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Discussion Board Replies
I think keeping journals is EXTREMELY important and I have been doing so on and off since I was in high school, which is why I have several tubs full of journals at present. Besides keeping personal journals, I've also kept seminary and Institute journals over the years and I haven't really had a chance to read through them lately because I am in the middle of a move and have had to ship several personal effects to my mom, I know they are there and I love that they are there. My teenage years were very difficult because of my dad's alcoholism and due to the fact that I wasn't treated well in school and it was because I was able to record my thoughts and experiences that I was able to forgive them. I wrote a journal and a blog about my mission and because of that, I am able to relive those memories over and over again and I have also been able to write a really nice personal essay about the subject. When my dad ended up diagnosed with the cancer that ended up taking his life, I wrote a blog about it and the writing made it easier to cope with the whole experience. I have read some past journal entries before and it is amazing to me how different life was back then and how different I was years ago. I hope my posterity will someday benefit from reading my personal records.

We are taught to look deeper by the Lord because He Himself looks upon the hearts of all who have existed, currently exist, and will exist. Our lips and our minds can speak deception or guile, but our hearts are completely honest and that is why the Lord chooses to look there in order to assess individual character. We are encouraged to see others as the Lord sees all of us, but our limited intelligence causes us to often jump to incomplete conclusions based upon indifference, misunderstandings, or hearsay. The first great commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all that we have and the second is to love thy neighbor as we love ourselves and we find it very easy to love God, as He is perfect in all ways. It is, however, much harder to love others because we can clearly see their imperfections and weaknesses and it is extremely difficult for us to love ourselves because we often wish that we didn't have any imperfections or weaknesses and yet, we exhibit them on a daily basis. It is a good thing that God's love and Christ's love for us is infinite and unconditional, as we need someone to always remind us that we are all lovable and valuable.

Speaking Partner Experience # 12

I met with Ismenia today for the final time this semester and I told Ismenia that I would miss her, as this is our last session and she said the seasons just flies away. Ismenia said she is trying to catch up on her assignments so they are done on time. Ismenia asked if I am in English or Math and I said I am doing Math next semester and not looking forward to it. Ismenia said it will be good because I am already learning things now that will help me in Math.

For Lesson 12, we started off by discussing conversation fillers, asking for and thanking help, apologizing, and Ismenia did very well pronouncing them, so I told Ismenia that her English is so good and she said I was so kind. We then discussed questions concerning the conversation fillers. Ismenia said she is comfortable with the phrases used to express gratitude and ask for help. In terms of expressing thanks to someone in English, Ismenia said that when she sent an email to her instructor asking for help in taking an exam she missed, he opened it and Ismenia thanked him and appreciation for his help and he said it was his pleasure. Ismenia asked about the difference in feelings when I say sorry as opposed to 'I am very sorry' and I said it depended on the problem.

We then moved on to consonant clusters and then worked on practicing consonant clusters. During that time, I had to explain the meaning of some of the words, but I didn't mind at all because explaining the meaning of things to those who don't understand it is part of teaching. After that, we took turns asking each other questions using the clusters. It was a good way to practice.

Ismenia told me a story about how she was in the library one day in the States and she saw a woman come to the library. As she was sitting there, she saw a small yellow snake come out of the woman's purse and it scared her; she wondered if the snake was going to kill her and she was scared. Ismenia said she doesn't have the courage to take care of a snake even though I explained some are harmless.

We then moved on to pronunciation of numbers and equations to conclude the lesson. When Ismenia had a problem with a number, I pronounced it properly and then made her repeat it, telling her that the only way she was going to learn was for me to make her pronounce it properly.

Ismenia explained that she was appreciative of all the time that I could spend with her helping her with her work. She said that she hoped that we could be speaking partners again next semester, but she didn't know how it would work on my end. I am a little sad to be done the Speaking Partner part of this semester, but it has been an invaluable experience nonetheless.

Lesson 12

I cannot believe it is Lesson 12 of English already! The time has certainly flown!

I started out by reading the readings for the week, which are 'The Angels May Quote From It' by President Spencer W. Kimball and 'On a Hill Far Away' by Annie Dillard.

'The Angels May Quote From It' is what I picked to write my Discussion Board post on
Everyone has experiences in their lives, whether it be a long life or a short life, and nobody wants to be forgotten even after they are gone. We write down experiences as we have them so that our posterity can know about us and so that we can be remembered after we are no longer around. We have many great lessons and revelations from the past because the Lord had the foresight to know that we would need the counsel of yesterday to make decisions for today and tomorrow and commanded people to keep records.

We cannot change what happens in our lifetime, nor can we change the past, but we dishonor history's value if we do not take the time to write things down, as we are meant to learn something from every experience we have. If we omit details or simply don't write things down, how are we going to teach the people of tomorrow how we coped with things in our day? As the world continues to evolve, life will become more complicated than it already is, yet the people of tomorrow will most likely face problems very similar to the ones we face today.

By keeping records of our experiences, we are showing people how we handled our problems and perhaps providing an insight as to how they should handle their problems. If it weren't for people listening to the Lord and keeping histories of both the gospel and different periods of time, we would never come to a knowledge of the gospel, nor would we have any understanding about the Atonement and what it can do for all who come to pass. Writings teach us about our divine and temporal heritage and about how important it is for us to live up to the legacies we have been bequeathed.

The written word also teaches us about what can happen if we don't take such information seriously. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ aspire for us to learn out of the best books and we wouldn't have those books if people didn't listen to promptings to make personal histories and histories concerning their beliefs. Without people writing histories, we would have no written witness of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, as the scriptures wouldn't exist and we wouldn't be able to gain a sense of self, a sense of joy, and a sense of who we are and who we can become because of the Atonement.

I then read a page on Paragraph and Essay Development called 'Showing and Telling.'

Once I finished the reading, I turned my attention to the Grammar Lesson for the week, which was on capitalization. I read a handout and watched a video on it before I did the quiz. I took the quick twice and got one wrong both times, which is 90%, as I thought 'philosophy' had to be capitalized.

Post Lesson 11 Work

Discussion Board Replies
I have heard that the more you are around someone, the more you become like them and that is because you pick up mannerisms and habits after observing them for so long. Even though pick up behaviors from each other through daily observation, I love that we all can still hold on to our own individuality; that is what makes us so diverse as people. We talk and act differently around different people according to the situation and that's fine, but we musn't forget who we are and change how we speak or act permanently just because our situation may change. We can keep our individuality in new situations and still respect our environment, its culture, and the individuals within.

Nobody, even the most secure people on earth, is immune from experiencing fear and sorrow, but we don't have to dwell upon it. Even in difficult times, we can have a positive attitude and seek to live life to the fullest in a righteous manner. Fear does not have to dominate our faith nor does it have to destroy the opportunities that life hands us. We can choose to allow fear to rule our every move and miss out on what life has to offer, or we can acknowledge that although difficult times may exist and we will most certainly have them, they do not have to control our every waking moment.

Speaking Partner Experience # 11

Ismenia got 77% on her quiz! Yay!

Today, we discussed question words and I had to explained that 'whose' deals with possession and what belongs to which person. We then reviewed follow-up questions.

In the Discussion Questions, Ismenia said that asking follow-up questions means asking for clarification if she does not understand something. She also said that practicing writing down questions helps one to be more comfortable with asking the questions.

We then had to play Twenty Questions as an activity, which I have never played before. I admitted to Ismenia that I have never played the game before and it turned out she hasn't either, so I invited her to get us started. She thinks it would be better to ask questions using the examples of questions.

Ismenia asked what I wanted to do after Pathways and I said I wanted to do an Administrative Assistant certificate course. I then asked her what she wanted to do and she said Web Design. We both said that we wanted to do the courses online. Ismenia said that once she is finished Pathway, she will go slower with the education course because she wants to spend time with her kids. I then asked Ismenia why she came to Pathways and she said she wanted to improve her English and wanted to reach the degree certification at BYU.

We then turned our attention to pronunciation practice using words that have an 's' ending. I reminded Ismenia that her English is getting so much better and that I only say something if she needs a correction. Ismenia says she worries about it because she sometimes makes speaking mistakes at the gathering, but I said she was improving and should be proud. We then practiced our question words.

There are 10 to 15 students in Ismenia's gathering, which is interesting.

We then practiced pronunciation of words and numbers.

At the end of the lesson, Ismenia thanked me for her time and said she really appreciated my help and I responded by giving her two thumbs up.

Lesson 11

I finished putting my personal essay together and it's now four pages, which is somewhat bad because the actual essay itself is supposed to be between one and three pages.

I then turned my attention to the reading assignments for the week.
Superman and Me. - by Sherman Alexie
The mention of a Spokane Indian reservation caught my attention immediately, as my mother was born in and grew up in Spokane. I have also visited Spokane many times during my life and I enjoy it immensely. It is also amazing that the young one in the story found simple pleasure in reading despite the hard circumstances handed to him in childhood. I find it intriguing that the boy took the word paragraph and used it to describe the differences between his family and others, as different families and paragraphs each contain diversity, but also have differences within them that make them unique. Each paragraph, like each family, has individuality in it and yet, they both have common factors: a paragraph is part of an overall statement of information and a family unit, though comprised of unique individuals, is comprised of people that are part of an overall society. I'm not sure I wholly agree with the statement, "a smart Indian is a dangerous Indian", however, as anyone who is overly smart about something could be potentially dangerous, not just Indians. The statement also makes it seem as if anyone who has any intelligence at all could have the potential to cause harm. Dangerous does not automatically mean harmful; it could mean serving as a threat to negative societal traits such as conformity and indifference. Intelligence can save society from things that the people within are trying to use in order to make it pleasurable for themselves. Conformity and indifference are not pleasurable, however; they strip away individuality and passion that make intelligence what it is. Intelligence fueled by passion can keep a person alive simply because they choose to use such things to save themselves rather than bow to conformity and have their free spirit drained away.

I also read an essay called 'The Monsters in My Head' by Frank Langella.

Once I posted on the Discussion Board, I turned my attention to the Grammar Lesson for the week, which was on 'Confused Words.' I read a handout and watched a video before doing the quiz, which I took once and got 100% on.

I then watched Paragraph and Essay Development videos on Narrative and Writing, Description and Detail, and Tone and Voice.

Post Lesson 10 Work

Discussion Board Response Posts
If people grew up being close to their father or had them as a good example to look up to, it's only natural that people would have a connection to the 'Dad' essay. However, those who didn't have such a paternal connection may find essays not related to parenting a more comfortable thing to deal with. I personally thought that all of the essays were interesting, but I enjoyed the first one the most because it discussed the struggle mankind faces between their own desires and peer pressure.

I find it a comfort that many find positive examples in their fathers and that those who do strive not to take it for granted. Not everyone has that sort of positive role model in their life and everyone needs a positive role model of some sort in order to grow from a child into a productive member of society. Anyone and everyone who has positive role models in their lives should never take such a thing for granted and cherish every moment that they have with that role model. Time is so short and fragile that we cannot afford to take anyone or anything for granted.

Speaking Partner Experience # 10

I met with Ismenia today and did the following:
-Chronological order 'R' pronunciations.
Ismenia had difficulties, but we worked through them.

Discussion Questions
Ismenia said the words were important because when you are explaining things to someone, you need to put one phrase with another so they can understand it. I explained to Ismenia that you cannot explain to someone else how to do something without using the words because the words are used to explain steps in a process. Ismenia then got to explain how to add 358 and 89 using the words and see how many times the words are used. Since we've worked on math problems in our past discussions and I've taught her how to do problems properly, she really did a good job. She then had to explain how to create an Excel document without showing the screen using the same words as before in her explanation. She drew a picture of the spreadsheet and explained it to me using her words and she really did a wonderful job in showing me how much she has learned. Then, Ismenia explained how she celebrates Christmas with her family and that she celebrates with her sisters, their families, her mother, and her nephews by having a dinner containing interesting cultural foods and a prayer before hand. Every year, someone is chosen to say a prayer and then they eat and drink, but do not include alcohol. After the dinner, they open gifts and most of the time, the gifts are for kids and not for adults. They then count to midnight and celebrate Happy Christmas. Everyone has come to Ismenia's house in the past because her house was big, but she doesn't know where they will go this year because they live in an apartment; they will have to go somewhere else. I got to explain a bit about my Christmas and how I like to go to a religious service on Christmas Eve sometimes to learn about Jesus's birth or watch Mass on TV. I then explained Christmas Day was opening presents, breakfast, and for two years, I volunteered at a community dinner before going home to eat with my family. I have not, however, done the volunteering since 2014 and I will find something new to do for Christmas now.

I then listened to Ismenia practice pronouncing years, dollar amounts, math equations, numerical values, and the English pronunciation of the 'R' word. I had to explain to Ismenia about 'rat race' as being people always being busy, a rifle range being a field of land of shooting, rave as being positive, culturally rich as being full of cultural artifacts, food, or information, and retail as selling many goods. We then discussed countries and cities that have the R word that we want to visit.

Ismenia said she has to do the last exam because she is afraid, but I told her she will do well and that her English and Math is so much better. I also said I wanted to hear about the text next week,

Lesson 10

I began this lesson by reviewing some reading assignments and the assignment this week was to pick one essay and writing something on it for the Discussion Board.

Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell
I like this essay because it clearly shows the struggle between man's desire to do what he wants to do versus doing what is expected of him by others. The man in the story initially wanted to shoot the elephant and ended up attracting a great deal of attention in his pursuit of this goal. When he actually came face to face with the elephant, however, the man saw no value in shooting it because it was clearly striving to be as productive as it could possibly be. A hype been created, however, and the crowd wanted to see the goal accomplished even if the man himself did not want to see it achieved. Isn't it funny how sometimes we ourselves lose the desire to accomplish a goal, but keep pursuing the goal simply because others expect us not to quit. Quitting a goal over discomfort is often viewed by society as showing weakness and society would rather see people accomplish things than be comfortable with the choices they make. People often make choices not because they want to, but because they want to avoid looking foolish, as the man did in the essay. It is unfortunate that we have grown to care less about ourselves and what we are comfortable with because society dictates such a thing as being selfish. For the crowd, the actual shooting of the elephant was very climactic, but for the man himself, he felt no joy in accomplishing his goal simply because it was not his own anymore.

The theme of this essay is the joy that an individual sacrifices when they give up their own will and pursue goals simply because peer pressure demands it. When the man comes to realize that he himself does not want to shoot the elephant because it is being productive, he is finally honest with himself about the fact that there is no joy to be found in doing so. A sad, but very clear epiphany comes to pass in the man's heart and mind when he admits to himself that he only ended up shooting the elephant because he did not want to look foolish in front of those who wanted a show.

I read the other two essays and then turned my attention to the day's Grammar Lesson, which concerned pronouns. I took the quiz twice and got 100% on the second try.

I also watched a video on Paragraph and Essay Development about Elements of a Personal Essay and read a handout about it.

Post Lesson 9 Work

Discussion Board Responses

In order to be a good writer or to even consider turning writing into any sort of career, one has to first understand the necessity of editing. Writers cannot be afraid to edit their own work, nor can they be afraid to let unnecessary words or passages drift into oblivion when they don't contribute to the effectiveness of the overall piece. Before I came to Pathways, I was in a college journalism course for two years and I learned very quickly that the finished product is often very different than what you start out with. A good writer cares about the quality of the piece and works very hard at saying what needs to be said with as few words as possible. Good writers understand that if too many words are in a piece, readers could get bored very easily, so they maximize their creativity wherever they can. In writing, less is often more.

All beings who have bodies do have power over those who do not, but those with bodies also have a very sacred responsibility to help those who cannot help themselves. Temples are there for people who have bodies to make themselves spiritually right with the Lord through ordinances and sacred covenants. After people have made covenants with God themselves and shown commitment to those covenants through sacred ordinances, they have a sacred responsibility to help rescue those who cannot rescue themselves because they have no body. The Atonement enables both the living and the dead to move beyond their imperfections, but the living need to help the dead by serving as their proxies in the ordinances and agreeing to the covenants on behalf of those who cannot do so for themselves. Those on the other side can choose whether or not to accept the ordinances and covenants, but they are able to make that choice because the living are there to help them via the temple.

I then went to the Writing Center for help with my paper and managed to get in for a session with a tutor. 

Speaking Partner Experience # 9

Ismenia got 80% on her math test! Yay for her!

She first asked about the weather and I said there were blue skies, but it was windy. Ismenia is in the middle of moving and it is a very busy time. She has to give her dog up because he cannot live in the apartment and it is hard for her.

We learned about the verb 'To do', this week. Ismenia asked if 'do' is used when she wants to affirm something and I said it shows that you are doing something. Ismenia asked if do is doing something and make is creating something? I said that it was and am pleased with her progress. Ismenia said that most of the time she has to make a question, she has the auxiliary verb first. I explained that the phrase 'to do' refers to things that have yet to be completed and shared the term 'to-do list.'

I also explained the meaning of trembling was 'to shake.' I explained that the words 'I do' is promising to love your partner and take the vows of the marriage seriously. Ismenia explained that in Brazil, brides and grooms say, "Yes," or "I will," when it comes to marriage vows. Ismenia asked if 'I do' showed more commitment and I honestly confessed that I didn't know because I was single.

We then did some pronunciation practice.The sounds of r vs. or are confusing to Ismenia and I explained that I am still learning BYU's style. Ismenia says this is good, as we are both learning.

We also practiced pronouncing math equations and different years. Ismenia had a few issues with pronouncing, but we worked through it patiently. She thanked me for my help at the end.

Lesson 9

I started off by looking at the reading assignments for the week

Seeing Red: To Write is to Edit - by Josh Ritter
In this essay, Ritter describes the angst that is involved in perfecting a piece of writing and how it not only affects him, but his loved ones. He expresses the importance of knowing how to write creative thoughts down in a way that is organized and will appeal to the reader. When it comes to writing, you have to realize that your first attempt will not be perfect, but probably far from it, and editing and often the sacrificing of words and/or passages is sometimes essential to bringing out the best of the written word. You cannot expect to be even a decent writer without being willing to sacrifice words or passages that holds your writing back from reaching its potential. Writers not only need to know how to edit themselves, they also need the support of others who are willing to look at the writing objectively and help the writer flush out anything that detracts from the attractiveness of the piece.

Things as They Really Are - by Elder Bednar
Do we see things as they really are or as we want them to be? The Lord obviously worries about how we perceive things and our choices weigh heavily on his mind even if we are not as thoughtful concerning our own behavior. If we are open-minded and faithful to the promises of the Lord, we will see the windows of heaven open and blessings come down into our lives to make up for every pain, sorrow, and sacrifice that has been made in the name of the Lord. We will know if we have the Spirit to be with us because we will have a sense of peace and safety within us that others will also be able to see and identify as a 'spirit of righteousness.' We all start out as children of God, but we alone are to choose whether or not we remain as such and while some choose to stay close to God and live up to divine potential that was there even before birth, others will walk away with the preference of choosing their own path. Unfortunately, those who walk away from God are not truly free, as they have chosen to give Satan power over them through the exercising of their own ignorance or unfettered pride. If we give Satan power over us, we are defiling our temple and disregarding our own holiness for the sake of comfort or convenience and that causes God much grief. Satan only has power of us if we choose to give it to him because he is nothing more than a spirit condemned to eternal ignorance, but it is incredibly easy for others to give him dominion without realizing that they are doing so. By choosing to see things as we want them to be instead of how they really are, we are choosing the path of willful ignorance and pushing the Spirit of God aside. When we push the Spirit of God aside, we are being unfaithful to the Lord and choosing to sacrifice spiritual fidelity in favor of pleasure. Satan likes to feed on our carnal desires and entices us to make those temporal pleasures a priority over that which will last. Satan teaches us to use others and abuse ourselves for the purpose of pleasure and getting what we want when we want it. He knows that when we act on a misguided or incomplete perception, we don't see the whole picture and do things that cause a great deal of damage. The illusion that an inaccurate perception may provide may give us comfort or pleasure for a short while, but all illusions eventually fade and we are left to look over the damage that was done.

After that, I watched videos on Plagiarism and Proofreading. I then turned my attention to the Grammar Lesson, which was about Parallel Structure. After I read a handout on it and watched a video, I did the quiz and got 100% on the first try because I took my time and read each question very carefully, keeping the handouts open in case I needed to refer to them.

Post Lesson 8 Work

Discussion Board Replies.
It is both interesting and sad that people do not take a lot of time to understand how things work, they just care if things are working. People develop a sense of ingratitude when something they want doesn't work or is unavailable to them. A great deal of work goes into creating anything and if people took the time to understand how things are made, maybe they would come to appreciate them more. People take available things for granted and don't treat them as well as they should most of the time and then they get upset when those available things wear down or disappear! People have a lack of appreciation for things because they think the supply is unlimited and easy to produce. If people truly understood that the frailty of things and how hard it is to create things, maybe they would appreciate what they had more when they had it.

Details are the determining factor in whether or not a piece of writing will actually be enjoyed by a reader. If there are too few details, the writing will be boring and the reader will quickly find something else to occupy their attention. If there are too many details, a reader will become confused as to what the subject is about and want something else to occupy their attention. There has to be enough detail to capture the attention of a reader, but not an excessive enough amount that the reader will be driven away from the piece. There are appropriate times and places for detail in writing and a good writer will know how, where, and when to apply proper details in their writing. It is a useful skill that we can all benefit from learning.

Speaking Partner Experience # 8

Today, we worked on words on transportation and word stress. I explained that a fare is what it costs per person to ride public transportation.

We also talked about forms of transportation and Ismenia uses the car mostly and only uses a bus at certain times. Ismenia said that traffic is a problem in her area because people do not obey the street signs and when you cross the road at a green sign, cars do not obey the signs and cut off pedestrians. People also do not cross the street safely there and so there are a lot of traffic problems. Ismenia was curious about how drivers are in Canada and I explained a bit about Canada's Worst Driver and that driver's ed costs a lot and is not necessarily mandatory.

Ismenia sometimes spends half a day travelling around to places because she has to go to multiple places sometimes. We also went over pronunciation of words with stressed syllables. I love how well Ismenia is doing and I love how eager she is to learn. Ismenia does have struggles with numbers sometimes when it comes to pronunciation, but we will work through it.

Ismenia is busy this week because she is moving with her family from a house to an apartment and her assignment was late, so she is a little stressed. I gave her a virtual hug at the end of the call.