Ever hear the one about 2 Nephi? No one gets through it!

Raise your hand if you love to read Isaiah! Okay, maybe we can say we like it when someone explains it to us. Anyone who knows multiple languages also knows that it is not possible to directly translate word for word from one language to another. In the case of Isaiah, that is almost painfully obvious.

Isaiah was a prophet who happened to be a poet. I liken his writing to Elder Neal A. Maxwell. Elder Maxwell is no longer with us, but anyone who remembers hearing him speak probably also felt he was a particular favorite. One could not be a casual listener of Elder Maxwell’s talks. He used beautiful words, lots of alliteration, and an intelligent way of speaking. His talks were the kind best listened to closely, taking what notes were possible, then going to the written talk later and poring over it, probably underlining, highlighting, and taking notes along the way. While his contemporaries were not able to do so, we have the writings of Isaiah and many tools and helps to make understanding his words easier.

I learned something this week about Isaiah. The Book of Mormon’s 2 Nephi 12-24 can be compared to Isaiah 2-14; however, the Isaiah chapters have far more footnotes. I plan in the next few weeks, and for the rest of my life, if necessary, to set those two books of scripture side by side and study them that way. The old joking adage “No one gets through 2 Nephi” is no longer going to apply. I do get through it, but most of the time it seems just like that, getting through it.

In our college gathering this week we discussed 2 Nephi 16. A quick read might make one think, “Oh, this is about heaven and the end days,” but it is really about Isaiah’s personal experience when he was called to be a prophet. He saw Jesus Christ in a vision, declared himself to be unworthy, and the response was forgiveness and the declaration that he was now clean. Then he was called, and he immediately accepted the call. Then he was warned about how hard his calling would be because no one would hear him. He would basically be serving the least rewarding mission ever. Of course, the fact that millions of us are now studying Isaiah’s words and recognizing the profound doctrines he taught means that he was far more successful than he experienced while in his mortal life.

I am very grateful to have this opportunity to study Isaiah. I am eager for the day when I will be able to look back and say, “Every time I read Isaiah, I truly understand why Nephi loved his writing so much and why he painstakingly stamped those words into the plates and why he exhorted us to feast upon them. I can hardly wait to study this again!”

Isn’t learning awesome?

I heard a rumor the other day....and it was on the Internet, so it MUST be true!

When I was a teenager, it never occurred to me that I would ever use a computer. Very few people ever did. They were as large as a house in some cases. Whenever I had to type a paper, I lugged out our Olivetti electric typewriter, along with the onion skin paper and the eraser. We did have color television and VCRs, we used microwave ovens, but all of our phones were tethered to the wall. We never knew who was calling until we answered the phone, and the caller identified himself or herself. We used actual books for our studying. We were not allowed to use calculators in math class. In my typing class, we learned on some pretty old fashioned, even then, electric typewriters.

A funny story:  I worked at a law firm in 1981-82. They had an IBM Selectric clone for a typewriter. I liked it just fine. The attorneys bought an electronic typewriter for me to test out. It didn’t make all the noise my tried and true typewriter made, and the touch was even more light than I was used to using. I gave it the thumbs down.

In 1985 the law firm in which I had worked for a couple of years bought computers that used the software WordPerfect, while my future second husband was busily working for WordPerfect, unbeknownst, of course, to me. It was a brave new world for me. Mind you, the monitors had amber lettering, the screens were black. We didn’t have hard drives for the computers. We had floppy drives that had to be loaded so we could even use the computers. I later bought my own computer and transcribed at home for attorneys and court reporters who dictated their notes. I had a very slow daisy wheel printer that used tractor-fed paper. I remember having to take the pages and tear off the removable edges as well as tear the papers apart from one another. Lining up the sentences to match perfectly with the numbers on the side of the page was a trick.

30 years later I have a tiny computer that fits in my pocket that is about a million light years ahead of that first computer I ever used. We use a DVR to record shows we want to watch at our own leisure. None of the phones in our house has a tether, especially the mobile phones each of us has. I don’t ever answer the phone unless I recognize the name or number and IF I want to have a conversation with that particular caller. Caller ID was a huge blessing to me when I was divorced. I really needed to be mentally prepared to willingly have a conversation with my ex-husband.

At work my stenographic writer is completely electronic and uses no paper. I can use it to wirelessly transmit what I am writing to both my computer and the judge’s computer. My computer is about two feet from my writer, but his computer is about 15 feet away. The software and the writer each contain audiosync features that record what is being said, embedding the recording or synching it with my transcripts, for ease of transcription.

I have had the same email address for 19 years. It’s the address I was using when I met my current husband. It works great and holds great sentimental value, so I’m sure I’ll be keeping it for some time. Of course, I do have a work email address and a junk email address, and most of my communication is done through those three addresses as well as text messages to my mobile phone.

My hubby, with the assistance of like-minded friends, created a repository for research and answers to questions often asked of people who were investigating the Church. It was the first of its kind. This was long before the Church was very involved in utilizing the Internet at all. He is no longer affiliated with the repository or that organization, but he is participating in the same sort of activities in different places.

This past week in my studying I learned some important things to help guide me in my personal time on the Internet. Elder David A. Bednar asked us to ask ourselves two questions:

1.  Does the use of various technologies and media invite or impede the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in your life?

2.  Does the time you spend using various technologies and media enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve in meaningful ways?

These two questions have helped put things into better perspective and give a great guideline for choosing what, when, and how to participate in technology and media usage. I have already changed some of my viewing habits, as has my husband. Each step we take back from harmful sites and music and programs and movies takes us a step forward toward the things that hold greater value:  Family, health, joy, our faith, and how we can serve others.

This is my plan. Will you join me?