Georgi 1 Trevor Georgi Edwin Austin Senior Seminar in Dance Feb 18th, 2014 Guidance for Dancers in Our

Times Can dancing be a chain that the Devil uses to "leadeth them away carefully down to hell" (2nd Nep 2:21)? Here at BYU especially a dancer can feel the sweet Spirit that comes only from being in an environment that not only welcomes the Spirit in, but we can talk and share uplifting experiences with each other all the time. I posed the aforementioned question with the hope of opening my own eyes, and the wonderful dancers I interact with everyday. BYU has been a wonderful environment for me not only as a dancer, but a male dancer. At times it has been a shelter and strength when times have been hard. However, the time has come that I leave this department of spiritual well being and head out on my own, like so many others in the dance major. I will repeat the aforementioned question- can dancing be a chain that the Devil uses to "leadeth them away carefully down to hell"? Dance can be a tool for greatness, beauty, and truth, however it can also be used to express more carnal and evil desires of the flesh. How do we keep our spirit's light shining so that many others may see our good works? I chose to focus on the words of Elder Dieter F Uchtodorf, Elder Russell M. Nelson, and Elder Neal A. Maxwell, to give us some guidance on how to stay strong and pure in a world with depreciating morals, and lack of respect for things wholesome and of good report. Elder Uchtodorf starts off his talk, "What is truth? with what I believe to be a fundamental truth about the youth of today, "let Zion in her beauty rise... you represent in a beautiful way the future and strength of the church." The first important principal that he brings

Georgi 2 up is who we are. We are the children of a loving Heavenly Father, and we are the future of this great church. Part of how we get brought down in our lives is we forget who we are. That makes it easy for us to start to slide down that slippery slope and say, "It's ok this one time" which leads to more than just once. He continues on and describes the poem about the six men of Indostan and the Elephant. To sum up this poem, six blind men each grab different parts of an elephant and then describe what they think they are holding. Each one believes it to be something completely different from the other men. Elder Uchtodorf teaches us that we can't simply take one piece or aspect of truth and use it as a blanket statement for everything (pg. 1). Just as we can't grab part of one elephant and know precisely what it is off of one touch, so we cant know the truth of all things based off of one principal. As a dancer this is extremely applicable, because companies or teachers may try to get us to do something that isn't aligned with our morals. They may have a routine that is beautiful and spiritual except for one part, and tell us that it is just one part. People may try to blind us with things, but we must hold to not just one piece of truth, but we must hold onto the whole truth. The last piece of understanding truth that I wish to relate is being able to discern between whole truths, half-truths, and false truths. We live in a world where we have the highest access to knowledge and information history has ever scene (pg. 2). In a matter of seconds I can have a laptop, smartphone, computer open and knowledge and truth available literally at my fingertips. However, everything good must have its opposite. The Law of counterfeits applies to everything, that is, for everything that is good and from God, the Devil creates something in it's opposite to battle the good. Having access to so much good means that we also have access to so much evil. We must learn to discern things in black and white- if it's not leading us to Christ, than it is pulling us away from Him.

Georgi 3 Our mind, and our learning control our bodies, but what should we know about our bodies that can help us? Elder Russell M. Nelson gave a wonderful talk titled "We are children of God" concerning the miraculousness of our bodies. At first he describes the process of fertilization, then goes into explicit detail about some of our more vital organs. The body is truly a miraculous creation, but it would simply be a lump of flesh made in God's image if the Father didn't endow the body with its most necessary "organ"- the spirit. We are physically and spiritually made in the Father's image, and without one part the other can't function properly if at all. Now how does this knowledge help us? The Father's final creation was man and woman. He created all other beautiful things; oceans, sea life, animals, mountain ranges etc., but he saved His best and most treasured creation for last-us and our bodies. This knowledge should help us nurture a respect and love for the beauty and purity of our bodies and spirits, and this should help us make the right decision now so that we don't have to later. The last and final talk I wish to discuss is Elder Neal A. Maxwell's "Creativity." We as mortals on this earth, as King Benjamin said ever so eloquently, "I say that if you should serve Him with all your whole souls yet ye would be an unprofitable servants" (Mosiah 2:21). How is it that we can repay our Creator then? Elder Maxwell sheds some light on this for us, "Creative expression can also represent the celebration of our gratitude to God for our gifts and talents" (pg. 1). This simple thought can have a huge impact on our lives and especially on how we dance. Not even God the Father can create a dance movement as this dancer can, or this dancer can. Out creation, our choreography is specifically our own, and that is the only thing that is purely ours to give. The happiness that comes from the Gospel and living it everyday can and should be shared with others, and creating dance is one we can share that with others. We've all been to performances where a certain piece has touched us in some way, and we still remember

Georgi 4 that feeling for years to come. That is what we can do with our creativity, for after all, creating is a Godly attribute, and we are happier when we are creating. In conclusion, we face a world full of beauty and wonder, but it's also filled with danger and evil. Through the words of the aforementioned Apostles, but also all the words of the prophets, current and past, we can always live in a wonderful and beautiful world. It is quite true that we reap what we sow, and as the famous philosopher and patriot once wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls" (Thomas Paine letters). These are trying times, but as we hold to the words of our legacy, and of our current prophet/apostles, then we will conquer these trying times and we will enjoy the happiness that can only come from the love and mercy of Christ. I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you. (John 14:18) And Christ hath said, if ye will have faith in me, then ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me. (Moroni 7:33) He has given us His promise, numerous times over. Let us take his hand in ours, and fight the good fight.