Avoiding the Degrading Influences of the Media

Hello everyone!

In today's lesson we talked about the media, and the ways in which exposure to the wrong kind of media influences can degrade our ability to feel the spirit over time. Remember that the nice white egg that Sis. Francis had placed into the "dirty or colored" water eventually tinted the egg and turned it to a dingy color, more in line with the water's color. This happens to us to, just by being exposed to the world's influences -- which are not always (or even usually) in harmony with Heavenly Father's.

As part of the lesson, Sis. Francis gave each of us a copy of a special article on being wise with our media choices called, "Out of the Best Books." This article originally appeared in this month's New Era -- and if you don't have it, you can read it online here:

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=bf9f6d5c3d5b2210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD


For this week's blog -- please read the article and think of some ideas you might have for how we can avoid the degrading influence of the media. I'll get us started!

Reaching Out to Others....

Today we had an opportunity to talk about reaching out to others, and to make sure we are using our "light" to light a flame in others. This week we have challenged ourselves to do more "reaching out" to those around us -- especially those we might not normally think of reaching out to. As you do this, I would love it if you would share your ideas, thoughts, and stories here, in response to this blog post. That way, we can use our experiences to encourage each other to do more!

I can't wait to hear about your experiences this week!

Yours truly,

Sister Betts

Welcome to my blog!!!

Time flies doesn't it???

{especially when I am your teacher!!}

I decided that I wanted to have a chance to share more of my thoughts than one hour per week at church would allow -- and I am sure all of you are tired of my lessons running WELL PAST the end of church =-)... So, I have decided to start a blog. Even better, it gives you all a chance to "talk back"!! I actually teach classes for UCLA online, and I love the online discussion format, so I am looking forward to seeing your thoughts here too!

Since we are still getting to know each other -- I figured my first blog post would be a good chance for more get to know you type stuff. So, in response to this blog post I have a little request. Tell me something about yourself that most people would be completely surprised to know!

As I have already told you guys, most people would be very surprised to learn that I like Japanese Anime and Manga. But since I have already shared that with you, I will try to think of something else to add.

Just FYI, I will be posting more here after our lesson on Sunday (especially if I don't get all the way through the lesson), so please keep checking back through out the week to see what crazy and interesting things might pop up!

I can't wait to see what you write!

Sis. Betts