Things As They Really Are

Sister Hilton gave a wonderful lesson from David A. Bednar's talk, "Things as They Really Are."

When we consider methods of attack used by the adversary to distract us from or inhibit our capacity to discern things as they really are. You will need to be obedient, to honor sacred covenants, and to discern things consistently as they reall are in today's world that grows ever more confused and wicked.
In The Family: A Proclamation to the World, we understand that obtaining a physical body is the primary importance of the process of progressing toward our divine destiny. Joseph Smith taught with clarity the importance of our physical bodies:
"We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man, and when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into the herd of swine, showing that he would prefer a swine's body to having none. All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not. The devil has no power over us only as we permit him; the moment we revolt at anything which comes from God, the devil takes power."
Because a physical body is so central to the Father's plan of happiness and our spiritual development, we should not be surprised that Lucifer seeks to frustrate our progression by tempting us to use our bodies improperly. One of the ultimate ironies of eternity is that the adversary, who is miserable precisely because he has no physical body, invites and entices us to share in his misery through the improper use of our bodies. The very tool he does not have and cannot use is thus the primary target of his attempts to lure us to physical and spiritual destruction.
Satan also strives to entice that sons anddaughters of God to minimize the importance of their physical bodies. This particular type of attack is most subtle and diabolical. Sadly, some young men and women in the Church today ignore "things as they really are" and neglect eternal relationships for digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value.
We live at a time when technology can be used to replicate reality. Today I raise an apostolic voice of warning abou the potenially stifling, suffocating suppressing, and constraining impact of some kins of cyberspace interactions and experiences upon our souls. I plead with you to beware of the sense-dulling and spiritually destructive influence of cyberspace technologies that are used to produce high fidelity and that promote degrading and evil purposes.
Brothers and sisters, please understand. I am not suggesting all technology is inherently b ad; it is not. Nor am I saying we should not use its many capabilities in appropriate ways to learn, to communicate, to lift and brighten lives, and to build and strengthen the Church; of course we should. But I am raising a warning voice that we should not squander and damage authentic relationships by obsessing over contrived ones.

We should be very grateful for modern day revelation. As times and technology change, we have wonderful teachings from the Prophet and leaders of the Church.