Sunday Calls & difficult Church scenario

I'm actually surprised the last post works. The computer crashed just as I was about to proof read and spell check, so please forgive the spelling mistakes. I'm glad the entry saved anyway. I haven't figured out how to edit an entry that is already published yet.

This evening we managed to have a video conference call with my new son-in-law and daughter. They are attending BYU in Provo currently, having just married in August. We used Skype and it worked quite well. The kids still at home went nuts, performing all kinds of visual antics and being very involved in the conversation, much more so than they have been in speaker phone conversations of the past. This is a great way to communicate. We took a live video tour of their apartment, and then had a fun chat after sending the little ones to bed. Email me if you want our family Skype address.

We had a very interesting lesson in Elder Quorum today. The instructor organized us into several groups and gave each a difficult scenario to deal with, from his real-life experiences. They were very thought provoking, and people got very involved in the discussion. The one our group had was about a couple who had recently joined the Church and the husband had talked to a Sunday school instructor about a sensitive personal problem (the kind that probably should have only been discussed with a Bishop). It was a bad habit that was not overcome and fully repented of during the conversion and baptism process, but a habit serious enough to be a concern while preparing to go to the temple to have their marriage sealed for sealed for the eternities. It became obvious that this instructor had not kept this in confidence and dealt with it in an appropriate mature manner. The following week in church, the husband felt shunned by the instructor and ignored in class. The wife's visiting teachers gave her a lesson on being a supportive wife to a husband with this particular problem ( a problem they should not have known about). All this offended this new couple to such a degree that they no longer attended their temple preparation course or even church.

The discussion points were about what should be done now to help this couple.

Its never easy to overcome relationship mistakes like this. Having people in your church knowing your "dirty laundry" from a misplaced confidence can really make one feel uncomfortable. The first thought our group had was just to fellowship this couple and be a true friend. Listen, rather than trying to "solve" a problem, and encourage the husband to seek counseling with the Bishop, rather than others less competent to deal with problems of this nature. Getting the Bishop or Sunday School President involved in counseling the instructor that had violated the confidence may also be a good step, perhaps making it know to him how he had offended this couple while perhaps meaning well, may prompt some repentance and healing between the two.

Your thoughts on this subject are welcome, please comment.

First Steps

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (commonly called LDS church or Mormon church), members are encouraged to share their experiences and beliefs with others, bearing witness of Jesus Christ and his works whenever possible. It is to this end that this blog exists.

I am a computer and internet consultant by profession, with over 25 year in the field. I find that the internet is one of the best communication tools in the world, for both good and evil. Today, the majority of internet traffic is pornagraphic in nature; however, good can also be found, and with much effort, the bad ignored or filtered. I encourage all to share the good that they find and promote positive uses of the internet.

It is hard to even do an internet search on a search engine these days without encountering content that, if it were rated by even the Motion Picture Industry standards, would be considered R, NC-17, or X rated. Pornography and loose standards of dress and behavior are portrayed all around us in popular advertising on all forms of media, but particularly rampant on the internet. But, the internet is also one of the best tools for sharing the word of God, and for organizing good and worthwhile pursuits. The information at our fingertips today and the ease of access boggles the mind.

I lived through the advent of the personal computer in the early 80's. I was at BYU as a student when the internet was rounding the corner from an academic research and email tool between universities and government to the commercial business to business and business to consumer tool that it is today. Before the internet's popularity, there were electronic bullitin board systems that people with computers and modems could dial into and participate in discussion groups, and file sharing. I was a systems operator (SysOp) one of these sites at BYU. It was here that I got my first taste of the true power of the coming internet. The discussion groups were powerful tools of free expression. Even at BYU however, there was already a problem of people unloading content not in keeping with the standards of that University. We did regular purges of the file upload area to remove offensive content.

An an LDS father (six children), I constantly strive to teach my family and their friends about the dangers of the internet, how to protect themselves, and how to find the good. Please share with me on this blog ideas you may have about this, and any links to good and wholesome content.

Here is an example: http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=snAjZ8mfoYw