I was reading over the missionary blogs I follow this morning and came across some deep thought by one missionary serving in Guatemala. He wondered what was wrong with Mormon girls, all caught up in the Edward Cullen hype. He had overheard two girls, possibly his sisters, wondering why a guy can't be more like Edward (from the Twilight series). He listed his four reasons, that he is "a cold sick Vampire", that he isn't LDS, that he wasn't real, and then said "do I even need a number 4? Why don't girls just go read the Book of Mormon? They can read about REAL guys that are awesome.." He went on to compare Edward and Captain Moroni. He wondered who would win a fight between the two.
This all made me start thinking about the girls in Mormonville, or the Mormon Happy Valley, Utah Valley. Why do girls think for a moment that they don't deserve the best? When I taught Young Women's we had numerous lessons on the girls being of royal birth, of being worth something. Why then do they not get it? Why is the bad boy so attractive? Why is the "popular crowd" so sought after when they are not living the standards of the Gospel? My daughter tells me a lot about what the members of the Church are doing at school, and it really makes me feel bad for them. I wonder why they can act the way they do when they have been given such a gift? And I wonder sometimes if the parents are clueless or if they just don't know how to handle it. We need to be very careful who our kids are hanging out with, and yet we have to give them agency also. It is tough being a parent, especially with make believe families like the Cullens out there, and books and movies written by an LDS author that are really not what the Lord or the Prophet would want our kids reading.
Guess, I better go read my Book of Mormon. My daughter is looking to me to be her example, not the Cullens.
