Day two of discussion from the 2014 Mormon Lit Blitz.
Today's Piece: "The Primary Temple Trip" by Laura Hilton Craner
Service is a central part of Mormon culture. In order to highlight the value of service, the stories we tell often tend to emphasize how good service feels.
In many cases, though, important service does not neatly fit into our standard narrative models for how service ought to go.
What do you think about the depiction of service in this piece?
Have you had any experiences with service this piece reminds you of?
What words does your mother say all the time?
What other reactions did you have to this piece?
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ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure how this could be resolved in the word limit. Props to Laura for simplicity.
Most of the dangerous and scary places I've visited in my life have been thanks to Church service.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant little piece. It reminds me a bit of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." I especially love the line about smelling Pepsi on his breath. These children represent the vitality of about half the members of my 140+ primary. They are very spirited!
ReplyDeleteGod bless the Sister Millers. I'm currently serving in YW, and the other day the YW Pres informed me that they weren't going to actively encourage two of the girls to go to camp because "they have problems and we're worried they'll be a bad influence on the other young women." I was horrified. While it's likely that bringing those girls to camp would turn out similarly to bringing the McCumber kids to the temple, they are the ones who need it most.
ReplyDeleteThis piece so accurately captures the awkwardness of a service project that is far from "textbook" (and many of them are). I loved the sticky bunny and the snipe hunt and Sister Miller's valiant efforts to salvage the situation by singing a hymn. A perfect example of being willing to serve in theory and having a difficult time in practice--but her imperfect offering (and ours) is still enough.
Any class involving the young men, any Sunday. Curse the smartphone!
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if parents did more to help their kids behave at church. I'm not asking perfection, but little steps on the way would sure help us achieve some other goals.
Joseph ran.
I really appreciated how friendly this piece was. So easy to read, with plenty of places where my imagination could fill in the blankity-blanks. That way, the story is only as offensive as my own mind. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe details add so much and the ending just wraps you up like a warm bunny hug after a really hard day.
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