Dating

      Elder Oaks defines dating as : planned for, paired off, and payed for. This is a great definition because when you do these three points ,you should be taking care of and protecting your date. Dating is a good preparation for marriage. I know that dating a variety of people is the best way to know who you should marry. Going on a variety of dates with the same person is good to see the person you are dating in different situations. They might be a certain way in one situation but completely different in another situation. These three points will also help in marriage. "The Family, A Proclamation to the World" gives three points that fathers are to Preside, Provide, and Protect. These go along well with the three points of dating. As guys plan for dates they learn to take responsibility, and use leadership skills which will help them in their marriage. As guys pay for dates they will learn to provide for another person besides themselves. Pairing off helps guys prepare to protect another person, especially their wife. Dating is good and I think can really help a marriage.

Same - Sex Attractions

    It was very interesting to learn about same - sex attractions. I always thought that when people were attracted to the same sex that it was a biological thing. It makes sense that it usually their experiences that lead them to be attracted to the same gender. We talked a lot about how men can become attracted to other men. They usually don't fit in with the other guys at school and feel more comfortable around the girls. Guys may start to make fun of them and they start to perceive that they really are different. Sometimes they don't have a connection with a parent and they don't feel that love and affection. A lot of these men when they were younger were sexually molested. That is usually the time when they think of themselves as gay. They are attracted to that because someone cares about them and they like the physical affection that they receive because they may not be getting it at home. It was also really interesting to learn that there are counselors that can help a person recognize what they are doing and help them change. I think it is a wonderful thing because they can truly be happy when they have gone through this change and start to like girls instead of guys. Some people may say it is impossible to change this behavior but I don't believe so. It may be harder for one more then another. I guess it really depends on how much they want to change. I really enjoyed talking about this because before this class I really didn't understand what went on and how people became attracted to the same - sex.

Social Class and Cultural Diversity

      This week we have dived into class and culture. First, to understand and learn about class and culture, we need to know what those terms mean. The definition of social class is: "people having the same social, economic or educational status." The definition of culture is: "the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time." It was really interesting to watch videos on different social classes. I think with social classes it is a type of mindset. Once you get comfortable in one of the areas on the social scale, you don't want to leave and sometimes you start to perceive the other social classes as a certain way. With culture I really think it is something that you believe and live. With culture I feel that it is something that someone feels and lives. While with class I feel it is more in the mind. That it is just a role that has to be played in order to fit in.

General Coference

I loved listening to General Conference last weekend. I was quite surprised that they focused on the family so much. Many of the talks that were given mentioned family at least once. It makes sense though because family is central to this gospel. Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a great talk. He mentioned many of the trends that were talked about in my class. You are welcome to listen or to watch it here: Dallin H. Oaks.

Alma 43:47

   I was reading in the Book of Mormon about family and I really like this verse. It is in Alma 43:47:   
   "And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall defend your families even unto bloodshed. Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion."
    I think it is great to look back and see that thousands of years ago the people were told by the Lord to defend their families. I don't think it is any different today. Now a days we don't have to necessarily defend our families "even unto bloodshed". Satan has found other ways to weaken our families. We need to stand strong and not be afraid to stand up for our beliefs. There is a good talk by Elder Nelson from the quorum of the twelve apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints, he talks about the importance of marriage and children. Elder Nelson's talk. Well, that's it... I just wanted to say I know that families are important in the grand scheme of things and if we can't see it now, maybe we should take a step back before we make a decision that affects the family.

Family Theories

   This week we focused more on family theories. Family theories are made to explain and help others to better understand what can happen within the family. The four theories that we focused on were Systems theory, Exchange theory, Symbolic Interaction theory, and Conflict theory.
   With Systems theory each person plays a role. If one person is acting up, it affects the whole family. Subsystems can happen in this theory if there are three or more people. Sometimes a child is closer with either their mom or the dad. Those two create a subsystem and support each other while the other that is not part of that system feels like they do not belong and sometimes they do not know what to do in order to belong.  
   The Exchange theory is easy to explain. It is where the costs need to equal the benefits. Costs are things like time, energy, or money. In a relationship if someone is giving, say, a lot of there energy and time to clean the home, make dinner, and other time consuming things and the other person does not give back anything, then it can lead to stress in the relationship. Sometimes if the person is giving so much but is not receiving anything in return the relationship can break. I think there should be a balance. Some people love to give and serve other people, but I think it is emotionally exhausting if they don't get at least a little in return.
   The third system that was talked about was the Symbolic Interaction theory. In this theory, every behavior has a meaning. In some relationships one person can see someones behavior as offending whereas the other person is trying hard to help them. Sometimes it takes a third person to help them understand these behaviors.
   The last theory is the Conflict theory. In this theory there are limited resources. There are two types of groups; social class and gender. With social class, the higher your class the more resources are available. With gender men can seem like they have more resources because they have and sometimes make more money. Sometimes men will feel like they have to have the last say in a discussion because they are the ones that are making and bringing home the money. This can definitely create conflict in the home.
   Usually,  I think, there is a combination of these theories in most of our homes. Some are just more extreme then others.