Changing the world One Stitch at a Time (8)

All throughout life I have been involved in many different activities, especially in high school. I had spread myself very thin through difficult honors classes, playing percussion in many different bands both with friends and in school, running on the track team, and a whole slew of other goodies such as snowboarding, hanging out with friends and family, and all that jazz. From participating in so many activities I was always fighting to stay awake in my classes, which is still sometimes an issue today but that’s a story for another day. No matter how hard I would try, I just couldn't manage to keep my eyes open.

I did my best to participate in my classes to stay attentive, but sometimes I was just so tired that I didn’t care about the class anymore and just checked out for a wee bit. You would think that sitting in a desk would make sleeping uncomfortable but I quickly developed the skill to sleep in any situation imaginable. A contributing factor to such a fine tuned skill of sleeping anywhere, was probably the fact that I slept on the floor for a good portion of my life, also another story for another day but more details are available upon request.

In my junior year, I had a history class which was exceptionally hard to stay awake in. For some reason it felt as if the teacher wanted me to sleep, either by the way he’d speak or how he seemed to use an excessive amount of films in teaching the class, it was impossible for me to remain conscious, especially with the lights off.

I didn’t enjoy sleeping in class, I knew I needed to pay attention and I truly did want to learn the content being presented. I respected my teachers and wanted to know what they had to say, but tiredness would overcome my will to be a good student. This epic battle between class participation and sleeping was starting to have nasty effects on my grades. Just as in real warfare there are unwanted civilian casualties and destruction of urban areas, my homework assignments and, ultimately, my grades were innocent sufferers to this intense fight.

As the year went on, I continued to sleep and my grades continued to hang out towards the lower percentiles of the class until one day, liberation from such sleep slavery came into my life. During a session of nap time, also known as history class, I stirred in my deep slumber and managed to catch a glimpse of my friend, Jeremy. Something about him caught my attention. It wasn't what he was wearing, it wasn’t what he was saying, it was what he was doing! He looked so focused and at the same time, satisfied. He was looking down at his hands as they moved in the same pattern over and over again with yarn slowly feeding in. “Dude, are you crocheting?” I asked, very surprised and impressed. “Yes, I sure am.” He replied. I couldn't believe it! How odd, he was just sitting there in class crocheting away at an afghan. I was suddenly overcome by a strong desire to learn how to crochet as well. “That’s way cool!” I exclaimed, “can you teach me?” “Sure.” The next day he brought some extra yarn and an extra crochet hook. It was a slow learning process and Jeremy was very patient with me. I can’t remember what my very first creation was but I do know that it ended up being hideous and non-functional, but I didn't care, I was hooked! (pun intended) As soon as school was over that day, I longboarded over to Hobby Lobby to buy my own equipment and embark on my crocheting journey.

Day after day I would crochet. I started out making countless headbands and other miscellaneous accessories such as phone covers, iPod cases, hats, and my personal favorite, the pen pouch. It was a nerd’s dream! Beautifully hand crafted and custom made to hang from a belt, holding all writing utensils and securing them with a fashionable button. Class went from being nap time to production time. My excitement and enthusiasm for crocheting scared away all thoughts of sleep giving me eight hours of crocheting a day, a perfect amount of time to get my projects done. A nice side effect was that I could now listen to the lectures from my teachers as I crocheted instead of having strange dreams with mixed academic tangents and philosophies.

My grades actually started improving as I was now more attentive to the lectures and even started to participate more in class, even though most of my participation came from pop-off comments to get a little giggle or chuckle from the sweet honeys in the class. It was nice to have so much time to crochet, it’s unbelievable how much kids would pay for just some simple hand-made item; better yet though, I was learning.

Crocheting became a big hit, Shane, another friend in my history class, soon asked for a crocheting lesson and then it wasn't much longer before it was the new fad. Our senior year, Jeremy, Shane,  and I created the crochet club which was basically an extra hour or two after school where we would get together to crochet and watch movies such as Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, and other excellent films. Strangely, the club mostly consisted of wrestlers, football players, and about half the soccer team... with a few others.

I have since learned how to make many different projects including jackets, shoes, blankets, and quite a few others, I even taught my grandmother how to crochet, go figure. I greatly enjoy crocheting, there is something therapeutic to its monotonous repetition and I love the freedom to create whatever I want as long as I can figure out how to do it. The best part about it is when I’m having trouble staying awake, I just need to grab my hook and go to work. Thank you Jeremy!

BYU Experience (7)

Although this is not my first semester at BYU, at times I feel as if it were. I'm having a hard time making time for homework. I think in reality it's just my fault for deciding to do other things instead of actually doing my homework. I'm not quite sure why this is or what has gotten into me but I know that I've got to change this if I want to be able to pass my classes, which is why I'm here right. I need a good education! I guess you could say this is my mid-semester resolution to just hunker down, become a hermit if I have to, and get my stinkin' homework done!

Family Research Paper (6)

Looking back at the opportunity I've had to write this paper about my great-great-great grandfather, Benjamin Perkins, I have been able to grow in my writing capabilities and grow closer to my family.

It may be sad to state that this has been the longest paper I have ever written, but writing has never really been my favorite pastime, nor one of my strengths. I was able to learn how to do more in depth research to find the information needed to bring Ben's story to life. At times I would think that I had gathered enough information and had written all that I could about it but then I would see where I was at and what the requirement was and I still had more to go. It helped me push myself in a way that I don't normally do, which, not being the most comfortable experience, helped me learn and stretch my capabilities.

In knowing his story and learning about Benjamin Perkins, I feel a connection to the past that I had never felt before. In researching, I was able to get to know him better which is an awesome experience. I know about the accomplishments he achieved and that gives me hope to also be able to reach my goals and pass through trials helping others just like he did. It's in my blood, I know I can do it. 

Analysis on "Is it I?" by President Uchtdorf in the October, 2014 General Conference (5)

One of my favorite things of all time is that every six months I get the opportunity to listen to the Prophet and the Apostles who speak about different things we can do to improve our lives.

This October, 2014, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a talk entitled "Is it I?" at the Saturday evening Priesthood Session. In this talk, Uchtdorf helps us understand how important it is to analyse our lives instead of the lives of others by using parables with pathos to teach his point.

The first parable that Uchtdorf uses is that of a beautiful yard: "This neighbor kept his lawn perfectly manicured, flowers always in bloom, the trees healthy and shady. It was obvious that the neighbor made every effort to have a beautiful lawn." He later goes on to explain how another neighbor notices a dandelion in the yard and thinks of all the things he can do to remove it and judges the neighbor even though his own yard is full of dandelions: "These thoughts totally occupied his mind as he walked toward his own home. He entered his house without even glancing at his own front yard—which was blanketed with hundreds of yellow dandelions." This is a story that everyone can relate to which creates pathos and helps the audience understand how many times we judge others by their small imperfections when we don't realize our own problems are considerably larger.


Another parable that Uchtdorf  uses is one from the Bible that the Savior Himself taught: "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? …

“… First cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye." (Matthew 7: 3,5) This shows how hard it is for us to help others with their problems when we ignore our own. In this parable it would be impossible to help someone remove a mote from their eye if in our own eye we have a beam and cannot see clearly.

From the few points we looked at we can see how President Uchtdorf uses parables to gain pathos to teach.

Thinking About My Ancestors (4)

My grandmother has always told me stories about how our ancestors came through The Hole in the Rock to go south and settle Southern Utah. I've heard the story a million times... well mostly that it had happened more than anything else, but I feel it's time that I've learned the actual details. I know that they were part of the explosive team to blast through the rock but I want to know, why did they go? How did they do it? What kinds of explosives did they use? Was it dangerous? How did they learn to use explosives? Who did they go with? I am going to embark on the quest to find these details (ask grandma what's up). I'll keep all y'alls posted!

Thesis:

My great-great-great grandfather, Benjamin Perkins, was an excellent man because he followed the Prophet, served others, and was a hard worker.

Reflection on Writing Them Sweet Papes (3)

As a college student I have had a number of opportunities to write papers, essays, short stories, etc. Throughout my entire life, writing has been the bane of my existence and I have always been able to throw in a few good complaints about why I don't want to do it. That being said, I am learning how to just suck it up and deal with it. I recently wrote a rhetorical analysis paper on the speech The Great Society by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. In this experience, writing the paper wasn't as bad as I expected. Due to and overload of homework from a few of my other classes, it was a little difficult to get it started but all in all it was a good experience. I've never really analyzed a speech and it was interesting to do so and see what there is to learn a far as that goes. I was able to learn that Johnson was a very persuasive speaker and used rhetoric successfully.

The Stories That Bind Us (2)

In the New York Times article "The Stories That Bind Us" it talks about how sharing family stories and traditions will help families be stronger and plow through the trials that come into their lives. This is a very interesting subject to me and from personal experience I have been able to see that it holds true. In my family, we have many traditions that have been reoccurring throughout many years. We also share stories with each other about our ancestors both distant and close. Through these stories and traditions, my family has become very close and when trials come we stand together and are able to face them.