Conference

One of my favorite talks from general conference was Elder Ballard's talk, "O That Cunning Plan of the Evil One." He spoke very movingly on devices that Satan uses to ensnare and capture us with. He made a very impressive analogy between a fly fisherman hand carving a lure to capture a fish. He said, "The goal of the fly fisherman is to catch trout through skillful deception. The adept fisherman studies trout behavior, weather, the water current, and the types of insects trout eat and when those insects hatch. He will often craft by hand the lures he uses. He knows these artificial insects embedded with tiny hooks need to be a perfect deception because the trout will identify even the slightest flaw and reject the fly." He compared this to how Satan "handcrafts" his lures to ensnare the children of God. One of the traps that Satan uses in our modern days, is addictions. Elder Ballard spoke of the usual addictions that plagues our world today, but he added a new addiction to the list. One I had never thought as something that could be addicting. Elder Ballard spoke of the technology that addicts us as a human race. He said, "There is also great concern about some of the pernicious, addictive behaviors like gambling and evil pornography that are so personally destructive and so rampant in our society. Remember, brothers and sisters, any kind of addiction is to surrender to something, thus relinquishing agency and becoming dependent. Thus, video-gaming and texting on cell phones need to be added to the list. Some gamers claim to spend up to 18 hours a day going through level after level of video games, neglecting all other aspects of their lives. Texting on cell phones can become an addiction, causing the important interpersonal human communication to become lost. Not long ago a bishop told me two of his youth were standing side by side texting one another rather than talking to each other." I have never thought that I could ever be addicted to texting, but now looking back, I can see that I have been! Another technology that can be addicting is that of Facebook. I spend WAY too much time on Facebook, keeping myself updated on aspects of people's lives, that I just frankly don't care too much about, and yet, I can't stop! Every time I log onto firefox, I find myself automatically typing in Facebook's web address. Technology should be use for furthering the gospel, and every time something comes along to further the gospel, Satan jumps in with his counterfeit. Trying to ensnare us in something to prevent us from furthering God's plan for His children. Use the advancements of technology for good, not for your own pleasure! I know I have things to work on!

Disclaimer

I wrote my last blog post before president Uchtdorf's talk in the October 2nd priesthood session of general conference. I had no idea he would speak on almost the exact same thing!

I'm slowly begninng to hate sports

Don't get me wrong I LOVE sports. I do enjoy watching sports, but the rivalries are draining my love for it. For example I love BYU, but because I love BYU I am expected to hate the U of U. I think the U of U is a fine school, and i think they have fine athletic programs. I was reading some comments on my friend's facebook status about Utah State's win over BYU, and the things this young man was saying about BYU and my religon was terrible. I don't understand how anybody can have such hate and enmity towards a school, and every person that attends that school. I think rivalries could be a fun simple things, but people take them WAY too far. The BYU and U of U rivalry is now completely blown out of proportion, and the people who are participating in the awful fight, frankly need to grow up. People attending and participating in the rivalry are in college, they are seen as adults in the United State's eyes, and they behave like spoiled children. As Elder Quentin L. Cook said in the second session of general conference, "treat ever person as a son and daughter of God. The fact that I am now prone to get in an argument every time my favorite team loses to Utah University, or any sports team in general, has completely ruined the enjoyment of watching sports. Fans all over the world, please... just grow up.