Earlier letters on the Twilight saga can be found here. Article on Stephenie Meyer can be found here.

You know, I read the detractors' emails last night with a bit of sadness. There was some truth to what was said, but also a lot of ignorance- mainly from those that hadn't read the books. I am one of those adults who got swept off my feet by Meyer's deep, moralistic vampires. And I'm not a fan of the vampire genre by any stretch of the imagination, or teen romances either- not even when I was one. However, her take on these traditionally dark and evil creatures is one that should give readers pause for understanding . I found many gospel messages interwoven in these stories, perhaps the most striking is that of "Divine Nature," followed strongly by "Choice and Accountability."

Meyer's central vampire family, the Cullens, is made up of individuals, none of whom chose to become vampires, but did find they had a choice in overcoming their intrinsic nature to kill human life in order to further their own. The lessons learned and taught by the "father" of this clan, Carlisle Cullen, is one of reverence for human life and maintaining a hold on humanity, even when his very nature screams for him to do otherwise. I think that is a lesson we can all relate to, as it is the very reason we are here: to learn to put off the natural man in order to receive greater rewards than those that come by indulging in momentary pleasures.

As for our heroine, Bella Swan, if she is guilty of anything, it is being fraught with human nature! Like all of us she has her failings, her teen-aged hormones- which I think many people forget they ever had- and confused actions that pull her to and away from her blood-related family. Still, she recognizes choice as a key factor in her motivations. She, like most of us at one time or another, battles with what she thinks is right versus what she feels is wrong. No, not all of her choices are ones I would condone as a parent, but I am not yet so old I don't remember similar struggles when I was seventeen. I made some bad choices, just as Bella, but thank goodness our Heavenly Father loves us enough to forgive us, not just stand and shake his finger at us. Bella struggles.

We all struggle. Nature, given us by our loving God, is powerful, and sometimes we need a little redirection, a little help. She had that in her love, Edward, and the influence of his family. We also see in her a young woman who did not have strong parental or religious influences growing up; she was the parent in many ways. But she still had a fair sense of right and wrong, of self-sacrifice, of service and of love- not too bad for a seventeen year old left to find her own way.

Edward, too, fights his nature in order to to love and protect this fragile, delicate girl who has not yet discovered all of her great potential. At one point, he leaves to save her, but finds himself too weak to survive without her. In the end, Bella is the one who has to save him from himself, and their relationship grows into a more equal partnering through its challenges. Don't all good relationships go through changes and difficulties in order to mature? Not everyone gets to "happily ever after" automatically, blessed by a temple sealing or not. Their struggles, as they find ways to accommodate one another, to compromise to make each other, and yet themselves, happy, to find a way to do more than just love, are very real- and are a type for most relationships...good ones aren't easy! The youth will do well to understand that.

The argument regarding Bella's aversion to marriage when we are urged to do otherwise does not extend any understanding to the individual life and influences that had surrounded her since birth... you'll just have to read the books to have a clearer understanding of that. There are those of us here on earth and in the Lord's church that are hesitant about marriage, or like me, bearing children. "Just do it" isn't always the most helpful of instruction when people have real difficulties in their past that give them pause on these issues.

Most of us eventually overcome these problems and move forward with both marriage and children. Some of us make pretty crummy partners and parents, others are better prepared for having waited a bit. I know I for one am an exponentially better parent for having waited until twenty eight to have my first, than I would have been at nineteen. But you know what? That decision was between me, my spouse, and God. Everyone has to make those decisions prayerfully, not arbitrarily.

Back to Bella, she is if you will note, not yet twenty, not everyone is ready and prepared to make weighty choices at that age. Give the kid a break! She is so adult in some ways, but in others she's still maturing. She does after all, marry dear Edward and realize her fears were ridiculous- their marriage a blessing. As for those that see her display of hormones, both before and after taking her marriage vows, as yet another issue- was I the only one excited for their wedding night? I seriously doubt that! Those hormones, by the way, were given us for a reason: procreation. Without them, I doubt procreation would happen on its own!

Regarding concerns about teens reading these books and getting all hot and flustered, I wonder if their mothers are aware of all the books out there directed to their girls? Books that don't stop at descriptions of simple kisses or embraces. Books that don't "pull their punches." Books that overtly condone abject immorality. Are they reading these with their girls, or even aware if these materials, most likely widely available in the school library, are being read in secret?

Twilight can and should be used as a spring board to conversations with their kids to prepare them for what that rush of nature may feel like when they meet that boy that will spin their head or clutch their heart strings. If moms don't use these books in that manner, then they are missing a great opportunity to arm their girls with knowledge. As a teenager, I would have appreciated a little warning about the force of those procreating hormones. It would have been nice to understand my "enemy" a bit better. "Just say no" is very difficult when everything instead is screaming "yes!"

Bella may not have had a clue about the importance of this control, but Edward did. Don't discount that fact lightly. His control and his reasoning behind it is a key point in this series. It hit home to me in a way "A Time to Love" did for so many in the mid 80s. I loved the idea of one respondent last night that mentioned reading these books out loud with their girls, and selecting the spots to skip over. I agree! Especially with "Breaking Dawn," the last installment in Bella's and Edward's tale. Girls that have read the previous three will want to know how it ends, but their marriage does ratchet up the physical contact a bit- reading together for younger readers would be a great compromise to making them wait until they are eighteen to read the conclusion!

Finally, for those that would condemn Stephenie Meyer, please keep in mind, she is an author who happens to be LDS, writing about everyday, non-lds characters, in a non-LDS genre. If these were LDS characters acting in the manner that has shocked so many, I might be more upset. As it is, I see these characters as good examples of morality in an immoral world, a world that is pushing them in one direction, but they are pushing back emphatically saying, "Your way does not have to be my way; I can choose to find a better way."