The Thing About Family

       We have all heard it said that communication is the key to a good relationship. It is not the only thing that you need to have a good relationship, but it is one of them. In order to work together with another person in harmony, you need to be able to communicate your thoughts, feelings, and actions. This goes for any type of relation, whether you are married, friends, or strangers. When you are in a relationship where you spend a lot of time together and make decisions together, you need to set up a way of communicating.      When I was a missionary, I was always with a companion. We were with each other all day, every day. It was sometimes difficult to get to a point where we could work well together. I had many companions, which meant there were many times that I had to find the best way to communicate with the person I was spending all of my time together. With every person, there is a slightly different way of communicating. Some of my co...

       So, this week’s post is going to be a bit different. This week I am going to be writing about waiting until marriage and marriage fidelity. I recognize that this is a bit of a controversial topic. I also recognize that I have views on this subject that may contradict that of what the world and society tell us.      Anyway, I believe that it is very important to wait until marriage to be sexually intimate. Sexual intimacy is an incredibly special thing that brings two people closer together. It creates a special bond. I believe it brings two people closer together in both body and soul. If you participate is sexual intimacy outside of marriage or just for recreation, it can be very damaging to yourself and the other person. You are creating a bond that will not be kept.      We see it in media all the time. The act of sexual intimacy is downplayed as normal and part of everyday life. Those who choose to wait until marriage are ...

       My last blog post I wrote about dating and courtship. This post is going to be the next two steps, engagement and marriage. These are topics where I, personally, have absolutely no experience with. However, I have seen others as they go through these steps.      The engagement period is a very important time to get to know each other. You are still going on dates and learning what you can about the other person. It is during this time that it is important for you and your significant other to take the time and discuss specific things. One of those things could be about expectations. What are you going to expect from your partner during marriage?      There are a lot of things that you should talk about and not just wait to see what happens when certain situations arise. It is a good idea to talk about whether you want children, and if you do, how many you want. You can discuss how much time is going to be spent with each other...

       When you look at how dating was when your parents, or even your grandparents, were young, it is vastly different from how dating is today. There was no Tinder or Mutual. Dating was only “mutual” when you met through mutual friends. Which was, actually, how it happened a lot. Back then, you met people by going out and talking to people. That, or someone you know introduced you. Nowadays, you usually meet people online.      Call me old-fashioned, but I do not use dating sites or apps because I would much rather meet someone in person and get to know them, instead of judging someone based off their initial appearance. I also feel like dating today is not taken that seriously. It is a lot more “hanging out” rather than going on dates.      In class this week, we talked about how there are four stages of dating: dating, courtship, engagement, and marriage. I really enjoyed looking at these stages, and how it is important that we g...

       What makes men and women so different? Are these differences a good thing? In today’s post, I want to point out that I am going to be talking about things that are true on average. There are some outliers and those who do not fit into the average. It just goes to show that everyone is different. We should all celebrate our differences. They make us unique.      It seems that there are certain characteristics that are generally associated with women, while there are others that are more associated with men. These characteristics help us in who we are, and I believe these distinct differences compliment each other. They help balance each other out.      Men generally have a more protective nature. They also tend to be more aggressive and active. I have four little nephews, and I enjoy watching the ways they act and interact with each other. The two that are old enough to get around on their own are highly active. It is like they...

The definition of “culture” is “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.” So how does that apply to family? Well the family is a particular group of people that have their own “customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements.” Each family has these things that are specific to their family. It is different for everyone. One thing that contributes to the family culture are rules, spoken and unspoken. We all had rules in our families. In my family, we had rules like having all our chores done before we could hang out with friends or watch television. During the summer, it was expected of us that we did 30 minutes of weeding outside in addition to our normal chores. We also had some unspoken rules as well. We always knew that if we talked back to our Mom or disrespected her, Dad would find out, and we would get in big trouble when he got home. We also had a lot of unspoken rules that had to do with our beliefs. W...