Another Zone Conference

December 11, 2011

For the Christmas season, we had a combined zone conference with the Iloilo North zone, complete a with Christmas presentation, gift exchange, and typical missionary training. It was a wonderful experience.

In President Pagaduan's opening remarks, he taught about how important it is to pick what we listen to and not just listen to everything that is offered to us in this world. As individuals, we are surrounded by voices that guide us, teach us, and encourage us to do better. Unfortunately, we are also surrounded by those who desire to do us harm, to lead us astray, and those who are ever telling us that we are insignificant and incapable. Those who sit back as impassive listeners and allow every message to enter their thoughts often end up confused and uncertain. We must choose which voices really matter to us, which wants we want to hear and which ones we want to ignore so that we can be guided to where we desire to be. We must also make an effort to be the sort of voice that can reliably be listened too. Are we harshly criticizingly those around us, telling them they are of no worth? Or are we doing our best to lift and help those near to us, even through a medium as simple as what we are saying? Words really are so important. For example, each of you takes time out of your day to fill your thoughts with the words I write, just little black words, but they are important enough that you keep reading. I hope that I'm doing my best to lift you up.

These thoughts bring back a memory from a few months ago. As my companion and I were waiting to meet with someone, a lady pulled up in her car. The windows were rolled down and her radio was blaring to loudly to continue conversation. I've honestly never heard a more degrading or vulgar song, let alone one being played loud enough to hear from miles away. I did my best to avoid listening to the song when I noticed a child- 4 or 5 years in age- singing along with the song, familiar with the words and tune, it was obviously a song that they had heard many times. There are so many children in our lives, and they are so greatly influenced by what they hear. Unlike grown adults, they have little control of what they are listening to and how it effects them. Sadly, there are individuals who choose to listen to that which does not lift and inspire us and expose these young spirits to all of it.

We are living in a world where the television and the radio are ever increasingly screaming messages that take us away from that which is good and beautiful. Some day, probably not too many years in the future, I will have young children of my own, exposed to all that the world has to offer. Many of you may as well. Do we really want our children living in this world where that which is good is degraded till it becomes nearly disgusting and that which is vulgar is posted on walls and played on the radios? I don't. Yet what can one girl do against the world. I'm really not sure... but it only takes one to make a difference. It only takes one to stand up, and maybe some of you will choose to stand with me, and maybe the world that lies in our future can be better than the one we currently have, instead of worse. What are we willing to do?

Kun magtawas kita sa pagtindog, basi may magbago...