By HEATHER REEVES
A member of the Presidency of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints spoke to the LDS Saints Sunday morning cautioning them to be careful with the technology available in modern day.
Elder Harold G. Hillam used a letter written in 1899 by the General Sunday School Presidency during the Jubilee Celebration of the 50th year anniversary of the organization of the first Sunday School in the LDS Church, to help portray his message to the LDS saints.
In the letter, the Sunday School Presidency wrote to the future brethren of the Church, telling them about the 'labor of love' put into the Sunday School work and asking the brethren never to forget the object of the Sunday School program in the church. This object being 'To teach the children the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; to make Latter-day Saints of them.'
Elder Hillam said that the LDS Saints of today 'have been blessed with magnificent tools and methods which can be used to assist in teaching.' But Elder Hillam warned that the tools needed to be used with wisdom and discretion to bring blessings into our lives.
One of the examples of modern technology Elder Hillam used was the Internet. 'There is much that is good and edifying in the media, but there is also much that is gross, immoral and time-consuming, 'enticing us to be ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.' (2 Timothy 3:7)'
In today's society, we have large amounts of information at our fingertips. Elder Hillam counseled the members of the Church to ask themselves some questions when deciding whether or not to use technology. 'Is the information I am receiving from this tool of learning edifying and adding truth into my life? Are the hours I am investing an effective use of my valuable time? Does this computer game assist me in fulfilling my responsibilities and goals?'
'We are in essence a Church of teachers,' said Hillam, 'All members of the Church have the opportunity to teach and to testify.' Hillam said that teachers have a solemn responsibility to teach children to walk uprightly in this world, and that teachers who radiate the Spirit will fulfill the desires of the authors of the 1899 letter, 'to teach the children the Principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; to make Latter-day Saints of them.'