By: Abby Jorgensen
During the Fall 2023 semester, I had the wonderful opportunity to write 4 articles for submission to the Young Adult Weekly. This is an online blog for young adult members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of my dreams is to write for the Church. I loved writing these articles. It helped strengthen my testimony and strengthened my writing skills.
The project (samples of the work produced or the final product).
Like I mentioned above, I wrote four articles throughout the semester.
The first article I wrote was about dealing with thoughts of inadequacy in the workplace. One of the hardest parts of 2023 for me was getting a new job and not feeling like I am good enough. My co-workers understood new policies and procedures faster than me. I gave advice for other young adults feeling the same way.
The second article was about how much good social media could do. My friend posted a scripture on her Instagram story and it was seriously such an answer to a prayer. I prayer I had been saying for weeks. I am grateful that my friend followed a prompting to post that scripture that led to a spiritual breakthrough.
The third article is about how a church leader that I was very close with passed away suddenly. Since it was so out of the blue, I was stunned. I had a hard time processing it. Sister Camille N. Johnson wrote a General Conference talk called, “Jesus Christ is Relief.” This talk taught me about how even though this church leader passed away, relief and peace is possible because of Jesus Christ.
The fourth article is based off of a Elder Gary B. Sabin’s general conference talk called, “Hallmarks of Happiness”. Elder Sabin shares his 5 hallmarks to his testimony. I completely agree with them and wanted to add my own 5 to it. The 5 I wrote were: 1. The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost is one of the greatest spiritual gifts.
2. The scriptures are how God can speak with us
3. Thinking Celestial helps us become more like our Jesus Christ
4. There are always second chances because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ
5. The temple is God’s gift for us to feel peace along our life journey
2. Challenges Encountered in Completing the Project
There were more road blocks than I expected. The hardest article to write was the one about my church leader’s passing. The hardest part of the writing process was experiencing these emotions all over again. It was therapeutic, but I felt a lot of grief.
The other hard part was finding motivation. Because there is no guarantee that they would get published, I felt like it was hard to stay motivated and give my best work. I sometimes let my thoughts get the best of me. I really tried to edit them and craft them to the best of my ability and move past the unmotivated feelings.
3. Project Processes
I spent about 6 hours per article. 1 hour for brainstorming, 3 hours for writing, and 2 for editing. Each article was about 800 words. I also counseled with my mentor about where I should take the articles.
4. An Overview of the Experiences I have had
I worked really hard on making these articles the best they could. I learned a lot about my writing style. I love short, choppy sentences and lots of details. Storytelling is definitely a love of mine. I have loved this free range writing project. It is such an honor to write my testimony.
I am excited to announce that I officially have an article coming out in the YA Weekly in 2024. I am so excited and grateful for the opportunity to get published.
Insights and Take Away’s
I have always wanted to write for the church and I told myself that it would only happen if I got hired. I realized that I don’t have to wait around, I can take steps to make my goals a reality. I am so grateful for the cheerleaders in my corner for cheering me on during this process.
I also learned that there is power in taking things slow. I combed through each article, paragraph, and sentence. If I breeze through it, I could miss grammar mistakes. Also I might feel prompted to add something or get rid of something when I go slower. The Holy Ghost can have more time to speak with me.
I am so grateful for this opportunity and I am excited to get published in 2024.