The Truthfulness of Testimony
_____Throughout my life, I have grown close to many members of my family who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although these family members are good in nature, they often ask me about the church and question whether I really know of its truthfulness. In fact, they commonly inquire whether I made my Baptismal and Priesthood covenants by my own choice, or because I was pressured by my parents and ward leaders. In my struggle to explain to my family that I do know that the church is true, I have found that the best way to communicate to them my testimony is through my example and by inviting them to various activities where they can feel the spirit. Although it is overall my family’s choice to accept the restored gospel, I have made it a strong desire of mine to properly utilize rhetoric to at least give them a better understanding of what I believe and realization of why I have made certain covenants.
_____To set a proper example for my family and to give them an opportunity to feel the Holy Ghost, I invited all of my non-member family members to attend my Eagle Scout court of Honor back in August of 2010. I knew that many people in my family would not, under normal circumstances, step into an LDS chapel, but every single one of them entered mine to attend the ceremony. In this sacred building, each and every one of my family members were touched by the special feeling that they had there and built up further respect for what I and parents believed. Looking back on the event, I feel wonderful knowing that I, as an example, allowed my extended family to have at least one experience where they felt the spirit of God and were able to see beautiful pictures of our Savior. Although I utilized rhetoric in my methods to bring my family into an LDS chapel, I was not deceitful in my manner and did not once pressure them into sharing my beliefs. Instead, I used rhetoric to show my love for my family and was able to give them a special experience that they may not have been able to have without the presence of my Eagle Scout Court of Honor.
_____In life, there are many people who are scared of members of the church and are afraid that they will be brainwashed by leaders who use powerful rhetoric to deceive souls. Therefore, it is our duty, as member of the church, to instead use rhetoric in a loving and friendly way. In several instances of General Conference, church leaders have counseled us to be good examples and invite our non-member friends to activities where they can feel the Holy Ghost and realize the truth of what we believe. Through my own experience with members of my family who do not share my faith, I have realized this counsel to be powerful and wonderful at the same time. Instead of hurting others, we can use rhetoric to help others receive the truth.
_____To set a proper example for my family and to give them an opportunity to feel the Holy Ghost, I invited all of my non-member family members to attend my Eagle Scout court of Honor back in August of 2010. I knew that many people in my family would not, under normal circumstances, step into an LDS chapel, but every single one of them entered mine to attend the ceremony. In this sacred building, each and every one of my family members were touched by the special feeling that they had there and built up further respect for what I and parents believed. Looking back on the event, I feel wonderful knowing that I, as an example, allowed my extended family to have at least one experience where they felt the spirit of God and were able to see beautiful pictures of our Savior. Although I utilized rhetoric in my methods to bring my family into an LDS chapel, I was not deceitful in my manner and did not once pressure them into sharing my beliefs. Instead, I used rhetoric to show my love for my family and was able to give them a special experience that they may not have been able to have without the presence of my Eagle Scout Court of Honor.
_____In life, there are many people who are scared of members of the church and are afraid that they will be brainwashed by leaders who use powerful rhetoric to deceive souls. Therefore, it is our duty, as member of the church, to instead use rhetoric in a loving and friendly way. In several instances of General Conference, church leaders have counseled us to be good examples and invite our non-member friends to activities where they can feel the Holy Ghost and realize the truth of what we believe. Through my own experience with members of my family who do not share my faith, I have realized this counsel to be powerful and wonderful at the same time. Instead of hurting others, we can use rhetoric to help others receive the truth.
Wow, that's awesome, I like how you write that we should use rhetoric to show our love for other people. i think that the use of rhetoric with any other motive than love is unrighteous influence.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, experience really is the best teacher. I think it's great that you offered that to your family. The Spirit's more powerful than words anyway.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Adam i enjoyed your view and i can relate to your examples. Great job.
ReplyDeleteYea, it's awesome that you are teaching by the power of example, and inviting them to non-threatening stuff. One way you can improve this paper is by talking more about how you have used rhetoric. Maybe how you used it to invite them to the court of honor.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great you used your Court of Honor as an opportunity to have a missionary moment. I spoke about being a missionary through rhetoric and taking every opportunity to share the gospel and this is a perfect example of that.
ReplyDeleteGreat experiences! Way to make the topic your own. Our reading for class talked about finding a way to make a topic meaningful to you, and you executed wonderfully.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would add my agreement with David's comment; it would have been nice to understand more about how you employed your rhetoric.
These events were clearly something important to you; it shows through your writing.
Thanks everyone! I really appreciated all of your comments. What I'll have to do next time is use specific examples along with quotes to better prove my thesis. Without your commentary, I might not have been able to notice this way to improve my writing style.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, does anybody know how to make proper intents to separate paragraphs? I couldn't figure it out, obviously.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I thought taking a personal narrative style was quite effective--your personal examples really showed how this topic relates to your life and gave a good example of how religious rhetoric works when you're talking from within the church to those without it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I actually recommend doing is not doing tabs--standard blog format is skip the tabbed in, and just put an extra enter of space between paragraphs.