Post #12

This week we talked about divorce and blended families. It was kind of a hard subject for me to get into. I feel like it is always so sad. After looking back I realized there are a lot of really good and faithful people that get divorced. Some things you just don’t count on them happening to you in life. But sometimes we can learn so much from those hard experiences and even come out better than we thought we would. This reminds me of a quote I just recently heard from President Utchdorf. He says, “The heavens will not be filled with those who never made mistakes.” We can to this life to learn and to gain experience. None of us are perfect. That is why it is so amazing that our Heavenly Father has prepared a way. He provided a Savior for us to rely on when we make mistakes. We can repent and be clean once more. 

Post #11

This week we have been talking about parenting. This was great because I have also been taking a parenting class this semester. Some of the purposes of parenting are to gain experience, give those children experience, teach them the gospel, learn to love, and ultimately become like our Heavenly Father. What an amazing and challenging opportunity our Heavenly Father has given us. I hope I am ready for it. Some of the things I have learned for parents to do are give polite requests, coaching, encouragement, support, and natural and logical consequences. I love this quote by sister Cheryl A. Esplin. She says, "Raising our children is a much greater responsibility than we can do alone without the Lord’s help. He knows exactly what our children need to know, what they need to do, and what they need to be to come back into His presence. He gives mothers and fathers specific instruction and guidance through the scriptures, His prophets, and the Holy Ghost."I think this is the greatest tool we have as parents to raise these children from our Heavenly Father.

Post #10

I enjoyed learning about family work this week. I never realized how many opportunities there are to teach your children and build a better relationship with them. I love this idea about working along side your children. I know I was always more willing to help out with something when my mom or dad wanted to pitch in as well. It is also interesting to know that mundane work creates a deep connection and conversation with the people who are with you. D. Todd Christofferson said this about work. "Hard-earned achievement brings a sense of self-worth. Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God. A consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, aspires."

Post #9

I learned so much during Friday's class. It was exactly what I was looking for and needed. My husband and I have another big decision to make concerning where we are going to work this summer. I am also 19 weeks pregnant and will be having the baby towards the end of the summer. For me, this decision was more important than other ones in the past. Usually when I would ask the Lord about something, I would just go ahead with it as long and I didn't feel anything bad. This time I have a real desire to know what the Lord thinks is best. When the Brethren come to a consensus, they move forward in full force and they feel good about it. As of now I don't feel good about either choice of mine. I can't see the benefit for me if we go this way or the other. By the end of class I realized what I wanted and needed to do in order to get my answer. I need to tell Heavenly Father all my thoughts, feelings, and concerns. Then tell Him, I don't care what the answer is, I just want to feel confident that it is the right choice so I can move forward with full force. I need His help to change my heart and feel the Spirit. I am so grateful I now understand this better. I know what as I include the Lord, He will help me to enjoy and grow from this summer's experience.

Post #8

 In trying to cope during crisis, three things stood out to me. First be diligent in the “small things,” keep an eternal perspective, and find the happiness in each day. As we do this, our testimony will remain strong and gain an even greater foundation in the Lord Jesus Christ. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught, “Let us resolve to follow the Savior and work with diligence to become the person we were designed to become. Let us listen to and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. As we do so, Heavenly Father will reveal to us things we never knew about ourselves. He will illuminate the path ahead and open our eyes to see our unknown and perhaps unimagined talents.” He also goes on to say, “Let us resolve to be happy, regardless of our circumstances.” This gives me so much hope in my future.

Post #7

The conclusion I was able to make over the discussions of marital intimacy was that it takes cooperation, work, sacrifice, patience, and joy. Our Heavenly Father did all of that on purpose. He designed our bodies to be different so we could learn those Christlike qualities. He gave us the opportunity to grow and progress. He also gave us the Law of Chastity so that we could have a connection on every level with our spouse. How amazing is that?! I say this all the time but it is true. Our Heavenly Father has provided everything we need to know and do in order to return to live with Him again. To me that shows His incredible amount of love He has for us. All we have to do is follow Him.

Post #6

I loved Friday's discussion! I have often thought and worried about how my marriage could change after we have our family. It was a huge comfort to me to know that it doesn't have to suffer. I was excited to be able to share these things with my husband. The whole reason why marriage satisfaction goes down is because of perception  vs. reality. It is just another way that Satan tries to destroy the family. When we are tired from a long and stressful day, we are more likely to perceive things negative about our spouse. For example unequal work load. That results in resentfulness and withdraw. Instead we need to understand that life is hard to both spouses. Both are working hard to strengthen the family and no role is greater than the other. Something that I try to do that helps my husband is I am excited when he comes home from work and I greet him at the door. By taking that small moment of time together it lets the other person know that they are important and are appreciated. I am so grateful for the things I am learning is this class. I know that it has made a difference in myself that will hopefully benefit my family. I'm so grateful for the gospel and how we get the opportunity to have strong and loving families.

Post #5

I really liked our discussion on dating. It reminded me a lot of when I was dating my husband. It was interesting to see the connections between protect, provide, and preside and paid for, planned, and paired off. It is amazing to see how we can practice our new roles and responsibilities while we are dating. Protect goes along with being paired off. Provide goes along with the date being paid for, and preside goes along with being planned. And in all those things I can be nurturing. Our Heavenly Father really has provided the way in every aspect of our lives. He is always there watching over us. He cares about the things we care about. "Because He came to earth, we have a perfect example to follow. As we strive to become more like Him, we will have joy and happiness in our lives and peace each day of the year. It is His example which, if followed, stirs within us more kindness and love, more respect and concern for others."

—Thomas S. Monson

Post #4

I have enjoyed this week so much. I have loved all the discussions. One thing that I thought was very interesting was when we were talking about how children model their parents. I never realized that little girls watch what they will be doing in life from the time they are born. I think that is so wonderful. I think it helped me to have a deep desire to be a mother as well because it is what I am comfortable doing and that I love. I also liked learning about same sex attraction. I have so much more compassion for those people. I thought it was so interesting that at two different time I told my husband all about what we discovered in class as well as my parents. I know it made my parents think more deeply about their parenting and about the messages we are sending our children. I love this class and hope to be able to learn more to make my family an eternal one.

Post #3

"[The] gospel culture, or way of life, comes from the plan of salvation, the commandments of God, and the teachings of living prophets. It is given expression in the way we raise our families and live our individual lives." —L. Tom Perry. Since I have been married I have seen how the gospel culture has become the only way to raise a faithful family. I have learned so much about the gospel in the past year. I think when we are young we don't take the gospel as seriously as we should. Not reading our scriptures for a couple day seems to be no big deal, but I think as you get older you begin to understand how real our Heavenly Father is. I am grateful for the testimony that I have. I'm glad that our Heavenly Father has given us the opportunity to become like Him and have eternal families. I love the gospel culture and know that by living it I can obtain true happiness. 

Post #2

I absolutely loved class on Friday. I was completely hooked! It was so fascinating to watch how the "family" shared their feelings. I thought a lot about my own family and some of the challenges we have faced. My sister has isolated herself from everything and now I can kind of understand what might be going on in her head. It's really hard, but we are working on being apart of each other's lives again. I really liked it when we were talking about how sometimes we would rather talk with our Mom or friends when we have a problem instead of our spouse. Bro. Williams said, "It's hard. It's not natural. It's divine." That helped me to remember how we were put on this earth to practice being like our Savior. "As we follow [the Savior], He blesses us with gifts, talents, and the strength to do His will, allowing us to go beyond our comfort zones and do things we’ve never before thought possible." —Robert D. Hales

Post # 1

I really like our discussion about Fertility this week. I love it when I learn something new and see how Heavenly Father prepared and planned for that event to happen on Earth. He knew that this would happen, but He has always told us of how important families are. It just builds my testimony of His love for each of us and how He truly wants all of us to return to live with Him again. After our discussion I was able to share what I learned with my family. Now I understand so much more of my responsibility to have children and to teach them the gospel. In Elder Andersen's Oct. 2011 General Conference talk titled "Children" he says, "My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children. She commented: “[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.” She then adds: “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”