20. Refelcting Back on it All

So. This is the end of my blog posts for my class assignments. I haven't quite decided if I'm going to keep up on this blog or not, but it seems like a good idea. The one thing that this blog has made me think more about is keeping a journal. Things are going by fast and I'm missing out on remembering some big things that are happening during my first year of college. But this blog has helped me remember some of those things and experiences that have happened this semester. Our class also talked about how we can use media to help spread the gospel. A blog is a perfect tool to do that with. I also liked reading other people's blogs and seeing that all of us are going through some of the same experiences, but also that each one of us has our own story and different things to share with each other. Overall, I'm grateful I had to do this blog.
From my writing class this semester I learned writing techniques and tools. I had to write many different papers for the class, and learned about each of those. But mainly, I learned about writing a narrative and how to create a scene that the reader can imagine themselves in.

19. The goals of 18 year old

As I have been doing the blog and trying to go through my whole life thinking of ideas that I could write on, I realized that I haven't gone through my goals/dreams in a little while and this might be the perfect opportunity to do so. So, here are just a few of them right now:

1.      Hike the Y

2.      Run a mile in less than 6 minutes

3.      Be an answer to someone's prayer

4.      Do a color run

5.      Learn how to really cook

6.      Go on a mission and change someone's life

7.      Graduate from college

8.      Marry my best friend in the temple for time and all eternity

9.      Wear converse to my wedding reception

10.  Have a little girl and put her hair in pig tails

11.  Live outside of Utah for a while

12.  Travel out of country

13.  Take a road trip

14.  Have a bathroom painted blue with little orange goldfish on the walls

15.  Make a picture book

18. We see what we are looking for

When I was in high school I had a class that required me to read the news and write about different events happening in the world. That habit carried forward with me and now I read the news almost every day. Sometimes it's hard not to get discourage with all the stories about robbery, killings, war and everything else bad that's going on. It really is a horrible place if you think about all the bad that goes on. But then I started noticing that every Monday, the KSL news runs a story with four mini stories about people who have helped out someone else or just good that is going on in the world. There is a lot of good going on in the world. Many of the people who contribute the most don't do it to get attention, so it largly goes unnoticed. Even for my parents, I never realized how much they did for other people until I got older. Because of this, it is easy to miss the good in the world, but when we look for it, we can see it all around us. And it's even better when we are the good in the world.
I know these pictures are a lot, but I like all them, as they are example of how easy it is to help someone else.

 

17. Elder Holland's “Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence”

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine posted this quote on FaceBook:

"If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts. Certainly don’t give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness. Face your doubts. Master your fears. “Cast not away therefore your confidence.” Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you." ~ Elder Holland

This quote is perfect. Sometimes I feel like when we make decisions in our lives, or when we finally get the conformation about anything that we've been waiting for, everything feels great. But then Satan comes and does everything in his power to make us doubt what we had just felt so great about. He will do everything he can to deter us. But sticking through it is what counts. We have to endure to the end and do everything that we can. This quote goes along perfectly with Elder Utchdorf's "doubt your doubts before you doubt you faith" quote. Heavenly Father is all powerful and He will not lead us astray. Though hard at times, when we stick to what we know He want's us to do, it will always be worth it in the end.

16. Family

I am the oldest of 7 and have 4 younger brothers, so growing up my house was somewhat chaotic, but at the same time it was almost perfect.
When I was younger, my sister and I didn't get along very well. But then a few years ago, we stopped sharing the same room and it was like magic for us! My sister is one of my best friends. We could do anything together. With my brothers, now that they are getting older, I've also been able to form better relationships with them. I love when I would get home from work on a summer afternoon and one of them would run down the drive way, jump in my car and we would sit in the car, dancing to the radio. Although siblings don't always get along, they can be great friends. My mom always tells us that someday when we're older all of us will be great friends and will appreciate each other more. Some days, that time seems far away, but other days I really can see what she's talking about.
I love that I know that my family is there for me. A few years ago, my whole family got very sick over Christmas break. There was one miserable night where everyone had been super sick and slowly one by one all of us had crept into my parents bedroom. I remember my whole family sitting on my parents bed at 2 in the morning, and we were all laughing because we were all sick together. That memory should be a bad one, but it's almost one of the fondest memories I have of my family, because even though no one felt good, we were all there for each other. How grateful I am that families are forever!!

15. Conference April 2015

This year as I got to watch conference all of the talks, I loved Elder Holland's talk.

He starts off his talk with a story about two brothers who went rock climbing and one got stuck on a cliff with no way to get up or down. The boy decided to jump up and pull himself onto a ledge. He was able to jump high enough, but he could find no grip on the top of the sandy cliff. He felt his hands slipping, and he knew he wasn't going to make it. But then he felt his younger brother's hands grab onto his and somehow miraculously was able make it back up. Elder Holland then compared this to Christ who was willing to reach even into death to save us all. He gave His life and took upon Himself all of our sins. I am so grateful for a Savior who I know will never let go, even when my grip is failing.

Another key part of the talk that stood out to me was when he talked about the people who don’t have the gospel. For most of the world, they believe that when they die that is it. Elder Holland worded it closely to the idea of eternally falling. For most people, dying means a complete halt and forever in darkness. It’s horrible to me that people can actually believe this. Or that they believe that when someone dies, that’s absolutely it. Because I’m getting ready to prepare for a mission, this message really stuck with me. Missionaries are like superheroes, they bring hope and eternal light to people who have absolutely no idea what they are missing. I can’t wait until I can go share this message too!

14. Oh the Wisdom of Dr. Suess

I'm sure all of us have read at least one Dr. Seuss book in our lives, and chances are you still remember some of the stories from him. I remember when I was little I liked looking at all the crazy pictures, and hearing the rhyming words. My favorite picture was the one where some crazy lady had a swimming pool that floated in the air above her house and was connected to a rope to keep it from going off into the sky. I always wondered how she was able to get up to the swimming pool. Not only were the stories intriguing, but Dr. Seuss has some pretty good quotes/advice woven into many of his stories. Even though his books are for little kids, some of the advice can be useful for people today. One of my favorite quotes by him says: 

 

 Honestly I feel like this quote has a lot of meaning for collage age students. We are at the point where we are making some pretty big decisions. There may not be just one right decision and one wrong decision, usually it's a little more complicated than that. However, we just to choose where we want to go! We can be anything that we choose, and we have a whole lifetime ahead of us to achieve our goals.

13. Ice Skating

Recently I learned that I have a new hobby: Ice skating. When I was younger I had gone ice skating a few times, and my young women's group had gone once as well, but neither of those times had really "clicked" it for me. But then a few weeks ago I went with a friend and it was awesome! At first I was a little wobbly because I hadn't been ice skating for so long, but after 45 minutes or so I started to get the hang of it. I love the feeling of just gliding across the ice.It seems like going around in a big circle over and over again would get boring, and maybe it would have if I hadn't been laughing with my friend the whole time, but I didn't get boring for me. Honestly I have no idea how I was able to do that for hours and come away with great memories, but I did. Ice skating may seem like it's only something that little kids or professionals do, but it honestly isn't. It's a great hobby (and a pretty good workout out I have to say) for anyone willing to try it out. Just don't forget your long, thick socks to protect your ankles from the skates! Because learning this lesson the hard way is not super fun.

12. General Women's Session April 2015

This year I got the chance to listen to the Women's Broadcast a few weeks ago. While all the talks were very inspiring and gave great messages about the family, one in particular stood out to me. I loved the talk given by sister Cheryl A. Esplin. There were two parts of her talk that stood out to me.
First, I liked the part about comparing ourselves to a an empty or a full can. When applied with pressure, the empty can collapses, but the can that is filled stays in tact. We can compare this to ourselves spiritually. When we are filled with the spirit and the gospel, we are able to better withstand the pressures of the world around us. But when we do not have that light inside of us, it is much easier to give in and collapse.
"Satan knows that in order for us and our families to withstand the pressures of the world, we must be filled with light and gospel truth. So he does everything in his power to dilute, distort, and destroy the truth of the gospel and to keep us separated from that truth." We must be strong and protect ourselves from losing that Spirit.
Part of having the gospel truths and being strong is to have a testimony. Sometimes it feels like our testimonies just aren't strong enough to with stand the pressures. But sister Esplin also touched on this subject. She told a story about her grandmother who immigrated to American from Switerland. She and her family ran a mail station and often hosted many people travelling through the area. She had always taken granted that the church was true, and when "well read" men came through claiming that Joseph Smith was a fraud and the church wasn't true, her beliefs began to waver. One night she had a dream about Joseph Smith and him receiving the plates. She later saw a picture that perfectly depicted her dream. She later felt impressed that she could not "bury [her] testimony in the ground". She did struggle with her beliefs, but the important thing is that she did not give up on it.
I love the end of Sister Esplin's talk, especially the missionary note to it:
"we will have to do our best to hold on to whatever light and truth we currently have, especially in difficult circumstances. The answers to our prayers may not come dramatically, but we must find quiet moments to seek greater light and truth. And when we receive it, it is our responsibility to live it, to share it, and to defend it."

11. Message behind the Lyrics

One of the other papers that I had to write more my class this semester was a research paper. For my research paper I decided to look at the effect that musical lyrics were having on people. At first, this was the typical boring research paper, but as I started doing the research and reading through some of the studies, I got a little more interested. Everyone knows that many of the popular songs today have some lyrics that can be a little bit questionable, but I didn't really realize how prevalent some of those messages were until I read some of the research. These graphs show just a little bit about what my paper was on and what I learned about. (The research was done by Dr. Brian A. Primack, an Associate Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh).

 

 

 

I for one was a little surprised to see this, especially when I learned from the same study that most kids listen to about 2.5 hours of music a day. Anyways. Doing this paper has definitely made me rethink about what kind of music I will be listening to from now on!

10. Narrative Essay Reflective Paragraph

When I first heard about the narrative assignment I was not super excited. It sounded like I had to write a story, and I am not a very big fan of writing stories. At first, I struggled to think of a story that I could share. A friend suggested the story about soccer and trying new things, and I took it, somewhat out of desperation for something to write on. But once I started writing the paper and remembering what actually had happened, the paper was easy to write. Now, I'm so grateful that someone made me take the time to sit down and write this experience out. Not only will I know have this experience and the lessons I learned to go back to, but I will have the memories. Although I have kept a journal in the past, and write in it occasionally, writing this paper makes me realize I really should be better about writing things down so I don't forget the details.
I also learned more about creating scenes in my writing in order to help the reader feel like they are actually there in the moment. This was something that I needed to work on in my writing. Because of this paper I feel like I have come to better understand how to write in this specific genre.

9. The Goal Almost Missed

For my writing class one of the papers that I had to write was a narrative about something that happened in my life that taught me a strong life lesson. I know I 've already talked about soccer and trying new things. But this is the story a little more in depth.

 

The Goal Nearly Missed

“Yes! You should totally try out for the soccer team this year, it would be so fun for all of us to play together our senior year,” my friend Chey said as we sat outside, eating our lunch, on the almost green grass. Her blonde hair is up in its usual pony tail and she laughs at someone running past us and she sneaks a grape from whoever is sitting next to her. But that’s how it is; we all share our food with each other, that’s what friends do.

Hmm, I don’t know. I’ll think about it,” I tell her as I stretch out my legs from underneath me and take a bite out of my apple. There’s no way that I’m going to try out for something that I might not make the team for. How humiliating would that be! I secretly think to myself, as other friends chimed in, agreeing on the idea and suggesting days to practice before tryouts.

Soon the bell rings, calling us back inside where our attention demanded and the focus is on the next paper due. The day blurs by and soon I’m at home sitting crossed-legged on my bed, my designated homework spot all throughout high school. My head phones are plugged in and the math book sits in the middle, an array of papers and other books all around it, just like it’s always been, except tonight math isn’t what I’m focused on.

My sister bursts through the door and plops down on the black chair across from me. “Hey I heard you’re going to try out for the soccer team! It would be so cool for us to play on the same team. Tonight is too late, but do you want to go practice later this week?” She asks, spinning back and forth on the chair. We set a day and she hops back out of the chair and through the door again.

The next few weeks found me running laps around the local park, getting used to the tight feeling of cleats, practicing dribbling the ball with the inside of my foot while weaving between brightly colored cones, learning how to point my toes when I shot for a goal, and passing the ball across the field while running up the line. Most of my spare time was spent on a soccer field with different people trying to teach me every tip and trick that they could. I was still very nervous for tryouts, but I tried not to think about and instead focus on what I needed to learn in case I did want to go tryout. The time flew by and before I knew it the week of tryouts had arrived. And then the day of tryouts was there and it was time for me to drive down to the soccer field.

I gripped the leather steering wheel, listening to my sister and her friend excitedly chatter about who would be at tryouts and what other teams in the league that year. Because of how small my high school was the boys and girls soccer season ran at the same time. My stomach flopped at the thought of not only everyone on the girls team, but all of the boys trying out knowing if I were to mess up at tryouts and not make the team. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Small doubts float through my head and this time I make the mistake of letting them linger for a moment. But that moment wasn’t very long because before I knew it I was already getting out of the car and walking onto a field full of people in cleats, t-shirts, and shorts. I sit on the yellow-green grass, and start to pull up my cleats. A paper with the number 5 was given to me as my tryout number.  

Chey plops down next to me. “You ready for this?”

I shake my head “I don’t know about this anymore….”

But she stops me before I can go on. “No. You can’t think like that. You’ll never know unless you try out. If you don’t, you’ll always regret that you didn’t try.”

She was right, so I took a deep breath and started running my laps around the field, trying not to worry about what the outcome might be.  A few hours of sprinting, dribbling, passing, and scrimmage passed and soon I was sitting in the same spot pulling my cleats off, listening to the coaches tell us that we had to wait four hours until the cuts were posted that night.

Four hours seems like forever to wait, but we decided to pass the time by going to celebrate a friend’s birthday at Jump on It, a big building filled with trampolines and foam filled pits. We somehow found extra energy and raced around from trampoline to trampoline for hours playing tag. Our group finally collapsed on a big, blue foam block, faces red and hot from all the running we had done that day. I looked at the clock. We had ten more minutes until we would know if all our hard work had paid off or not. We sat there in silence watching the other groups.

 The time finally came. Our group walked together towards the cubby holes where our shoes and phones sat. I grabbed my phone and pulled up the page; my stomach was starting the flip flops again. My eyes scanned quickly over the page as we all crowded around trying to get a glance. Soon the room was filled with excited screams as each member of our group got a chance to look and realized that they had made the team. I couldn’t believe that I had made it! I turned to Chey, jumping up and down. I was very grateful that I had gone for it and tried out.

The next week weeks were crazy as I learned how soccer really worked and got a chance to try many new things. Games were intimidating at first, but our team learned how to communicate work together. Being on a team was also a new concept to me, but it was one that I loved. We worked very hard together, accomplishing an undefeated season all the up to the final games that would decide who the winners of the whole league would be.

It was a cold April day. It had been windy all week, today it was a cold windy that went straight through our thin white jerseys and blew our hair all over. But the cold was no match for our excitement for that day. This was the game that would decide who would go on to play for first place. We sat across from the trophy table, pulling up our matching blue socks and lacing our cleats. One of the teams would play their final game of the season and walk away with the 3^rd place trophy today. All the family members and friends were sitting around the field, holding their cameras, wrapped up in their blankets, ready to cheer on their team.

The opposing team was on the half line. One girl started to bring the ball forward, but one of our defenders managed to get it away from her and kicked it up the side of the line to me. I got the ball and started running towards the goal. I had only gotten a few yards up the line before the defenders of the opposite team started to come towards me. I tried to side dodge, but there was no way that I was getting around all of them and one of the girls was coming towards me very quickly. In a last ditch attempt I kicked the ball forward as hard as I could, hoping that one of the other members of my team was running up the line across the side of the field and was waiting for me to pass it up to them. As soon as I kicked the ball a girl from the other team ran up and barreled right through me. I fell backwards and felt my head slam into the ground. That didn’t feel like grass. I can already feel the headache coming on. The refs whistle shrills through the air. I get up expecting him to call a foul, but no. I look over and realize that he was blowing the whistle because I had scored a goal! Chey runs over to me and slams me into a hug.

“You scored!” she yells excitedly.

The ref walks over to me.

“You okay?” he asks. “I should have called that as a foul, but it didn’t give the other team any advantage, so I didn’t.”

All I can do is turn and walk away to stop myself from rolling my eyes at him and saying something that I shouldn’t. You know nothing about soccer. I think to myself as I march back to my starting position. Good thing we’re going to win this game. And we did go onto win that game. Later that day was the final game. The sky was dark and it was more windy and cold than it had been all week. I couldn’t help but shiver, even though I had my under armor on. The game was the most intense that we played. The ref’s whistle final blew, calling time. Our team had won! We ran towards the trophy table to claim our first place prize and stand on the field while all the proud parents took their pictures. We were the winners.

Of course I was more than happy that our team had won that day, but I had to smile because I had also made a goal. Although the season for soccer may have ended, a more personal season of continuing to step outside my comfort zone would continue on for a much longer time, as would the memories that I had made.

I finished pulling off my cleats and walked over to my car as our team piled in one last time to go eat our victor dinner of Pizza Pie Café. I’m still cold from standing out in the wind for so long. While pizza is normally the only thing that we eat at the café, tonight I will be trying some new, warm noodles it hopes that they will warm me up, inside to out. From now on I would be all about trying new things, because who knew when I would score my next big goal.

                             

 

8. And Here's to 2015

“It is most appropriate for [members] to quietly, and with determination, set some serious personal goals in which they will seek to improve by selecting certain things that they will accomplish within a specified period of time. Even if  [they] are headed in the right direction, if they are men without momentum they will have too little influence. You are the leaven on which the world depends; you must use your powers to stop a drifting and aimless world" (Spencer W. Kimball, Set Some Goals)

Being (somewhat) close to the beginning of the year still, I've decided I should probably set some goals.

1. Going to the temple more. I live about on hour or less away from at least 5 temples. I could be much better at going to the temple than I am. So one of my goals this year is to try and start going to the temple more. My ultimate goal would be to go once a week.

2. Learn to cook. I am not very good at cooking. Something that is an important skill to have. While I can make some simple things, I would like to learn to move beyond and actually be able to make more than just spaghetti or salads.

3. Work on that procrastination habit! I think we all understand that one....

4. Become a better me in whatever way I can                                          

7. The Power of Friends

                                                 

I think that through middle and high school, we all learned how important friends are and what a HUGE influence they can have on us. Friends can either help us so much and make great contributions to our lives, or they can be what completely pull us down. That's why it's so important to choose them carefully.
Lucky, I've had some great friends in my life who have helped me in all my adventures. Here is an ever growing list of some things that I think make a great friend:

• Someone who respects you
• They want the best for you
• You can talk to them about serious things or small stuff
• You can laugh with them
• They make it easier for you to be a better person
• They will make late night Walmart runs for popsicles with you
• They share their food with you
• They keep your secrets
• They support you in your dreams and cheer you on

Obviously this isn't everything; it's just a start. What else do you think makes a great friend?

6. I tried Something New

I went to a very small high school. Thus, there were much more opportunities to make a sports team than there would have been at a bigger school. My senior year of high school, after much convincing from friends and a sister, I agreed to try out for the soccer team. Everyone agreed to help me gain some skills before try-outs. I practiced after school with friends and on the weekends, and then at home by myself and with my sister. Honestly, I never would have made the team if everyone had not have helped me out.
When try-outs came, I was terrified about not making it, to the point I almost did not try out. But luckily those great friends jumped in and got me to try-outs. I made the team, and it was one of the best experiences that I had that year. I loved the feeling of being part of a team. You train hard together, you work hard together on the field, you help each other, and you celebrate together, or sometimes you figure out what you did wrong, all together as a team. Even though there were injuries,  times we got scored on, days that we played in the sun, rain, and snow all in one game, and days that all we did was sprint, and. It was still a great learning experience. And soccer is actually really fun!
In the end, our team ended up winning first place in our league. Even though I only got to play for one season, it was amazing! Trying new things wasn't exactly something that I did a lot. But, this taught me that you never know what you might love until you try it out.

5. My Rant on Math

This week my calculus class has taken up a lot of time. From class, to a test review, taking a test, and doing the homework, and dreading all of it, a big chunk of my time and energy has been spent on this class. I have always hated math. I remember being in grade school in sitting on wood chair in our office, learning my multiplication facts. And here I am, still doing math, and struggling through it. So. Today I would like to rant a little on math.

First of all. In math story problems, who on earth buys 300 watermelons. No one. Although that would be delicious, that's just a bit crazy.

Next. Of all the smart people who came up with all these equations and formulas, you would think they could at least give each thing its own name. But no. Take the pi sign for example. Usually people know that it means 3.14, but sometime it can also represent 180 degrees! There are also other symbols that mean 2 completely different things. Seriously. There were genius people coming up with all of this smart math people stuff, and then they go and name things the same.
Obvioulsy, math is not my favorite subject, hopefully after this semester I will never have to take another math class again!! :)

To all those math people (who I probably just offended now) thank you for being smart and doing what you do so the rest of us can enjoy what your smartness. Keep it up.
                                         

4. A Wonderfully Horrible Talent

Each month my calander comes with a specific quote for that month. Usually they're something inspirational and it's all nice. However, this month was a little different, and probably one of my favorites so far.

I laughed at this, but then realized that this probably describes me a little too well. I like to consider myself an expert procrastinator. In high school I was always that kid who wrote their papers the night before and studied for the Spanish test 40 minutes before class. And that worked out pretty well for me actually. Somehow everything magically worked out. And I considered it a little bit of a talent, as it came in handy for getting things done quickly. But now that I am in college, this is probably not one of the best habits to keep. I have gotten better! I study much longer for tests and have gotten better at starting some things earlier than the day before. However, I still have a very long way to go. So here is my middle of semester goal: I will be a better time manager and not be such a procrastinator! ..... maybe ;)

3. To Serve A Mission or Not

                                          

My whole life, my dad has talked about me going on a mission. He talked about how I would be such a great example to all my younger siblings, serve so many people, and how it would change my whole life. For a long time I just smiled and said "maybe", as the missionary age for girls was still 21. But then when I was in high school, the missionary age changed to 19. My dad still talked about a mission, and I agreed because it was far away and seemed like a good idea. My senior year came and many of my friends got their calls. I was the youngest by quite a bit, (I only turned 18 as the first semester of college started) so my focus was on college instead of a mission yet. School went on, but then some of my very close friends started working on papers and waiting for their calls.  I realized that the time started coming that either I had to get serious about a mission or it was time to move on from that idea and focus on school. I prayed and prayed and prayed for Heavenly Father to tell me if I should go on a mission or not.  I was trying to put myself in situations where I could get a solid answer. But I kept going back and forth, changing my mind all the time. I had to make sure that I was going for the right reasons and not just because it was expected of me. Then one day as I was talking to a friend he said something about how sometimes you just need to decide and give it your full 100%. So I decided that was what I was going to do. I made the decision that yes, I was fully committed to going on a mission and that unless I was told that it was absolutely wrong, my mind was made up. At first, I was still having a few doubts about my decision. But then, small conformation of my decision would come. I would sit in a religion class and the teacher would talk about it, and I would feel so strong about a mission. Someone would give a missionary talk at church, at the feeling would come back again. This kept happening. I kept feeling stronger and stronger about the idea. Everyday the topic of missionary work would somehow come up. As time went on, I realized that the things that would have kept me from going on a mission (mainly school) were not even relevant reasons for me anymore. I couldn't expect to plan my whole life and have everything work out exactly like that. There's a bigger plan and going on a mission is part of that plan. And although I still have about 2 1/2 months before I can submit my papers, and going on a mission is a scary thought, I know that this is what I am supposed to be doing.

2. Elder Bednar’s Admonition and Approbation of the Internet

For one of my school homework assignments I have to talk about two articles by Elder Bednar that we talked about in class (both of which were pretty good!).

Elder Bednar’s Admonition and Approbation of the Internet

In his two talks, Things As They Really Are, and To Flood the Earth, Elder David A. Bednar speaks on the same topic, the internet, but gives his audience two very different perspectives of their effects.

The first talk that Elder Bednar gave, Things As They Really Are, is a warning to his listeners about the dangers that the internet can present to a user. He states that everyone on the earth has been given a body and a life to live; we do not need to be living a pretend virtual life. Spending too much time in a virtual world diminishes the importance of a person’s body. It can also cause relationships to be weakened, educational or career opportunities to be passed by, and the small detail of life that bring joy to be missed out on. This talk was given to the younger people of the Church and lays the foundation for his second talk.

The second talk, To Flood the Earth, is also based on the internet, however, this time it is about how social media specifically can be a force for good. Elder Bednar explains how social media can be used as a missionary force in the fact that one person can share a gospel message instantly and others can see it from anywhere around the world. Members of the church can literally flood the earth with uplifting messages that can bring others closer to the Savior. This talk is addressed to an older generation and could be introducing them to the advantages that they may have been unaware of before.

Elder Bednar’s first talk was a warning about the dangers of the internet. It is important for people to know that while the internet and social media can be wonderful tools, they can also pose great threats to those who misuse them. However, he goes on to share the great things that can be done with the social media and how it can be used to spread the gospel. Elder Bednar’s talks are a great source for information for those wanting to learn about the dangers and advantages of the internet.

1. Introduction to me, myself, and I

In all honesty, I am not one for blogs. I understand blogs in the sense that someone is keeping one because they are on a mission and want to keep everyone updated, or for someone who has an inspiring experience to share with the world. But now, thanks to a writing class,  I will figure out what people write about and hopefully be able to share some of my adventures as a college freshmen. 

A little bit about me..... As mentioned earlier, I am a freshmen at BYU in Provo. This is my second semester and this blog is the product of me taking a mandatory writing class. I haven't quite figured out my major yet, but I am currently taking a career exploration class, so hopefully I will know soon. I come from a large family where I am the oldest. I love to run. When I was in high school I ran cross country and played soccer for a little bit. I also love the rain, smoothies, and Batman.