Communication... or lack there of

Why I hate Cadet leadership.  So we just got  back from the FTX and we were doing this obstacle course where you have to use your leadership skills to get through puzzles (over bridges and stuff). on the hardest one where you have to get this ladder from a platform with a curved edge to a wall. While trying to get 15 people across this, we were told to all brainstorm to figure out a way across. I'd just been yelled at about going through my chain of command so I talked to my team leader so he could communicate to my squad leader (in a round about and stupid way) that someone needed to tie the rope far rung of the ladder and then tie the shorter rope to the two sides of the ladder rung closest to us so that we could hold the ladder securely while it was lowered and people crossed the ladder.

One of the other MS2s overheard my comments and asked me to speak up and clarify so we could try it. Out of nowhere, a 4 (student leadership), berated me for yelling at a 3 and telling him what to do. I was pretty ticked because the 4 had no idea what was going and and I'm a 2 so we're the same rank. The 4 gave the stupid leadership cop-out of "I don't care. Just do it."  I replied that I was until he decided to waste my time by interrupting what we're doing. Because of his interruption we lost a good amount of time and my idea worked we were the only ones to get anyone across the obstacle. I often get in trouble for the fact that I respect good leaders, when you are not a good leader I tend to try to help, if you're rude about the suggestions I give then I really won't respect you.

Opposition Force

Waiting behind the edge of the ridge,  checking my equipment hushed voices alert me to the approach of the enemy. The plan is simple Boice my counterpart will provide a distraction and draw a portion of the squad with him and I will rise up and shoot as many as possible. Shouts initiate the ambush as the squad reacts to the appearance of a masked gunman. Taking my cue I rise up slowly and see where they are positioned taking aim I open fire as unwitting cadets drop not knowing what hit them. With half of the squad destroyed silently I make my way around out of sight to a new firing position. The other half of the squad unaware that there security element was destroyed secures the now downed Boice as once more I rise up begin to fire. Cadets scatter like leaves on the wind as pellets pepper them, seeing there confusion and tired of my charade I rise up and charge what's left of the squad and run through the group shooting indiscriminately as they try to react to my deadly fire. Pellets suddenly hit me from behind falling I turn to see my arch enemy stands above me.

"Dang it Bro you killed me!" My twin standing above me smirks and tells me that he had known I would do something crazy and had hung back to see what I was doing seeing me he had followed me and ended my rampage.

Evaluative Conclusion

I guess I'm supposed to evaluate what I thought of this blog. Just so I can get this off my chest I don't like blogging. I don't like sharing my thoughts or feelings with people that I don't know well. If anything it has shown me that I do need to keep a journal for posterity reasons, if I make it to that point. I may continue to use this as a means of keeping personal history but I'm not going to leave it for anyone to see. In the course of this semester I've learned to appreciate the differing skills used in rhetorical writing by utilizing pathos, logos, and ethos; thesis statements; and completing the various assignments. Pathos, logos, and ethos are tools that helped me to reason more logically and in a more concise manner. Thesis statements enabled me to present my ideas in a way that others can follow and benefit from. The assignments we completed gave the opportunity to practice the skills I've been learning and to hone in on my strengths while improving my weaknesses. In short, I became a better writer.

Day in the Life

My day at Basic Training

0530 Wake up

0600 First formation for PT

0630 Physical training begins

0730 PT ends

0800 Chow 

0900 Classes begin

1130 Lunch 

1230 Classes

1630 Dinner

1530 Classes

1900 Stand in formation for hour for unknown reason

2100 Prepare for lights out

2200 Lights out

Day after day the schedule is the same, it gets to the point that every thing comes automatically and you're no longer required to think. Physical training is ridiculously easy because every one has to do the same amount of repetitions and we all have to run at the same speed too slow. Classes involve a dark room with slides that are full of useless information that has no bearing on what will happen to you, and by the time you're done with school everything is changed so your information is outdated. Eating begins to become monotonous and meals slur together so everything tastes the same. Formation is called sometimes then forgotten by the cadre so we are left standing outside for long periods of time just because. Lights out is a welcome relief unless you have guard duty so you don't get three hours a night. The only redemption comes from the fact that you will spend weeks in the field with even less food and sleep walking for miles with a heavy rucksack on and talk to people that treat you badly, but hey that's what we all sign up for! It all goes back to that mental strength the army is trying to cultivate in all of us we all need to be helped and guided to be strong no matter what so we push on. Every day.

Death by PowerPoint

If there is one thing that is the most horrible part of the military it was the implementation of PowerPoint the the brief. Many hours have been spent struggling against boredom and sleep deprivation just so that we could pretend to be interested as someone drones on reading the slides as they apear on the wall of the dark room. To those who use it effectively the PowerPoint is a great asset to their presentation others are just a waste of time.

The World is a Different Place

I was talking to my room mate the other night and our conversation drifted into his favorite game called Modern Warfare 2. He is a much better player than I am and spends more time playing which is fine, anyway one part he didn't under stand was when one of the main characters launches a nuke to stop the Russian invasion. My room mate wanted to know if he did it on purpose, I responded in the affirmative. I explained that an invading force is in constant need of resupply, men, ammunition, fuel, and air support. Mean while a defending force doesn't have the same amount of need. With established bases and support basically right behind them they just need to stand their ground. The explosion shut down power and disrupted communications so the complexity of the offensive fell apart when they no longer could talk to each other. I had to laugh at the fact that I understood applicable reasons why his plan would work instead of just accepting things at face value. The world is a different place when you understand the logistics required to run a huge operation.

What's it like?

People often ask what the army is like. I'm not always sure which part they are talking about. Part of being in the army is sitting around doing paper work and struggling to stay awake during briefings. The other part is the opposite if you can imagine late nights early mornings, crappy food and living conditions, being dirty stinky and having to sleep outside. I think those of us who join the military are a little nuts, like Boy Scouts who haven't grown up yet the only difference is we have cooler stuff, and it's slightly more dangerous. 

Being in the army is hard, and I love every minute of it.

State of Mind

Straps creak as I crest the hill, the wind that sweeps past cools the moisture on my skin, looking down the hill I see the faint glow of chem-lights moving down an unseen trail. With a huff I readjust my pack and step off again, ’12 miles isn’t going to get any shorter by standing here.’ Glancing at my watch I almost trip in the soft sand beneath my feet.

At midnight the drill sergeants rouse us from our cots, eye’s groggy with lack of sleep we prepare or gear for the 12 mile road march that awaits us. All week long we had marched to and from different tests miles and miles every day. Taking my place in line I take count of my team, checking gear, tightening straps, and resolving last minute concerns. A few females’ packs are far too heavy for them so to lighten the load I take their two-quart canteens. The added weight pulls on my shoulders heavily, I could have removed items to send in the trucks but to make this more of a challenge I had decided to keep as many things as I could, so I was not looking forward to the additional to gallons of water that I now had to carry. My obsession with challenging myself beyond what was required had put me in a difficult situation, and for the first time I wondered if I could actually make it.

Down one hill barely two miles into it and already my fellow classmen are voicing their concerns, complaints of pace and cold wear at my nerves, knowing full well what I thought of the useless and unnecessary noise my team stays silent keeping to themselves as we all continue our quick paced march through the hills of South Carolina.

“Cooley” the authoritative voice breaks the monotony of my marching. Glancing around looking for who had called my name a drill sergeant pulls me to the center of the road, “I need you to work your way up to the lead of the column and tell them to slow down.” I didn’t quite understand why because they had radios but following my orders I leaned forward and began a sort of dragging-jog known as the airborne shuffle. From my new vantage point I could see that the front of the column was well over a mile away cresting a huge hill. Distraught but determined I continued on to my goal. I soon found myself alone in the dark half of the lead platoon had slowed down causing a gap of large proportions to form.  As I pushed on I prayed that I wouldn’t get lost by myself when up ahead I spotted two forms in the dark, passing by silently their heavy breathing were growls of determination as they sped up to pace behind me. Further ahead I saw more and more dark forms making their way up the hill side, passing many of these soldiers showed the toll of a week of hard work and lack of sleep as they placed one foot in front of the other. Finally the lights of the lead came into view, “Sir!” I called out in the darkness the company commander glanced over his shoulder as he continued on at a quick pace. Knowing that I had his attention I continued, “We lost contact with you and the drill sergeants request that we hold so the rest of the column can catch up.” At this the CO checked his radio to find it had died, giving the order to halt glancing around he noticed that instead of almost three hundred soldiers he was leading 15 or so. We had gained such a lead on the rest of the company that it took nearly an hour for them to catch up. After a few more minutes of rest we once more were on our way one tired step after another.

 In all honesty the army wasn’t the challenge I thought it was. Everything the army throws at you is well within the capabilities of the average person; the trick is that they exhaust you before so instead of being a test of strength or physical endurance their focus is on your determination. Any mundane task can be made exponentially more difficult by the fact that you’re tired, hungry, and some guy is yelling at you. The options are that you can freak out and get in more trouble or grow some determination to overcome anything that gets in your way. It’s moments like these where you find out what your truly made of, it’s you at you deepest most vulnerable state. You can be like one guy who, after complaining for eleven and a half miles, gives up two blocks from the finish accepting failure and destroying moral with incessant winning. On the other hand you can emulate the guy who walked quietly the entire time, even helping by carrying his exhausted comrade’s gear till his boots began to turn red from the blood of blistered feet.

Never Apologize

The responsibility one takes hen joining the military is great, you are a representative of your country and everything it stands for. You are sworn to uphold the Constitution and behave as a protector of freedom and the American way of life.  After joining the military many of my encounters with civilians were less than desirable, several people expressed that they were sorry that I had joined when questioned why they felt that way many just said that the military was evil and that it would destroy any humanity that was in me.  Several times I was angered by their responses, I felt bad that they would feel about what I was doing as something evil. The more I thought about it though the less angered I was, in fact the next time someone mocked me for my decision I just expressed how grateful I was that there were people who were willing to sacrifice a everything so that they could continue to express their opinion without fear of retribution. I guess they had never thought of that because antagonist just turned around and walked away.

Despite what many think the world is not a safe place there could be a day when we wake up and find destruction and death on our own doorstep I joined to keep that from happening. I want to continue to live in a place where I can watch my nieces and nephews grow and play without fear of car-bombs, suicide bombers, or other heinous crimes that plague other nations. If anyone threatens that I will be willing to do whatever is necessary to protect them from the evil designs of others. I may have to do things that I don’t want to, I don’t look forward to having to take the life of another person but given the choice I would not hesitate between to decide between them or me. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTb6qdPu8JE

War Games

POP POP POP! I sit up with a grunt from my cot. Groping through the dark of the tent for my gear the sound of the others stirring tells me the others heard it too.

“Get the lights!” the muffled yell is lost as men scramble for boots, body armor, and gear clinking. As string of profanity urges someone to find the light switch. Light suddenly floods the room momentarily illuminating the 40 soldiers in different stages of donning their gear, the new silhouette in the door tosses an object into the group. The door slams enveloping the stunned group but realization breaks the pause as the call “Grenade!”  Sounds causing everyone instinctively to the floor, the flash and explosion of the flash-bang grenade let us know it’s safe to get up again. The lights flicker on just as I pull my helmet on, grabbing my rifle I run for the door slapping a magazine and racking a round. The very unwelcoming face of one of the instructors greets me when I open the door.

“Get moving private!”

Needing no such encouragement I run as fast as I can across the open dirt field, dashing past smoke-grenades spewing foul smelling gases that burn my eyes and lungs. A high pitched whistling sound alerts me to dive for cover as a mortar round explodes behind me. Before the dust can settle I’m running crouched between the hummv’s, finally arriving at my post I glance around not a soul in sight, where is everyone? Being student leadership means being the first one ready and out but I can’t see a single person behind me. Growling I turn my attention to the tree line focusing my sights on the shadowy figures whose muzzle flashes giveaway their positions. Finally I hear the church of gravel under boots as my platoon comes running from the compound, “Nothing like the smell of gun-powder in the morning!” I yell knowing that they are just as groggy as I am but trying to gets some enthusiasm going. Soon the entire barricade is lit by the fire of seventy weapons slicing the darkness. “Squad leaders get me a count!” Slinging my rifle I grab a pen my note-pad, noting the numbers as the squad leader come to give them.

“One up!”

“Two up!”

“Three up!”

“…”

“Fourth squad sound off! Where are you?” I yell angrily. Great, I’m gonna get in trouble for this; I didn’t want this job anyway. The image of our disgraced former platoon leader getting her rank ripped off and my apprehensive promotion flashes through my head, accompanied by Sergeant Hotchkiss warning me not too screw up. I’d first seen the hardened sergeant when he was on duty, he came sauntering out to our formation with a baseball-bat, “don’t worry privates” he said with an evil grin, and “this is for intruders so stay in your bunks tonight so I don’t smash the wrong person.” If there was one person I respected above the rest it was him. I resolved that I would do my best not for me but for the platoon, so get moving!  Sprinting to where fourth should have been all I find is an empty section of defenses “Is anyone out here?”

“Specialist Rice, plus one”

 “Who’s not dead?” I yell into the darkness.

“We have six down; four are taking them to the casualty collection point.”

Adjusting the other squads to fill the gap I dash back to the main tent to give my report, “First Platoon…” I rattle off the count and the situation to the student commander. Finishing one of the sergeants, Hotchkiss motions for me to approach, “Cooley your fourth squad was too slow getting into position, they were hit by a mortar, after this is over report with the casualties for a little work out.” a grin spread across Sergeant Hotchkiss’ face. “Roger that sergeant.” A heavy sigh escapes as I run out the door

The flashes began to die off as I made my way back to the firing line, with ammunition running low we could feel the fight was almost over. I made it back just in time to hear the whistle blow ending the exercise.

“Form up, move move move, get moving!” the yells motivating the slow to pick up the pace and get back to the parade grounds. Flicking on my flash light I do a sweep to be sure that no knucklehead has left anything behind; satisfied that we won’t get nailed for carelessness I sprint back and get in front of the formation. 71 tired eyes, bloodshot from lack of sleep and smoke stare at me while we wait. Scanning the group I notice a private in the back, “Where’s your helmet?” I hiss in his ear. Not waiting for the answer I order him to run and get it before the sergeant’s return to see the folly, but before he can move the cadre returns to get the count. The student commander gives a salute “All 142 assigned and present sergeant!” After we’re released I drag the six casualties over to sergeant Hotchkiss, “Take a good look Cooley,” he pauses to let it sink in, “even though it wasn’t your fault they didn’t make it, but you’re going to blame yourself anyway, there are no re-dos here.” Pushups are the punishment for failure in this game.” He turns and walks away as I count off, all seven of us moving in unison.

Lead From the Front

“I want to be something more.” Pausing at how the conversation is starting to sound like a recruiting commercial. “I feel like it’s my turn to do something for my country, I’ve watched others go and fight for me now it’s my turn to protect all of you.”

 My dad glares across the table, “If you need money we can help you don’t have to go and do this.”

“Look dad, mom I love you but I really want to do this,” frustrated that they didn’t get it, “I want to see what I’m capable of and this is my chance, I’ve already made up my mind.”

The look of worry on my parents faces telling me that they disapproved of my decision, knowing any attempt at dissuasion was futile my dad stands up and pushes the chair back walking away without a word, the warm sunny September day seemed to get cold really quickly. Finishing the meal in an awkward silence, I stand up and walk outside. Scott my twin brother follows me out, “hey” he says catching up, “don’t worry they don’t understand, and you really surprised them. I mean you called me out of the blue; I thought you never wanted anything to do with the army.”

“Look,” I say with a sigh, “people change. I want to be a leader, and I need to challenge myself.”

“Cooley!”  Followed by a kick to the boot, “change of plan, I want you to lead the squad with your fire-team down the center of the road and cut right, behind cover.”  Giving him an incredulous glance, “Wait, you want me to charge down the middle of the road with no cover straight at the people shooting at us?” nodding his head like it was nothing to worry about, turned and stalked off to give the other team their orders. ‘Great another suicide mission from our fearless leader’ I thought to myself, setting my feelings aside I brief my team on the upcoming mission. After outlining our part in the mission private Fugate, a tall German pulled me aside, “looks like he’s trying to kill you again.” He states quietly. The memory of the day before, being abandoned in an enemy village when the platoon had pulled out and having to fight my way out through smoke so thick that my own team hadn’t recognized me and opened fire; ‘still not sure how I had made it unscathed’ I shrugged,  “Maybe, but he’s in charge. I’ll go first if I’m hit take the team to the right side behind cover and you’ll be in charge.” Giving me a look of frustration mirroring how I felt, we rehearse the plan to make sure everyone knows their place.

Pop, pop, pop! The sound of gunfire and explosions from the entrance of the base alerts us to the beginning of the attack. “Okay people get ready, we’re going to have to move fast if they need us.” Double checking our equipment we line up getting ready to rush to the aid of the other squads if they are overwhelmed.  The exchange of fire is intense, like a lightning storm explosions and shots continue for several minutes; we are all tense waiting for the word. “QRF this is Hot-shot, get your squad up here!”  I wave us forward as we sprint down the road toward our besieged comrades. Rounding the corner I take note of everything as I am welcomed by a stream of paint rounds. Cutting right I can see several opposition –force behind a van at the entrance and only a have dozen of the 50 or so soldiers of the other squads are still fighting. Smoke grenades and mortar shells litter the open expanse between the van and the barricade. Dropping in the nearest available cover I begin to return fire as my team settles in glancing around I count six Joes ‘great we didn’t lose anyone.’  My elation is short lived when I hear a shot from behind me and feel a round go snapping past my ear. Rolling over I see to my horror that our squad leader had taken up positions behind us and with his team had begun shooting past us at the vehicle, “What are you doing?” I scream as my team is caught in the cross-fire. His answer comes back muffled by an explosion of a grenade, “we couldn’t make it to the other side so take your team and cross over to secure it we’ll cover you from here.”

Shaking with frustration I call out for my team to get ready to scroll to the other side. Looking at the 50 or so feet that we have to cross to get to the other side I hold my breath and sprint in to the hailstorm. By some miracle I make it diving into a bunker as rounds splatter over me, ‘now let’s see if the others can make it.’ I grab an automatic weapon from a downed soldier and begin laying suppressive fire so the rest of my team can follow. One by one they come dashing through the smoke and sim-rounds unscathed protecting each other and trusting that their brothers will protect them. As the last leaps past me and crawls into position, I glance over at my squad leader, a radio crackles from nearby, “Cooley send some men out to take the fox-hole, over.” Not sure of what he’s talking about I search the killzone seeing a shallow ditch 10 feet from the van and 30 feet from us, seeing immediately the stupidity of the order. Finding the radio I reply, “Negative we will be in the line of fire if we move there.” “I don’t care I want you to take that fox-hole, out!” Yelling across the road once again that I refused to do it, my Ranger drill sergeant O’Neal, a light footed hulking mass of a man, suddenly appeared next to me. “Look Cooley,” startling me he went on, “In reality I wouldn’t do it either but I want you to take it, and that’s an order,” smirking he adds, “lead from the front.” With apprehension I ask for two volunteers to follow me out. The look of shock and disbelieve that stared at me from the faces of the  others made me queasy, not waiting to see if anyone was crazy enough to follow I order covering-fire and hurl myself out into the storm once more.

One to the rules taught to us is that you never run and shoot at the same time, but given the circumstance that I found myself in I figured no one would notice a few more as I ran sprinting straight at what I thought would be my doom. Five feet from the fox-hole a figure stood up, dropping to the earth I take aim firing blam, blam, blam, all three rounds find their target as I slide into the hole. Breathing hard I rise up the world seems to slow as I rise up rifle at the ready from this distance I don’t even aim, just point and shoot. Two more drop to the ground as I take cover to reload. Suddenly a crushing weight knocks me to the ground hot brass falls on me as I lay pined to the ground by something heavy. Falling off me I laugh when I see Private Moberg, a 250 pound Mississippian, smirk back at me, “I got one!” He yells to me over the roar of a battle, “Great let’s get the rest!” In unison we rise up firing climbing out of the hole we rush around the sides of the van taking out the last gunman. The sound of running makes me turn around just in time to see my fearless squad leader try to jump the concertina wire. Funny thing about concertina wire it doesn’t cut like razor or barbed wire, it grabs and entangles you, and even a brush can ensnare you in a vine like metal mess. Sailing through the air the fabric of his leg catches ending all forward momentum. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the dusty tangled heap on the ground, the riotous laughter of O’Neal causing everyone to stop and look at the downed soldier, “See what happens when you play hero Bailey? Your dead, wait no, your legs broke now they get to drag your fat a.. back to the evac point, enjoy!” as I looked at the carnage of the battle not a single squad leader and only two team leaders had survived the attack.

I toss radios to Moberg and Fugate, “Fugate take charge of security and Moberg get some aid and litter teams down here to get the casualties back to the evac point.” Grabbing the nearest casualty I begin hauling them out of the road.

 “Cooley.”

 “Yes drill sergeant?”

“What’s going on?”  

Giving the report O’Neal smiles and walks off, “Good job” he says quietly so only I can hear.

Later after we clean up the drill sergeants call us all together to talk about what happened. Bailey immediately stands up and points a finger at me, “Cooley messed the whole thing up, if he hadn’t gotten in the wrong position everything would have gone better.” He glances at the drill sergeant who lifts an incredulous eyebrow. The rest of the group just looks at me with a confused look. In disbelief I stand up, the blame cuts like a knife to my very core, “look, he hasn’t followed a single order this whole, he questions my authority and does whatever he wants.”

“Okay,” frustrated I continue, “I’ve followed every order you’ve given me, every stupid order, not to toot my own horn but Moberg and I are the reason everyone even survived I’m sick of your stupid games I don’t have to take this, not from you!” Grabbing both of us by the gear Sergeant Hess drags us out of ear shot of the others, turning to Bailey rips into him, “private let me give you some advise, never ever discredit  a leader in front of his subordinates again, if they don’t trust that he can lead them they won’t follow. Cooley has obeyed your orders to the best of his abilities, you need to pull you head out of where-ever you stuck it and start trying to gain some respect from your subordinates.” Fully expecting to be told to do pushups till I pushed the world down, I was surprised with the brevity of his scolding, “I don’t care how big of a jerk they are, you need to respect your leaders you know it’s not easy, good job by the way.”

Not knowing what else to do I gave a “hooah” and returned back to the group, just in time to hear the end of the lesson one of the drill sergeants was giving, “Lead from the front, don’t order your men to do something that you’re not willing to do yourself, that is how you lead men to hell and back remember that.” 

What is a leader

While reading the book One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick, a force-recon marine LT. It is funny to see the parallels between his experience and my own. Most people who join the armed forces do it for selfish reasons, for money, adventure, or whatever it might be. I remember sitting in the barracks listening to the conversations of the others, reasons varied from looking for away out of going to jail to the common "I just wanna kill someone" which oddly enough were the ones most prone to panic when people started shooting at them. No matter what the reason may be those that do well and stay for awhile are the ones that understand that their part of a kick-butt team that if well trained can go and do just about any task assigned to them, and the more training you get the more you can feel like the guy next to you is more your brother than anything. As a leader many fail to see the fact that they can't manage but need to inspire their subordinates. Managers would think that a 10% loss is acceptable but a leader would be devastated. A leader cares for his men while a manager cares for numbers

Willful Ignorance

I find it frustrating at times the level of hypocrisy that plagues our nation. Willfully ignoring facts and data to draw paranoid conclusions that have no basis in reality, if only as a Hollywood style worst-case scenario. The educational system of our nation has drilled into its students since childhood to seek the truth, find the facts, and make an educated decision though they themselves often ignore this principle. When it comes to views on heated topics such as guns their mindset is abhorrent to such a thing. When asked why they feel the way they do most have expressed fears that if guns were legal to carry then the streets would be full of armed civilians executing vigilante justice over fender-benders, the grocery store becoming a war-zone as maniacs settle their differences through violence instead of diplomacy. In fact in most of the United States it's legal to openly carry a fire arm and 30 some-odd states issue concealed carry permits to citizens with clean record, so where is all the violence and blood shed? Educators need to set an example for everyone by finding out the facts before deciding what is best based on fear and ignorance.

Ideas for Research

So it needs to be something that has gotten lots of attention in the media right?
Well I guess being the typical military man that I am , I was thinking about the right to bear arms, concealed or open, on university campuses. I think it is narrow enough to keep it focused but broad enough to be well covered.

Differing in there approach.

General Conference is one of the best times of the year. We have the opportunity to sit and listen to actual prophets proclaim the word of God to His children in these the latter days. Given the class assignment, I listened in a very different way this time. Instead of just what was said I listened to how they conveyed their message to us. Many of the more "popular" speakers that are favored by the population at large, tend to lend most of there persuasion through humor and pathos. Some like Pres. Uchtdorf and Elder Bednar use humor to help ease the audience into there very important messages. Others like Elder Holland inspire the fear of God to those who hear what his passionate sermons entail. On the other hand there are several who lean more towards the more logical side using the power of logos are the powerful if often passed over Pres. Eyring and Elder Oaks utilize logic and emotion for thought provoking and introspective experience. Also to there advantage is the fact that the spirit prophesies to us and helps to convince us of the truth of the words being spoken

"Child of God"

As children of God and being his heirs, we have the solemn responsability to learn and grow to attain greatness.

When I was reading this article D&C88: 78-80 these verses of scripture talk about the importance of learning and teaching the gospel. There is a strong emphasis on learning about good things; things pertaining to the kingdom of God and if we do this we can recieve help in our studies of the world that surrounds us so we can be better prepaired to teach and help others to learn Gods ways.

My time spent in the army really showed me the importance of being submissive when it comes to corrections. Often times we are set up for failure so that we can learn and and grow to become far better then we would have on our own