Jer3miah: Difficulty of following God

Before watching Jer3miah, I was definitely spectacle to actually enjoying it. I figured that any two-hour, student produced, Mormon-themed series wouldn’t be to my liking. On the contrary, however, I couldn’t stop watching. The plot was both interesting and deep, with plenty of room for interpretation and creative ties to Mormon culture. There were a few themes that I specifically identified with, and that I think would be really good for young Mormon teens to hear.

When Jeremiah is talking to Porter about having to kill that man, and how God commanded him to do it, Jeremiah expresses his frustration with following God’s commands. Porter reminds Jeremiah that just because what we do is difficult, does not make it wrong. This is a good message for any member of the church to be reminded of as we strive to figure out what path we want to follow in life. Jeremiah is on a continual journey of self-discovery that is relatable for many people trying to do what God wants them to do, and may doubt themselves to God when things get tough.

The article brought up and interesting comparison to Joseph Smith. I had also noticed this while watching, seeing how this kid struggled with his own worthiness, the extremity of what was being required of him, and the outside forces battling against him. This show is a good reminder of how Mormon theology can be applied to our lives in so many ways.

Henry's Final Essay

LDS authors face a difficult challenge in their writings. There is a distinct set of values within the LDS culture that the writing must fit under in order to be considered “LDS literature.” This raises the question, however, of who the audience should be for works that qualify as LDS literature. There are pros and cons to both sides of whether said literature should be intended for primarily member audiences or non-member audiences. For the outcome that I see most effective, LDS literature should be written for a member audience.

The advantage of creating works that are intended for LDS audiences are that they are a great way for members to connect with ideas they are already familiar with, to ideas that are perhaps more unique and unencountered in Sunday school. If an author is writing a science fiction piece, like Seventh Son for example, the author is able to create a thoughtful space for the reader to experiment and think about the gospel and its teachings in a deeper way. Another advantage is that if the book or media is explicitly LDS themed, the audience is going to be majority LDS anyways, so it might as well be intended for them. If an LDS-themed piece is read by a non-member who is unfamiliar with the church’s theology and teachings, the main point of the story will be lost on them. The same principle, however, does not apply for Christianity. Christian literature is a good way for those who are unfamiliar with its ideology to learn Christian values on a general level. For the most part, LDS theology can be a little too complex for someone to understand when mixed in with other literary tropes.

The disadvantages of writing exclusively for an LDS audience is that, like I stated above, it limits the available or interested audience. A piece of work that is advertised as LDS will likely dissuade audiences from being interested in it. Something like My Book of Life by Angel is a great example of a story with LDS themes, but still relatable to a wide audience. A book like this is a perfect opportunity for non-members to connect with certain teachings of the gospel, yet aren’t necessarily explicit in the text itself. When LDS authors make their work for all audiences, they run the risk of incorporating false doctrine and confusing those who do not already have a solid grasp of the teachings. Mixing in narratives of fantasy, sci-fi, or drama with LDS doctrine can distort the intended LDS message.

Overall, it is a better option to limit LDS writing to LDS audiences. This way, the church can control what messages are being put out into the world and make sure that nothing they don’t want written about them is being written.

Avatar and The Tree of Life

The first thing that come to mind when connecting Avatar and LDS doctrine is definitely the tree that is so important to the Navi people. People gravitated towards it and believed that it connected them to their Goddess Eywa. This reminded me of the tree of life in the Book of Mormon and the significance it has to out doctrine as a metaphor of God’s love. When Jake finds his way to the tree and has sort of a “first prayer” moment I saw so much similarity between that and Joseph Smith’s prayer when Jake can feel Eywa’s presence and almost confirms his belief in her.

Burton’s essay got me thinking about “things as they really are” and thinking about what it means to be able to experience certain things because of the body we have been given. Jake’s avatar is just a means to an end for him to learn and grow and develop. The same goes for us. Our bodies here on earth are for us to use to learn and grow and develop. The experience that we gain here is all for us to use after this life and to be tested. The same can be said for Jake. He was tested as an avatar, and now after his journey ends he has acquired skills and knowledge to benefit him later on down the road.

I'll Find Out, In Due Time

A personal essay by Marcus Cain

An eternal promise to a mortal being; a torment light can’t unveil.

My relationship with God has always been distant.

When I was younger, I felt close to Father in the sense that I knew He was there; like a child being supervised. However, the older I got, the more I treated Him like any teenager would - off handed communications and years of detachment. Confiding in a man of great spirituality, I hoped to mend my impartiality towards Father. As the man spoke, his voice sounded familiar, though I had not heard it before… it wasn’t his voice, but His. Reassuring. Calming, even.

Unsettling.

Marcus's Personal Essay Rivisions

For content, I need to make sure that I don’t include topics that are specific to LDS culture. For example, not explaining what a mission it, maybe a Patriarch or a Patriarchal blessing. I need to either take these out and refrain from using specifics in such a way OR explain what these are in a simple manner.

As for form, I will need to focus on better rhythm and description. Right now, the format of the paper is good, but I need to make sure that the text flows. Another thing I should look at or do is read the paper out loud and figure out what flows and what doesn’t. There are some lines that could have better diction.

The images are going to be greyscale to reduce the warmth of color, but I need to find a better initial image. I may use my final image at the start and find something else for the ending. Each image should relate to the heading (which I also need to include) of each section.

Henry's Essay Draft

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the explorer Robert Walton wrote a letter back home to his family describing the innate feeling he had to go out and explore the world. Unable to describe it accurately he wrote, “There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.”

I’m not sure I fully knew what exactly I was getting myself into. Neither did my dad. We never really stopped to ask ourselves if it was worth it or if we should we just find a different weekend to go.

In the summer of 2009 my dad, three of my brothers, and I set out to hike King’s Peak, the tallest peak in the state of Utah sitting at 13,528 feet. I was thirteen and had zero interest giving up a summer weekend filled with swimming, video games, my couch, and friends, to go backpacking for a whole weekend. We piled in the Outback and heading to the trail. Cramped and grumpy, we arrived. Well, not really. Adam realized he was holding the map upside down (yes, a map) and led us to the wrong trailhead. My dad is usually a quite aggressive driver but man, I had never seen him drive like that before. Running hours behind schedule now, we arrived at the real trailhead. Our trailhead.

Five minutes in and we’re already soaked. I was fully convinced that one of us was gonna die from a lightning strike. I’m crying at night saying I want to go home, and the freeze-dried turkey tetrazzini isn’t helping. I sat in the tent while Will and my dad were fixing dinner and getting drinking water for us. Sitting and pouting. The next day wasn’t better. It was worse, actually. Dark clouds are everywhere, including in my own head. I lagged behind and was lost on the summit. No one in sight. I legitimately thought, in my 8^th grade mind, I might never see my family again. After screaming loud enough for my mom at home to hear, my dad found me and we headed back down the mountain, never reaching the summit.

Ten years passed with every August as a not-so-gentle reminder of King’s Peak. The most vivid feelings of the gooey mud, piercing rain, and bitter cold never fled my memory. My dad would occasionally mention how he anticipated the day that we climbed it together, but those memories came back and I stuck to my vows of never attempting that summit ever, ever again. Suddenly, in the Summer of 2019, it clicked. To this day I don’t know what changed or why, but I felt like Robert Walton.

My family isn’t an outdoorsy family who loves spending time in nature. Most of our camping gear is from the 90’s and our “new gear” is from the mid 2000’s. I hadn’t been camping for well over five years. As my dad and I pack up the night before our adventure, I felt sick. My Nike Free Runs and J Crew khakis aren’t convincing me that I am fully prepared for this trip. My dad’s boots are twenty years old and his Levis aren’t much newer than that. The drive up was early and cold. I was alone with my pacing thoughts as my dad took a few business calls. We arrived at the right trailhead on the first try this time and loaded up our packs. The scent of powdered Gatorade placed me right back in 2009 again. Suddenly my surroundings were all familiar. The trail, the trees, the river, my dad. A strange sense of unexpected confidence overcame me.

The first part of the day was quick and easy. Passing fellow hikers, stopping infrequently to catch our breath, and moving a lot faster than we had anticipated. We set up camp in a perfect spot next to a little pond and on a grassy patch that seemed tailor made for us with big boulders to sit on and rest our packs.

Then the rain came. And it came hard. My dad and I lay in our tent, deafened by the beating of the rain on our tent. It felt like thousands of middle schoolers were having on all-out airsoft war on our tent. We remained calm and decided it was time to eat. The turkey tetrazzini was back. Ten years later I was sitting in a tent, in the pouring rain, eating turkey tetrazzini. (I wasn’t crying this time, though.)

Morning came and we set out on the trail to the summit. Dozens of people passing us with the latest hiking gear who seemed much more equipped for what lied ahead of all of us. This day was filled with a lot more breaks than the day prior. Sometimes we wouldn’t take more than 30 steps and we would stop again until my dad couldn’t hear his heart beating anymore. I began to feel a little uneasy every time I heard his huffs and puffs. He stayed calm and I kept my worries in my head, where they belonged.

We arrived at the base of the summit. It looked eerily familiar. We finally got cell phone reception and my dad gave my mom a call to let her know we were still ok. I checked my texts and had to shift plans I had to next weekend. Then we buckled up and headed up the summit. Now we were taking breaks every 10-15 steps. At this point, I didn’t blame thirteen-year-old Henry anymore. The hike had turned into a climb. We thought we saw the peak, only to summit it and look on to see an even higher peak in front of us. A family of three passed us, with the young dad carrying his three-year-old on his back. Honestly, just find a babysitter.

Suddenly as I climbed up a boulder, I saw multiple heads poking out just thirty yards away. With a new burst of adrenaline, we pushed up ahead and arrived at the peak. 13,528 feet. Thirteen Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty-Eight feet. We took a seat, and then some pictures. Ate some snacks without really chatting too much. We just embraced the colorful beauty below us. It wasn’t long before the daunting clouds to the left of us started threatening. We packed up and moved down the mountain. Multiple people passed us asking how much further till the peak. “Not too close” my dad said.

The second we got off the summit and back on to the trail, we were drenched with showers from those clouds who had been threatening for so long. We put our heads down and marched back towards our camp at twice the speed moving down-hill this time. We were on our way home leaving the hardest part further and further behind us. There was never much chatter along the trail the entire hike. But in the middle of this massive rain-turned-to-hail storm, I asked my dad, “what have you been thinking about this whole time?”

“Your mom” he said.

Cameron's Personal Essay Ideas

Reflect: I think that writing the experiences I’ve had over the course of this class in segments has taught me that I can take a very short moment in time and expand it into a large and descriptive paragraph. This tactic draws the reader into the scene, but must be careful not to include too much information/info dump. I’ve learned that I must not be didactic but that some of the best learning comes when a reader can make assumptions for themselves, therefore, writing to a general audience usually works better to reach more people. I want to convey meaning in this personal essay, yet not be too symbolic in what I want specific things to mean.

Select: I plan on writing about my experiences as a boy with a loving, but contentious father, who always desired the best for his children, but somehow couldn’t quite convey it in the right way. I’m not sure if I want to model the fictitious, yet realistic example that Martine Leavitte uses in My Book of Life by Angel or the strikingly realistic stories of Hoiland.

Comment: Hoiland talked about getting to know her sister when she was a young girl but said, “I’m embarrassed now to think that I ever questioned the happiness of another because it did not match perfectly my own but my young heart was not ready to understand that the threadd between my sister and me would not ever waver, let alone break, in the years to follow, even when our lives looked different” (Hoiland 41-42). I love this sentence, because there are layers of meaning, not only with the content, but also style and form. It is very telling of her experience, yet does not make any didactic statements about what one must now believe. It simply relays her experience.

Plan: I want to tell of experiences of a young man, what discipline has looked like for him, what belief systems looked like in that household, the motives behind the “why” they did things and the reasons he was given. I want to show the good intentions of this young man’s father, the feelings of the love he experienced, and contrast those with moments and conversations of fear and doubt with his mother and brother. Then flash forward to the perspective of an older, wiser man, seeing his parents as flawed, how they too grow, learn, and change, ending with a similar connection to that of Hoiland’s as mentioned above.

Marcus's Essay Plan

My topic is the effects of timelines in our lives. Within the church, and even outside the church, there seems to be a large stigma surrounding timelines. Well, mine isn’t ordinary. There are a lot of pressures on graduating college as a certain time, getting married at a certain time, going on a mission at a certain time. However, my timeline isn’t your timeline, nor God’s timeline.

As for a form to imitate in my essay, I would like to make it more personal with the use of letters, like Martine Leavitt. I think the use of letters (in this case, to myself) would add an interesting effect and cut up the traditional essay format. The manner in which we format our text allows us to read it differently – I’d like to experiment with that.

The format of my essay will mimic that of a traditional essay but will also include choppier and shorter paragraphs with the occasional letter to myself. These short letters will include motivation saying or advice to myself during difficult times. The content will include moments I feel I let myself down by falling behind: Gymnastics, Learning the Gospel, Late advancements in the Mission field, Getting into College, Joining a BYU Athletic Team, etc. I will include each of these in a timeline, but the timeline may have some hiccups.