I've been thinking a lot about two talks that were given in this last General Conference by Elder Cook and Elder Ballard. 

Elder Cook spoke about the importance of staying focused on Christ and not "looking beyond the mark". Of course, there are so many ways to do that and I think to one degree or another, we are all guilty of it every day. The bottom line is that the most important thing we can do is focus on our intimately personal relationship with the Savior and strive to be closer to Him. 

Elder Ballard shared this quote from Elder Neal A. Maxwell: "We must never assume that just because something is unexplainable by us, it is unexplainable." I have fallen into this arrogant trap more than once, but why would science move forward if we assume we know all there is to know? Is it not even more true with the gospel and our conversion? I was struck by the statement that the Savior suffered for the pains of a diminishing testimony-- He understands the struggle, not dismisses it! Should we not do the same for both ourselves and others?

I think when we stay focused on the Savior everything else falls into its place and we realize that all that consumes us is not really that important in the long run. We cannot know all that is going on in someone's life. We cannot judge their sins when we have a long list of our own. We cannot walk away from all that is good in a person because we notice a flaw. There is power in choosing to lift another (and allowing them to lift us) instead of stubbornly making our way through this life with a haughty isolation.

I'm grateful for Jesus Christ, His example, and His atonement. I'm grateful for the chance we've been given to learn and explore and fall and rise again. I hope I can be better at lifting those around me and helping them see the love of the Savior. 

I don't intend to make all of my titles the name of cinema/literary works. I'm not even an English major...

I'm not sure how, but somehow I missed having to read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley in high school. I signed up for a class this semester titled "Being Mortal" and as part of the course this slight in my education was recently remedied. 

There is so much insight in those pages! I was struck time and time again by the potential consequences of misplaced ambition. I especially related to this quote:

“I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule. If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections…then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not benefiting to the human mind."

It is so easy to think that there will always be a tomorrow, but eventually (and we don't know when) we will run out of tomorrows. What do we want to say we did? I do not believe that there is any knowledge so worth pursuing that it justifies the neglect of the people around us.  Does what we spend our time doing incline us to turn inward or outward?

Whoever first described the experience of coming home from a mission as feeling like a dream nailed it on the head.

The 18 months that God gave me to live and serve in Florida were some of the most precious gifts that He has given me. I cherish them. I fell short frequently and never felt like I quite measured up to the missionary or the person that I wanted to be, but I felt His hand in every second of every day. God gave me the chance to learn how to love, to hurt, to choose faith, to plead, to pray, to act, to sacrifice, to listen. God gave me the chance to learn how to live.

The problem with learning those lessons is that I got comfortable and as a very smart person one day said, "If you're comfortable, you aren't learning." My 18 months were over and I was told it was time to remove the plaque and return home. It is difficult to explain everything from the past month. I wasn't planning on continuing to type a "letter" every week and I'm still not sure why I am, but I suppose we will all find out together!

This week's topic: Technology. In the FFLM it was a well known fact of life that we did not have i-Pads. I became grateful for the bubble it created and the focus it allowed me to have. I didn't have one foot at home and one foot in the mission--I was all in. All the way. Always in Florida. Well, overnight my plaque was removed and I wasn't given a detox period before I was handed all the technology I could ever want. I had the world at my fingertips and I was quickly overwhelmed. 

​My little overwhelmed self started college again only 2 weeks following my arrival home and over the past week I've seen the technology dominated world that surrounds us in a new light. I keep flashing back to the scenes portrayed in the motion picture WALL-E of thousands of people drifting past each other as they stare at their screens and seek to be entertained. Like this:

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Is that not the ultimate example of choosing to be "acted upon" instead of acting ourselves? Does it not resemble the world in which we live somewhat accurately although admittedly a bit dramatically? I walked by so many people this week that didn't see me because they only saw their phone. I heard on more than one occasion "Oh! We should do that; it would be such a cool picture!" I even used a screen to isolate myself before class started so I didn't have to talk to people around me. Obviously I'm not advocating that we drop the technology and return to the horse and buggy (I am typing on a computer right now and believe that technology has great power to do great good) but I have been shocked that in our pursuit to keep track of all the events on Facebook we a.) miss the events transpiring in our own lives and b.) miss the moments each day to reflect on the tender mercies of God.

I think the problem is that we have adapted a mentality that if we can't take a picture and prove that we did something, it's not worth doing. If it won't earn us a couple hundred likes on social media, is it even cool? An opinion isn't worth having if it cannot be expressed and supported by the unknown masses of cyberspace. All of this leads to billions of people fighting to be heard but leaves no one willing to listen. When we refuse to listen, our ability to love and serve is severely reduced. I believe that the world's drift away from God is due in large part to the still, small voice of the spirit being drowned out by the much louder clamor of technology insistently banging in our ears and demanding our time. 

Okay, this post is already way longer than I intended, but I'm wrapping up. In the world we live in, distractions abound. Screens have the ability to suck up all the time of our lives and waste them. This life was meant to be lived! It was meant as a gift to us from our loving Heavenly Father to progress. We are here to learn to love Him, to serve Him, and in turn to love and serve all the people He places in our lives. Life is drastically more rewarding when it is not lived through a screen.

This week, make a conscious effort to live instead of tracking the lives of others. Put down the phone and introduce yourself to the person behind you in line at the grocery store or next to you in class. Stop using the screen as a crutch. Go on a walk instead of watching a movie. Meditate. Make a list of every beautiful thing that has happened to you this week. Look for opportunities to serve and jump in. Call someone that has been on your mind. The opportunities are endless!

For more, see: 
https://www.lds.org/church/share/goodness?lang=eng&_r=1
https://www.lds.org/church/news/make-technology-your-servant-not-master-elder-ballard-says?lang=eng