SPECIAL EDITION: Get The Most!

HEY EVERYBODY

This will be a SPECIAL EDITION email.

GET THE MOST!

This phrase comes from a stencil graffiti Elder Hobbs and I found a few weeks ago while we were visiting Castelo São Jorge in Lisbon (picture attached). We were walking back to the Metro station and saw it on the wall, and were completely blown away by how ridiculous it seemed, but how relevant it seemed in the world. Since seeing it, we have discovered that it has incredible meaning for us as human beings, as well as for us as children of God.

But what does GET THE MOST mean?

At first, when we saw it, we attached the meaning of “make the most of every day”, as if it were some happy, motivational graffiti to keep people thinking on the bright side. But as we thought more and more, it came to fit more in line with the basic economic idea of Adam Smith (I think that was his name) that self-interest is the most beneficial for an economy. But this kind of self-interest is founded in a whole lot more than just dollar amounts.

In all reality, GET THE MOST is the counterfeit way of getting happiness. It’s best summarized as “Suck the moment you are in completely dry!” This attitude, at its extreme, is living for the moment. It doesn’t account for the aggregate benefits of all the moments combined together. It looks at life as a sum of moments that were all hopefully taken advantage of. Take advantage of now to keep yourself from missing out on getting something for nothing. This is GET THE MOST.

For example, while driving, I slowed down so somebody could have space to turn onto the street I was on (traffic was bad). In so doing, the person behind them saw that and GOT THE MOST, speeding up to fill in the tiny gap, and I had to slam on the brakes. GET THE MOST.

Another way I see it is when missionaries come into the office. We are like a mini distribution center for the missionaries, and there are a lot of things that you can get for free. So missionaries come in and ask, “which movies are free?” “The Restoration, The Lamb of God, etc.” “I’ll take one of each.” So the missionaries tell the members, and even members start coming in and asking for free movies, even though they are only free when they are going to be given to an investigator. This is GET THE MOST.

Mission trinkets (jerseys, suits, patches, bags, ties, books, etc.), in extreme abundance, are another symptom of GET THE MOST.

Another way I saw this was in some advice I got from another missionary while having a really hard time dealing with the ever-growing responsibilities of being a financial secretary. He said that I just need to forget about the bad things and enjoy the little things, and he pointed out elders in the past who loved the office because they could drive the car, they got to see the phone bill, they got to know transfer assignments early, etc. He also said to “fake it ‘til you make it”. Being in the office, apparently, is just an opportunity for me to progress, and that is all I should worry about, according to him. This is GET THE MOST.

To redefine GET THE MOST, it is sucking the most out of the moment for yourself just because you can.

Let’s look at a list of people in the scriptures who embraced GET THE MOST:

-Satan. (Even after getting kicked out of heaven, he is still trying to get as many people to follow him.)
-Laman and Lemuel. (Even after barely helping build the boat, they still decided to take advantage of a sweet cruise across the ocean, making themselves merry.)
-Judas. (Even if he knew Christ had to be crucified, Judas still wanted the silver.)

The list goes on and on.

But people who do not go about getting the most do not live for themselves and their own progress. But this, somehow, allows them aggregate progression beyond the sum of the moments. They refuse to GET THE MOST now because doing so will keep them from more valuable, lasting rewards later.

NOT GETTING THE MOST is an incredible principle to live by. It means that you sacrifice some (if not all) of what you have now for the benefits that will long outlive the moment.

To understand this better, let’s look at a list of people who were NOT GETTING THE MOST:

-Adam and Eve. (They fell to make life possible for everybody else, even though it meant sacrificing their ignorance.)
-King Benjamin. (Was the king but still served like a normal person.)
-The Three Nephites. (Chose to help God on the earth feeling the pains of the sins of the world instead of going straight into heaven.)
-Job.
-The Holy Ghost. (Doesn’t have a body now and still works like crazy for EVERYBODY IN THE WHOLE WORLD.)
-Our Savior Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. DEFININTELY NOT GETTING THE MOST. He even asked if there were any other way to do it, but he didn’t GET THE MOST by giving up. He DIDN’T GET THE MOST so we all could have the chance to GET THE MOST in the end.
-And my favorite example: Christ being tempted by Satan while fasting in the desert. (Come on, man, you’re the Son of God! Wouldn’t it be flippin’ sweet to turn this rock into bread?)

With all this, let us all follow Christ’s perfect example of NOT GETTING THE MOST. I know that as I have tried so hard to live by this principle, I maintain the eternal perspective much better, and I love the Savior so, so much more.

If we go about truly NOT GETTING THE MOST, we will avoid the pride cycles we find in the Book of Mormon. We will avoid the seemingly harmless indulgences in this life to find true, everlasting happiness in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father. I know this is true.

Nothing is worthwhile without Christ. If we could satisfy ourselves with this world, we would have no need for the world to come.

I hope you all enjoyed this along with the original GET THE MOST graffiti picture.

I love you all so much.

Elder Lobo