What You Didn't know About The Twilight Series....

So everyone knows that The Twilight Series is written by a member of my church, the LDS church. What you most likely didn't know was that the whole series is based on a whole LOT of Mormon beliefs and I guess you could say symbolism as well.

Anwhoo, here are some interesting things about the book. One thing with us as LDS (that is our proper name, Mormon is a nickname) Youth (I am not onsidered a youth anymore even though in my head I am) we are taught that "Modest is Hottest".. even to this day as a wife and mother,I am still extremely modest, and you know what I love it. My husband also loves it, there is a lot to be said about a woman who carries herself in a modest fashion, it definitely makes you more desirable. So ladies, we keep the skrts knee length and the "GIRLS" put away!

If you look at Bella, she is a plain and simple girl. Very modest. Now Bella just like any other girl/woman temptation is real. In the book the two main characters Bella and Edward...they stare into each other’s pining eyes, wanting nothing more than to be with one another in their eternal teen crush and that temptations persist throughout the first 2 books.

Now because Edward is a vampire, Edward has a huge desire to be with his human love Bella but that want verges on the literal words of a brush that is just too close or even a kiss that lingers on too long could override his better judgment and can then trigger his animal instinct, for the unmentionable....

Bella, on the other hand totally bounces between her self-assured maturity and complete helplessness which is all in the hands of one of most amazing boys in literary history. The thing is the stakes for her are much, much higher. I have been reading and a lot of critics have pointed out, that had they had sex it would mean death for the suffering Bella, but not for the stunning and amazing Edward, after all he is already locked into immortality.

The promotion of chastity in this book, was so awesome. As I was reading, I could relate to Bella, I have been where she has been, almost every LDS teen/woman has. Meyers definitely, definitely put this new, and sexy approach to chastity and moral purity, in perspective for a lot of today's youth. Which in my opinion is desperately needed, they are bombarded everyday with nothing but sexual images. Music, clothing, t.v. I could go on and on.

Another topic in here that is a Mormon belief, is our view of the Eternal Family. Bella has a fixation on the Edward’s “eternal family.” Who could blame her? I am so thankful I have my family with me for time and all eternity. For those of us in the church when we are married in the temple, like my husband and I were, here we are bound together for all eternity. It is a sweet blessing a privilege. Eternity is a message that echoes throughout Edward and Bella’s entire relationship. One of the strongest Book of Mormon themes in the novels is "overcoming the natural man." It relates to overcoming sin through redemption.

Adam and Eve became mortal, which was, according to the Book of Mormon, the only way they could have children. It was a giving up of a mere immortality to have eternal relationships with each other, children and God. It would be a struggle to transcend human nature.

In Twilight the issue of our carnal and sinful nature was and is, is embodied and symbolized by Edward. His sole purpose in life or death is to feed off human flesh.Which would be literally carnal and carnivorous.So Edward makes the decision to reject this way of life for something better even though it is extremly difficult.

So naturally when Edward meets Bella, his choice to live a good life is put to the test. How many of us have been there? I know I have. I married to him. :0)

In the Book of Mormon it teaches that the natural person/man stands in opposition to and is in contrast with Christ there is a scripture that reads: "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father" in Mosiah 3:19.

So the "natural man" is not just limited to the wicked,but it really does applies to the human condition of alienation from God. It is a description of the absence of relationship.

In the 3rd volume the book Eclipse, Bella muses over how to describe Edward, she says:

“The word boyfriend had me chewing on the inside of my cheek with a familiar tension,” she worried. “It wasn’t the right word at all, not at all,” she searched: “I needed something more expressive of eternal commitment.”

The underscore of Edward and Bella’s relationship is their eventual agreement that if she marries him he will turn her into a vampire.Which would then allow them to live together for tim and all of eternity. Eternal marriage/family repeats as the dominant description of their relationship.In the end Bella tells Edward:

“I love you more than everything else in the world combined. Isn’t that enough?” To which Edward responds, “Yes, it is enough… Enough for forever.”

When I read that it gave me chills. That's how I feel about my sweet husband. It really and truly is a sweet gift from heavenly father to have an eternal marriage and family. Now...Moving on....

New Moon, it ends with an observation of Edward is Bella’s destiny, walking alongside her. Then in Eclipse the last line from Bella’s perspective records the moment of engagement: “He once again slid my ring into place on the third finger of my left hand. Where it would stay—conceivably for the rest of eternity.”

I LOVE that the entire series ends with the observation that they can practice their mental love for one another “forever and forever and forever” before they then get to move on to the physical intimacy that Bella describes in the last sense of the book as a “small but perfect piece of our forever.” When you become married it is something so sacred. Which is how it should be handled. I love that she incorporated this teaching into the story.

Marriage is key to our faith. It sustains the roots for a great family foundation. In our faith we are in the 1 percentile of divorces in our faith. We rank very well,I think it is because of our awesome teachings and our regard to the family. It is absolutly essential. Same as in the books, marriage is the key for Bella’s eternal life as a vampire to begin. Bella has be married to Edward before he is willing to “change” her....Now there are two reasons, from what I can see maybe more if I looked really hard.The first reason would be because Bella does not want to marry young but she does on the other hand want to be kept eternally young, so that way she can be about the same age as Edward in their immortality.

On the flip side Edward is scared that Bella is more interested in immortality than she actually is in him. So he figures he needs a bargaining tool to convince Bella to marry him, at the same time he refuses to turn Bella into a vampire until after he has turned her into Mrs. Isabella Cullen. :0) Super sweet I think!

Secondly, Bella wants both to experience the physcial intimacy as a human but still become a vampire as soon as possible this girl likes tohave her cake and eat it too, sadly for her, Edward has other plans in mind. Edward who is a self-professed traditionalist, he feels that his own virginity is the one place in his whole exsistence where he has not screwed up and that his own soul (if he still thinks he has one), is not going to be in turmoil and can show his sincere intent to saving himself for marriage. I LOVE that Edward refuses to engage in either premarital sex or premarital vampireness. They agree then that Bella will no longer be human shortly after their honeymoon.

How it all links up is this,Bella becomes immortal therefore that means the couple becomes permanent, through the act of marriage, just as the family becomes eternal through the sealing of that marriage. Same as in our faith. Bella has now become part of the Eternal family, and is now Edwards eternal companion as I am to my husband and he is to me. LOVE IT!

There are also many more themes involved within the covers of these books. There is integrity, commitment, self-sacrifice, joy, suppression of the "natural man" to achieve the "divine" blessings of eternity, loyalty, choice/accountability with those actions.

On the subject of choice and accountablity in dealing with Edward’s choice–and the willingness to choose a different way in general this is also another major theme in her books. She once said “I really think that’s the underlying metaphor of my vampires (the choices),” she says. “It doesn’t matter where you’re stuck in life or what you think you have to do; you can always choose something else. There’s always a different path.” i love that she mentions that. It is just like in life. We have choices and with all of those choices comes accountablity. In Young Womens we would say every Sunday from the time we were 12 to 18 we would say this:

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us,
and we love him. We will "stand as witnesses of God at all
times and in all things, and in all places..." as we strive
to live the Young Women Values, which are:

Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity and
Virtue

We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values,
we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep
sacred covenants, receive ordinances of the temple, and
enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

I see so much of that throught the series, it was so neat. Mostly unseen to those who are not part of our faith, but totally obvious to those of who are memebers its pretty sweet.

It truly is amazing.I feel like I am semi rambling on now, and I will wrap it up but I know people, myself included have read these books, numerous times, and cant get them out of their head, and are completly drawn to it like a magnet.I know the reasons why, I think many would love to discover that if you take the vampire part of the book, you see the stories of MILLIONS of families over the world. Real life! I think that is what makes these books amazing. I am thankful I have that opportunity, I want that same thing for everyone especially those that I love!

If you want to learn more head here www.mormon.org :0)