I've joined THAT bandwagon

I've gone digital and gotten me my first cell phone. Actually when I met with the bishop and accepted the call to be Young Women's president, I told him, "I guess it's time I get that cell phone." He simply replied that it was up to me but that is how the girls communicated a lot.

And he was right.

It's actually been quite fun to figure it out. I've added a few apps. At first I was only wanting a basic phone, none of this smartness stuff. But when I finally narrowed down the plan and who I was going to go with, the phone I ended up with was a basic smart phone. It's simply a go phone where I pay for the minutes I use. Not having a data plan has been wonderful. I don't feel the constant need to update and check in because I don't want to pay the data fees.

This last Sunday I gave a lesson to the girls on digital media. I started off with these quotes by President Kimball and President Eyring:

In 1974 President Kimball said, “I believe that the Lord is anxious to put into our hands inventions of which we laymen have hardly had a glimpse” (When the World Will Be Converted, Ensign, Oct. 1974).

The spiritual strength sufficient for our youth to stand firm just a few years ago will soon not be enough. Many of them are remarkable in their spiritual maturity and in their faith. But even the best of them are sorely tested. And the testing will become more severe. . . . The flow has become a flood and soon will be a torrent. It will become a torrent of sounds and sights and sensations that invite temptation and offend the Spirit of God. It is getting harder and may soon be frighteningly difficult. --Henry B. Eyring, August 2001, CES Symposium

Then we listed all the latest and coolest inventions of the last 10 years which revealed that a torrent of sights and sounds and sensations have truly washed over this generation like never before in the history of world. The world is brighter, louder, and busier.

1993 - Email
1997 - Netflix, growth started in 2002
1999 - Blogger, became mainstream in 2004
2000s - Hi-Def TV, Home theater systems
2001, January - Wikipedia
2001, October - 1^st iPod
2003, October - 1^st Social Networking site (MySpace)
2004, February - Facebook
2004, May - Sony PSP
2005, February - YouTube
2006, July - Twitter
2006, November - Nintendo Wii
2007, June - iPhone
2010, March - Pinterest

2010, April - iPad 
October 2010 - Instagram

Internet: It only communicated 1% of the information flowing through two-way telecommunications networks in the year 1993, already 51% by 2000, and more than 97% of the telecommunicated information by 2007

Texting: November 1995; in December 2009, 286 million US subscribers sent 152.7 billion text messages per month, for an average of 534 messages per subscriber per month

I showed them a video clip from Elder Ballard's CES Devotional in May where he addresses the concerns of digital media. He posed a question to the audience, "Do you have any personal quiet time?" He even brought up the use of scriptures on digital devices which is something I've been struggling with. But he mentioned that the church keeps up with the changing technology and that it's okay to use your scriptures in such a manner but to put your phone on airplane mode so that you won't be tempted to look at the notification that pops up. So I told the girls that if an apostle says it's okay than it's okay but that we should try to follow the guidelines. However, I personally like my old paper scriptures I can mark.

We discussed the need to BE wherever they are. If they are hanging with friends, give them your attention. If you are on a date, give your date your attention. If you're sitting in a church Sunday class, give your teacher your attention. Don't let your cell phone be a distraction.

I challenged them to a digital fast for the next four weeks. This means no digital media (except for school work) for a 24-hour period, one day each week. If they do it, we're going to break our "fast" by having a night out at the movies.

Oh my, did they balk at that. They for sure think they can't do it, but I know they can. I tried it on Monday and found I sure got a lot more accomplished without the distractions of the computer. I loved the quiet and know that the Lord wants to share great things with us, but he needs a quite channel to work with.

There is such a need to make time to be still, to pause, to reflect, to meditate, to ponder, to pray, to really listen. And you know what? It's hard. It's hard to just BE, to just sit and do nothing. The Lord has blessed us with so many great technologies to help do his work on the earth; however "we must be careful not to fall victim to their destructive side. We must not only avoid the base and degrading content some sources contain, but we must also recognize when electronic distractions keep us from quieter, more significant uses of our time. We must guard against becoming so attached to digital devices that we become detached from God." (Scott D. Whiting, March 2010 Ensign)