Las Cosas Demas

It's hard for me to believe that in just over a month I will be living in rural Mexico. Wow. So for this journal entry I just want to ponder a little bit about the things that I still need to do before I leave on my trip.

First off I need to focus on my research.  There are a few things that I need to get done before I go.  I need to talk to Fernando Gomez at the Mexican Mormon History Museum to get a better idea of how the church first got to Central Mexico, and then to the city of Irapuato.  I also have been talking with my mentor, Mark, about taking a trip up to Salt Lake to look into the official LDS Church archives to get some names and dates of the original members of the church in Irapuato and the time of their conversion.

I also need to work with Mark and with whoever my new contract mentor will be for the cultural proofs class.  I need to discuss with them more about the actual course work that I will be doing in the field.  I also need to set a firmer reading agenda for the classes.  Right now I have three books that I think will work for my Academic Internship class reading, one is about Church History in Mexico, another is Octavio Paz's "Labyrinth of Solitude" about what it means to be Mexican, and a third is about translation between Spanish and English. I will need to verify these texts with Mark, and find probably 1 or 2 more books in order to fill the classes page requirement.

I will also need to prepare for the international travel part of the trip.  This will include completing the Kennedy Center Proposal for my prep course, as well as doing the routine pre-trip preparation such as doctor's visits and shopping for supplies.  I will need to be sure that I am prepared for daily life in the field, for all things necessary for completing my project, and for any medical emergencies or preparation/prevention strategies and materials that I may need.

Overall, it should be a great trip!

Benjamin

Interview Method Practice and Language Acquisition

This morning I interviewed my roommate, Gordy, about his mission.  I wasn't going to find anybody to interview about the history of the church in Irapuato, Mexico, so I figured that because he served in Samara, Russia, that was the next best thing... right?

Luckily I did find some correlation to my project.  While I was learning about missionary work in Russia, Gordy brought up language study, which is something that I didn't have to do on my mission.  In response to my questions he explained the difference between a good language study plan and a bad one.

A bad language study plan errs very close to not having a language study plan at all.  For a little while on his mission he said he would just read the scriptures in Russian and, though it helped a little, there is only so much you can learn from this approach.  It is important to try lots of different approaches.  As he taught me, "you are going to speak the language about 5,000 more times than you will read or write it," so it is very important to incorporate that usage of speech into your language study plan.

Some of the things that he found effective, that I want to try not only while in the field but as I study the language before hand, include activities that he would do throughout the day.  For instance, if he was talking with someone and he heard a word he didn't understand, he would write it down to look up later.  Also, if he was trying to communicate something but didn't have the right vocabulary or grammar structure in the moment, then he would be sure to make note of that and learn how to correctly say that at a later time.

As language acquisition is one of the main focuses of my field study, I am very grateful for these methodological insights into language study plans.  I feel that this interview/methods practice proved more helpful than I originally thought it would be.

¡Chido!

Unofficial Interview Questions

Here are a few questions that I might use while interviewing members of the church in Irapuato, Mexcio. Mark Grover has his own interview rubric that I will be using, but these questions will help give me a general idea while I am waiting to talk with him.

1. Who were the members of the church when you were first baptized?

¿Quienes son los miembros de la iglesia cuando se bautizó usted?

2. Do you remember who had joined the church around the same time as you did?

¿Usted puede recordar a quienes la unieron a la iglesia acerca de usted?

3. Do you remember the names of the missionaries that taught you?

¿Usted puede recordar los nombres de los misionaros que le enseñaba?

4. What challenges did you experience while you were preparing for baptism?

¿Cuales retos tenía usted cuando estaba preparando para el bautismo?

5. What challenges did you experience after you were baptized?

¿Cuales retos tenía usted después de bautizarse?

6. Who strengthened you the most as a new member of the church?

¿Quien le ayudaba la más cuando era usted un miembro nuevo?

7. How big was the church in Irapuato when you were baptized?

¿Cuantos miembros tenía la iglesia aquí en Irapuato cuando se bautizó usted?

8. What first brought you the church?

¿Que cosa le gustaba más a usted cuando conoció a la iglesia?

9. How much time was there between when you met the missionaries and when you were baptized?

¿Cuanto tiempo hace el momento de conocer a los misionaros, y se bautizó usted?

10. Would you mind telling me the story of how you came to know the church was true?

¿Usted puede contarme la historia del momento en que supo que la iglesia es verdad?

11. Have you had any experiences in helping others come into the church?

¿Usted ha tenido algunas experiencias de ayudarse a otras personas para que se unieran a la iglesia?

12. What did the missionaries do that most helped to strengthen your testimony?

¿Que cosa, que hicieron los misionaros, le ayudaba más a usted para fortalecer su testimonio?

13. In general, was your life like before you came to know of the church?

¿En general, como era su vida antes de conocer la iglesia?

14. What changes in your life have you experienced since joining the church?

¿Cuales cambios ha visto usted en la vida desde se unió a la iglesia?

15. Do you have any further experiences that you would like to share with me?

¿Tiene usted algunas experiencias más que le gustaría compartirme?

Statement of Intent

I will collect and compile historical data and short stories concerning the beginnings of the LDS community within Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. I will then write a history of the LDS church within that area that I will submit for publication in the BYU Studies Journal. If time permits I hope to write a simplified version of this history in Spanish as a gift to the members in that area. It will be on display at the History of Mormons in Mexico Museum in Mexico City.

I hope that through the conducting of interviews and other oral research that I complete in the field that I will enhance my skills with the Spanish language. This immersion into the Spanish and Mexican culture will hopefully provide me with such skills, which will come in useful to me in my career as a high school teacher.

My purpose in this field study is to discover the cultural, spiritual, and historical significance of the historical experiences of the early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints within the area of Irapuato, Guanajuato Mexico, and to discover what affect this history has upon the current members of the church in that area. This will bring a sense of unity to the current members within Irapuato, and will provide an academic look into a particular part of Mexican history.