Social Media And Testimonies

I am not a scientist, but the concept of hybrid and electric vehicles fascinates me. I test drove a hybrid car recently. It was quiet and responsive and resorted to the gas-powered engine rarely. Instead of using the brake pads when I slowed, the car first charged the battery. After climbing an incline, the gravity restored the battery instead of wearing out the brakes. It conserved energy instead of wasting it.

Why couldn’t we apply the hybrid car philosophy to every aspect of our lives? We can.

When I walk in the mornings I occasionally come to an intersection at the same time as an automobile. I’ve learned that if I cross the street on the opposing side of the intersection, it allows the automobile to turn without having to wait while I cross. So altering what I do slightly benefits the driver of the vehicle without either of us expending any extra effort. Similarly tactfully adjusting our procedures now can win big dividends in our ability to do family history work in the future.

More than one-hundred-and-fifty years ago the Lord revealed the Word of Wisdom, which came out long before scientific knowledge caught wind of the harmful effects of coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. Medicine today is finally catching up. It was nearly 20 years ago the proclamation on the family was manifest. Today it is easy to see the importance of that document in guiding the lives of church members and the world at large. What is the next big emphasis today acknowledged by the church leaders which portends of things to come? I venture to say it is family history and temple work. What didn’t we have 50 or 100 years ago to enable this emphasis? Technology. Prior to today, the technology had not advanced to the point that it could support the mammoth effort needed, but it has and will. Temples are available and now dot the earth on every continent. The work is accelerating.

Man should not run faster than he is able.

Elder Bednar asked us to flood the earth with the Gospel. Why is that so important now? In his Campus Education Week address at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, August 19, 2014, he emphasized the following points:

1. Unique season in the history of the world dispensation of the fullness of times
2. Inspired technological and communication innovations have come forth
3. We can appropriately use these powerful tools to advance the work of salvation

At another venue, he stated the following:

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 fullness of times. Social media channels are global tools that can personally and positively impact large numbers of individuals and families. And 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 would like to illustrate the answer to this important point with a story from my childhood:

I grew up during my teenage years in a farming community in southern Utah called Castle Valley. We learned to flood the fields on our land by diverting the water from the ditch to cover the acreage, which brought life, hope, and beauty to the otherwise dry land. To make this possible, someone had diverted the creek miles up the valley to create this canal of sorts which flowed into the lower valley and became irrigation water for many properties there. We then were able to flood our fields, garden, orchard, and berry patches to give life to our trees, plants, fruits and vegetables.

Similarly, the efforts and ingenious technologies implemented in our world today give us the ability to capture, find, and save the stories of our ancestors and perpetuate their legacy. Further, we can share these stories and the gospel with others to lift and edify them.

Last chapter of Malachi, 5th and 6th verses, we read: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Joseph Smith addressed the importance of this mission when he said the following:

I might have rendered a plainer translation to this, but it is sufficiently plain to suit my purpose as it stands. It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fullness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fullness of times. Doctrine and Covenants 128.18,17

It was said that the greatest gift a man can give a boy is his willingness to share a part of his life with him. That we might capture the essence of that appeal and share our lives for the benefit of others.

We can help others become more familiar with the promptings of the Spirit when we share our testimony of the influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives.

Flooding the world feels that way

Excerpts of Joy