Fasting From Social Media

Every April and October, our church holds a General Conference where we hear from our Prophet, apostles, and other church leaders.

This year, the Prophet extended a challenge:

1. Go on a 10 day social media fast (and fast from other media that is not uplifting),
2. Read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year, and mark each verse that speaks of the Savior.
3. Establish a pattern of regular temple attendance.
4. Participate fully in Relief Society.

At first I was reluctant to do a social media fast, for a couple reasons. In an effort to curb my all too real social media addiction, I had Trevor change all my passwords so I can only get on when he's around. That alone has cut back my social media use quite a bit. Also, the Prophet extended the social media challenge to the teenagers this summer (only 7 days instead of 10) and at the time my husband challenged me to see if I could go 2 weeks instead of just 1. So my first thought was, wait, I already did this. Do I need to do it again?

But.... what came to my mind is the story of Naaman--he was sick with leprosy and came to Elisha to heal him. Elisha actually didn't even come to talk to him--his servant did. His servant told Naaman that he would be healed if he washed in the river Jordan 7 times, Naaman was a bit insulted. That seemed ridiculous to him I guess--he'd expected a big dramatic healing, and he certainly thought the . In his words (2 Kings 5):

"11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?"

I'd like to think I would do something big if President Nelson asked it. Pick everything up and move to Missouri? Join Zion's Camp? Live the Law of Consecration? I hope that I would do it.

It hit me that if I want to follow the prophet in the big things, I need to follow him in the little things too. This was a small thing that he asked for--a simple thing. I needed to act on it.

And it has blessed my life! In additional to social media, we were challenged to give up other media that is not uplifting. During conference, I was prompted that I needed to give up certain news sites and advice columns and general time wasting websites that I've been spending a lot of time on, things that have filled my internet time since I cut back on social media.

I hadn't realized how much those things were cluttering up my mind. Without stressing about the news going on every day, I could focus more on my life and my husband and the things that matter most. Without spending so much time on time sucking websites, I had more time to do other things. I read my scriptures more (okay, some of that was the Book of Mormon challenge), I did some family history, I spent more time on uplifting meaningful things and I felt closer to my Savior and my Heavenly Father.

It was a successful experiment! Trevor is hopeful that I'll give up social media altogether like he has. I'm not ready for that yet, but I think I need to continue to cut back--not just on social media but on the internet in general. There's more to life!