to know how important it was to be worthy of it one day. Bob went on to say that on Saturday, his dream came true. When he said that, tears filled my eyes as I thought about my own temple experience. I remember going through for my own endowment and feeling like I had made it! I had done my very best to stay worthy so I could enter the temple. I remember how often I went that first year. Living in Logan, I had the opportunity to go every week. It was a time in my life I will always treasure as the temple was such an intregal part of my life. Over the years, that excitement has wavered and weaned a bit. Not because I don't still find it to be a sacrad, wonderful place of worship, but because I have let things get in the way! But yesterday, I was reminded of what a blessing, privelege and honor it is to have a temple so close and to know that I can go whenever I want! I want to feel like Bob does, that every time I get to go, it is a dream come true. We have two wonderful events coming up in our family where we will get to enter the House of the Lord together, as a whole family. We will literally see each other standing together and maybe, we'll get a taste of what eternity will be like! I hope we will all go often to the temple this summer to prepare our hearts for these sacrad events. I hope we will continue to go often for the rest of our lives, wherever we are, so we can remember the eternal things we are working towards.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

"And I also command you that ye keep a record of this people.."

We believe this to be important and necessary. As our family gets bigger and more spread out, it is becoming more difficult and more crucial that we continue take part in each others lives. So here we are. Our greatest gifts are each other and this is our record.

HI EVERYONE!



Thanks for setting this up, Amanda! I'm excited about the chance to maintain a family history by posting here.

Well, Dad and I will begin with an update on what's going on with us. First of all, Dad started the ball rolling for his knee surgery. It looks like it will be early September for knee number one and early December for knee number two. In the meantime, Dr. Blue shot him up with Cortisone so he should be in good form for vacation. He's got a very busy travel week this week so expect lots of phone calls everyone!

I'm editing book three and reviewing other authors' books so they will reciprocate when book three comes out. Needless to say, things are hectic right now. I just wrote a review of When Hearts Conjoin, the story of the Herrin's conjoined twins, and my interview with the author will be posted on my blog Monday.

The pool's open but we haven't had enough consistently warm days to really enjoy it yet. We're looking forward to that maybe next week. Dad bought a fountain for the pool so it will be as much fun when we're swimming as when we're not.

Grandma has Macular Degeneration. We're going to see a specialist on Wednesday and hopefully we'll find out that there is a simple repair. She's handling the news fairly well but a call or note would make her day.

Chris is in Basic Training on Parris Island, South Carolina. He sent an address so people will write to him. If you're interested, let me know and I'll forward that on.

Congratulations to Adam for his anticipated engagement to Brittany! Applause, applause also to Tom and Krista on the arrival of their new baby--a 22 foot boat.

Adam and josh, ain't it good to have the movin' done?

Amanda and Nick, how's it feel to almost sleep through the night again?

Love to all!
Mom