There Could Not Be a Happier People 3 Nephi Come Follow Me

There Could Not Be a Happier People 3 Nephi 27- 4 Nephi

Wouldn't it be amazing if, somewhere down the road...say, 100 years or so...people could look back on us at this time and say "There could not be a happier people than those people that were living in 2020."? I thought about that a lot as I was reading the beginning verses of 4 Nephi, and it was one of the messages of this lesson that left me in awe.

If you look back at the many, many messages from President Nelson, you find that he speaks an awful lot about how we should not allow contention in our lives and all the damage that it can do. Some days I feel like my life is so full of contention that I'm being bombarded with it from every side.

The Social Media Dilemma

About a week back I watched the Netflix show, The Social Dilemma. I don't know if you've had a chance to see it, but when the show was over I was left feeling slightly terrified, to be honest. I have long thought that there are a lot of things to hate about social media, and that show certainly didn't do anything to change my mind.

As a matter of fact, I walked away convinced that I needed to delete all my social media accounts and possibly go back to owning a flip phone. I did, in fact, walk away that night and delete Twitter. I also laid in bed that night wondering how I could eliminate Facebook from my life even though there are many things about it that I love.

Social Media is here to stay

I honestly have had a social media overload lately, and I think that is what was driving my thinking. There is so much contention that I don't dare like, comment or post anything for fear of the follow-up retribution that might ensue. It's hard to imagine enjoying social media at all at times like that.

But my sister told me she had read something from Elder Uchtdorf about the positives of social media. So I went looking for it, and I found a news article called Embracing the Future of Missionary Work. It was exactly what I needed.

Spreading the Good News

I have realized that the contention that is encircling me is there because I have allowed it to be. I don't need to read, follow, post, like or comment on anything that brings me contention.

But I actually do love social media for a lot of things. I love the crafting groups that I am part of. I love the instant pot group and a few baking groups where I get great recipes. I love reading Come Follow Me Daily, and I love the Worldwide Unified group that brings all kinds of testimony and messages of hope. I love staying connected with people I work with when we don't work in a building together. And of course I love that our Apostles and Prophet are on there declaring messages of hope and love.

Without social media, missionaries during the pandemic would not have been able to do missionary work very well. And many other people would have been isolated and alone.

Social media, like everything else every invented can be used for good and bad, depending on the choices you make.

What do I subscribe to?

My sister gave me some great advice-- she said to consider social media to be like a magazine subscription. Everyone is on there selling a subscription to their magazine content, but just because they are your friends doesn't mean you have to buy their subscription. Not subscribing doesn't mean you hate them, or that you're disowning them as family members, or that you don't value their friendship.

With that advice, I went through and made choices about who to follow, what to read, and what groups I want to be part of. I left groups that are bringing contention to my life, I unfollowed some people that spout content that bothers me, and even found a few new groups to join. And I got Twitter back. I love that the Apostles tweet!

Maybe if we all start subscribing to only the things that bring peace and joy into our lives, the contention will stop and we could be a happier people. I know that this week my actions have made a huge difference in my life! And rather than be a lurker, I feel like I need to follow the advice of our leaders and use my own platform to more fully spread the good news of the gospel!

Grab this week's Challenge Cards!

If you are a subscriber and get the challenge cards each week, I hope you've been enjoying them! If not, you can give them a go by clicking the link to grab them to go with this week's lesson.

This week there were a LOT of great talks to go with the lesson, so I had to pick and choose which ones I really loved. Don't forget about the talks mentioned in the manual, but I didn't include them on the cards.

One of my favorite talks of the week was "Brother's Keeper" by Dallin H. Oaks.

Have a great week of scripture study!