What makes Everquest so appealing?

So tonight, I broke down and loaded up Everquest on my computer for less than an hour.  Less than an hour because it only took me that long to realize that it would go no where and that my time with my wife, family, job, and life in general are too valuable to me to give up.  It was nostalgic though, having spent over four years playing the stupid thing I still remembered how to get around and all the back alley ways through Cabilis and the book to the Plane of Knowledge in the Field of Bone.  But dining around in Luclin and killing a few things got me to thinking about the sheer amount of time that it requires to get anywhere in the game.  Definitely a turn-off.  I mean besides being appealing to people who somehow think they have nothing better to do than grind out levels until you can raid and then spend a few hours a night on the thing, how do such games keep our attention?

Well, first, redundantly, it's appealing to those that don't want to do anything else.  Great, besides that.

One thing I noticed is the sense of accomplishment there is built in to each little facet of the game.  Lots of inventory items, lots of levels to grind out, lots of sub levels to grind out, lots of monsters to kill, etc.  I think sometimes they built a game how we should be considering our goals in life.  It's hard to have a little bell go off each time you level in real life; sometimes it is hard to track how far you really are getting in life.  But, there is a sense of accomplishment that can be achieved when small simple goals are met, especially in a group setting, which leads me to my next point.

We are social creatures.  I definitely sympathize with those out there that struggle socially.  I was there for a while in my life as well, luckily the mission kind of helped me with that.  Foremost there is something nice about not knowing who the other people are really.  You can be whoever you want to be, be that kind, mean, male, female, outspoken or aloof.  There is a certain amount of power that comes from being able to stop and think about a situation without giving anything away and then act as you can on the internet.  But accomplishing things in social situations and with people to chat with and even help or to help is kind of nice.  It's even better when they are real life acquaintances or friends that you are doing it all with.  I don't have any studies, I am just kind of going off my own feelings and experiences from the past few years.

Thinking of this and other fun aspects of these games, it gets me to thinking about how we should be considering our own lives to make them more interesting; to get us more involved in our own flesh and not in games like EverQuest or Halo, magazines like Us or People, or soap operas or sitcoms.  All these things stem from the same source and rob us of our time.  Rob because in reality they give at best, very little in return, and at worst, nothing.

So let's do things with others.  Be involved in a community of some kind, be that church or a club or some online gathering doing something creative and good that builds you as a person.  Volunteer and give of yourself to others.

Then let's consider the little accomplishments in life, because that is what leads to the big things.  The fact that we are here today and living and reading and loving and breathing and part of something, anything is a miracle of no small merit.  So let's be grateful and take satisfaction in everything good that we do.

That's what I think.

Packing

I've discovered it's one of my least favorite things
(Note the dead look in my eyes)

I mean it's great to clean and to see from a general level of chaos
come a certain amount of order.

Maybe it's just the moving all the boxes from Rexburg to San Antonio
and how much it will cost that is such a bother.  The bees are all the contractors
that want to take my hunny, I mean munny.  Our friends have come to help, Mike and Zak so far.  Thanks again, guys!

But this is all for a good cause, I remind myself.  

And, really, it is all because I got a job down in San Antonio.  

Thank you for all your prayers and support, and thanks to USAA for hiring me!  
Back to packing!

Back in her arms again

It's great to be back from Seattle.  The expedition was great but it is nice to be back with Stepheni and not waking up alone again.  I would really like to go back there someday to spend some time with Stepheni there touring the city and eating at the restaurants there.  Justin and I walked by the famous Ruth's Chris steakhouse and had enough time to look at the menu.  It wasn't too expensive:  We would have just had to cut everything in half and share the plate of food they brought us to afford it.  I'll go back one day ;-)

Stepheni and I had some time to go shopping today, and we ended up buying Lady and the Tramp and Puss in Boots, both of which we love!  It ended up costing us a pretty penny, but we feel like it is a good investment for our kids one day as they are good, clean Disney movies and Blu-Ray.  We had a chance to talk about what we want for our children in terms of entertainment and came up with some ideas:

1.  No cable:  We don't watch it as it is, and we don't feel that cable TV has anything to offer to our kids.  If we want some educational material then we can go out and buy it.  Stepheni brought up as well that keeping the TV off for the first two years of Etienne's life will be fairly easy and what she would like to do, but we will have to decide what to do with our second child as Etienne will want to watch TV and the other may not be two already; something to think about.

2.  One family computer:  While Stepheni and I will have our tablets and phones, we feel like it is important to have one family computer (probably an iMac due to the family settings it has) and have that be available but supervised.  We've talked about the importance of using the tools that are available in the world but knowing how to leave inappropriate content is an important skill to develop and something we want to teach our children.  YouTube is full of great information but it is also full of garbage as well, the same goes for Facebook, LinkedIn, and the internet at large!

3.  Look at the ratings and reviews.  Looking at websites like Common Sense Media, imdb Parents Guide, Kids in Mind, and Parent Previews are great resources to find out why movies are rated the way they are, and teaching our children to look at ratings and gauge whether it sounds like something good to go to  even with G and PG-rated movies will teach them to make good moral decisions early on.  Thinking back to the counsel given to us to "be in the world but not of the world" is something not only wise but necessary in this day and age.  There is a lot of great content out there, but knowing how to filter through it and find what is good and wholesome therein is a necessary skill for everyone that wants to lead a wholesome and uplifting life.

Thanks for reading.

Consistency in Marriage

One of my classmates brought up a good question today in class, asking about in what things should we be consistent in marriage and family life.  I thought about it and responded with those things that I have seen my own dad do during my whole life, and realized I had never told him those things I most respected him for and looked up to him for.

My response was that he was always consistent in the spiritual things that really mattered:  Going to church every Sunday, he was always a full tithe payer, we always read scriptures and said family prayers at night, and he was always respectful of my mother and then my step-mother later, never raising his voice at either and never making the divorce a subject.

I am grateful for a father who has always been and will always be an example in my life of righteous fatherhood and Priesthood.

Facebook Users Speak: "God exists!"

The interesting results of a simple pull:
My wife introduced me to a poll that is floating around on Facebook.  It's gotten the attention of a few hundred thousand short of three million believers, and 240k some-odd agnostics, and about the same amount of atheists.  A strikingly obvious division in opinion between the masses, while (as my wife also correctly noted), the media and the world would like us to think it is otherwise:  that somehow, we (the believers in God), are somehow a minority.  While it may not be popular among some circles to believe in Christ, or God, or whatever variation thereon, we are certainly the majority, especially here in America.

How can we reverse this?  
Trolling people does not help.  Spamming "God is good" or "Jesus loves you" is not a well thought out response, or in anyway motivational to people not of our faith.  Attacking people for their asinine arguments against the existence of God or the evidence of His existence is equally asinine.  So what can we do?  We know that God exists, and that His Son paid the price for our sins.  This belief is directly linked to the belief of good and bad, righteousness and evil.  Something I believe others are trying so desperately to refute.  The proud hate being called out on their errors or sins and to repentance.

How can we help others to believe?  
The first thing missionaries learn in the field, before lessons or languages is that the Holy Spirit is at the center of it all.  No lasting conversion can or will happen without the intervention of the Holy Ghost.  Inviting this into our lives and into our speech and conversations with those who do not believe is of utmost importance.  Therein lies the key:  We do not need to fight, attack, belittle, or condescend but to invite the Spirit into the lives of those we love as our brothers and sisters who simply have forgotten where they came from and who they truly are:  children of our Heavenly Father, who loves them so very much.  Zion was organized by those who became one in heart and mind, united in their love for the Savior and each other.  "Zion: the pure in heart."  I feel as though, that those who fight against God in this way are simply fighting against the establishment of Zion here on earth again.  

Finally,
We must always to be ready always to testify and share how we ourselves know.  Being prepared also means knowing what we ourselves believe.  The scriptures are there, and are filled with the words, testimonies of the prophets, Apostles and disciples of Christ. There is no argument, no idea, no philosophy, nor falsehood that hasn't been thought up before. While science may have given us iPod's, cars, spaceflight, the internet, the LHC, and myriad other modern conveniences: we must remember that all such things are based on inspiration from our Heavenly Father.  Blessings from the intervention and inspiration from a loving Heavenly Father, not just inventions of the "measure of all things".  New ideas and inventions are constantly being developed at an ever increasing rate, the Lord will only ever run out of things to give to us when we receive all He has to give.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been taught in all ages, and is the same and as ancient as all creation.  It is to that which we must adhere through it all.