Week 4

We talked about gender specific roles. I think that mothers and fathers do or teach what they know. For example, dad did outside things. He knew how to cook, but he only did it when he wanted a specific thing or when mom was gone. Mom was the homemaker. She did the house upkeep, but she also knew how to garden, and she would help with the upkeep of the yard when she had the time. Helping outside for her was like taking a break from her everyday life. So growing up with parents that shared and were able to do most of what the other could as well taught us many things. The top half of the family is mostly boys and the bottom end are all girls. The chores whether they be "boy" or "girl" oriented, we each had the opportunity to do them. Dad had us helping on the cars with oil changes, rotating tires, or changing break pads. We learned how to edge, prune trees, mow lawns, and take care of the swamp cooler on the roof at a young age. We learned how to read recipes, cook, clean, iron, sew and many other things from mom as well. Just because the world sees them as gender specific roles doesn't mean that both genders can't do them. As a mother gets busy, a father will step in and help and vice verse. I think that it's important to know both gender specific roles, because when you lose a spouse you need to take care of all those things still. And we can also teach our children whether they be boy or girl to do the basic house upkeep and yard up keep or car maintenance when they are old enough.

Week 3

This past week we were talking about social class and economic status. We did this activity in class where we were asked to write a few words that describe your own class whether it be middle class or poor. This was a college class... He gave us a few minutes to think and write down a few words.
 [Just a little background real quick] I am from a large family of 11 children. Which meant we used it up, we wore it out, we made it do, or we did without. Two years ago this past March my mom was diagnosed with cancer, our Grampa died about a year after that, then just less than a year after that just this past January our house caught on fire. I had just gotten home from Fall semester, with all my college stuff. I lost pretty much everything.
[Now back to the class activity]
So I'm up here at college with very little.This is what my list said:
Hand-me-downs
Poor--> Fire
Scrimping
Penny pincher
I couldn't think of anything else at this point. I started looking around and I noticed that someone had written lucky. I thought about it for a minute and then added on to my list and put this as my last one. BLESSED.

I know that just by looking at me you wouldn't have known what I have been through these past few years, but just like every other person, you can't judge a book by its cover. I know that there is opposition in all things. Part of that opposition are trials. I know that we have these trials for a reason, so that we can gain a testimony of those things we already have. I know that I am BLESSED with a loving family as well as an extended family, who jumped in to help up when we had no clothes or a place to stay. I know that I am BLESSED to have all my family safe from that fire. I am BLESSED to know that I have a loving Father in Heaven that knows me personally. I am BLESSED to have the gospel in my life. I am BLESSED with so many things. And I am thankful for all the BLESSINGS I see every day in my life and for that.... I know I AM BLESSED.

Week 2

This week in class we talked about family boundaries and rules. We took half of class and talked about the unwritten rules in our families. One of the unwritten rules in my childhood home was we are not allowed to mow lawns or play outside while mom and dad are gone. We took care of mowing our lawns as well as our elderly neighbors around the age of 12. By then our parents thought we had enough common sense to not run over the garden hose, or extension cords that ran from one end of the yard to the other... little did they know that we tagged along with our older siblings to the next door neighbors to get tricked into mowing the back lawn where our parents couldn't see us. At first we thought it was fun, but as we got older and the long hot summers seemed to drag on we didn't like it so much. I remember one weekend we wanted to get the lawns done so we could have more time to play on Saturday. That Friday after school we got right to work in the back yard. Mom and dad had taken off quick when he got home from work so they could get home earlier to bed... And they did. They came home to us four girls, ages 16-10, over at our legally blind neighbors house in the front yard, mowing at dusk. They called us home, which was just across the street, and gave us a talking to. We all had no idea they left, and they had no idea we were mowing lawns. They told us not to mow or play outside while they were gone again. They said, "What would've happened if one of you needed to be run to the hospital? There is no one here to drive you anywhere." So we learned our lesson even though we didn't know we were doing the wrong thing.
Unwritten rules remind me of the rules we forget to tell our friends as we are teaching them a new game. They have no idea what they did wrong, but now they feel a bit dumb. 

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We have been commanded to multiply and replenish the earth. This week for our class we were to watch a video that discussing the fertility rate. In this video they asked people on the street what the right amount of children is to have. Each of these people answered with the same amount as they had in their family growing up, which was usually between one to three. After watching the videos we were to read the following quotes:

“There are multitudes of pure and holy spirits waiting to take tabernacles, now what is our duty?—To prepare tabernacles for them; to take a course that will not tend to drive those spirits into the families of the wicked, where they will be trained in wickedness, debauchery, and every species of crime. It is the duty of every righteous man and woman to prepare tabernacles for all the spirits they can.”
 - President Brigham Young

"You did not come on earth just to “eat, drink and be merry.” You came knowing full well your responsibilities. You came to get for yourself a mortal body that could become perfected, immortalized, and you understood that you were to act in partnership with God in providing bodies for other spirits equally anxious to come to the earth for righteous purposes. And so you will not postpone parenthood. There will be rationalists who will name to you numerous reasons for postponement. Of course, it will be harder to get your college degrees or your financial start with a family, but strength like yours will be undaunted in the face of difficult obstacles. 
“Have your family as the Lord intended. Of course it is expensive, but you will find a way, and besides, it is often those children who grow up with responsibility and hardships who carry on the world’s work. And, John and Mary, do not limit your family as the world does. I am wondering now where I might have been had my parents decided arbitrarily that one or two children would be enough, or that three or four would be all they could support, or that even five would be the limit; for I was the sixth of eleven children. Don’t think you will love the later ones less or have few material things for them. Perhaps like Jacob, you might love the eleventh one most. Young people, have your family, love them, sacrifice for them, teach them righteousness, and you will be blessed and happy all the days of your eternal lives.“
 - President Spencer W. Kimball (in an open letter to all young couples, found here in the Ensign, June 1975)

Just a little background on where I come from. I am the ninth of eleven children which is a blessing and a miracle. This is why it is a miracle. When my mom was pregnant with the second child my dad had lymphosarcoma and the doctor told them they wouldn't be able to have any more children. They prayed and asked Heavenly Father if it be right that they would be able to have as many children as He was willing to send. After that they had nine more children. I grew up in a small home that was about 1100 square feet. It had three bedrooms, and only one bathroom. We shared everything, we were really close and we each took away from that experience that family is very important not only to us but in the divine plan of things. I know that not everyone is able to have children, but I also know that those who are willing and rely on the Lord for help and guidance will be blessed to take care of the Lord's choice spirits. I know that having a family will have many learning opportunities for growth and trials. I know that it will not come easy, but it is definitely worth the time and effort.