Today’s Reading: 2 Nephi: 30
15 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (See also, Isaiah 11:9)
I didn’t serve a ‘full-time mission’ for the church. At the age of 20 I sat in the bishop’s office and boldly proclaimed that I was thinking of serving a mission. The bishop pondered for a moment and then encouraged me against it. Undoubtedly he’d noticed my making eyes with a cute boy in the ward for some time, and I wondered if that had anything to do with his encouragement. I also knew that regardless of what he said, the choice was still mine to make with the Lord.
After much pondering and prayer the desire to serve a full-time mission left my mind at that time and I took that as my sign. As I often do know, my prayers and pondering had asked the Lord to ‘remove this thought from my mind, if it be only mine, and not from thee’. One short year later, I excitedly became engaged and 5 months after that I knelt across the alter in the house of the Lord and sealed myself to the man of my choosing, along with the Lord. The Lord has a way of making old things new, and just 9 months ago now, the desire to be a better missionary returned to my bosom and would not leave.
The same nine months ago, the call to team-teach a combined women’s + men’s class focusing on social media and spreading the gospel through it was one way the Lord prepared my heart and mind for what lay ahead. A few months later the call to serve as a ward missionary came and along with it the opportunity to start something beautiful came into fruition. This website.
In his address to the students at BYU in 2014, David A. Bednar shared inspiring insights into this day and age and how the Lord is spreading the gospel more than ever with modern technological advances; The Lord is hastening His work, and it is no coincidence that these powerful communication innovations and inventions are occurring in the dispensation of the fulness of times…I believe the time has come for us as disciples of Christ to use these inspired tools appropriately and more effectively to testify of God the Eternal Father, His plan of happiness for His children, and His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Savior of the world; to proclaim the reality of the Restoration of the gospel in the latter days; and to accomplish the Lord’s work. [i]
We live in such an inspired time, full of so many amazing tools and resources for good. And just as my team-teacher taught in our class that Sunday, so many months ago, these tools are also being used by the adversary as a means to do harm. Elder Bednar very wisely outlined guidelines that we should follow as we use social media to help flood the earth with the gospel:
- Be authentic & consistent
- Edify & uplift
- Respect intellectual property
- Be wise & vigilant
Be wise my sweet sisters, and please remember as you share the gospel online; technology in and of itself is neither inherently good nor bad. Rather, the purposes accomplished with and through technology are the ultimate indicators of goodness or badness. [i]
Wife to Eric. Mom to Quinn. And Twins Avery & Rhys. I believe that I am a child of God. Who loves me & I love him. I believe in date nights to the Temple. To the movies. Out to dinner and especially long hikes.
Wednesday’s are my fave day of the week because, ‘it’s Wednesday David’. Red is simply the best color. And black takes a close second.
So beautiful! I love knowing a bit of the backstory. What a great leader you are!