20. And They All Lived, Happily Ever After

After a few months of blogging, I can now say that I am not completely ignorant about blogging. This is the fist time I have ever had any contact with blogging at all. I have seen mothers share their missionary's blog on Facebook, but that was the most contact I have had. This blog has been a place where I can share with the world how I truly feel about things in my life. I have shared my excitements, my tragedies, and my goals. As someone who struggles with the whole journal writing thing, the blog was able to get me motivated to write what I was thinking and feeling. I was also able to use the blog to share significant things I have come to understand. The blog has been a chance for me to share with the world my thoughts, feelings, hopes, and goals. Though it may not be the prettiest blog ever to be written, it means a lot to me.

19. Light on the Hill

Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m., what seems like an arbitrary time, will always hold a place in my heart. Because on Thursday nights at 8:30, a group of friends and I stop what we are doing, put on our Sunday best, and walk to the Provo temple. I have always done temple baptisms with my ward youth program, but in college I am learning the joy of regular temple attendance. It is here for the first time that I have been able to make temple work a regular part of my week. As I have began to get into the habit of regular temple attendance, I am seeing positive changes in my life. For starters, there is a sense of peace in my life, which is odd, seeing that finals are coming around. Tonight, when I had homework from multiple classes, studying, finals, and all the stress that comes with college life, I was able to put everything else aside and clear my mind with a trip to the temple. I am so grateful for the girls in my ward who got me to start coming to the temple regularly. They simply invited me to come with them, and my life was changed for the better. I bear witness that putting the temple in ones life is a sure way to improve. Though we all are busy, the temple is a place for us to worship and serve, and the blessings we receive by going will outweigh any loss we face by putting things aside. It's like sharpening your tools before getting to work. Though you could "save time" by jumping right into your task, by sharpening your tools, you are able to work more efficiently and get more done.

18. Getting the Ball Rolling

Today is a special day! I met with my bishop to start my mission papers! Now, equipped with my missionary handbook, I start the process of finalizing my mission preparation. My whole life I've wanted to serve a mission. My father served in Czechoslovakia right after to fall of the Iron Curtain, while my uncle served in Sydney Australia Mandarin speaking. Everyone I talk to tells me how difficult of a time it is, but without fail mention that it is completely worth it. I am personally of the belief that I shouldn't tell anyone were I want to go, because I might jinx it. But to be honest, I am excited to go wherever I am called. To me, a mission is more than just a chance to fulfill my duty to God. I see this as a chance to grow and develop as a man over these two years. While having my interview with my bishop, he taught me about the mission rules in a way that I had never thought of them before. In order for God to bless his children, he asks for us to obey his rules. On a mission, there are so many rules so God has even more excuses to bless us. Though sometimes I won't be able to understand why there are certain rules in place, I can always remember that the rules are there to bless me. I am so grateful for the chance to go out into the world and serve a mission. I am glad that my parents raised me to value and desire missionary service. I am so grateful my dad sat me down at age eight to set me up on a plan to raise my own missionary funds. After 11 years, I have successfully saved up the money needed to pay for my own mission, and I am happy that I will have some skin in the game when I head out. Though I still have a semester to go, I can't wait to head out!

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17. Importance of Multiple Witnesses

In the Book of Mormon, the idea of multiple witnesses is expressed multiple times. God knew that there were people in the latter-days who would reject the Book of Mormon. They would say things like “A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible,” (2^nd Nephi 29:3). In order combat those who say that there is no need of another testament of the Lord’s words, the Lord explicitly states in 2^nd Nephi that “Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also,” (2^nd Nephi 29:8). This scripture tells us that the Lord will not abandon his people. He states that he remembers multiple nations, not just the Jews in Jerusalem. By claiming that he remembers nations the same as others, he is promising that he will not leave one group of people alone, to wander forever in darkness. The Book of Mormon also tells of the benefits of having multiple witnesses. When Alma went proselyting to the city of Ammonihah, no one listened to his words. He was rejected, but as he left the city an angel commanded him to return to the city. When he got back, a local from the city who had been prepared by an angel took him in, and agreed to help Alma to teach the people. As Alma began to speak again, the people “were wroth with me,” (Alma 9:31). But once Amulek spoke, those same people “began to be astonished, seeing there was more than one witness who testified of the things whereof they were accused, and also of the things which were to come, according to the spirit of prophecy which was in them,” (Alma 10:12). By having a second witness, Alma and Amulek were able to get the people of Ammonihah to at least consider the words that they had spoken, and even were able to get some of them to believe.

           

Multiple witnesses cause people to think differently about a subject. More than one witness complicates a story. At any time, an individual has the ability to say anything that they desire. However, if two people testify to the same thing, especially if there is no personal motivation behind their testimony, it is a lot more difficult to pin their testimony as a lie. In the story of Alma and Amulek, when Alma teaches to the people, the people were able to rationalize that this man is lying, or crazy or both. But when Amulek comes and echoes Alma’s words, the idea that those words are a lie becomes a lot less likely. Amulek faced no personal gain from lying to his fellow citizens. Because of this, the people were more willing to listen to his words.

16. A Note to 30 Year Old Dalton

Hey Dalton, how are you doing? This is you, 11 years ago. currently finishing up my first semester of college. I am a physiology and developmental biology major, planing on minoring in economics. I hope to get a consulting internship out of college, and within a few years, go to business school and receive my MBA. I start my mission papers in two days, and can't wait to have the chance to go serve my God for two years. I have hopes for my mission, but refuse to tell anyone, even myself, what those hopes are. All I will admit is that I hope that I am able to go out and do my best to help other come unto Christ. At this point in my life, school, sleeping, and females take up most of my attention. How's our wife doing? I wonder if I know her already, or if I am to meet her in the future. Its so weird to think of myself as a married man. At thirty, I have every expectation of being married, hopefully having already started a family. But I guess anything can happen, so if for some reason I am still single at 30, this is me, telling myself to get my act together and move on with my life. At 30, I hope that I have finished my schooling, and am well on my way into a career. Right now I assume that I will be starting to move up the ladder at a biotech business, but to be honest, who knows were I will end up. Wherever it is, I am confident it will be good. Dalton, if this note finds you in a bad place, remember that this life is important. Though we can't take our money or possessions with us when we die, we do take our experiences and growth. There is no universal scale of success. What I value now might not be the same thing as what I value in 11 years. Wherever life finds us, know that we can make it. Until then, good luck.

Dalton Mann

15. An Unlikely Angel

There is tragedy in everyone's life. Things people should never have to go through, such as death of family and friends, accidents, misunderstandings, illnesses; the list goes on and on. And though these things shouldn't have to happen to anyone, a quick survey of your peers will show that tragedy has touched almost everyone's life. A few weeks ago, my hometown was rocked with the news of one of these tragedies. Parker Moore, football captain, RA, leader, and friend of almost all who knew him was taken from us. While filling gas at a 7-11 next to his school, a man stabbed him repeatedly, then ran. When police arrived on the scene, the man returned, trying to attack the police, when he was shot to death. The police have been able to find no ties to between the two, and have deemed this to be a freak incident. Though we don't know all of the facts, what we do know is that a Child of God was taken from us. Parker was not a perfect person, but he did have a good head on his shoulders. As my older neighbor, Parker was somewhat of a role model to me. I was always a little jealous of his way of always getting people to like him. Through observation, I have seen that the this attraction people had towards him stemmed from his kindness. Parker was popular, yet it seemed that he went out of his way to befriend everyone he encountered. His short time on this earth touched the lives of hundreds. Thank you Parker for what you did for me. 

14. A Coach for Life

"Dalton, what do you want to get out of the next year?" Coach Christensen asked. "What are your goals?"
I'd just finished my junior year of wrestling, a year with more ups and downs then I could count. For the first time in my high school wrestling career, I was beating people. Not just any people, good people. I had placed at one of the toughest tournaments in the state, gotten to the finals in my district competition, and even competed in the state tournament. But it wasn't all fun and success. I had struggled all year with getting thrown, I had been given a concussion in the post season, and though I was able to recover, I got pined at State while I was in the lead one round before I would have placed. So when my coach asked me what my goals were for next year, I had a few goals in mind.
"I want to place in the top three at State," I said. "I want to develop a new shot, avoid getting thrown, and learn to up the intensity in my matches."
"Those are all great goals," Coach said. "But if your goals for the next year are solely focused on wrestling, how are you going to become a better person?"
My coach wasn't asking me how I was going to be a better wrestler in the upcoming year. Wrestling was extremely important to him, so I knew that in his mind, I needed to work hard to be a better wrestler over the next 12 months. But he made it explicitly clear that it didn't matter  if I came back as the greatest wrestler in the state next year if I wasn't also working on becoming a better person.
My coach taught me something that day that I will never ever forget. Perspective is important. Don't focus on one thing so hard that you neglect all others. True growth happens when you develop yourself as a whole, not only as a star-fill-in-the-blank.

13. Stress Relief

I competed in the 2014 BYU/UVU Jiu Jitsu tournament as a capstone to my BYU martial arts class. I had a good time competing at the end of the year. The competition taught me a few things on how to improve as a Jui Jitsu fighter, things that would have been good to know before my first tournament. Hopefully I will be able to internalize them moving forward. First of all, don’t rely on the scrambling process I learned through wrestling. I was a good wrestling scrambler, which helped me to gain and maintain position throughout the tournament. Unfortunately wrestling scrambling doesn’t account for triangle chokes (see picture), which I learned the hard way in my finals match. Also I learned the value of going to the BYU Brazilian Jui Jitsu club. By spending time after class and in the club with people more knowledgeable and experienced than myself, I was able to learn a few new moves that I utilized at this level of competition. By knowing moves your opponents have never seen, you have the ability to surprise your opponent and get a submission when they thought that they were safe. This martial arts class has been a great way for me to stay active and enjoy myself this semester. I am so glad that I was able to translate over from wrestling, to keep part of that history with me. This has been an awesome thing for me.

12. Grandma's Message

While growing up, my Grandmother always loved to give me new books to read. She always was checking barnes and noble to find the new hit series or up and coming author to introduce me to. I remember multiple trips to Idaho that started with a gift of a book. Eventual she realized that if she gave me a book on our trip that the time I would spend with her and the rest of the family would drop, so I have seen fewer and fewer books the past few years. Apparently this year she must have figured that the words of John Bytheway's How Do I Know If I Know were worth a bit of my time. As I read Bytheway's message, I saw the wisdom in her words.
Bytheway's book is all about testimony. He tries to help people understand the testimony that they already have, as well as help those who don't yet have a testimony to gain one. His acronym FEEL, feelings, experiences, evidences, and logic helps people to look at their life and see the testimony that they have developed. The book shows the different levels of conversion, such as I don't believe, I doubt, I wonder, I desire to believe, I believe, and I know. Bytheway shares the methods of going from one step to the other, and helping individuals gain stronger testimonies.
After reading the book, I am proud to say that my testimony in the gospel has grown. I still have issues that I am struggling with, but this book has helped me to recommit to doing better in my life. I am so grateful for a grandmother who cares both for my physical and spiritual upbringing.

11. Thanksgiving with the Family

My first Thanksgiving away from home. After a few months of college, Thanksgiving was upon me. This year we decided as a family that it didn't make financial sense for me to fly home for a few days to spend the holiday with my family, so I did the next best thing. I loaded into a van with a bunch of extended family that before this week I didn't even know existed, and made the trek up to Parma, Idaho to be with my grandparents and cousins. After a few days of food and fun, I have reflected on some of the most important things I am thankful for.
Family- I am so grateful for the family and all that it does for me. My grandparents called me up the Friday before Thanksgiving to make sure I had a place to go for the holiday, and within a few days had organized a fun week with the family. They took care of everything from transportation to entertainment, making sure that I had nothing to stress about over the week. My family is pretty close, and having a network of people to help support me over the years has really shaped who I have become.
Education- Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to travel to various parts of the United States and the World. I have seen rags and riches, the elites and the poorest of the poor. The main difference I have noted is education, and the ability to seek more knowledge and understanding. Those who have been more educated have had more luck finding success financially, as well as have been better able to understand the world around them. I am so thankful for my opportunity to gain an education, and to better understand the world around me.
The Gospel- Going to BYU has helped surround me with individuals of similar values for the first time in my life. I have been to week long experiences with people of similar values before, but this is the first extended time I've had being immersed in a group of peers with similar values. Through this experience, I am able to see the positive impact that the gospel has on people, and how great a blessing it is in my life.
Though these are only a few reasons I have to be thankful this season, they mean a lot to me.

10. Live Like You Were Dying

There have been many things that have been put on and taken off my bucket list throughout the years, but one that has constantly been there as long as I can remember is to go skydiving. As a bit of an adrenalin junky, nothing has stood out as being more intense and stimulating than to jump out of a plane. I grew up snow-skiing and wake-boarding. My favorite thing to do in both is to launch myself into the air, feel the wind rush past my face as I glide with the birds, detached from my surroundings. Flying has always been my passion, and when I fly, it truly feels like I am alive. Though I can get a rush from flying a few seconds on skies and wake-boards, nothing compares to the feeling of skydiving. As I tried to gather the courage to drop out of the plane, the thought of flying kept me going. all of the sudden, where solid ground used to be, there was nothing. Wind and adrenalin filled all of my thoughts as I plummeted 10,000 feet down. While I can't honestly claim to have never been scared as I dropped, the pure joy I felt from flying well compensated for the worry. Flying is my way of being truly free.

9. On to The Mountains

As we set off form the parking lot, heads held high with confidence, none of us expected the challenges of the next few hours. Everything from chronic knee issues to being out of shape slowed down the group as we attempted to race up the mountain to watch the sunrise. Mount Timpanogos, the highest peak around. Over 11,000 feet above sea-level, this peak was as close to heaven as I could get without leaving the ground. But midway through the hike, it didn't seem like we would make it. The sunrise came and went, and though we weren't at the top we still kept up our efforts. Though not all of us made it, I eventual stumbled into the small shack assembled at the peak.The view was breathtaking.

As I sat up top, thinking of the hours and hours it took to make it, I reflected on the speech given in the new BYU presidential inauguration. The speaker discussed the reasons for BYU's location, right up against the mountains. In the scriptures, there is an analogy of the mountains with the temple, and accomplishment. with this in mind the top of the mountain became a more spiritual environment. Though the hike was difficult, and there were many more challenges that had to be overcome to summit than we had anticipated, those who were able to summit were able to experience a great physical and spiritual accomplishment.

8. Eight Seconds to Change a Life

“I think I just killed him.” Dad stared in horror at my limp body. Mom, Uncle Darin and my siblings all ran to the edge of the pen, looks of terror on their faces. My skull ached, and stabs of pain shot from my neck as I slumped off of my head. Flash back thirty minutes to the car pulling up to the sunbaked corral.

            The noonday sun blanketed the earth, shrinking shadows to small black dots. Inside the corral stood the champion. Roughly 600 pounds of muscle bulged black and white hide stood, ready to take on any challengers. Or at least to my nine-year-old eyes it was. The cow looked up as it heard the laughter and joking from my family as they piled out of our mini-van. My Uncle Darin pulled up in his big burgundy truck, a silly grin pasted on to his face. In his hand was a long blue rope, tied into a bowline knot; a cow-head sized loop dangling at the end. He called to my brother and me.

            “What I need from you both is to go into that corral and heard all the cows out through the gate. Leave the best one in there, and try to get this rope around its neck. Once you get all extras into the next corral, shut the gate and we can get started.”

            It must have been a silly sight, watching two boys adding up to maybe a hundred pounds running around trying to scare a bunch of cows five to seven times their combined size. The cows thought it was pretty funny as well and didn’t take the slightest of interest in our efforts. Eventually we managed to get one cow cornered, and with a whole lot of luck managed to get a rope around her neck. Dad and Uncle Darin came into the corral at this point, and with a lot more effort, we managed to get the roped cow isolated. Now the fun began.

            First up was Ellie. Mom glared at Dad as he held onto the back of her pants as she “rode” the cow. At three years old, her instincts were strong enough to know that it would be bad if she fell, so we all got a laugh seeing her scream and hold on for dear life as the cow pranced around the hard-pressed manure.  As the cow picked up its speed, Dad lifted her off to avoid the sting of falling four feet onto the hard dung.

Derrik was not as lucky. As a strong, independent seven year old, he didn’t need the supporting grip of his father. Unfortunately his landing wasn’t as smooth as his sister’s. After a few seconds of prancing around, the cow was successful in shaking my brother off its back and onto the ground. Derrik landed on his side, smacking his head onto the concrete like surface. He blinked the stars out of his vision as my dad and uncle laughed, remembering all the times they had done the same thing as children. Here they were, passing on a family tradition to their posterity. Their laughter intensified as Derrik picked some of the small bits of dried cow crap out of his shirt and hair. Even Mom stopped her worrying for an instant as I dove around trying to grab the rope tied to the cow as it ran around evading its next rider.

            Eventually I caught the rope and attempted to drag the massive animal to my dad and uncle. Moments like these were what I looked forward to every year when my family made its annual trip back to the farm. My dad still referred to this place as home, and tried every year to give us the kind of childhood experiences he had had growing up here. The farm was full of mystery and adventure. I remember bonfires at the river under the train bridge, aluminum foil boat races in the drainage ditches, driving the four-wheelers and gaiters around, always looking for new places to explore. This cow riding was introduced last year, and was a huge success for Derrik and me. What is cooler than being a bull-rider? Maybe we weren’t bull-riders, but it was still pretty cool to be atop an animal 10 times my size, using all my strength to hold on. I had been waiting all year to go again. Last year I lasted six seconds before falling to a hard defeat. This year I had more ambition. I was going to go a full eight seconds, just like the bull-riders on TV.

            As my dad and uncle held the cow in place, I jumped onto the back of the beast. My legs felt like they were in the splits as I straddled the cows bare back, holding onto the rope until my knuckles turned white. As my family let go, I felt a rush of adrenalin and knew this was my time.

            “One,” yelled Dad as the cow took off. I grinned from ear to ear as the cow ran sporadically through the corral, my head down in concentration as the numbers climbed closer and closer to my goal. “Two, Three, Four, Five.” I began to slip off the side as the cow turned, but somehow managed to keep my place on its back. “Six, Seven, Eight!” I heard my goal yelled out from across the pen. I looked up just in time to see the cow darting straight for a cast-iron fence. With my goal met, I confidently started to shift my weight off to the side and release my grip to prepare for a quick getaway before I was slammed into the fence.

            As I committed to the jump, I felt a sudden change underneath me. Instead of a level back, suddenly I felt a wall of flesh bucking up through me. With my weight shifted and the rope not in my grip, I experienced the delight of weightlessness as my body flew through the sky. I watched as my world went upside down as I flipped over five to six feet in the air, and then saw the sky start to get farther and farther away. I heard my mom’s shriek as the back of my neck made contact with the hard earth, and my body crumpled over.

            I honestly can’t remember much of what followed. All I know is that it involved a lot of pain, and yelling, and that I spent the next few hours lying down in my grandmother’s bed. In the middle of all of the fog, I can clearly remember one thing. My dad looking down at me, his usually strong confident facial expression replaced with one of concern. He cleared his cleared his throat and said, “Dalton, you have my permission to never listen to Uncle Darin or me on the farm again.” As the days went by and my body started to feel normal again, I could see a shift in the way he treated my siblings and me. Though we still did fun things, my dad no longer tried to push us to the limit. He started using words like “be careful,” and “that’s risky.” Though we might have missed out on some of the more fun things to do on the farm, we were able to see the care our father had for us, and knew of his love.

            One year latter, back on that same farm, things seemed pretty normal. Derrik and I were still having bonfires with the cousins, still driving the four-wheelers and gaiters, just like before. But this time, when Derrik asked me to help him take the four-wheeler off a rickety homemade jump, I thought of the risks involved. We ended up driving off the jump, but not before I said, “Maybe we should think about the landing part too.”

7. BYU Experience

Over halfway through the first semester of college. I always saw the college kids as being so old. It's crazy to finally be one of them. After two months of college, two months of living on my own, I am starting to understand what this whole college thing is all about. It all started coming to me a few weeks into the semester. It was 10:30 on a Tuesday, class in the morning at 9 am. As I started winding down for the night, there was a knock at the door. My roommate got the door, and in walked in 4 guys from our hall, each dressed up in shorts and t-shirts, with cleats dangling over their shoulders.

"Hey, we are getting a group together to play ultimate Frisbee. Want to come?" I looked at my roommate, and just started laughing. We suited up went out and played till midnight.

Though playing a game of late night Frisbee isn't a life changing event, it set us up in a fun yet appropriate mentality. We saw a chance to go and bond with friends from the ward, make acquaintances and friendships, some of which could last years to come. Freshman year is an important time to get good grades and learn a lot. But probably equally important is developing ones social skills, and learning how to be an enjoyable person to be around. Freshman year is about making friendships, having fun, learning a lot, and improving ones self holistically, not just intellectually.

6. Research Paper Reflection

The beast is slain. The largest writing project of my freshman year in college is done. Hallelujah! This research paper has been weighing on my mind for almost a month as I have gone through the process of finding a personal narrative to tie into my research, researched my topic, wrote a thesis, composed a rough draft, and edited a final. At least that was what the process was meant to be. What actually happened was a lot less pretty. I started researching my topic, only to find that there were few sources accessible to me that related well with my topic. I had already done research, found sources, and even written a thesis by this time. But when it came to writing a rough draft, I didn't have the knowledge or resources that fill the pages. So I had the opportunity to revisit my topic and expand my research. I think that by doing the annotated bibliography so soon, I was just looking for related articles to fill space. The real research fro my paper was done as I wrote my rough draft. I think that the way we went about writing this paper works extremely well if one is motivated in the beginning of the process. If one procrastinates, like I did, the process is a bit harmful. That being said, I still think I came out of it all with a very good essay.

5. General Conference, Elder Cook on Rationalizing Our Dreams Away

This past weekend, we were blessed with the chance to hear from many apostles and prophets  of God in the October Conference of 2014. While many people love to listen to the messages given in conference, few take the time to analyze why these talks are so effective. But when one looks a little deeper into the General Conference addresses, they can see many tools of persuasion. In Elder Quentin L. Cook's talk 'Choose Wisely', Elder Cook uses analogies and reasoning to show the dangers of rationalization, especially in regards to our church responsibilities.

Elder Cook shared one of his favorite comic strips to introduce his topic of rationalization, and share why this mindset is such a problem. In the comic strip, Lucy misses a fly ball in baseball, and while her team is mad about her missing it, she says "How do you expect me to catch the ball when I am worried about our country's foreign policy?" Elder Cook uses this analogy to show how sometimes in life, we link together excuses to avoid criticism or responsibility. He uses the comic strip to show how silly our rationalizations really seem. These rationalizations are dangerous because they try to take away our accountability. Elder Cook then goes on to explain how some people try to rationalize their decisions to not serve a mission, get married in the temple, or fulfill their church callings.

One of the big things that Elder Cook warned against was setting goals, but not putting the effort into our daily life to accomplish those goals. He explained how these people are rationalizing their day to day routines as to see no issues with their habits. These people get to the point where its time to accomplish their goal, but are not ready to do so because of their lack of real preparation. Elder Cook uses this example after the silly comic strip in order to show that our rationalizations are just as silly as Lucy's, but can have far more severe consequences. 

4. Possible Research Topics

Having grown up in a very Rational World Paradigm family, there are few family traditions and stories that I know. The ones that come to mind are a family reunion in McCall Idaho every year and the tradition of receiving a Christmas Ornament on Christmas Eve each year that symbolizes our accomplishments throughout the year. I could do research on the location of the reunion, the history of lake recreation, etc. Or I could talk about the history of Christmas trees, decorations at Christmas, etc. Something I just thought of that might be interesting is that all my life I have grown up practicing. My parents had my brother and I share a room to practice living with another person, like what one does at college or a mission or a marriage. There are a variety of things that we did in our family to prepare us for our future. I could look into seeing if there is a correlation to college success or success in the world with sharing a room and learning to live with others.

Maybe look at the history of Christmas, how it came about, the symbolism, how presents came to be. You could also look into Christmas Eve and how your family tradition branched off that. 

*I agree with the comment above, you could research the history of Christmas (Father Christmas in Germany). 

I like your second idea. You could do your own experience versus your roommate to see if because of your practice you are having an easier time living here etc 

Two great ideas. I particularly like the first one- it creates a kind of memory time-table. I can well imagine how you would, on occasion, look at each ornament and think through the memories that are associated with it.

I do the Christmas ornament tradition as well. I think it would be interesting to research where that started and why, if there is any symbolism involved with the tradition, etc.

Thesis- Research indicates that a father's perception of his father plays a strong role on the parenting style that that father uses. Furthermore, a son is extremely likely to develop the same criteria of what the characteristics of good fatherhood are as his father.

3. Retorical Analysis Review

The first essay of College is officially turned in! Though essays are never very fun, this experience has eased my anxieties. I was able to be successful in getting the essay done in a timely fashion, as well as produce quality work. 

The success of my essay was founded on the analysis of the speech. As I started off, I chose a speech that I was passionate about, and found interesting. I then broke it down, scanning for literary devices, and the reason that those devices were there. By analyzing the ways the author presented his arguments, I was able to develop a format to base my essay on.
Another important aspect to an essay's success is to properly time things out. I wrote my essay on Friday, so I had a whole week to edit any flaws out. By giving myself plenty of time, I felt much less stressed than in past essays. That lack of stress helped me focus and preform better on the essay.
The final tool I used for success was the writing center. I went in on Monday to the writing center to review my work with a writing major. He was able to give me formating tips, as well as share with me where my reasoning made less sense. By going into the center, I was able to get feedback from a reliable source.
Overall, the first essay of my college career was a good learning experience. By starting off right, I am able to set a standard for the rest of my essays.

2. Success Lies in Your Past

Research has came out that leads to some startling statistics. Many people have speculated the factors that lead to a child's success, but few have thought to look into what the New York Times is calling, "The single most important thing you can do for your family..." (The Stories that Bind Us, Feiler). New research has came out that suggests that understanding your family history, the ups and the downs, leads children to have all kinds of advantages in dealing with the struggles that come during development. According to the article, more groups than just families can take advantage of this new research. Military groups such as the Marines are finding success in educating their recruits about the history of the Marines. Recruits with more knowledge about their organizations history were more likely to bond more closely with those in their unit, and were better able to cope with the stresses of their job. By understanding that your family or organization has had its ups and downs, people are able to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves, and are more able to overcome the challenges of their lives. In the Times article, it states in order to build a stronger family, share stories with your children, some light and funny, others more serious, that lead to a sense of family accomplishment. Develop a family theme, that challenges your posterity to succeed. Though there are many other beliefs as to how to make a family succeed, sometimes the simplest solutions are best at solving the largest of issues. 

1. Socialy Responsible Social Media

Over the course of a few years, the Church of Jesus Christ has evolved its council on social media. Elder David A. Bednar has given council to members of the church in two addresses, Things As They Really Are, and To Sweep the Earth as With a Flood. Through the warnings given in Things As They Really Are, Elder Bednar stresses the importance of remembering the distinctions between the real and the virtual worlds. With this in mind, Elder Bednar then describes some of the unprecedented opportunities members of the church have due to the popularity of social media outlets, in To Sweep the Earth as With a Flood. By finding a balance between using our new opportunities of the internet era and staying in contact with what is real, the gospel is able to be spread to more eyes than ever before.