Super, Human Abilities

This morning, I was asked what I would be dressing up as for Halloween. My costume, which I designed several months ago, would consist of a red T-shirt with yellow duct tape on it in the shape of a large letter "A" inside of a Superman-style, gem-shaped shield-thing. I'd also be wearing a yellow towel as a cape.

Some people believe that I spend too much of my time thinking about fantasy stuff, including magic and superheroes. I'll admit that I should probably spend more time in reality than I do. But in my defense, some magic and super-powers, especially many of my favorites, can be seen as being exaggerations of powers that many of us already have, and my thinking about super-powers inspires me to use my own powers for good.

Some super-powers admit to being exaggerations of standard, human abilities. These include super-strength, super-speed, and super-senses. The funny thing is that human beings are already pretty strong and fast, and we can become stronger and faster by exercising. And most of us already have decent senses, and we can sharpen our senses by paying attention to them. It's amazing how much you can hear when you listen carefully.

Some of the more supernatural super-powers involve travel, like flight or teleportation. While humans haven't invented teleportation yet, we have created flying machines in which we can travel all over the world in a matter of hours rather than spending months at sea. That's pretty fantastic compared to what we had a few centuries ago.

While we're on the subject of technology, two of the most popular superheroes aren't actually "super" at all. Neither Batman nor Iron Man have any super-powers beyond what their gadgets can do, but their gadgets enable them to do some incredible things. The same is true for us. Modern technology is amazing! With our gadgets, we can do all sorts of things, and one of the things technology is the best at is communication.

The best communication-related super-power I can think of is telepathy, which allows people to transmit their thoughts and possibly read the minds of others. We don't have actual telepathy, but through the internet, we can easily broadcast our thoughts out to all the world, if we want to. We don't have the ability to read minds, but we can read people's blogs and Facebook posts to get a look into their minds. And even in person, we can usually tell what other people are thinking (and more importantly, how they're feeling) by paying attention to their body language and facial expressions as we as by trying to see things from their point of view.

From there, super-powers get even more magical. Abilities like telekinesis, elemental control, and the ability to shoot energy beams from our hands or eyes might be fun to have, but we don't really need them. Considering the abilities we already have, we don't usually need any more powers than that. We are already super humans. We can already do incredible things. So the question is, do we? To quote a popular line from a super-hero movie, with great power comes great responsibility. We have great power, or at least some power. We have the responsibility to use our powers for good.

Personally, when I really think about it, I don't actually want super-powers. I have a hard enough time controlling the powers I already have. Certain super-powers would be really useful from time to time, but I don't want to stand out like superheroes tend to do, and I can barely handle my own responsibilities, so I'd rather not take on any more. We don't need super-powers. In fact, if we can't handle that kind of responsibility, we may need not to have them. God is going to judge us based on what we do with the gifts He has given us. The more He gives us, the more He expects us to do with them. We might be lucky that we don't have actual super-powers. For most of us, it might be enough of a responsibility to use the super, human abilities we already have.

New Memes

After each Conference over the last few years, it repeatedly astonishes me how quickly new Conference memes are created and new Conference quotes are shared. Eventually, I'm sure I'll get used to it, and I'll see a new Conference meme posted to Facebook as soon as the words have left the Prophet's mouth, but until that day, I'm going to marvel at and enjoy the speed with which new Conference memes are created. And to prove that there are, in fact, many new Conference memes already posted to Facebook, despite this being only the day after Conference concluded, I'd like to share at least a few of those new memes here.

Okay, maybe I shared a few more than a few, but when the quotes and images are this good, it's hard to narrow the list down to just a few favorites. We are very blessed to have Prophets and Apostles who share such inspiring messages with us, and we're also blessed by the talented individuals who attach those messages to beautiful pictures and distribute them to all the world. I love General Conference and I love General Conference memes. It's miraculous that we live in an age when such blessings can be obtained and shared so quickly.

Big Picture of Little Decisions

One thing I've picked up on this Conference so far is that little, daily decisions influence our eternal destiny. As someone (Elder Cook?) mentioned wheat and tares sown closely together, I thought of a garden, where you must regularly pull weeds and water flowers almost every day. Little acts may not seem like much, it may seem like the flowers grow so slowly, and the weeds come back every time, but because of your diligent efforts, each day the flowers grow a little, and each time, a few fewer weeds grow back. So keep at it. You're making better progress than you may think. And even if you're not making any progress at all, God sees how hard you're trying, and that counts for a lot with Him. Keep up your daily acts of righteousness and your daily attempts to be a better person. It may not seem to amount to much right now, but it'll all be worth it in the end.

Invitations to Conference

I just invited a bunch of random strangers on the internet to attend General Conference. All it took was posting a link like this one: https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng. I don't expect many people to accept, or even see, my invitation, but if even one person clicks on the link and gets something out of Conference, it'll be worth it.

I have a non-member friend that I thought about inviting to Conference, but I didn't. I didn't have the nerve. Next time I see her, I'm going to invite her to watch some of General Conference. Maybe I'll pick out a particular talk I think she'll like. Anyhow, I should invite her to watch and benefit from at least some part of General Conference.

It doesn't take much to invite people to Conference, just a little courage. If you can build up the courage, I invite you to reach out to a friend, a coworker, or even a stranger, and invite them to watch a little bit of General Conference. Watching it will bless their lives and inviting them will bless yours.

Paladins ≈ Knights - Overcomplication

Yesterday, I was trying to explain what a Paladin was to someone, and after spending several minutes describing their commitment to righteousness, their code of conduct, their skill at arms and horsemanship, and the divine power they get in return for their devotion, I was told by the person to whom I was explaining all this, "So, basically, they're kind of like knights."

At that moment, I found it astonishing that a concept that's so difficult for others to understand became very simple to them when put into terms they understood. I could easily spend an enormous amount of time explaining what a Paladin is, what he does, what he can do, and why I would want to be one, and people still probably wouldn't get it. But if I say that I want to be as chivalrous and valiant as a knight, suddenly everybody knows what I mean.

As it turns out, I've been overcomplicating this. I'll still consider myself more of a Paladin than a knight because I love medieval fantasy more than medieval history, and the divine magic that sets a Paladin apart from non-magical knights reminds me of the divine power we each can get for our righteousness, and I really need that "magical" power. But from now on, whenever I need to explain what a Paladin is, I'll just tell them that a Paladin is kind of like a knight.

Inspiring Lives

There's a quote floating around Facebook that says "Your life is your message to the world. Make sure it's inspiring." I'm not sure who, if anyone, would be inspired by the story of my life, but I hope that they'd at least find the main character relatable and likable.

Come to think of it, I can't think of anyone whose life really inspires me. There are people that inspire me and encourage me to be a better person, but I'm not sure if their life stories have anything to do with that, except that that's how they got to be the way they are. Our experiences mold us, and then we help to shape other people. It's kind of a strange domino effect, except that we have a greater influence on our own lives than I sometimes give us credit for.

Life isn't something that just happens to us. Our life story doesn't entirely determine who we are. Some people face hardship and give up, while others face it head-on and become strong. Some, blessed with ease, merely enjoy their own comfort, others reach out to others to share the blessings they have. Our experiences can make us better people or worse ones, and it's mostly up to us which occurs.

We may not be able to choose all the plot elements in the stories of our lives, but we can make major decisions about the main characters, and that alone can make a story inspiring. We don't have to go from rags to riches or from weakness to strength (though I'm sure we'd all like to). We can inspire others just by holding on. A positive attitude, a commitment to righteousness, or even just the courage to keep on living can be enough to inspire others to try to be as strong as we sometimes seem. And watching them try to be strong can, in turn, inspire us.

We choose the main characters of our stories. We can't always choose family, classmates, or coworkers, but you can have a strong influence on other main characters, and that includes ourselves, naturally, but also our friends. Stay close to people who inspire you, and odds are pretty good that you'll both improve together as you inspire each other to be your best selves. Your life can be an inspiring one, especially as you spend time with people that inspire you.

Open Book Quiz

I took three quizzes recently. For the first one, I relied on my memory and got a B. For the second one, I remembered that I could take notes, so I did and got an A, but I still missed a few questions. Just before the third quiz, I noticed that I was allowed to use the course materials as I took the quiz, so I answered every question I could by memory, then checked the materials for the answers to he other questions. That time, I got 100% on the quiz.

Life is an Open Book Quiz, and all of the answers are in the scriptures. We could, like many people, rely on our own wit and wisdom to get us through life, and we might get a passing grade that way. We could also employ study tips, like learning from students who seem to be doing well, and that will likely improve our grade. But whenever we get stuck on a question that we can't answer on our own or even with help from our peers, we can hit the books.

The principles of the gospel and many examples on how we can live them in various situations are found in the writings of the Apostles and Prophets. They can offer us guidance in making the difficult and important decisions in our lives. They can help us pass the test, but only if we study their words.

"Our Heavenly Father did not put us on earth to fail but to succeed gloriously" (Richard G. Scott, October 1989). The Prophets and Apostles can help us do that. Let us remember to learn from them, so we can have their wisdom with us as we take the tests of life.