Conference talk #5
President Monson: True to the Faith
This was a great talk. Ryan and I had a good discussion about this talk last night. We decided to both write down some thoughts. President Monson talked about the maka-feke. The maka-feke was an octopus lure that Tongan's use to catch octopus. Pres. Monson used the maka-feke as an example of what Satan does to lure us in. He talks about four maka-feke's in his talk, immorality, pornography, drugs and alcohol, and debt. Ryan is going to talk about those.
As we discussed this talk we started discussing other maka-feke's that are in our lives. Like the maka-feke of procrastination. Preperation is important in a lot of things in our lives, getting ready for church, preparing our activities for callings, and lots of day to day things but most importantly we need to prepare for eternity. We need to not procrastinate reading our scriptures, saying our prayers, and spending time with our families.
We thought that another difficult maka-feke was selfishness. I know that selfishness in marriage can cause a lot of problems. But when we think of others that can strengthen marraiges and any other relationship.
We talked about the maka-feke of the Book of Mormon, pride and materialism. We know from reading the Book of Mormon that this was the fall of the Nephites. This tells us that we should tread carefully around our material things. We should be careful about how much value we give to them. For example, a silly fabric book that you feel the need to show everyone cause you want to hear how cool you are. I know that book isn't of much value but sure am proud of it.
As I was just thinking of pride I thought about how much I love ice cream and sweets in general. I hide them and eat them without sharing. So what about the maka-feke of the word of wisdom. I certainly don't follow the word of wisdom when I shovel sweets into my body and don't exercise and just continue to gain weight. I know I often think I'm doing great with the word of wisdom because I don't do drugs, drink alcohol or coffee and tea. But I know I have a problem with sugar and junk food. Ryan mentioned that last night as we were discussing this.
The last one I just want to mention is the maka-feke of covetousness. I don't know if that's a real word but I'm using it anyways. I am constantly wishing I had more. More money, more house, more clothes, more food, junk food of course, more car, not more cars but a more expensive car, and just nicer things. Truthfully, we have everything we need. Not that I think it's bad to have those things if we can afford it, as long as we don't stick our noses up at others and feel like we'd die if we didn't have it.
This talk was a great talk for Ryan and I to sit down and talk and reflect upon our lives and the maka-feke's that affect us. It was kind of hard at the same time because I don't like to look at the things that I'm doing wrong. And this short list I made was only a small portion of the things we talked about.
Thanks dad for getting this started. I've enjoyed preparing for our talk and reading about others. I love you all.
President Monson talked about four maka-fekes in his talk. The first was immorality. While there isn't an issue with this in our families, I do think that this maka-feke is larger than we give it credit for. The First Presidency has made it very clear that we are not to participate in any media that glorifies or justifies immorality. At last general conference I remember Elder Bednar speaking to us and saying that we ought to look at the media that we allow into our home. So, if we evaluate what we are watching and see if it glorifies or justifies immorality, then we are guilty in allowing and even supporting immorality. So, this maka-feke is something that we can be guilty of if we encourage it through watching these types of media.
The next maka-feke is pornography. President Monson speaks of the evils of pornography and I hope that these evils have been preached in our churches and homes. However, there is another viewpoint on pornography that ties back into media and our participation in the various types of media that are available to us. Elder Nelson's quote that when young women are dressed immodestly they are pornography has become somewhat of a mantra amongst young people in the Church. Consequently, if we view media that promotes immodest dress and action, we are once again guilty of viewing pornography. So, what is immodest dress, since that is the definition of pornography given us by Elder Nelson. The standard that is easiest to quote is that if any clothing is not "garment appropriate" then it is immodest. That is a very sobering thought and really makes me sit back and re-evaluate what my family watches on the television and in the movies. Can it be said that we are viewing pornography? I sincerely hope and pray that we would look at what we watch and how we can eliminate it from our homes and lives.
President Monson next speaks of the maka-feke of drugs and alcohol. There really shouldn't be any questions about that, but I thought that we should be aware of any and all addictions that we might have. Whether it be sweets, exercise, a television show, soda, or anything else, any addiction can be as dangerous and harmful as drugs and alcohol.
Finally President Monson speaks of the maka-feke of debt. One of my favorite scriptures in the Doctrine and Covenants is when the Lord commands the prophet Joseph to pay off his debts and free himself from bondage. I look at the lives of so many members of the Church and question if we understand the tie-in between agency and debt. If we have debt, then we lose a portion of our agency. Elder Wirthlin stated quite simply in general conference that it is acceptable to go into debt for a home, education, and a first car. Debt is truly an enslaving principle and is contrary to having Zion in our homes, wards, stakes, and country. When we read in 4 Nephi of the characteristics of the no-ite Zion society, we see that one of the characteristics was that nobody was in bondage with regards to debt. In today's society, it requires some enormous sacrifices for a family to eliminate debt in their lives, but I know that since the Lord has asked it of us we can accomplish this commandment in our lives. I hope that we can all look at our lives and see what we can do to eliminate debt in our lives, including our homes and cars, so that we can be free from bondage and be prepared for anything that might be coming our way in the future.