A Haiku for You

Apple verse PC

The eternal conflict roars

Leopard eats Ballmer

They should make an App for that

I was probably 7 years old when my parents first took me to the Church History Library in Salt Lake. As my mother unwrapped my scarf, I saw an entire floor of old ladies shuffling across the velvet carpet to and from computer terminals. I was fascinated that through those machines, these sweet grandmas could find information about their ancestors and start their temple work. 5 years later, at one of my first Young Men’s activities, we did family history work ourselves on PCs the ward owned and housed. I was excited to finally do what those little ladies were doing, and thought the fact that we could do the work from our own church building was incredible. Earlier this year I signed up for the new FamilySearch website, and have begun the work again on my laptop while in the comfort of my PJ’s. As we take advantage of these advances in technology, we can with greater ease bless the lives of the loved ones who have gone before us.

Hello there, what's your guild?

I am glad for my disabilities. I had a stroke when I was born that left my right hand permanently impaired. Even so, when I was young I was virtually addicted to video games. I gamed until they became complicated enough that I could not use my left hand exclusively and still win. I gave up video games, but have continued to watch with interest the computing and video gaming world. I now realize how trapped I could have become. If I were addicted to single-player and non-immersive games, MMORPGs would have been the death of me. I have seen firsthand the destruction MMOPRGs can have on the family structure. I knew a coworker whose husband quit his job to play World of Warcraft when they were already both working and struggling to provide for their growing family. I have seen roommates miss important church meeting because they had not finished their game in time. I have seen addictions to video games evolve to addictions of things much more harmful than gaming itself. The threat is growing, and the damage is real. We all need to be careful.