Birth of a Hashtag

Before this weekend, most of us did not know who Devin Durrant was, except in our outdated Fantasy Basketball Leagues. After the Sunday afternoon session, most of us would still not recognize the name, but we would immediately spot the now-famous catchphrase:

Of course, the most memorable part of the talk was the new word added to each of our church vocabularies. The method of introducing a new word gave him the opportunity to apply a definition of it, fresh from any previous connotations that would have been introduced if he had used a more common word.

Also notable was the method in which he introduced his topic. The most painful part of being a missionary is listening to poorly prepared lessons with a weak commitment glued onto the end with a gluestick so weak it couldn't hold together your kindergarten art project. Rather than sticking his commitment onto the end of his work, Brother Durrant led in with the commitment. This allowed him to grab our interest before the particulars of the challenge ebbed away at us. Eager young minds immediately answer yes when asked to do something, so by selling us an idea before telling us what was required was an excellent skill to pique our interest.

As a member of the Sunday School presidency who has never given a talk in General Conference before, Elder Durrant provided an excellent introduction. Although his own name may not be remembered, the advent of the internet as well as the message's unique tone  ensure that ponderizing will stick around for several conferences to come.