Strengthening Bonds

1.           My brother about whom I wrote my essay, and his wife.  He is studying medicine in North Carolina and I do not get to talk to or see him as often as I would like.  However, he will be coming to Utah next weekend and will be staying with me for a few days.  I think that sharing my essay with him face to face could create some nice brotherly bonding.
2.       My girlfriend.  She and I have not been dating very long, and are still in the process of getting to know one another.  I think that sharing these experiences of my family and my life in Guatemala, along with the religious emphasis, with one another, will allow us to better understand each other and grow closer together. 
3.       One of my roommates.  He and I are not very close, and he has not been attending church meetings very regularly.  However, he has been asking me for relationship advice, so I think that he is beginning to trust me more. .  I think that sharing this with him personally could allow us to get to know one another more, and also be able to bring up religious themes that will allow us to strengthen each other.
4.       Kara, my best friend from high school.  She is not a member of the church, but she has a Book of Mormon.  She recently got in touch with me and we went to lunch in Salt Lake before her medical school interview with the University of Utah.  I think that she will enjoy Jeremy’s essay because she loves taking care of people. I will email it to her.
5.       Guatemalan Facebook friends.  Most of them are not members of the church.  However, there are several of them that did attend church with me a few times when I lived there.  I am going to start commenting on their pictures on Facebook and message them to see how they are doing.  Then I can share my essay with them through the blog.
6.       Mexican Facebook friends.  Most of them are recent converts or less-active members.  I taught and baptized many of them while on my mission.  I still keep in touch with many of them, mostly through Facebook messenger.  It would be fun to share my essay with them, and also send them the link to see all of the personal essays from our class.
7.       Tere – She is a woman I taught on my mission who struggled with abuse growing up.  We have contact mainly through her children and Facebook.  However, I think that Mary Ellsworth’s essay about Herber and his outlook on life will help her so much.  I will share it to her through facebook.

Spreading Insanity

I originally wasn't going to share my essay with anyone personally. I am more the type to post something on a blog, and be completely ignorant as to who finds and reads it.
I enjoy being the phantom blogger more than a public face when it comes to my writing.
So this action plan is critical for me.

1. Kyna -- My last mission companion. We were best friends, and because she recently returned I've been wanting to get in touch with her. Now that she's been back for almost a week, i feel i'll be able to catch up with her. I know'll she will read it because she's been liking my posts on FB, and responding to my text messages. And I often listened to her poetry on the mission.

2.  My mother -- Of course I'll share it with my mom. She is the reason that I got to play the violin, or that I even succeeded. She was at every lesson and rehearsal, she sat by me every morning when I practiced. I think this would be an appropriate way to appreciate and thank her for her sacrifice. I'll send her the link to this blog so if she is interested can read everyone's essays.

3. Bronson -- just because he is my best friend, i know he'll listen. I read another version for him, and showed him a few other drafts of my essay and asked him for his opinon of how to apply the Book of Mormon in my essay. I know he would share it with others if I asked him too. I know he'll give me feedback because he'll want to help me. I'll share with him the video and essay in person.

4. Hayley -- My roommate. She has been my very faithful friend, and we talk about everything with each other. We usually shut our laptops and turn off our phones and have good quality conversation daily. I love that. Lately, Hayley's has had some troubles with her major, going back and forth between deptarment chairs to accept her petition, and its kind of uprooted everything she's done recently. I think my essay will be relatable to her, and find alittle more peace during this time.

5. My Blog -- I want to share it on here, because I know there are alot of people that I don't know or talk to personally daily that read my blog. Old friends, and friends of friends, and my sisters. I'd like them to see what I am doing. Because my video is quick and my essay isn't super churchy, I feel like its appropriate to put on a public audience.

6. Just an average Mormon / Jessica -- My cousin Jessica runs a site where average mormons share experiences on this blog for others to read. About daily lifes experiences that have religious tie-ins and aspects. I've posted previously on this blog (Actually the first draft of this essay), and I got some great attention and feedback.

7. Claudia -- a less active member in Argentina that I taught on my mission has been contacting me almost daily. She needs alot of help, and so I can't wait to share Viri's video and essay with them (Thats why I am so glad its in Spanish), because there is a a great audience we can connect with. I will share it with her on Facebook because thats how we communicate. 

Sharing Just Got Personal

Photo from: pantheonuk.com

I am excited to share my personal essay and introductory video by using social media! I have never done something like this before and so this is a big experiment to me to see how effective it is and how people will respond. I want to share this not only publicly, but on an individual level with people who know me personally. I plan on sharing it with the following individuals:

1.       My fiancée. I naturally share everything with her and I value her opinions and advice. I believe that the personal essay is a way in which we can grow even closer together. The emphasis on religion and the Book of Mormon is also special, but even more because this assignment was written with the intent to share religious things in a more cultural way rather than a preachy way that the LDS are so accustomed to. I’ll talk to her about it in person.

2.       My brother is living on the other side of the country and is about to serve a mission in Mexico. I think he can benefit from reading this personal essay as he prepares to talk with people every day about the gospel. I believe exploring how to bring up the gospel in every day life is an important skill to focus on and develop. I’ll share this with him over facebook. I plan on posting to his wall about it.

3.       My best friend from High School. Anthony and I were definitely tight before we both went to separate colleges. It’s been awhile since we last talked. Every once awhile we have Skyped. I think this is a good opportunity to Skype again. During the Skype call I’ll tell him about what I’ve been up to in school and let him know about my personal essay and video. This will be particularly interesting because he is not a member and does not like focusing on religion.

4.       My fiancée’s family. I actually haven’t officially met them yet— but I will over Christmas break! It will be my first time talking with them in person. I think this provides a great opportunity for them to get to know me better. I’ll tell them over the phone about my personal essay and then while I’m there visiting in a few weeks I can show them the video in person and invite them to read the essay.

Photo from: tactumi.com

5.       My roommate. My roommate and I don’t get along too well. He’s a bit messy and he doesn’t agree that the temperature in the apartment should be 70 degrees because “that’s much too hot”. Well, I plan on sharing this with him purely for entertainment. I’m not exactly sure how he’ll respond, but he will probably give me a snarky comment about not caring about my personal life or its accompanying essay. I’ll mention it to him and see how he responds.

Recovering Lost Contacts

Having an action plan would help me to locate my target audience. I’m sure that some people in my network will be more interested in reading my personal essay to know more about the gospel, especially those who are not LDS!

Although most people I chose have not been very close to me lately, now its a good time to reconnect with them... 

1. My friend, Montse who got baptized the same day I did. I’m sure Montse would be very interested in actually reading my personal essay via facebook and perhaps she might feel compelled to write about her conversion as well. Even though Montse and I used to be very close friends, we have been out of touch for several months since the beginning of this semester.    

2. Elder Alvarez who was one of the missionaries who taught me about the gospel. I think he might be interested since he speaks Spanish only and my essay is written in Spanish. Although I’m connected with him via social media, we have not been very close. However, I’m pretty sure he will be happy to receive a link to my personal essay.

3. Elder Heninger who was the other missionaries who taught me about the gospel. We are also connected via social media, but since he lives in Utah, we have been in touch several times this year. I can probably share my personal essay and video through Facebook. 

4. My mother, Rose Mary. Although she already knows about this experience, she would be interested in watching my video and reading my personal essay just because she is not LDS but she likes to read the Ensign. Also, she’d probably be okay with me just sending a link to her email.

5. My young women’s president, Sister Angels. Actually, I think she would be interested in reading my personal essay because I recently asked her for a couple of experiences from her mission for a class assignment. I can probably send an email with a link to my essay.

6. My high school teacher, Ara. She was a great literature teacher and we always had a great relationship. She would love to read my personal essay because she likes to read and also because she is not LDS. I’m sure Ara would be fine if I send her a link to my essay.

7. Finally, I would like to share Emily’s video when she talks about accepting her insanity, just because I feel it’s very engaging, funny and has a message about a path to succeed that I would like to share with my friends.

Action Plan for Sharing My Personal Essay

1.    My sister, Sarah H. Sarah was going to college far away at U-Penn and always kept busy with internships. I started a relationship with this guy as she was away. I think it would be amusing to hear her remarks about my personal essay. It will be exciting to see what she thinks about the relationship I had made the minute she left. I am curious of what she will think about when I tie in the Book of Mormon reference as well.

2.    My old Math teacher, Mr. Hamel. I was his TA for the class. He became a friend in school as I went throughout the day. In the speech that he gave at graduation he mentioned my name. I imagine it will be interesting to see if he remembers what had happened throughout the years I got to know this gentleman in my story. He use to teach at where the gentleman went to school and he taught the gentleman that I had started a great relationship with. I am curious to see how he reacts to the inclusion of the Book of Mormon as well, seeing that he has no interest in religion. I will contact him through the school since He contacted me seeing how college had gone.

3.    My brother, Mark Harris. He has been with me through thick and thin. I have been there for him through thick and thin as well. He has helped me through my struggles and we see each other almost 4 days a week. I never expressed to him about this personal essay until the other day. He seems quite intrigued to read my essay face to face. I am excited to hear his comments on it.

4.    The social networking online my plan is to share the clip that we make and a link to the rest of the stories or personal essays on Instagram. I notice that I post some quotes from the prophets and apostles and other church members and a couple of friends always express some comments over the quotes and I would be delighted to hear their response.

5.    A friend that I have had and became close with in high school went to a complete different college all the way in Texas. She emailed me to see how I was doing and how life was. I will email her later a copy of this essay and clip to see her response. I am nervous to see what she might think to the tie in of the Book of Mormon because she is strictly Baptist but we became best friend in our last high school years together and are really understanding about both our religions.

6.    My co-workers, Rachel, Mike and Ben. We all work together and learn about each other’s lives as we work. This would be a social networking offline with three of my great new friends I have made at work. I am excited to learn and here about their responses when I will present my essay to them during a lunch break or another brake we might have.

Action Plan for Personal Essays & Videos

It was hard for me to decide who to share my essay with. I don't want to burden people with it because it's kind of heavy and I also don't want it to seem like I'm seeking their praise by sharing it with them. But after realizing the point of this assignment and the essay itself isn't about me, rather it's about bringing people to the Book of Mormon through the light in our writing, it became clear who I should share it with.

1. My Mom: I kind of hint at this in the free writes and drafts we've done for this class, but my relationship with my mother struggled when I was with the guy. She couldn't stand how unhappy I was, and it got to the point where she wouldn't talk to me because it made her too sad. That was really hard because my mom is my best friend and my confidant. I already felt so alone because of everything that was going on and when she wasn't someone I could go to for comfort things were really dark. I'm going to email her the final video and a link to the essay and then talk with her about it on the phone. I want to hear what she thinks and to see if she's better able to understand what I was going through, especially why it was so hard for me to end it even once I realized it was bad.

2. My friend Macie: Macie was with me for all of it through the year and a half. She was vocal with comfort and also gave advice that I trusted. She's commented on how much I've changed since I got him out of my life, and I hope by reading my essay she'll be able to see the full extent of the progress. I want to give her the essay and then meet up with her in person and talk about it, and also share my gratitude with her for all of the support and love she's shown me.

3. My roommate Rachael: I read the first (and second) drafts of the essay to Rachael for an earlier blog post assignment, so she's asked about where the final draft is going. I will give her a physical copy and see how she responds by talking about it in person.

4. My cousin Kristen: She was in a very abusive relationship for a couple of years and only recently got out of it. I've been connecting with her a lot more recently via Snapchat and Facebook (and at a family reunion this summer), and I would be interested to hear her perspective on my essay.

5. (Maybe) The guy I'm seeing now: I recently got into a happy, healthy relationship. This man and I have talked a little bit about our exes, including the one I wrote about in the essay. I didn't go into much detail about all of it, but some of the insecurities and fears I developed from that unhealthy relationship have resurfaced as I've started to be with this man. He's helping me work through them and willing to talk about things, which is such a blessing. Maybe showing him this will help him see why I struggle with some things and help us grow closer together.

6. Facebook friends: I really love Romney's essay so I'm going to post a link for his essay on my Facebook. I think it's something people who I'm friends with (especially the English majors) will enjoy a lot because of the vivid descriptions and the emotions it evokes.

7.

Sharing is Caring

1. My little sister is in high school right now. She was in the same homeroom as Jared. I think that sharing my essay with her would be a good idea because she looked up to Jared, but didn't really get to know him because of the age gap. I would love to send her my essay in a letter to make it more personal and special for her.
2. My best friend that held my hand during the funeral is someone that I would love to share my essay with. We live in different time zones and schedules, so I would digitally send my essay in a Facebook message. He can really connect to the experience and I think would give me great feedback on how well I represented the situation and what should be altered.
3. Someone that I would like to read my essay to face-to-face is my roommate. I think that it would be a great way to strengthen our relationship. I read an earlier version of the essay to my other roommate and it proved to be a great experience. 
4. My mom is someone that I would love to read my essay to over the phone. She was the one who saw my emotions about this, but I don't know if I ever truly expressed the fullness of what I was feeling at the time because I don't think that I completely understood it in that moment. 
5. One of my high school teachers was highly involved in both Jared's life and my own life. I think that she would love to receive an e-mail with my personal essay to see and feel the light that Jared was again. She was at the funeral and was with me at his burial. 
6. I think my brother would love to read Hailey's essay about her Mom playing video games. My brother loves to play video games and would really connect that aspect of her essay. I plan to read this to him over the phone to get an immediate reaction. 

Friends in Low Places

1. My girl friend Madeline: She is just working right now, and not enrolled in school. She eats most my food which means I cook for her more than she cooks for me. I think I can convincer to her take a minute and read my essay. She is from the city I served so she may have some understanding of what its about.
2. My grandpa Snow. He taught elementary school for about 40 years. He has been retired for a few years now. I recently was asking him about the life of a school teacher and the benefits and disadvantages. Perhaps having him read my essay would let him back into a world he dedicated so much time to.
3. My Mission President: President Ware was new half way through my mission. I got to work with he and his wife as they were brand new in figuring out the ways of the mission. We had a lot of emotional experiences together. Reading my experience of coming home may help him know how to help other missionaries. I will probably email this to him. 
4. My roommate Christian: He was on the same plane home with me from our mission. I would let him read my essay and compare my feelings of coming home to his feelings and experience.
5. My convert Carrie: She is like a mother to me I spent about 10 months in my mission associating with she and her family. It was a great experience to see them over thanksgiving break at the movies in Washington. It was a wonderful surprise. I could email my essay to her. Maybe she would feel how much I loved and care about the people there.
6. My Aunt Rachel: She is from Seattle and married my uncle when he was working there. They moved to a small town within my mission boundaries in washington. So they have an understanding of the area. I saw them over the summer at our reunion in Idaho. I will have to facebook message her and see how the family is. I am sure with 5 kids she can make time to ready my essay.
7. My friend Cooper: Cooper is from my home ward, he got home from his mission a month or two ago now. I snap chat him a good amount. He is getting ready for school next semester at UVU. I think I will tease him about getting back to some reading and see if he will read my essay.