They would not look, therefore they perished.

 Two days ago, The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a message regarding the COVID-19 Vaccination and wearing masks. It seemed like no big deal to me as the counsel was in line with other messages from these inspired leaders. I realize now it was no big deal to me also because it was in line with what I believed. 

However, for those that believed differently, this is probably a challenge. I originally thought "well, this will set the record straight and for anyone who believes these men are prophets, will correct their ways." Not the humblest of thoughts I do admit. However, there are a lot of people struggling with this message.

Some random thoughts.

1.) I have not yet had a major struggle with anything the First Presidency has said. I count myself blessed, because it could easily happen. It would be very difficult if I believed one thing and then to have inspired men say the opposite. I know several friends who have had this happen to them. Some of them followed the prophet and some did not and they "went another way." With all the opinions and misinformation that exists in our world, I worry that the day may come when I will have my trial of faith on an issue.

2.) I can't help but think that the current issue regarding masks and the vaccine is a very real mirror of Israel and the Brass Serpent. A quick study of that story in Numbers and a reading of Alma 33 in The Book of Mormon and I think the parallel is obvious.

3.) My dad always said "it comes down to this: Who do you trust?" I think this is totally true. It is hard. Especially the world we live in with the ease of communication. I think it is ironic that misinformation used to be shared and passed on for generations (i.e. Old Wives Tales") because someone believed something and it would take a while to get an idea corrected because information was slow to get passed around. Now we have the chance to quickly get accurate information out to correct bad information, however, that is not what is happening. Instead it seems bad information spreads faster than good information because the bad information gets put in a way that sounds more exciting. It has a "shock factor" to it and thus it gets shared more, especially in a world of memes and sound bites. Take the following meme for example. Which of the following memes do you think is more likely to get shared?

Eating veggies and exercising??? I tried that last Thursday and I am still not healthy and strong ;)

In the long run, I hope this is something that won't really matter. Life goes on . I will try to make good informed choices, but the reality is that it is difficult to do that these days. I will trust that I will just do the best I can and put my faith in God.