Helping People Out - The Underdogs

Example 1) Alma 55 (410) –Character- A midst an ongoing war, a people is trying to catch there enemy in a snare by offering them something that will cause them harm. The people decides to not partake and to remember their moral values. Instead of falling for new tricks, they remember their old ways and the ways of their family/faith.

Example 2) Alma 56 (414) –PLOT- A team/group of young people have been taught by moral families from a young age and now face a dilemma. Their families and lifestyle are being threatened and they must defend that lifestyle that they loved so much. They are given the opportunity to stand up and defend what they believe in because those that taught them were unable to. They stood up for the defenseless.

Example 3) Alma 56 (415)-Plot- A team of young people come to fight against the best in the land. These underdogs find a way to do the unthinkable. Despite the odds, these young people won their battle and none of them were killed.

Example 4) Alma 61 (428)-Dialoge- a man is writing to an old friend with contempt and anger. He is deeply upset that there has been a great deal of unethical choices being made in a management position of the old friend. Despite any prior positive feelings, the man threatens the other and tells him to fix things and to do it quick. The old friend responds. He does so in a refined way, not fueling the fire but simple acting in an impressive amount of understanding. He chooses to not get offended even though it was the others fault.

 

Reviewing a Fellow Students Blog Post

I thought of the blog post My Mothers Hands by Hailey. In example 2, the young people were taught and most have observed their parents, especially their mothers. They were so moved by what their mothers taught them, they decided to stand up and defend what their mothers and fathers believed and taught them. The young people’s parents had many years of even disheartening experiences. They were fighters that have changed their ways. They learned from their past and so will the young sons. Hailey shows a similar type of love and respect for her mother, seeing her past and present and learning from her.

I thought Jeremy's blog post entitled ‘Helping Those Who Can’tCare For Themselves’ fits really well with my examples number 2 and 3. This is a story where people are fighting for those that cannot help themselves. 

It changed me, had I changed it?

Physical Experiences:

• Rapid pumping from my chest, hyperventilating with gratitude and fear.
• The bags are heavy, it feels wrong to lift them into the truck. 
• Embracing friends who feel the confusion as I feel brings a sense of belonging and comfort. 
• My eyes burn with yet more tears, my head throbs with exhaustion physical and mental. 
• I float across the room taking in the view I feel so light as I look around the room to others i care so much about.
• When my feet touch the ground my body is overcome with familiarity. 
• Our pace quickens, my heart is begging to burst we turn the corner to have my heart swallowed with bittersweet joy, happiness and accomplishment.
• Her hug tells me its over, there is nothing more left to do. She grasps tighter never to let go. I am relaxed with a sense of fulfillment.

Scenes:

• The bed is empty of pillows and blankets, cluttered with a few miscellaneous items yet unclaimed.
• The blacktop heat suffocates the air and chokes the ability to breath. Keys are absent and the suitcases are stranded in the back seat.
• I have walked in the house so many times, yet this is as odd as it was the first time. Only familiar faces can calm the anxious heart.
• Clean and pure in white I sit. The atmosphere is truly celestial.
• Bags are checked and the security gate is next. Watching the ground get farther and farther in my cramped seat.
• Mountains are in sight, the airport is as confusing as ever. People congratulating us on our arrival. 

SPEECH:

• My voice shows pleading as I speak.
• President Ware words always express confidence as he thanks me for my efforts.
• We all laugh and joke but you can tell within our voices that nothing is a joke, fear is the real king at the moment.
• Testimonies spoken express reflection and thought. 
• “you go first” “no you go first.” “your the leaders you go first.” 
• “Stay together, we walk out together.”
• We would fight through tears to express love and gratitude.

Emotion In The Moment:

• Had I done enough in my time. It had changed me, but did I change it? 
• Tears of absolute gratitude and humility
• The brotherhood as goodbyes are said
• Reflection while driving to the home.
• My heart was overflowing with joy.
• Tears sprinted down my face as the plane took off and I left behind a world only I could comprehend.
• Tears of joy and accomplishment as i embraced family and friends.

PEOPLE OF CONSEQUENCE:

• President Ware
• Members of the church
• Companions
• Missionaries
• Family
• Friends
• Guy on the plane.

Best Lesson Is a Conversation

“Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments” A speech given by now Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1988, then acting as President of Brigham Young University,  is a plea and cry for to students to find it within themselves to stay pure in all forms of sexuality. Elder Holland is known for his eloquence and vibrant ability to show an increase in love towards you as he lovingly rebukes and belittles you for the sins that grasp us each day. 

He brings the essence of a great coach that as he has mentioned before in conference talks is to get in your face a little and singe your eyebrows. Yet at the same time showing a sense of faith in us that we can overcome our daily struggles and short comings. 

Elder Holland makes it a point in this speech to teach us the “why” behind being sexually pure and not the specific dos and don’ts  of church doctrine. He presents through his speaking a personal desire within each of us to be better. He acknowledges the fact that we are human beings and we fall short. He expresses his understanding of where we may be currently in regards to his current subject matter.  

His ability to allow you to feel as if he is speaking to you directly is truly an art and gift. As if you were sitting face to face with him in a personal interview. Scared out of your mind because of the intensity and passion he posses, and knowing that its all because he sincerely wants you to be successful. Some how and someway he finds a way to have a conversation with you. Its far from the feeling of being lectured to. Rather he involves you into feeling that you are apart of something bigger. 

Elder Holland may appear to be speaking and giving a lecture, but he has master the ability to do so and simultaneously help us feel we are apart of a great conversation. 

Messages of Faith, Love, and Personality

There is a man who was a family friend who lived down the street from me growing up. He called (and still to this day calls) me “Lizzy Lou”—my favorite nickname of my childhood, and one that is associated with endearment. I have always looked up to this man, and then he became my bishop, and now currently serves as the Stake President of my home stake. This man is a wonderful man, and because I know this, I pay close attention to his words when he speaks. I know that he has a message prepared for me, and that it is directed by the spirit.

Canyon View Stake Center

On numerous occasions his talks have included similar items that truly help me to listen, understand, and grapple with life messages that need to be applied to me personally. He asks questions—and only answers some of them. Other questions he leaves unanswered, for us to do the work to find the answers that best suit us. He tells stories; stories that leave me captivated, hanging on every word; and stories that dig into my soul and find similar events that are going on in my life. His stories accompanied with his testimony of love and faith, have a way of getting more than one message across. Another aspect dealing with his presentation, is on occasion he will let a tear or two slip. When he shows emotion, it shows power. It shows the power of the Holy Ghost testifying of the principle or truth of which he is speaking. He is not a blubbering baby who is hard to understand. He is a strong, faithful man, who has a pure and steady testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His questions, stories, and emotions bring power to his addresses, and I’m sure help more people in the audience than just me.

-Lizzy S.

Added Upon: A Work from the Heart

While reading and analyzing the book and novel Added Upon, it was easy to critique and point fingers at the plot holes, sappy love stories, and literary inconsistencies. Despite the flaws, there was a general consensus among the class that “Added Upon” caused one to self-reflect and ponder the mysteries of deity.

 Does that make this novel a success? Orson F. Whitney must have believed so. In his “Home Literature” sermon, Orson Whitney highlights the importance of connecting with the soul.

 “It is the heart, not simply the head, we must appeal to, if we wish to stir the soul.”

I believe that Nephi Anderson intended to do just that. More than trying to make just an engaging and poetic work, it seems obvious to me that his intention was to stir the human soul and Glorify God.

 

Orson Whitney admonished that “You must be in earnest. You must feel what you write, if you wish it to be felt by others.” 

This seems to be particularly evident in Part Five of Added Upon. In Part Five, Nephi Anderson turns away from storytelling and starts writing poetically. He ends the book with, “Thanks, Father, kind and good for what you’ve done; Thanks for the added blessings which you bring.” This is a fitting ending when you consider what Orson Whitney admonishes to future LDS writers. “But remember this, ye writers and orators of the future! It is for God's glory. Not man's.”

Despite imperfections in writing, Nephi Anderson caught the spirit of Orson F Whitney’s Sermon to appeal to the heart of mankind and to reflect upon the Glory of God. Despite doctrinal inconsistencies, there was a spirit of goodness and truth that accompanied the book as it emphasized the importance of family, the Plan of Salvation, and Jesus Christ 

A Journey of Souls

“…And they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever”

Added Upon is an LDS fiction book that brings love to its purest. From pre-existence, through mortality, and into the spirit world beyond this life, Nephi Anderson tell us a sweet story depicting how life did not start here in mortality, and neither will end in this world. The plan of salvation shows how this mortal life is just a small part in a journey of souls, in which we are all immersed but only some of us will come to the next state. Nevertheless, just an eternal perspective could give us like Anderson said “…an opportunity for every deserving soul ” to achieve the highest estate, and live with the ones we love the most.

It is amazing to simple think that those we love on earth were also an important part of our lives in the pre-mortal existence. Just like Delsa and Homan were joined together in a very inspiring journey, we have the same opportunity to enjoy earthly experiences next to those whom we met before this life.

Specifically, I really like the literary way Anderson describes the feeling of love between Delsa and Homan:

“True love had awakened in two hearts. Through all the shifting scenes of earth-life, nothing like this had ever come to this mand and this woman. Love had waited all this time. The power that draws kindred souls together is not limited to the few years of earth-life".

Find someone to share the journey, a soul that understands you like no other, and loves you like no other, find someone that makes you feel that it was worth the wait.

The Public Sin That Changed Who I Am

     My sophomore year in high school, we read The Scarlet Letter for Honors English. This book completely changed the way I viewed myself. As I read about Hester being so strong and not trying to hide what she had done, I realized I needed to be honest in all of my endeavors as well. As Hester was publicly humiliated and scorned, she never let what those people said define her.
     Hester also taught me a lesson about unconditional love. Not the way she gained her Scarlet "A", but the way she protected the one she loved. She never gave him up so that he could share the blame with her. She stayed strong, and she gave her baby a bright future with her love and strength.
     The Scarlet Letter changed me. No, it did not teach me how to gain public humiliation, but something more. This book taught me that love can keep you strong, honesty is the best policy, what other people say don't define you, and bringing others down to your level so you don't get ALL of the blame is wrong. I have been able to use these lessons in my daily life and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to read this book.