CHAPTER 14 WEEK of AUG 14 to AUG 22

Once again we have had another wonderful week serving our mission at the Nauvoo Temple.  We were blessed to have Jared and Alexandria's family with us last weekend as well as Ron and Shari Vehikite's family with us.  We had a grand time experiencing Nauvoo, eating, laughing and just plain enjoying each moment.

Here is a link to our photo album of this visit:

https://picasaweb.google.com/115812081811963320986/JaredLucasfamNauvoo?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPue_d27jq2v4AE&feat=directlink

Temple attendance has slowed a bit since the Pageant but the spirit remains constant and it is just so inspiring to serve in the beautiful Nauvoo Temple with our faithful sisters and brothers who serve with us.  Each bring their own spark with them which enlightens and inspires us.  Our temple presidency is trying a few new schedules to see how they are received by the temple district which shows how much they want to help those in this temple district to be able to come to the temple.  This brings to mind how we each need to evaluate our temple attendance and make necessary adjustments if need be to make the temple attendance a higher priority in our lives.  The Lord is doing everything He can to make temple attendance as easy as possible.  So take a moment and consider this extremely important aspect of your discipleship and choose to do whatever it takes to come to the temple.

This week we also were able to watch the devotional message given Aug 19, 2014 at BYU Education week from Elder Bednar on the use of social media.  He quoted Brigham Young:

"Every discovery in science and art, that is really true and useful to mankind has been given by direct revelation from God, though but few acknowledge it.  It has been given with a view to prepare the way for the ultimate triumph of truth, and the redemption of the earth from the power of sin and Satan. We should take advantage of all these great discoveries, the accumulated wisdom of the ages, and give to our children the benefit of every branch of useful knowledge, to prepare them to step forward and efficiently do their part in the great work."

He noted that this address added on to a talk he gave in 2009 titled "Things As They Really Are":

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/06/things-as-they-really-are?lang=eng

LDSLiving Magazine did an article entitled "Top Takeaways from Elder Bednar's Talk on Social Media" that included the following:

"...Six examples of ways gospel messages have recently had an impact thanks to social media channels:

- The #BecauseofHim Easter campaign

- A recent "I Pray When..." campaign

- The BofM365 scripture study Instagram account

- The way many members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve are beginning to be personally involved with social media accounts on sites like Instagram and Twitter.

- The growth of the LDSConf hashtag, which was originally started in 2008 by a faithful member.

- The sixth example turned out to be an exciting announcement about a new film called Meet the Mormons. The film was originally meant to be shown only in the Legacy Theater in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, but now will have worldwide distribution through various available digital channels. It will be released in select theaters in the United States soon after October general conference, but will later be shown in visitor's centers, on television, and through internet movie and social media channels. Watch the trailer for the film that debuted during the talk by clicking the link for YouTube below:"

 

http://youtu.be/yOEA3nVMngA

"Throughout his talk, Elder Bednar used many forms of media, including a slideshow and several old clips of past conference talks from prophets such as Gordon B. Hinckley and David O. McKay.

"He even projected some basic social media guidelines on a screen behind him:

"1. Be authentic and consistent. Be truthful, honest and accurate online.  Our content on social media should be uplifting and constructive, showing we are disciples of Christ.

"2. Edify and Uplift. Don't argue, debate, condemn, or belittle. Share the gospel with genuine love and concern, even if you are bold in defending your beliefs. We should use social media channels to project the light and truth of the restored gospel into a dark and confused world. 

"3. Respect Intellectual Property. Don't create your own content using someone else's art, name, photos, music, video, or other content without permission. Another big announcement was made at this point: "The content in Media Library on LDS.org, unless otherwise indicated, has been cleared for use by members without seeking permission from the Church." Go so social.lds.org for more info. 

"4. Be Wise and Vigilant. The most memorable line from this section? The internet never forgets. He reminds members that no matter what the app or program says, something posted on the internet will be there forever, so be wise with what you post. 

"At the end of his talk, Elder Bednar also issued a challenge for members. He said that we have accomplished only a trickle of missionary work on Social Media right now. He said "Beginning at this place on this day, I exhort you to sweep the earth with messages filled with righteousness and truth—messages that are authentic, edifying, and praiseworthy—and literally sweep the earth as with a flood.

"He concluded by reminding us that we don't need to become social media fanatics or spend hours composing messages, but each of us can contribute consistently to the growing flood of truth and righteousness as the work continues to hasten." © 2014 LDSLiving.com-- http://www.ldsliving.com/story/76656-top-takeaways-from-elder-bednars-talk-on-social-media

Definitely food for thought and another way to be part of the "Hastening".

Along with Elder Bednar's counsel lds.org has just recently announced the following:

"A new feature called Inspirational Playlists—similar to a YouTube playlist—allows you to start the first video in a playlist and then sit back and relax as the rest of the the videos play automatically. These playlists were designed to allow you to watch content continuously without having to navigate all over LDS.org to find the videos you want to watch."  For more information please click the following link:
 https://www.lds.org/church/news/new-inspirational-video-playlists-will-entertain-and-uplift?cid=HPTH081414350&lang=eng

As well as noting the LDS Media Library link that explains much of what all of this is about--definitely something to peruse at your convenience and is a great resource to know about:

https://www.lds.org/media-library?lang=eng

We have been doing some family history work in the last couple of weeks.

For those of you with IPads or Androids, there are two new apps.  If you go to www.familysearch.org and scroll to the bottom you can find click there for more info:

We have added some photos and will be doing this when we have time.  So check it out it is pretty awesome. (Windows Surface users are still be aced out, but hopefully the future will bring the app to that device as well.)

To conclude our post today we are going to take the advice of Elder Bednar and post a few gems that we hope will uplift and inspire--please at least note the first one--it is a great reminder of our cheering team on the other side of the veil: