Research Paper

There are a whole lot of things I could research, so I'm having somewhat of a hard time figuring out what topic to choose. Most of the topics I've thought of have much to do with my childhood. Until I was about 10, I was homeschooled, along with my school-aged siblings. Then we became expatriates, first in Brunei (a tiny country in South East Asia), and then in Holland. Throughout my childhood, my family has always been very musical; we have practiced together, performed together, and generally bonded over music. So some of the topics I'm thinking of are:

-How music affects family bonds, or how music affects the development of children

-The effectiveness and lifelong effects of being homeschooled

-Lifelong effects of living outside one's home country

All of these would be extremely interesting to look into. Researching music and development would be very useful for me as a private music teacher. I will research homeschooling extensively at some point, because I would like to homeschool my children. It would be fascinating to find out how similar my experiences have been with other expats, and to gain perspective on how much of who I am is because of having lived abroad.

But I could take a historical perspective. I have ancestors who were in the first settlements at Plymouth, and an epic poem, the Courtship of Miles Standish by Hendry Wadsworth Longfellow, was written about two of my ancestors. That could be a great jumping-off point for a historical paper on life in Plymouth, or romance in the 1600s. 

This is going to be a tough decision.

UPDATE:
For now, I'm going with the historical option. I've done some research into the story of John And Priscilla Alden (my ancestors who lived in Plymouth and feature in Longfellow's poem), and they had an extremely interesting story, at least according to the poem.
I could possibly discuss how accurate the poem is in retelling the actual story, or I could research romance in the 1600s, and how important it was. I think the second one sounds a bit more interesting.

General Conference: Why the church?

In recent years I have had many conversation with friends who are spiritual or even Christian, but don't agree with any religious institutions, or don't think that they should even exist. Often they prefer instead to come to their own conclusions about religion and develop a relationship with God on their own terms, instead of (how some see it) their spirituality being dictated by a religious institution. So I was excited to realize that Elder Christofferson was presenting his ideas on the subject.

Elder Christofferson begins by giving some history to the church and explaining how the priesthood has been bestowed on individuals through family structures and then later through religious hierarchies. And indeed, it's hard to see why a Christian who acknowledges the need for priesthood (and the Bible makes it clear that priesthood is essential) would dispute the need for organized religion. Indeed, it's hard to see why any Christian would dispute the need for a church, when Christ Himself went to great lengths to organize one when He was on the earth.

Another excellent pint that Elder Christofferson brings up is the availability of a support network that a church can provide, as well as motivation and reminder to remain spiritual. It's very easy to fall away from striving for perfection without reminders or close friends doing the same. However within the church, if we stop showing up to sacrament meeting, someone will notice and reach out to us. That being said, it's all too easy to simply go through the motions, having all the appearance of a spiritual church member but not really feeling it.

A point he brought that I think is extremely apt is the fact that the gospel is what we must become converted to, net simply the Church. It's tempting to judge a person's testimony or devotion to the gospel based on how well it appears to us that they keep their commitments or magnify their callings or complete their home teaching, when really what is important is a person's personal testimony.