Sister Reyna Aburto talked directly about depression, anxiety and suicide. I was there in the conference center as she gave the talk. To me as someone who has deeply been affected by depression, her words were music to my ears and were very much healing for me personally. Her talk cut really deep especially when she shared that her father committed suicide. For me, sharing something so raw and personal added to her ethos. She didn't sugar coat it and said it directly. It's how we should be about this genre and I think that is why I liked it so much.
I don't remember who it was, but I noticed some allusion to Lord of the Rings which probably woke people up and had them listening more than they were before.
Another time I saw this was with Elder Holland. He told us about the little boy who raised his foot to sustain the prophet last general conference. He showed two pictures as he told this story and it was easy to follow, familiar and cute. It hooked the audience into listening to him.
I want to speak to the topic you mentioned relating to the idea that, because Sister Reyna Aburto spoke about things that put her in a vulnerable spot, especially because her audience is so fast -- being many many members and non members of the church, that you attribute those vulnerable things to aiding her ethos. This is usually the opposite, ethos to me comes from someone with authority. To me, the apostles really speak with ethos because they invite and proclaim from a position of power given to them by God. But this concept of vulnerability adding to ethos is interesting. I wonder if it only applies because it's at General Conference where these things are becoming "okay" to talk about? Or if it would carry over into other fields of study as well.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you mentioned Sister Aburto not sugar coating anything. Sometimes people expect others to do that, instead of tell it how it is, so I feel like it makes what they're trying to get across more genuine and relatable.
ReplyDeleteI didn't catch that Elder Holland foot example when I first listened, but that is a great observation. It was a great use of a visual that helped get his point across.
ReplyDeleteI have heard a lot of good things about Sister Reyna Aburto's talk and am excited to listen to it. I think that this topic is something that is rarely directly mentioned, let alone an entire talk dedicated to it at conference. Her personal connection to the topic makes her a credible speaker to be addressing such a difficult topic.
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