A Few Extra Syllables

In the final talk of the Sunday Morning Session of last General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson spent about 15 minutes explaining why it's important to use The Correct Name of the Church, namely The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Prior to that, there had been announcements reiterating that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is our church's official name and that the nickname of "Mormons" isn't entirely appropriate, despite having been embraced by church-affiliated organizations, such as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which has since changed its name to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
When I first heard those announcements, I balked. I thought that the request was unreasonable and that "Mormon" worked just fine. Besides, "Mormon" is much shorter and easier to say. It's the name by which we are widely known. I thought that swapping "Mormon" out for "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" would be far too much work. "Yes, I'm a Mormon" is only five syllables. "Yes, I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" is seventeen. I was unwilling to add an extra dozen syllables to the already-difficult task of talking to people about the church. Personally, I'm still grateful that we get to call it "the church."
 But when President Nelson spoke about the correction, it finally clicked for me. It's not that I understood why the correction was truly necessary, but I did realize that I had been rather petty and that this wasn't the hill I wanted to die on. The name of the church isn't all that important to me, which is why the nickname "Mormons" never bothered me, but President Nelson made it clear that the name of the church is important to God, so instead of rolling my eyes and saying "'whatever," I should have shrugged my shoulders and said "yeah, sure. Whatever floats your boat."
As I reflected on President Nelson's talk that Sunday, I wrote in my notes that "The Lord asks us to be inconvenienced and do hard things. This is a relatively little request/sacrifice. We can humor Him enough to give Him at least that much." Especially considering all God does for us, saying several extra syllables for His sake doesn't seem like that big of a sacrifice. Considering how much I owe Him, I should be more than willing to say a few extra syllables every so often, if that's what He wants. As far as I'm concerned, it's not that big a deal, even though, apparently, it's kind of a big deal to Him.

Should Krusk Kill Captain Gruel?

I haven't done a "Should [my D&D character] Kill [so and so]" blog post in a long time, mostly because the answer, most of the time, was obviously "No." Krusk is a barbarian pirate. He has killed a lot of people he shouldn't have killed, including at least two or three that even he himself will admit he shouldn't have killed. Granted, his reasons for wishing he hadn't killed those people have little to do with the rules of morality, but as I said before, Krusk is not a good role model. He's more like a case study of a character trait that I'm trying not to develop: anger.

However, right now, his anger is directed at someone who might actually deserve it: Captain Axel Gruel. To explain who he is and why Krusk wants to kill him, I have to get you caught up on a few things. In tonight's D&D session, Krusk was reunited with his wife, Holly. She told him that, shortly after he was shanghaied, she was kidnapped as well, and Captain Gruel was keeping her hostage for about two months. She was freed when the ship she was being transported on got caught in the same storm Krusk's ship was caught in. When the storm settled, Krusk brought his ship over to Holly's ship, and the few crewmen who survived the storm agreed to release her in exchange for their lives.

Now Krusk wants to kill Captain Gruel for kidnapping his wife and holding her hostage, and the argument is about the same as it was when Krusk considered killing Captain Barnabas Harrigan. The person in question is definitely a pirate and probably worthy of death, but if Krusk is to one to do the deed, he'll do it for revenge, not justice, and one's motivation matters. Doing an arguably good thing but with bad motivations is almost certainly going to be a bad thing. So, yeah, no, Krusk shouldn't kill Captain Gruel, at least not until he has a better motivation than wanting to avenge his kidnapped wife.

God's Ultimate Creation

I'm double-dipping again, partly because I'm lazy, partly because I'd like to go to bed before midnight tonight, and partly because I thought that these insights were worth sharing here as well.

DB #2: In literature, there is often more to the text than meets the eye. Much digging, connecting, and reflecting are necessary in order to glean as much from the text as there is to glean. What do you glean about humans/humankind from the order of creation in Genesis Chapter 1 beyond what the text literally says?
I gleaned two conflicting messages about mankind from the order of the creation in Genesis 1.

The first message is that mankind is the ultimate creation. Not only was mankind literally the ultimate creation in that the creation of mankind was the final stage of the creation recorded in Genesis, there is also evidence that mankind is the ultimate creation in that mankind is God’s greatest creation. According to Genesis 1:28, the first thing God did after creating mankind was bless them and give them dominion over all other animals. At various points in the creation, “God saw that it was good,” but it was only after mankind was created that “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Gen 1:31).

Many people have used this to justify a certain amount of specism. Mankind in general views the lives of animals as being less valuable than lives of humans. Humans regularly slaughter animals for food, clothing, and our own convenience. These acts would be as unconscionable as mass murder if not for the belief that mankind is more important than animals.

Or should I say “than other animals”? The other, contradictory, message I gleaned about mankind from Genesis 1 is that mankind is, in at least one way, on approximately the same level as other animals, or at least other land animals. I said that mankind was created last, and that is true as far as I know, but what I did not know (until I read Genesis 1 more closely) is that [according to the Bible] mankind and other land animals were created on the same day. Mankind may be the ultimate creation, but the ultimate day of creation included other animals as well, and while mankind was given dominion over other animals, that doesn’t necessarily give us free license to abuse and mistreat them.

My belief is that we are stewards of the earth, not the rulers of it. We are to take care of the earth and animals, not do as we please with them. I believe that we are the greatest of God’s creations, but only if we act accordingly.

Empathy

There are many messages that I could pull from Elder Neil L. Andersen's talk, Wounded, most of which have been shared before but are well worth repeating. I could talk about how bad things happen to all kinds of people, perhaps especially including good people, as Satan tries to destroy good people and God tries to "prove" them. I could testify that, in spite of the trials we face, we can overcome them (eventually) through the power of Christ's Atonement. I even found this interesting tidbit about how "God did not create our spirits to be independent of Him," which might be worth exploring. But more than any of that, I suppose I want to focus on something that may be only tangentially related to Elder Andersen's talk: Empathy.

As I've heard it described, empathy is different from sympathy in that one who is sympathetic to another's feelings can, perhaps with some accuracy, imagine how the other feels, whereas one with empathy actually knows, through memories of personal experience, how the other person feels. For us, empathy is rare and patchy. There aren't always people who have experienced exactly what we have experienced, and, depending on how precise and picky we want to be, it can be practically impossible to find someone else who has experienced our experiences in the exact same way. We are all different people, and it stands to reason that we probably experience things in different ways. True, perfect empathy between two humans might be impossible.

However, there is always One Person we can turn to for true, perfect empathy: Jesus Christ. As part of His Atonement, He felt exactly the same things we are experiencing. He knows, from personal experience, exactly how we feel. He's been there. So, whenever we feel like we need somebody who knows exactly what we're going through and exactly what it feels like, we can turn to Jesus, as we do or should do with almost everything. Jesus knows everything we have gone through and everything we will go through. He knows our highest highs and our lowest lows. In a metaphysical sense, He has been suffering and celebrating along with us every step of the way. Of course, if all we need is sympathy, we can get that from almost anyone, but if we feel the need for true empathy, we need to turn to Jesus Christ.

Acting on an Untrue Theory

It's too late at night for me to accurately convey what I'm thinking right now, but I'll give it a go.

About five years ago (six, in a few months), I submitted an Utterly Ridiculous and Admittedly Untrue Theory about how Satan is like a personal trainer. According to the untrue theory, Satan isn't actually trying to destroy us; he's trying to strengthen us by presenting us with challenges for us to overcome. Granted, I know that this theory is untrue. Many prophets, if not all of them, have taught that Satan is trying to destroy us. But I still kind of wish that my theory wasn't false, and the fact that it is doesn't mean that I can't pretend that it isn't.

Even though I know that Satan is my adversary, I can still treat him like a personal trainer or like a really tough coach. I can respond to his temptations the same way I respond to the trials God gives me. I'm not thankful for them, and I'll do my best not to let them destroy me, but I can be grateful for the strength I gain from overcoming them, preferably without becoming resentful toward nor angry at whichever being presented me with them.

Satan is no friend of mine, but I can still become a better person as a result of his involvement in my life, whether he intended that or not, and since I'm benefiting from his existence, it seems strange to regard him as an enemy. Besides, I'm not really big on fighting enemies anyway, not in real life. I suppose I could learn to hate Satan (even though hatred is itself a sin) and channel that hatred into fighting him, but I really don't need that much negativity in my life. Satan is my adversary and my opponent, but that doesn't mean that he needs to be my enemy. I need to fight him, but I don't need to hate him.

I'm probably not making a whole lot of sense to you. Maybe the rest of you are okay with hating Satan. But I'd rather not. I'd rather not hate anyone. I'd rather think of Satan as a personal trainer trying to help me become stronger than as an immortal enemy hellbent on destroying me. I know the truth about Satan, but I like my untrue theory better, and I believe that using Satan as a personal trainer will serve me better than regarding him as a hated enemy.

A Day with Family

I spent the day hanging out and playing games with family. It was a good time. As part of the day's activities, we did something like speed dating, where we paired up, asked each other questions for a minute or two, and then switched. The questions ranged from superficial, like "What's your favorite kind of pizza?" to deep, like "If your house was burning, and you could only save one thing, what would you save?" One of the questions I asked one of my siblings was "If you had only 24 hours left to live, how would you spend them?" Her answer wasn't very surprising. She said (and I'm paraphrasing a bit here because I can't remember her answer word-for-word) she would choose to spend her last day on Earth with family.

Family is important. Family is so important that many people, if not most, would choose to spend their last moments with family. Unfortunately, we don't always know which moment will be our last. That's part of the reason why it's wise to spend time with family both regularly and frequently. When we die, we'll either wish we had spent more time with family, or we'll be glad we did.

One Limitation of "Live and Let Live"

In general, my philosophy is Live and Let Live. I may not agree with you, but you have a right to your beliefs, opinions, and way of life. I'm not going to try to stop you from believing what you believe or living how you want to live (unless your choices directly hurt others, but even then, I may choose not to get involved). Live and Let Live is a decent philosophy because it lets people live and work together despite various differences. We don't all have to have the same political and/or religious beliefs in order for us to work together in the same workspace or study group. As long as we agree not to argue about our disagreements, those disagreements don't have to cause too much friction between us.

However, there's another, much less honorable and much more honest, reason why I find it appealing to embrace the Live and Let Live mentality: It's easy. I don't have to try to persuade people to believe what I believe; I can just sit back and let them believe whatever they want. I don't have to defend or even examine my beliefs; I can just take the non-confrontational stance of simply not arguing about it. I don't have to have tough, deep, soul-searching conversations; I can just pretend that none of it matters enough for it to matter who's right and who's wrong.

The problem is that it does matter. Our religious beliefs matter because our souls and the souls of those we influence hang in the balance. Our political beliefs matter because they help us choose which politicians to support or oppose, which influences the nation's policies and laws. People are suffering and dying, both physically and spiritually, and that matters. It matters enough to make it important to have the kinds of conversations that may help reduce that suffering.

For example, you may have heard that New York recently legalized abortion up to the moment of delivery. By most state's and religion's standards, babies that late in their development are considered living beings with individual rights, including the right to life. By most state's and religion's standards, aborting a child that late in their development is murder. By most state's and religion's standards, New York just legalized a(n admittedly extremely specific) form of murder. Lives and souls will be lost as a result of this policy. I imagine some have already. Those lives could have been saved by a different political policy, and a different political policy would have been supported by a different mayor, and a different mayor would have been elected by voters with different political beliefs. Our beliefs and the beliefs of others have the power to impact countless people's lives.

Normally, I would try to be more reserved on my stance against abortion, and I try to stay on the fence (no pun intended) on issues that I know too little about, such as immigration. But when I know that egregious sins are being committed by people who either don't know or don't care about the suffering those sins cause, I have to do something. I have to say something. I can't just "Live and Let Live," because if I do, others won't. Many people are very vocal about their political and personal beliefs as well as their religious beliefs or lack thereof. More people should be. People should openly share the beliefs that they believe matter, especially when those beliefs, if widely held, could help reduce suffering and save lives. We should all try to do good, and even to win others over to the side of good, even if that means we have to have difficult conversations about our religious and political beliefs.

It's very tempting to just "Live and Let Live," but I can't do that when it means that innocent people will die. I can't just let people kill people. I have to do what I can to stop it. And one thing I can do, one of the few things I can do, is share my personal, political, and religious beliefs.

Don't Flee from Difficulty

Last night, I did something difficult, something that I've wanted to do for a long time, but lacked the will and the courage to do it. I ran a game of D&D at my local hobby shop. I've run games of D&D before, for a handful of friends and for a group of kids at a library, but this felt different. The bar was set higher, and I was intimidated. For a while, I kicked around the idea of running a game, but I kept finding excuses not to. I needed a push. Two days ago, I got the push I needed, I made the commitment to run last night's game, and I feel like it went fairly well, despite a few hiccups.

One of those hiccups was the start of the adventure. Instead of thrusting the characters into unavoidable danger, like a good DM would have, I allowed the characters to see the danger approaching from a distance, and the characters, understandably, went the other way. They were wise and cautious. They realized that a powerful magical problem was happening, and they didn't want anything to do with it. They were reluctant to pursue the adventure, just as I had been reluctant to pursue running the adventure.

But that's not heroic. That's not how characters (or aspiring DMs) gain experience. The only way to become better at overcoming difficulty is to actually face that difficulty, and I'm glad I did. People don't become heroes by chickening out and only doing things that are easy for them. People become heroes by exercising courage and by pushing themselves to do good things, even when it's difficult.

Now, running a D&D game isn't really a good thing, except insomuch as it brought a handful of people a bit of momentary happiness, but running a D&D game is a difficult thing, and the better I get at forcing myself to do difficult things, the better I'll get at doing good things that are also difficult. Too often, I take the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, one cannot get to the Celestial Kingdom by following that path. The path to the Celestial Kingdom is difficult. To get there, we have to learn to resist the temptation to flee from difficulty.

The Rules of Morality

I sometimes wrestle with philosophical absolutes, trying to codify the rules of morality. I ask myself questions like: Is all life sacred? Is killing ever justified? If ever, when is killing justified? Is it okay to kill for food? Is it okay to kill in self-defense? Fortunately, I've never had to personally prove my beliefs in my answers to these questions. But as I consider the questions of what's moral and what's immoral, I realize that I'm trying to reinvent the wheel. We already have a set of laws that codify morality. They're called The Commandments. God has already answered many of our most pressing moral questions. We just need to learn to accept His answers, even though we can't always explain how He arrived at those conclusions. I trust God. I trust His commandments. I don't need to keep asking myself what's moral and what's not. In many cases, God has already told me.

The One Good Reason for Punishment

Hey, how would y'all feel about me double-dipping a small homework assignment and a blog post? What's that? You don't mind? Great. Here we go.

Oh, and here's the homework prompt, for reference:

DB #1: According to a Bible scholar, “We find in [the narrative accounts of the Creation and the Flood] a virtual chain of events depicting a world governed by a God who holds the people of His world responsible for their actions.” In your original post, discuss whether or not (and why or why not) it is crucial in everyday life to hold people responsible for their actions.

The God of the Old Testament is often seen as being terribly vengeful. Jesus Christ of the New Testament is seen as being very forgiving. As with many things, I think that the best answer is found somewhere in the middle of the extremes, though I suppose my exact answer to this question depends on how we are holding others responsible for their actions, and why.

If our aim is merely to punish people for their wrongdoings, I’m not sure I see the point. Making someone suffer because they made a poor choice is not, in my opinion, a sufficient end unto itself. For any punishment to be warranted, there must be another aim in mind than merely retribution for justice’s sake.

Perhaps we could hope for rehabilitation. We could punish a person for their wrongdoing in hopes that said punishment will persuade said person to not repeat their wrongdoing. However, the first 22 chapters of Genesis don’t seem to set that example. By the time Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17), it probably wouldn’t matter whether or not they did so again. Besides, the Cherubims with their flaming sword (Gen 3:24) probably never gave the two humans the chance. The other two most notable examples of punishment in our readings couldn’t have been attempts at rehabilitation either because, after the great flood (Gen 7:22) and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24-25), the wrongdoers couldn’t have been rehabilitated. They were dead.

The one good reason I can think of for punishing people for ill actions is prevention. Hopefully, the threat of punishment would be sufficient to prevent people from doing wrong. When it isn’t, we can hope that a reasonable (i.e. non-lethal) amount of punishment would convince the perpetrator to not repeat the crime. However, when all else fails, we might punish an unrepentant evildoer to the nth degree, hoping that the severity of the punishment would serve as a powerful deterrent for others. Abraham couldn’t save the Sodomites (Gen 18:25ff), but their legendary destruction may yet serve as a warning for the rest of humanity to not commit the same sins and thus not suffer the same fate.

Following Guidance

Tonight, I went for a bike ride. I rode through unfamiliar areas. It was late and dark. Most of the time, I had little idea where I was or how to get home. Yet, I never felt lost. I was never worried that I might not be going in the right direction or that I might not make it home tonight. That was because I wasn't riding alone. I had a guide who knew the area and knew where to turn. I knew that, as long as I stayed with my guide, I would be fine.

This has a fairly obvious parallel in mortality. We are often lost in the dark, and we don't always know where we're going or where to turn, unless we follow our guides. We can find guidance in the scriptures, at General Conference, and through prayer and personal revelation. As long as we follow our guides, we can know that we're going the right direction and that we're going to make it home.

Of course, that's easier said than done, and as I learned tonight, that may be easier under some circumstances than others. When my guide told me to turn a certain direction on a certain street, I didn't question it or complain at all. That's something that I can't always say for heavenly guidance. There have been times when I've accepted the Lord's guidance less readily than I accepted my guide's guidance tonight.

I should work on that. I should learn to trust the Lord more fully and to follow Him more readily. At some level, I know that the Lord's guidance is at least as trustworthy as the guidance I followed tonight, if not infinitely more so. If I can follow a friend's guidance without question or complaint, I should learn to follow the Lord's guidance that way as well.

Many Messages

Today, we spent a considerable amount of time discussing Luke 2 and Matthew 2, and our discussions covered many topics. We talked about the many ways people receive messages from God and the importance of listening to them. We discussed what it means to worship God. We explored the symbolism of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God. It seemed like each person who read those two chapters came away from them with some different insight or question they wanted to share. That's one thing I love about the scriptures: There are so many messages tucked in there, there's at least one message in there for everyone. No matter what your needs are, there's a message for you in the scriptures. So, if you ever feel like you need to hear from heaven, pray for guidance and search the scriptures. The message you need is in there somewhere, and the Spirit can help you find it.

A Fine Swell Day

I spent this morning listening to (and the rest of the day humming) a few of Bill Wurtz's songs. Most of his songs are more silly than meaningful, but I found some inspiration in one of his songs titled Mount St. Helens is about to Blow Up.

Naturally, the title and the subject matter is pretty grim, but its music is upbeat and it's sung with an upbeat attitude, beginning with the lines "Mount St. Helens is about to blow up, and it's gonna be a fine swell day." The song describes this impending natural disaster, an unrelated financial disaster, and another potentially apocalyptic problem, but the song never loses its optimism.

Whether that optimism is genuine, sarcastic, or short-sighted, it inspires me with genuine optimism and with the knowledge that, no matter what is happening on any particular day, it can still be a good day, if we choose to see it as one.

Of course, it's not always easy to see a given day as a good one, and various disasters can increase that difficulty, but no matter how bad a day or situation is, there is always some good in it, and focusing on the good can help us gain the emotional strength to endure the bad.

So, whether you're worried about Mount St. Helens blowing up or any other problem, try to focus on the positive aspects of life, and let the joy you gain from what's good in the world give you the strength you need to endure the bad in it. If we have an upbeat, positive attitude, any day can still be a fine swell day.

"The Fulness of the Everlasting Gospel"

In his recent General Conference talk, Elder Shayne M. Bowen spoke of the Book of Mormon, repeating the quote from President Joseph Smith, "a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." I wonder how that statement could be true, especially since "any other book" could easily be the Holy Bible. The Book of Mormon easily has any other book beaten, but people all over the world have used the Bible to "get nearer to God." How is it that the Book of Mormon does that too, but better?

In my opinion, the best thing the Book of Mormon has going for it in this regard is that, according to the Introduction of the Book of Mormon, it "contains . . . the fulness of the everlasting gospel." Living the gospel is how we draw near to God. A book that "contains . . . the fulness of the everlasting gospel" is bound to "get [a person] nearer to God" than a book that only contains part of the gospel.

However, you may have noticed the ellipses in those quotes up there, and you may recall the phrase those ellipses represent: "as does the Bible." The Introduction on the Book of Mormon says that the Book of Mormon "contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel."

Or rather, that's what it said.

The phrase "as does the Bible" no longer appears in the Introduction. Those ellipses I added were unnecessary. The Introduction no longer says that the Bible contains "the fulness of the everlasting gospel."

Because it doesn't.

The Bible used to contain the fulness of the everlasting gospel, but it doesn't anymore. President Boyd K. Packer explained this in April 1988, largely by quoting Nephi:

Nephi testified that the Bible once “contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record” (1 Ne. 13:24) and that “After [the words] go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away” (1 Ne. 13:26).

We know that many plain and precious truths have been removed from the Bible. Whether those omissions were intentional or not, the effect was that the Bible no longer contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel, making it not quite as good at getting people nearer to God as the one book that does.

The Book of Mormon is the best book for helping us draw nearer to God because it still contains those plain and precious truths that compose the fulness of the everlasting gospel. The Book of Mormon is unique in that regard, unfortunately for the Bible and those who rely exclusively on it. The Bible is a good book, but it's no longer the best book. The Book of Mormon is.

Pro-Protagonism

Despite the violence in much of the media I pursue, I'm not actually a big fan of antagonism. I understand that most stories need antagonists because the conflict between the protagonists and the antagonists helps drive the plot, but in the real world, focusing on one's enemies isn't always the best way to defeat them. And by "defeating" one's enemies, I don't mean eliminating them or destroying them. If that's what you want to do, by all means, focus on them, but I think there's a better way to win. We can "defeat" our antagonists by accomplishing our goals, despite their attempts to stop us. In other words, instead of being anti-antagonist, I would rather be pro-protagonist.

Let's take our battles with Satan for example. Satan is constantly trying to get us to commit sin. The sins he tempts us with differ from person to person, but they all have the goal of stopping us from reaching the Celestial Kingdom, which is our ultimate goal. Now, we could focus on fighting Satan and resisting temptation, but that won't be enough. Merely not sinning won't qualify us for the Celestial Kingdom. We have to become worthy. We have to keep the commandments. There are things that we need to do in order to receive Celestial glory. Merely repelling Satan (anti-antagonist) won't help us accomplish our goal (pro-protagonist).

Satan knows that. That's why he tries to make us feel weak and apathetic. Getting us to commit sin is part of his goal, but all he really wants from us is to not to good. Satan's best tactic against many of us is to get us to play endless, exhausting defense against his attacks, because, even if we win, we'll be too tired from the fighting to actually do good.

That's why, against Satan at least, the best defense is a good offense, and our target isn't actually Satan; it's the Celestial Kingdom. As long as Satan is trying to distract us, delay us, and, if possible, derail us, we should try to keep our eyes on the prize. We can't destroy Satan, so focusing our efforts on fighting him is fruitless. So, instead of fighting against our adversary, we should try to fight for our Redeemer. We should focus our efforts on trying to do good and be good. Doing good will not only help others; it will also help us have the Spirit with us, which will help us resist temptation.

Of course, it's foolish to ignore our enemy completely. We do need to be aware of what he's trying to do to us so we can effectively counter it. But when he's trying to distract us, the best response isn't to fight against him. The best response is to sidestep the distraction and keep our focus on our goal.

Unrestrained Anger

In his recent General Conference talk, Elder Holland shared a piece of wisdom that Krusk Bloodfist would do well to learn: "Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more [destructive] than the injury that provokes it."

Cases in point: By now, we're all familiar with the story of how Krusk walked in to find his wife in bed with someone else, whom Krusk then beat to death. Krusk's marriage could have survived his wife being raped. It probably could have survived his wife being unfaithful. Had Krusk restrained his anger and asked questions instead of throwing punches, his relationship with his wife might be intact right now.

Instead, Krusk came home to find the house empty. Evidently, it hadn't been lived in since he left. As he was leaving, two men approached him aggressively, and, venting a little frustration, Krusk picked a fight with them, fought a little too hard, and accidentally killed them, despite suspecting that they might know something about where his wife was. Now Krusk has no idea where his wife is, and he has few clues to follow, especially since his two best leads are now dead by his hands. Again, had Krusk been able to restrain his anger, he'd be in a much better position right now.

As a side note, Krusk is obviously a terrible person, but I love how his story is shaping out. The plot is very effectively taking advantage of his greatest character flaw, creating a tragedy that is almost entirely of his own making. I can't (but will have to) wait to see where his character arc goes from here.

Anyhow, I guess my main point is to not be like Krusk. It's natural to get angry from time to time, but it is dangerously foolish to unleash your anger or let it control you. We need to exercise self-control. If we don't, our unrestrained anger will probably only make the situation worse.

The Foreseeable Future

I think it's weird that people use the phrase "the foreseeable future" to refer to the near future. On one hand, no one can really foresee the future. The future is unpredictable, hinging on countless minute, unknowable factors. Theoretically, if someone knew everything, they could predict the future, but if there is even one thing they don't know, the things they don't know will throw off their predictions, so only a person who is truly omniscient would be able to foresee the future. Since we are not omniscient, we can't foresee the future, not even the near future.

On the other hand, there is one Person who is omniscient and who can foresee the future: God. Yet, the phrase "the foreseeable future" doesn't mean "the near future" for Him, either. He can't just foresee the near future. He can foresee the whole future. He knows everything that will ever happen, even a near-infinite number of years from now, long after the end of the world.

So, "the foreseeable future" doesn't mean "the near future" for us because we can't foresee any of the future, and it doesn't mean "the near future" for God because He can foresee all of it. Whether "the foreseeable future" means all of it or none of it depends on who's doing the foreseeing, but it never, ever means "the near future."

Reloading Old Saves

Many computer and video games have a feature that lets the player save their progress save their game and then reload a previous save. This allows players to, essentially, turn back time to a specific point in time. From there, the player can do any number of things. The player can relive an experience they've played through previously. They can retry a challenge, now armed with additional knowledge about the challenge. They can make different choices and explore previous paths. Being able to reload a previous save file is an experience unique to gaming, and it's not even present in all games.

While probably most games have a feature that lets you save and reload your game, some games don't. When games lack this feature, that omission is a deliberate choice on the part of the game developers, usually intended to create an experience more akin to real life. In real life, we can't go back in time for any reason. We can't relive experiences, except through memories. We can't retry challenges, except on subsequent attempts. And we can't change the choices we've made; we can only make new choices moving forward. Many game developers try to capture these elements of life to makes their games more intense and to make their choices more meaningful.

In life, our choices are always meaningful, in part because we can never decide to go back in time and change our minds. Once we've made a decision and acted on it, that decision is set in stone and recorded in heaven. Repentance is always an option, but retries never are. That's partly why we need to be careful with our decisions. It's important to try not to do anything that we're later going to regret. Every choice we make becomes a permanent part of our past. We can't reload old saves and start fresh from there. As the previously ubiquitous phrase says, You Only Live Once. Life isn't like most video games. Life is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

How to Follow Christ

As it turned out, Lord, I Would Follow Thee wasn't the only song about following that was sung today. The opening song was Come, Follow Me, and the closing hymn was Teach Me to Walk in the Light. Naturally, these songs got me thinking about what it takes to be a follower of Christ. Of course, we cannot follow Him physically. He walked the Earth so long ago that it is now impossible to literally follow in His footsteps. However, speaking spiritually and figuratively, it is possible to follow Christ. We can follow Christ the same way we would follow any other religious or political leader. We obey His rules and follow His example. We can choose to act the way He acted and do the things He did. That is His invitation to us. That is how he wants us to follow Him.

Of course, it isn't easy. Following the Savior's path takes a great deal of effort and willpower. Often, we are willing to follow Him, but still find it difficult. Hence the prayer Lord, I Would Follow Thee. We want to follow Him, but it's not an easy road to walk. Sometimes it's difficult to even know what it is we're supposed to do, let alone know how we're supposed to do it. We need the Lord's guidance as well as His strength. Thus we ask the Lord to Teach [Us] to Walk in the Light. Christ is not only our exemplar and helper; He is also our guide. Without Him, we would be hopelessly lost and practically powerless to do anything about it.

But with His help, we can walk in His footsteps, at least figuratively and spiritually. He can tell us the next steps to take and He can give us the strength to take those steps. He can teach us what to do and give us the power to do it. Following Christ is not easy, and there's no way we could do it without His help, but with His help, we can do anything, even follow in the footsteps of the Son of God.

Lord, I Would Follow Thee

I'm not sure what we'll be discussing in church tomorrow. I've heard that it'll probably be based on a talk from the most recent General Conference, but I have no idea which talk. However, I do know one thing that will certainly come up tomorrow: the hymn Lord, I Would Follow Thee, which will be sung by the choir, including me.

This hymn is essentially a prayer pledging to follow Christ's example in various ways and asking for His help in doing so. I wouldn't list it as one of my top ten favorite hymns, but it is one of my favorite types of hymns. I love hymns whose lyrics can be used as prayers, expressing gratitude, awe, dedication, or a desire for any of those things. I love hymns because they help us connect with God, and prayer hymns are especially good at doing that.

My choir performance tomorrow will mostly consist of trying to sing the right words at the right pitch at the right time, and I'll be concentrating pretty hard on that, but I'll still try to put a little bit of heart into the words I sing. Lord, I Would Follow Thee is a good song, mostly because it is also a good prayer.

About the Shutdown

If I understand it correctly, right now, the government is in some kind of shutdown because Schumer and Pelosi refuse to pass a budget that includes a border wall and Trump refuses to propose a budge that doesn't. I'm of two minds about basically every part of this issue. Let me break it down point by point.

First, I'm not sure how I feel about the wall. It seems cold-hearted to deny people entry into the United States, especially since many of the people coming in are trying to escape violence, crime, and poverty. Under those circumstances, the fact that they're coming in illegally can almost be overlooked. But they're not the only ones who are and will be affected by their immigration. An influx of workers, especially undocumented, unskilled workers, can have a huge impact on the nation, both politically and economically. Sure, letting them stay in the country is what's best for them, and we certainly have to consider how our final decision will affect them, but we have to do what's best for everyone, and I'm not sure what that is. On this topic, my stance is generally to make legal immigration easier and illegal immigration harder. A border wall may help with that, as would countless other immigration reforms. We all know that the system is broken, but it's hard to know how to fix it.

Second, I'm not sure how I feel about the shutdown. I'm not a huge fan of the federal government. Personally, I think that state and local governments should be stronger and the federal government should be weaker. Better yet, I think people should be allowed to govern themselves. On one hand, the idea of the federal government shutting down and leaving everything to the state, local, and personal levels sounds pretty good to me. On the other hand, I'm sure that the federal government is essential for many things, especially since so many people have come to depend on it. Some amount of government is essential, so we need it to function, even if it would be better if it wasn't so essential and didn't exist.

Third, I'm not sure how to assign the blame. Having established that the shutdown is, at least to some people, a bad thing, it's hard to say who's at fault for the shutdown. As far as I know, either side could end the shutdown by giving into the demands of the other side, but neither side is willing to back down. I could blame the individuals for that, but more than that, I blame the two-party system and the gerrymandering that led to this extreme divisiveness that turns bi-partisan compromise into political suicide. Political activists are so polarized that any kind of cooperation is seen as a form of betrayal. The government can't function because vocal citizens forbid their representatives from working together or compromising.

So, this whole situation is a mess. Immigration is a sticky issue, there are no clear solutions, and even if there was a solution, we'd have a hard time getting enough government officials to agree on it. This shutdown is an example of multiple problems layered on top of each other, and I'm not entirely certain how I feel about any of them.

More Worry Than They're Worth

Today was a good day. I got a lot of tasks completed, some of which I had been procrastinating for quite some time. Funnily enough,none of those tasks were as time-consuming as I had thought they'd be, and I probably spent less time completing those tasks than I had spent telling myself that I really ought to get around to doing those things eventually.

It's funny how we sometimes think things will be worse than they actually end up being. Maybe it's pessimism. Maybe it's pragmatism. Maybe it's fear of unknown (and potentially unfavorable) variables. Whatever the reason, we sometimes worry about things more than we need to.

Actually, come to think of it, we don't really need to worry about anything at all. Dread is not productive. It makes sense to plan for upcoming tasks, including anticipating possible complications, but we don't really need to worry about them. And, naturally, procrastination is unproductive, too.

Instead of worrying about and procrastinating tasks we know we need to do, we should instead take steps to complete the tasks. There may be some planning and preparation required, but we shouldn't let dread delay us. We should get information, get ready, and get it done.

Of course, I'm not the best person to give this advice. I'm giving myself this advice as much as I'm giving it to any of you, because I need it. One of the tasks I completed today that I had been procrastinating for far too long was sweeping. Somehow, I had gotten it into my head that sweeping the house was going to be a major time investment, but it really didn't take me long at all, and it was actually kind of fun. By the time I was done, I wondered why I had put it off so long.

Upon further reflection, I wonder if Satan might have had a hand in my procrastination. He often tries to discourage people into inaction. Maybe dread and procrastination are a few of his tools.

In any case, waiting and worrying are often pointless, and we do it far too much. Often, the things we worry about aren't as bad as we fear, and even when they are, worrying about them doesn't make them any better. It's much better to try to focus our nervous energy into trying to get things over with, so we can cross them off our to do list and stop worrying about them. We might find that those things are easier and less time-consuming than we thought, and we'll be glad to get those tasks completed and done with. I know I am.

The Need to be Noticed

President Bonnie H. Cordon began her recent General Conference talk by talking about a boy named David:

A year ago, a Primary child I met in Chile brought a smile to my face. “Hello,” he said, “I am David. Will you talk about me in general conference?”

In quiet moments, I have pondered David’s unexpected greeting. We all want to be recognized. We want to matter, to be remembered, and to feel loved.

Recognition and importance are very important to some of us. As social creatures, we all have an inherent need to be validated and accepted by others. In group settings, this usually manifests as a desire to be seen and heard.

Acknowledging and understanding our own goals and desires is good, but it's also important to understand the desires of others as well. As President Cordon said,  "We [all] want to matter, to be remembered, and to feel loved." We can help others feel important, remembered and loved. We can help ensure that others are and feel seen and heard. We can show Christlike love for others simply by giving them some of our time and attention.




It doesn't always take much to make someone's day or to make them feel important. President Cordon did it for one young boy simply by mentioning him by name. We, too, can make others feel recognized and important without much effort on our part, basically just by being kind. We know that God notices and loves everyone, but we can help by noticing and loving each other as well.

A Comforting Vision of Life After Death

In his General Conference talk on the morning of Sunday, October 7, 2018, President M. Russel Ballard spoke of a vision President Joseph F. Smith had had a hundred years prior, almost to the day. On October 3, 1918, President Joseph F. Smith saw a vision called The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead, which is now recorded in Section 138 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

This vision must have been especially important to President Smith because it came after a long series of deaths in his family, not to mention the tens of millions of deaths caused by the the Great World War and a flu pandemic. At that time in President Smith's life, it must have been especially comforting to him to be reminded that life goes on well after death and that God has an eternal plan that includes all those who have passed on.

Thanks to our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, we know that death isn't the final step. It isn't even permanent! God's plans for us extend far beyond our mortal lives and deaths, and our family relationships can extend beyond death as well, meaning that, in most cases, death doesn't have to be as tragic as it sometimes feels. Knowledge of God's Plan can be a great comfort to anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, as I'm sure it was to President Smith. I'm grateful that God has provided us with visions and doctrine that explain His plan and give us the hope that we have for a peaceful life in the world hereafter.

Perfect Plan Bs

For out family scripture study tonight, we read 2 Nephi chapter 2, which includes many important and blogworthy messages, some of which center around Adam and Eve. As we read those scriptures, we considered God's plan and how it was helped along by Satan's attempt to foil it by getting Adam and Eve to disobey God, partake of the forbidden fruit, and get kicked out of the Garden of Eden. As it turns out, that development seems practically vital to God's whole plan, causing some of us to wonder what God would have done if Satan's plan to tempt Adam and Eve had failed. If The Fall was an essential part of God's Plan, as it often seems to us, what was His Plan B?

My answer, aside from the obvious "I'm not sure," is that God is VERY good at Plan Bs to the point that His Plan Bs could pass off as Plan As. Who knows? Maybe the Fall was a Plan B, but it worked out so well for God's ultimate plan that we are at a loss to think of any plan that could have worked out as well for God and His children.

God seems to be prepared for every possibility, which makes sense, considering His gift of foresight. Still, humans like to think we're difficult to predict. It's possible that we throw God some curve balls from time to time. It may be that God is just really good at hitting curve balls.

I don't know what God's best case scenario was, so I can't know for sure that this isn't it. At the same time, it seems that Satan threw a serious wrench into the works. But maybe God accounted for that and made the best plan possible, already factoring the curve balls that He foresaw would be thrown at him. Maybe this all is a massive Plan A. Still, one can hardly help wondering what would have happened had things gone down differently in the Garden of Eden, but whatever might have happened and however much that would have changed things, I'm confident that God would have had a plan in place in case things happened that way.

God has a perfect plan, but maybe part of what makes God's plan so perfect is the perfection of His backup plans.

Religion Outside of Church

I didn't really get much out of church today, largely because I was in something of a funk. See, I'm not really big on socializing. I'm more of an introvert. Most of my best religious experiences have been in places of peace and quiet, usually outside, with just me and God. Going into a building with hundreds of other people, many of whom want to shake my hand and carry out a brief conversation with me, is not my idea of a religious experience.

Fortunately, I can (and should regularly) have religious experiences outside of church. Every time I pray and read the scriptures can be a religious experience. Every time I sing a hymn, I can connect to the spirit. I don't necessarily need to be anywhere near a church or temple to draw close to God.

I don't need church to be quiet and peaceful. I'd prefer it if it were, but I don't need it to be. Church is a great source of insights and spiritual thoughts, but it doesn't need to be (and shouldn't be) my only source of spiritual strength. And it certainly shouldn't be the only place were I practice or ponder my religion!

Religious observance should be a much more frequent, if not constant, part of my life. Worshiping for only two or three hours per week is absurd! I need more light than that, especially since I personally don't get a whole lot of light at church. I need to strengthen my personal connection with God and the Spirit. I should draw on their light at least daily, not just on Sundays, and I should do it at home or wherever I am, not just at church. Church is essential, but I find it insufficient. I need to have more religious experiences, even outside of church.

Learning and Sharing

I'm a little bit worried about my Gospel learning this year, especially in light of this week's Sunday School lesson: We Are Responsible for Our Own Learning. I'm worried that, given that we'll be meeting at church later and for fewer hours, I might take that as an excuse to spend less time on Gospel topics. However, that may not be as big of a concern as I fear.

When I was a teacher, I would regularly spend hours delving into gospel topics, knowing that I was going to have to lead discussions about them. Now, I don't have to lead the discussions, but I can be expected to contribute to them. I'll still have to study the topics on my own, but instead of thinking of questions to ask the group, I'll want to come up with insights to share with them.

For example, this week, I could share my thoughts on the importance of patience in Gospel learning. We can't expect to understand everything right away. God knows that it will take us more than a lifetime to learn everything God wants to teach us, but fortunately, we have more than a lifetime of learning ahead of us. We don't have to understand everything right now. We just have to keep seeking and stay faithful to what we've learned thus far.

As a teacher, I would need to prepare many more thoughts like this. As a passive listener, I wouldn't have to prepare anything at all. But as an active participant in the discussion, I will have to read the material ahead of time and be prepared to share my thoughts. As far as I can tell, that's what it's going to take. I'm not going to church to teach anymore, and I'm not going just to learn, either. The learning is supposed to have already happened. Now, we're going to church to share what we've learned with each other, and that might just be enough to motivate me to actually study the lessons. I know that I'll be expected to share what I've learned.

Chores Can Be Fun

I spent much of the day today playing games with some friends, but before we could all play games together, we had to do some chores together, and that was kind of fun, too. Being able to work together and have a positive attitude about the work help the work feel less arduous. I don't think I would deliberately seek out opportunities to do work, just for fun, but when they come up, I usually accept them and try to make the most of them, and I've found Mary Poppins to be mostly right on this point. Just about every job has some element of fun to it, and while we may not be able to completely turn the job into a game, we can, with a little help and a good attitude, make it feel like less of a chore.

Never Hesitate to Seek Heaven's Help

Tonight, I've seen quotes from both Elder Bednar and President Hinckley both basically saying that we shouldn't burn ourselves out, trying to become perfect on our own. We need to Lord's help, and we need to be willing to regularly, frequently ask for it. Sometimes, I wonder how much help God is willing to grant me and how much He expects me to do on my own. I know that the purpose of life is growth, and I can't grow if God is constantly doing everything for me. I often foolishly assume that God expects me to solve all my problems on my own, when He's actually more than willing to lend a hand from time to time, if only I would remember to ask. So I'm going to follow President Hinckley's counsel and not hesitate to ask for help when I need it, or even just when I think that it might help. God is probably willing to help me more often than I realize, and He certainly had been willing to help me more times than I've asked. I should ask for God's help more often. Who knows? I might just get it.

Motives Matter

Today, I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. This wasn't the first time I watched this movie, but it might be the first time a drew a connection between two quotes from one of the side characters, Governor Swann.

Just before the climactic battle begins, Governor Swann talks to his daughter about her decision to accept Commodore Norrington's proposal just to convince him to help rescue the person she actually loves, Will Turner. For the record, Governor Swann thinks that agreeing to marry Commodore Norrington was a good decision, but he said that "even a good decision, if made for the wrong reason, can be a bad decision."

Later in the film, thinking back on the actions of the main characters, which, despite their illegal nature, ultimately worked out to saving his kidnapped daughter, Governor Swann says that "perhaps, on the rare occasion pursuing the right course demands an act of piracy, piracy itself can be the right course."

Both of these quotes have basically the same message: motives matter. Sometimes, why you do something is just as important, or even more important, than what you do. Stealing a ship is illegal and usually immoral. Stealing a ship so you can use it to rescue someone might be acceptable. Accepting a proposal is usually a fine thing to do, but accepting a proposal as a means of manipulation is certainly not a fine thing. Then again, manipulating someone, while underhanded, might be acceptable, if one's intentions are good.

There's a moral gray area where people can do bad things for good reasons and good things for poor reasons. In these cases, I'm not sure how to determine what makes a decision good or bad. There are many "Thou Shalt Nots" which seem like axiomatic rules, but there are also notable exceptions to those rules, so breaking those rules must not always be evil acts. Personally, I think that God judges us mostly by our intentions. I may be taking this line out of context, but we read in the scriptures that "the Lord looketh on the heart." If our hearts are in the right place, I don't think our actions can be too far off.

Of course, we should try to keep the commandments and obey the rules to the extent that we can, but more importantly, we should always try to be good and do good, even if we have to venture into some morally-gray area to do so. Sometimes, saving some lives requires ending others. Sometimes being kind requires a lie. Sometimes, some rules need to be broken for the greater good. This is a very tricky situation to be in, and it's probably best to try to avoid these morally-gray areas whenever possible. But whatever we do, we should try to make sure that we're doing it for good reasons, because those reasons might matter just as much as the decisions themselves.

A Resolution to Find Solutions

This time of year, it's customary to make New Year's Resolutions, so I put a little bit of thought into how I'd like to behave better in the future. The good news is that I found several areas of potential improvement. The bad news is that I'm not sure what specific things I could do to improve in those areas. I know enough about my problems to describe them (though, at the moment, I'd really rather not), but I don't know enough about them to know how to solve them. So, I guess my resolution for this year, or at least for the first part of this year, is to do some research and try to find some practical tips for resolving a specific few of my personal failings. I can't make specific resolutions to solve my problems yet because I don't yet know what the solutions are, but I can make a resolution to try to find them.