Winter Semester Registration

As Winter Semester approaches, I got the opportunity to register for all of my classes tonight at midnight. Fortunately, I was able to get into every single one except for one. Included in all of the classes that I will be taking, I got into Mission Preparation with Professor Bott. On top of this religion class, I have the opportunity to take a New Testament class with the same professor that I took Book of Mormon from this semester. Looking at my schedule now, I know that I will have plenty of chances to feel the spirit and make the most of my situation here at BYU as I prepare to serve a full-time mission. I will be able to turn in my papers on New Years Day of 2012. Many great things are in store in the next 6 months and I can't wait to see the Lord's hand in my life.

Building the Bib

In my Writing 150 class, I've been working on compiling an annotated bibliography from all the sources that I've found so far for my research paper. I've finished about half of the assignment; as I get closer to finishing, I gain more of an appreciation for an annotated bibliography. At first, I thought it would be worthless, but now that I've annotated about half of my sources, I really understand how important and helpful this step in the process is. Once I've completely annotated each source that I will be using for my research paper, I will be able to write the paper much quicker because the Annotated Bibliography acts as a sort of outline for the rest of my paper.

Atonement

Tomorrow my GQA, or Gospel Question Assignment, is due in my Book of Mormon 122 class here at Brigham Young University. When I first started doing this assignment, I was reluctant because I didn't think it would benefit me in any way at all. I decided to relate my assignment to a very personal experience I had in my life. The major question I wanted to be answered was, "have I repented of my sins properly and have I been completely forgiven?" This question was very personal to me and as I began to answer it, I quickly realized that this assignment would actually be very beneficial to me. The spiritual experience I've had as I completed this assignment was one that I will never forget because the spirit bore witness to me that I have been forgiven. I would like to share some things about what I have learned from this assignment. First of all, we shouldn't attempt to repent of our sins until we are completely ready; God doesn't like to see us repenting of the same sin over and over again. Another thing that I learned is that we do not have to go through the repentance process for small sins. These small sins are referred to as "errors" in the Scriptures, and we are taught that we need to merely mention and acknowledge our mistake or error, and then try to refrain from doing it again. Lastly, when we commit major sins, we must have a broken heart and a contrite spirit in order to truly be forgiven. When I first read that we need a "broken heart and a contrite spirit" in the Scriptures, I was unsure of what that meant. After reading a talk given in General Conference by one of our apostles in the Quorum of the Twelve, I found that having a broken heart and a contrite spirit consists of being completely willing to submit to the will of the Father, whatever it is that he wants done.

MLA and Annotated Bibliography

In preparation for writing my own annotated bibliography, today in class we discussed how to properly format a bibliography and do in text quotations with MLA format. Although I had already thought I knew everything there was to know about MLA, I found out some interesting things that will help me out as I not only construct the annotated bibliography, but also as I write my research paper. Knowing and understanding these concepts will come in a lot of handy when I want to get an 'A' because I don't mistakes because of MLA to distract from the argument and message of my topic.

"Testing" the Truthfulness of the Gospel

This week for my Physical Science class, we were told to read a talk given at a devotional here at BYU. The title of the talk was "He Stands at the Door and Knocks," and it was given by Professor Kowallis. My Physical Science professor had told us that this devotional would have an essay question related to it on our next text. As I read the talk, I kept waiting for it to be strictly about science, but I soon found out that it was a combination of both my testimony or spiritual things as well as scientific things. In the talk, Professor Kowallis makes a very strong relation between how we determine things are true in science and how we determine things are true in the gospel. He explains that he had many challenges in his life where the thought occurred to him to "test" the truthfulness of the gospel just as he would the truthfulness of science. Obeying exactly what the scriptures teach, he got on his knees and prayed for an answer. Because of the witnesses he has had throughout his life, he will always believe the truth of the gospel over the believed truths of science. This talk has given me a new perspective on the correlation between science and God. I have always thought of science as a contradicting belief to that of the gospel, but after having read this talk, I now understand that science was given to us to help us understand all of God's creations; the two tie together very closely. When something in science contradicts that of the gospel, I must always rely on the testimony I have.

Research Paper - Effects of Social Media, Electronics, and Gaming on Teens

Today in Writing 150, we met in the library research section for class. Before class began, I couldn't help but feeling like the lecture would be waste because I felt like I already knew how to research things. And even if I didn't know how to use a special BYU academic search engine, how hard could it be? Within the first 5 minutes, my opinion had completely changed. During the research lecture, our librarian would first inform us of a search engine that BYU provides, and then let us practice using it. After allowing us enough time to find some good information on our topic, she would move on to another search engine. It amazed me how precise and effective all of the search engines are that are available through BYU. The research question that I hope to answer is, "how have social media, gaming, and electronics affected teens, their habits, and their morals?" So far, I have been able to find a solid 10 sources that I know I will be able to utilize. When I first began thinking about this project, I thought it would be hard to find enough sources to fulfill the assignment, but as I found more and more sources, I realized that if the limit of allowed sources was 6-8, I was going to have a lot of trouble choosing which ones to use. Learning the process of completing an annotated bibliography has been very beneficial to me, and I'm excited to read each of my sources in depth.

Another thing I feel that is important to take note of is that my research topic changed as I did research. When I first walked into the library session, I wanted to research the "effects of electronics on teens and their finances." Immediately after the first source I found on the academic database at BYU, I decided to change my topic because it wasn't specific enough, and it wasn't very clear. After changing my research topic to how "social media, gaming, and electronics affect teens, their habits, and their morals," I was able to find all the sources I needed. Previously, I stated that keeping my sources within the limit of 6-8 would be hard. After talking with my professor, I found out that I can have up to 20 sources; knowing this, I will be able to find even more evidence to support my research argument than I had previously expected.

Book of Mormon

In my Book of Mormon class, we were given the assignment to pick a gospel question that has been troubling us and then through research, find evidence that answers our question. I began my research in the scriptures but as I realized that I needed more information, I decided to take my search to the internet. I was able to find many different articles and books that addressed my topic. Through this experience, I've realized that in some ways media makes it possible for me to gather more information than historic books would. Although many people believe that media has corrupted and done a disservice to all humans, I can now see how it has really helped us out. I was able to gather a wider and more specific collection of sources by using the internet than I would have if I had tried to stick solely to books. This just goes to show that the media has really benefited the distribution of information.

Randall K. Bennett

General Conference has always been a great time for me to reflect my spiritual and personal progression. In this last General Conference session, on Sunday afternoon, I had the opportunity to go to the Conference Center and actually watch the session in person. My favorite speaker, Randall K. Bennett, uses imagery, juxtaposition, and anaphora to motivate his audience to heed warnings and pursue eternal life.

Painting a picture of his experience of not heeding the warnings of a rip current, Bennett explains that he did not listen to the warnings, even though he had seen the signs. He describes the scene in such a way that makes us, his audience, feel that we were there. Doing so increases our understanding and trust in him, giving him the ability to teach us a lesson. He states that a lifeguard on duty had seen him enter the water, knew that he would drift seaward, and decided to wait out where the current stopped so that he could save him. Bennett extends his gratitude, comparing this situation to that of our Heavenly Father. Our Father knows the mistakes that we will make and will not interfere. Rather, he will be there when we call for "help" so that he can save us from our sins.

Many times throughout his talk, Randall K. Bennett uses juxtaposition in order to make certain words stand out. Stating that we "cannot make eternal decisions without eternal consequences," he purposely utilizes the word eternal to define two contradicting subjects. Doing so, he helps us understand that the important eternal decisions that we make will play largely into the eternal consequences that we receive. Avoiding bad consequences only comes by making good decisions.

Near the end of his talk, Bennett states that "we all face adversity. We all have temptations. We all make mistakes." Displaying rhetoric here through the use of an anaphora, he is able to unify his audience into one large group to help us understand that no one is perfect. After doing so, he is able to instruct us on ways that we can improve and make mistakes less often. Without using rhetorical devices throughout his talk, Randall K. Bennett would have had a lot more trouble trying to get his message across. Rhetoric helped him earn trust, keep his audience interested, and portray his message by engaging his audience in the problem at hand: eternal decisions.