Personal Stories Catalog - Ally Miyazaki

1. The story of me getting grounded for two weeks over a donut [childhood story, family story].  I tell this story to people to illustrate how stubborn my dad was when I was growing up.
2. The story of my seven trips to the ER and when the EMTs came to my apartment [injury story, childhood story, adventure story].  I tell this to people to give them a heads up to how injury-prone I am and to relish in my crazy antics.
3. The story of when my mom convinced me to buy a pair of leggings I didn't like [advice story, growing up story].  I tell this to encourage others to be their own person and have their own style regardless of the opinions of others.
4. The story of how I tried out for the Folk Dance team and actually got on [college story, growing up story, dance story].  This is how I let people know I'm on the Folk Dance team, and how I try to convince them to let me teach them my favorite Israeli dance.
5. The story of Maple Canyon and almost dying but praying my way out of it [miracle story, prayer story, adventure story].  I use this one to draw an analogy between praying when we need help, but also making sure we are careful about the situations we put ourselves in.
6. The story about choosing to reject my mission call [advice story, religion story, choices story].  I tell this one to those with difficult decisions to make, and to emphasize how sometimes God's path for us is curvy, and how "strait" doesn't mean "straight."
7. The story about falling flat on my face in front of everyone [embarrassing story, dance story].  I get to make people laugh with this one, and make them feel more comfortable about their own shortcomings.
8. The story of receiving an incredible gift from a new friend in another country [friend story, travel story, kindness story].  This story illustrates the kindness of humble almost-strangers around the world.
9. The story of my reactivation to the Church as a teenager [religion story, growing up story].  I tell this to either explain to people a little more about why I am the way I am, as well as the attributes and love from others involved in reactivation.
10. The story of once making up a story and now having to remind myself it actually didn't happen [story story, embarrassing story, growing up story].  To show people that if a fictional story can convince even the teller that it was true, stories must be quite powerful.