Sharing Time

Christmas is the one time of year when we all get to slow down, even if just for a moment, to spend time with our loved ones and to share beautiful messages about our faith in Christ. During this time of the year, people become more sensitive and more willing to listen about the Savior.

Then, since my personal essay is about my conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I thought I would share my essay with specific Facebook friends who are not members of the church, and of course with the other six people I mentioned in my action plan.

Sometimes our own fears and feelings stand in the way to share about our faith but since Christmas it’s approaching, I though it would be a great opportunity. So, I did! I started out making a point about the true meaning of Christmas, which often gets lost in all the craziness of the season and how it’s very important that we share the love we have for others. Then, I introduced that getting to know Christ could be a life changing experience for everyone, and that I had my own story! So, I knew I had their attention to share my essay and video. It was a beautiful experience!

Sharing a Christian experience was a wonderful idea to invite others to come to Christ during this holiday season. I feel like sharing a gift that matters such as a life changing testimony could be more meaningful that a Christmas postcard that everyone throws away.

Seeing Christmas as a sharing time helped me to share my faith with others and to re-connect with people who are precious to me and whom I have not seen in a very long time. As a result, some of my friends thanked me for sharing such a personal message and of course some others such as my sister, who are not active in the church have not responded yet; but I am they know that Christ is the true gift of the season.   

Sharing the Finished Piece

Wow did I really enjoy sharing my essay. I was able to have quite a few people read it. A friend from back home, Haley really was inspired by the essay. I loved her response. I let her know of the website or blog to find the rest of the many great essays that have been presented. She was one who I was able to text back and forth. She told me that after reading a few more of the essays that she was inspired to become a better person. She was able to set a goal for her life that will help in a way that will make her stronger as a person. Haley really enjoyed the essay of mine yet she really enjoyed the many more she was able to read. 

Here came Malexy! My great friend Malexy is non-LDS and a friend of both Haley and me. She heard about the essays from Haley and asked if she could read some. She is Hispanic So I referred her to Viridiana's post or essay. She had expressed her interest more and it lead to a greater conversation. 

Mr. Hamel got back to me with an email I sent. He called and asked for me to send me the blog website so that he will be able to read the post I have written. I had given him the 5 second youtube website of the Essays. He had asked to read mine because Mr. Hamel knows both the guy I wrote about and I. He was intrigued with the writing and really enjoyed how meaningful the essay had been. He also liked learning a little about the Book of Mormon. He said " I enjoy that you can tie your religion in with stories of your life."

Sharing my essay was very interesting. I shared on the phone then directly from the blogging website. I noticed that the more I had shared the essay the more feedback I was gathering. The feedback had made my essay seem like it is more incredible then I had thought. I really enjoyed going a little out of my comfort zone to share a life story of my own. Others will be getting back to me later. I am excited to here there feedback and was so captivated by each response from the friends I had made. 

Implementing the Sharing Plan (Updated)

While putting my sharing plan into action, I thought of different people to share with and decided on sharing different essays than I originally intended. It has been cool to relate the messages of other's essays with the experiences and personalities of my friends and family. And I have been encouraged by the positive reactions I have gotten so far.
Like Clark, I started by sharing, face-to-face, with someone who I am very comfortable with. I shared Mary's video with my roommate Rachel and in our conversation afterwards, I was surprised by how much I learned about her. She told me about kids she worked with that influenced her and showed me pictures. She was very animated and she was very willing she was to accept my invitation to read Mary's essay and check out more of the blog.
Also, I was able to share Emily's essay with my little sister, who has experienced similar setbacks in trying out for theater productions. I emailed her the link to her essay and then we talked on the phone about it later. She liked how Emily used Nephi in her essay and the Einstein quote. She also wanted to hear my essay so I read it to her over the phone. It was interesting how our perceptions of the same events were different. It was nice to spend some time talking to her.
 I was able to share my essay with my Dad and talk with him on the phone about it for over an hour. He liked it a lot and we were able to have a good conversation on the importance of family. It became a kind of teaching experience for me; we talked a lot about what church leaders have said about families and the decline of the family unit in much of society today.
I have been Facebook messaging an old Sunday School teacher, and I was able to talk more with her and learn what she has been up to. I sent her my video through that medium. She has not yet responded but I think she will like hearing more about my family and my incorporation of the Book of Mormon.
I also emailed my essay to my non-member best friend Devin, who is currently going to school in Virginia. We edited each others essay throughout high school and we still edit back and forth. I emailed her my essay and asked about everything going on with her. She loved my essay and I invited her to read my brother's essay about his mission because I shared with her a little bit about Elijah's mission before. I also sent her the mormon message "He is the gift." We plan to meet up over break and I might follow-up a bit more then. It was a great opportunity to catch up and increase familiarity with the Church.
I shared my brother's essay with a friend in my ward that is leaving for a mission in a few months. She really liked the part of his essay I shared with her and wanted me to send it to her. I was able to talk to her about her mission and learn more about her.

"The More You Share, The More You're Gonna Get"

- Song from All Dogs Go To Heaven.


I did get to read my essay to a few people personally and I sent it to a few people.

I haven't heard back from a few people that I sent it to, but the ones I read it to have really enjoyed my essay. One of the readers said she cried when she read it, and she would love to share it with her family.

The hardest part has been contacting some old friends. They will not respond to me, so I'm still working on that. I know she wanted to be really good at Spanish, and I wanted her to read Viri's essay in Spanish.

I have made contacts to see people over the break to have them read my essay. So I haven't completed it all, but I'm planning on meeting them.

Yesterday, I actually used an essay in my Sunday School lesson. I am a gospel doctrines teacher, and we were talking about Daniel in the Old Testament, and how he interpreted dreams. So I read them Mandy's dream from her essay and told them to interpret it. Obviously it was just an activity for me to start into Daniel's story, but I gave them the link if they really wanted to know what it was about.

It has actually been really fun to read everyone's essay and look for ways to share it. I'm excited for the break so I can see the rest of my people to share my essay with.