[16] Narrative Review

      In one of my previous posts titled Love and War I wrote a narrative assigned in my WTG 150 class. We were assigned to write about a moment in which we saw or experienced a change in a past event in our life. The catch to this assignment was we had to show this change we experienced rather than actually write it out. I chose to write about my mom and my realization of her unconditional love.
     In my paper I start out by describing an activity my dad used to do with is called the Push-Up War to show how my parents would teach us important values in life to carry with us. I then talk about how my mom shows her love for everything. It was really interesting for me to recognize my realization of her love because I had never thought about how it was a specific moment in which I fully understood her love. Through this assignment I was able to experience again my realization and rediscover her admiration just as I did the first time.
     In this assignment we relied on our abilities to appeal to our audiemce's ethos and logos so that they could emotionally feel with us and logically make sense of the change. Hopefully through these appeals and our interpretations of our events others were able to relive the moment with us.
    Writing this narrative was semi difficult because it was hard to show the change without actually saying it. After meeting with my professor and getting advice it became easier to show not tell (Thanks Sis.Steadman!) I have loved reading my classmates narratives, they did such a great job. In all the narratives I have read so far they do a great job of showing and not telling as well as making it a fun and humorous read.  Overall the narrative was an enjoyable assignment.

[15] He is Risen

      In honor of Easter being this past weekend I would just like to bear my testimony on our Savior's resurrection. I have never been good at expressing my testimony, it always comes out as the 4 year old version of "I know" being repeated over and over again.  You get the message though, so here it goes. 

     I know this church is true. I know that the scriptures, and Bible as far as it is translated correctly, are true. I know that Jesus is our Savior. I know that through Him we can once again return into the presence of our Father in Heaven. I know that He died for our sins and for that I will be eternally grateful. I know that if we follow His commandments and try to be the best possible versions of ourselves we can live with Him again. I love our Savior, the gospel in my life, and the uplifting light it brings. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

[14] General Conference

      During the LDS general conference this year there were many great talks given. Each talk gave spiritually uplifting advice and reminders that can help us live our lives to the best of our potential. Oddly enough the session that stuck with me was the priesthood session. During this session the speakers, being called to address the priesthood of the church, did well to appeal to the pathos of their audience.
      Many times they would use things in their talks that could apply to the men listening in a personal way. Elder Ballard, one of the Quorum of the 12, addressed the audience by saying "I will now interview each of you personally. Please look at me as though you and I were the only ones in the room." By doing this, Elder Ballard caught the audience's attention and allowed them to interact by personally reflecting on themselves as though they were being interviewed by him. He also appealed to their pathos by reaching out and giving advice to the different age groups so that all the listeners could go away with specific advice to them.
      The Lord knows who the church and world needs to hear from and who all is listening. He guides the speakers in what to say and how to say it so that the messages are well received. The Prophet and our leaders all strive to, and do very well, at making it so that we all can feel for and make use of the guidance given so that we can all understand and maximize our divine potential.

[13] Need a Laugh?

     When I started the draft to this post 2 months ago it was on one of those nothing-is-going-right, desperately in need of a pick-me-up kind of days. Being a hard day it quickly exhausted me and I found myself in one of those “I am not really sure why I am doing it”/”I am so tired” laughing fits. Silly jokes I had seen on a paper left by my friend for me sent me over the edge, and somehow lifted my mood despite being terribly punny and over the top cheesy. So I know these are dorky but maybe someone else out there needs this little bit of cheese to perk up their smile as well! Here they are:

• Knock knock.

         Who’s there?

         Smell mop.

         Smell mop who?

         (Say that one a couple of times and you start to hear it! Hah.)

• You must have 11 protons because you are sodium fine!      (GREAT pick up line.)

•  How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?

          Ten tickles.

• 84 travel agents go into a bar. The bartender says “Get out! We don’t serve travel agents here!” and one travel agent says, “Boy, you trippin’!”

• Two guys walk into a bar and one says, “I’ll have some H2O.” The guy next to him says, “Yea that sounds good, I’ll have some H2O too.” The second man died.

[12] Are you a Geo Genius?

       So I'm sure you have all heard of the National Geographic magazines. The National Geographic Society is a nonprofit educational organization that works to increase the world's knowledge of scientific things all around the globe. Each month they release a new magazine featuring new findings and ancient stories, but my favorite parts is the 5 question quiz that tests your geographical knowledge. I recently came across my National Geographic collection and decided to put you all to the test as well! Here are questions from one of the GeoBee quizzes, let's see how you do!

1 Which small African country located on the Gulf of Aden averages less than six inches of rain each year?

2 The Blue Nile flows through Lake Tana, which is located in the northern part of what country?

3 The Indus River, one of the longest rivers in South Asia, empties into what sea?

4 Tbilisi, located on the bands of the Kur River, is the capital of what country?

5 Lake Volta is located in which West African country known for its production of palm oil?


Once you think you have the answers check below!

Answers 
1- Djibouti 2- Ethiopia 3- Arabian Sea 4- Georgia 5- Ghana

[11] Love and War

 Love and War

“Eight… nine… ten!” We pushed out the last of our push-ups with our breathing strained. “I could do this all day!” Leisel, my younger sibling would taunt us. “Not if my rock destroys your scissors!” Taylor, still panting from his push-ups, replied in a wheeze. “Not a chance!” Leisel mocked. It was mom’s call that had led us here. “Kids! Come on down! It’s time for Dad’s favorite!” Every Monday night (or really whenever we get the chance) at FHE we all participate in a game dad invented; The Push-Up War. The game starts off with everyone in push-up/plank position with one fist pointing toward the middle of the circle. Then simultaneously we all, still in the push-up position, do rock-paper-scissors. Everyone who loses has to do 10 push-ups while the others wait in the plank position. As the game goes on it becomes more and more physically exhausting and people begin to falter. When someone falls or touches the ground they are out of the contest, forfeiting victory. Even though The Push-Up War was a lot of fun it served to teach us not only that physical health and conditioning are important, but also that we should always push forward and try our hardest even when things get tough. Throughout the game you would always hear dad panting out to those doing the push-ups, “You can do it! Just a little farther! Don’t give up!” It was often through simple and fun things like this that our parents taught us so many of the important values us kids carry with us in life today.

Dad, being a doctor and a very practical realist, taught us about things such as saving money, exercising regularly, and gaining an education. Mom, a very creative and dedicated stay-at-home mother, taught us things like integrity, creativity, and how to love unconditionally. Both parents were excellent at teaching us through example, however the best example was given by our mom showing us the importance and value of being able to love unconditionally.

“Please can we get a fish?” It was my older sister Melissa who started our pet craze. By the time I was in second grade we had a variety collection of fish, frogs, and hamsters. Habitats filled our playroom and the soft sounds of hamsters running on wheels and frog croaks could be heard from the hall. Dad would often remind us of the conditions of being pet owners, “How are the grades doing? Remember, all A’s or no more pets!” Along with this stipulation the rules were that the only pets allowed were those that lived in a cage and us kids had to do most the caring for. We abided by these rules and within another year found ourselves the happy owners of a disabled gecko, two turtles, and tarantula as well.

“Here, hold Lucy and I’ll do the cage.” We had our method of cleaning down. One kid would hold the tarantula while the other kid would clean out the webby habitat and we would work our way through the pets until they were all taken care of. The pets were all played with and treated kindly as well as care for. It wasn’t until one night I heard mom singing Love at Home in the playroom that I saw how genuine her love for everything was. As the words “There is beauty all around,” weaved their way through the hall I cracked the playroom door open to peek inside. I saw mom singing to the disabled gecko while feeding him medicine through an eye dropper. After she had finished with the eye dropper she proceeded to catch a live cricket from the container, powder it with some calcium, and hand feed it to the lizard. As I continued to watch her she next pulled out some topical medical lotion and began to rub his disabled arms and legs in the ointment. By this point she had reached the third verse singing “Love becomes a way of life,” and I couldn’t help but think about how appropriate the line “Healing balm for every rift,” was right at that moment. Finally the song ended and she gently put the gecko back in his cage. I ran down the hall so she wouldn’t see me as she exited and I watched from my room as she left the playroom and entered the kitchen to continue dishes.

I had always taken for granted how loving and thoughtless mom was. She would always stop everything at the drop of a hat to perform tedious things for us like making food or driving us to and from our sports. We were always polite and grateful toward her, however I never actually took the time to stop and recognize exactly how selfless she was being. It wasn’t until we started getting pets that I noticed this attentive love toward anyone and everything.

Each night after us kids were done caring for the pets I would watch my mom silently slip in after us to do her extra little mile for the gecko, never saying a word except for the singing of Love at Home. After some time the gecko finally healed and could function as normal lizards do. My siblings all thought it was a miracle and that he must be a really special lizard, but the truth behind it was that we had a really special mom. I don’t know why I never told anyone about her secret little slip-ins, perhaps it was that I liked having this special knowledge of her love filled action all to myself. Just knowing that she never had to be spotlighted for her good deeds made it all the more special. She has always been and will always be an amazing role model for me. I now strive to be every bit as caring as she is, by loving anything and everything that crosses my path because it is through this that we can truly make “life a bliss complete, when there’s love at home.”

[10] Drinking and Driving

The title drinking and driving may have caught your attention and filled your mind with thoughts of car crashes and alcohol, but don't worry, this is not the case for this entry. 

So the other day I was with a friend and we had gone to the store to pick up some supplies for a bonfire and some food and drinks. After getting what we needed we headed back in the car and were on the road to the mountains to meet everyone else. For some reason the store shelves had not been restocked and instead of being able to get water bottles for everyone we had grabbed jugs of water because all other water containers were currently out. On the drive there I decided I was pretty thirsty and opened up a jug to drink out of. Right as I was mid drink my friend slammed on the breaks and sent the entire contents of the water gallon in my face, over my head, and down my front leaving me sopping wet for the rest of the night. 

Moral of the story is, don't drink and drive kids. (Or don't trust your friends while you take a drink. You can pick.)