Charity

In the New Testament, Paul teaches one of the most important virtues to have in life is charity. He says, "And though I... understand all mysteries, and all knowledge... and have not charity, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:2). So easily do people get wrapped up in their own pursuits and their own dreams that they forget others around them. The accomplishments you make in your career or other pursuits, though important, will eventually fade away, but the people you helped will always remember what you did for them. And in the end, the people's lives that you touched will mean much more to you than anything else you did in your life.

#ldsconf

It was an interesting experience following #ldsconf. To be honest, I felt a lot of the comments at the beginning and end were disrespectful and uninviting to the Spirit. During the actual talks, the comments a lot better- mostly just quotes from the talks. That was actually more helpful because if there was a quote you liked, you could probably find it on there. It was a pretty good summary of the talk. I still find following hashtags to be very distracting, though. I missed a lot more from the talks trying to follow the comments (though to be fair, for about half the session I didn't realize I was behind and that I could skip to the front of all the comments, so I was about half an hour behind). But even when I was caught up, I still missed a lot from the talks.

SSP: Short Software Patents

Escapes or Traps?

6:30am. Wake up. Prepare for the day. Go to church. Visit with family and relatives. Take parents to the airport. Listen to friends’ struggles. Ward prayer. Receive a practice missionary lesson. Plan FHE. Scripture study. Such was my day on Sunday. I was exhausted and didn’t necessarily want to do all those things, but the happiness I felt at the end of that day surpassed anything I’ve felt in a long time. In contrast, other days I’ve tried to escape by reading a good book or watching a TV show. Sometimes such activities have helped me to relax. At other times I can’t stop participating in the activity, even though I have assignments and/or projects and tests that need doing. What was meant to be an escape turned into a trap. Choose your escapes carefully. Determine what you are trying to escape from. If you are trying to escape from something good simply because it is hard, you will miss out on the good that would come from that opportunity. The times I have been happiest are when I choose to do something good - particularly when trying to come closer to God and His Son and trying to serve others - even when I didn’t want to do it.