“Bitcoin, Pizza, and Finding Lasting Happiness,” For the Strength of Youth, Feb. 2023.
Bitcoin, Pizza, and Finding Lasting Happiness
Nothing can ever compare to what Heavenly Father has in store for us.
Illustrations by Amber Day
For many, there are few things tastier than pizza. Depending on the toppings you choose, pizza can be whatever you want it to be!
Your pizza can be spicy (just add jalapeños or red pepper flakes). It can also help you eat your veggies if you top it with spinach, onions, mushrooms, or black olives. With so many tasty options—from pepperoni to pineapple—pizza can be delicious for almost everyone.
But here’s an interesting question: would you pay $400 million (USD) for pizza?
The Really Expensive Pizza
Years ago, a guy in Florida, USA, traded 10,000 bitcoins, a virtual currency, for two pizzas. At the time, bitcoin was not worth much. The trade equaled about $40. Several years later, bitcoin’s value soared. Today, those 10,000 bitcoins would have been valued at almost $400 million! So, if he used 10,000 bitcoins to buy two pizzas today, he’d be paying $400 million—for pizza!
If you look at it that way, those two pizzas are the costliest pizzas of all time. I sure hope they tasted good!
Look beyond the Here and Now
If that guy knew what the value of bitcoin would be, do you think he would have still traded them for the pizzas? The lesson for us is that we shouldn’t give up what’s important for something we may want right now.
Heavenly Father’s plan for us is eternal life. No amount of bitcoin, pizza (tasty as it is), or anything else can ever compare to what He has in store for us. He has promised that all He has will be ours if we are faithful.
Invitations to Lasting Happiness
In April 2020, President Russell M. Nelson introduced a new symbol for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “that will signify the central place of Jesus Christ in His Church.” At the center is “the resurrected, living Lord reaching out to embrace all who will come unto Him.”1
This is based on the marble statue the Christus. The original, created by Danish sculptor Bertil Thorvaldsen, is in a cathedral in Copenhagen, Denmark. Above the original Christus are these words: “This is my beloved Son: hear him” (Mark 9:7). And below, it reads: “Come unto me” (Matthew 11:28).2
Heavenly Father’s invitation to hear His Son and Jesus Christ’s invitation to come unto Him are Their invitations to us to find lasting happiness.
Hear Him
President Nelson has taught, “Whenever [God] has introduced His Only Begotten Son, … He has done so with remarkably few words. … Hear Him! …
“Our Father knows that … what will help us the very most is to hear His Son.”
You can hear Him by studying the scriptures and attending the temple. You can learn how the Holy Ghost speaks to you and heed the words of prophets, seers, and revelators.
President Nelson has said that “in those two words—‘Hear Him’—God gives us the pattern for success, happiness, and joy in this life.”3
Come unto Him
No matter what you want out of life—including happiness—the Savior’s invitation is always the same: “Come unto me.”
We come unto Him as we exercise faith in Him, go to church, partake of the sacrament, and love God and our neighbors (see Matthew 22:37–39). Jesus also taught by example that we should pray and forgive others.
To build your life on the teachings of Jesus Christ takes work and time, but you don’t have to do it alone. Jesus is the “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He will help you.
Then, one day, you can look back on a life that you and the Savior will be proud of. And that will make you happier than anything else ever could—even pizza!