Week 7

This week we talked more about intimacy in marriage, the things that were okay and what wasn't okay, and the steps of those feelings.

It seems like we're talking about this in all of my classes. In family relations we talked about the Law of Chastity and came up with the slogan "If you misuse it, you'll lose it."

In my Juvenile Delinquency class we talked about Sex Offenders and how things like pornography or other crude material cause our frontal lobe to shrink and after that we can never get that back.

In Family Relations we talked about the line between what is acceptable before and after marriage and it made me think about all of my friends and how different our answers would be.

Week 6

This week we talked about marriages and weddings.

We talked about what a marriage is and what society says that they should be. In class it was brought up whether or not it was okay for couples to have ring ceremonies in addition to temple marriages. Someone made the comment that its as advised by the brethren not to do that, but we talked about how difficult it would be for the family of those who were getting married but were unable to be in the Temple.

There is a saying that I would like to eventually shape my future by and it says, "I want a marriage more beautiful than my wedding."

The importance of being married in the temple is very high to me, but the importance of a reception that society deems respectable isn't. The only thing that should matter from that point on is how my husband and I strive to grow together in happiness and the Gospel.

Week 5

This week we talked a lot about intimacy.

We got into our "family groups" and discussed what it means and how we become intimate with those around us.

It was a really interesting switch because half of my group was married and the other half was single. We each had different ideas, like having shared experiences, talking openly about certain things, about showing interest in the things your partner is interested in.

Something that was brought up by one of the girls in my group who is married was that as singles, we shouldn't read our scriptures, or go to the temple, or pray with someone that we are dating. I had NEVER heard that before and I was really interested to hear her reasoning.

She explained that in one of her other family classes they were taught that we sometimes confuse feeling the Spirit with feeling a prompting to stay with someone. Also, those feelings are sacred and should not be confused with anything else, like the feeling of closeness or love. As a married couple, reading scriptures and praying together will be the things that help strengthen my marriage, but for now it is important for me to do those things on my own and receive my own individual guidance from the Spirit.

We also talked about the 3 P's of dating.

1.paid for

2. paired off

3. planned ahead.

We discussed the differences between hanging out vs. dating someone and the things that hold us back from getting into serious relationships.

week 4

This week the main discussion that I can remember having was about homosexuality and the differences between men and women.

The list we made about the differences between men and women was especially entertaining to me. It is interesting how we see each other in different lights, but to be honest, while some of the other women in the class were getting upset about some of the things then men were saying, I agreed with a lot of it. While I know the strengths of a woman, I can also see how some men portray us to be "long winded" or "whiney" We have different priorities than they do and it was fascinating to see those.

The discussion about homosexuality was one that I knew would raise a lot of different opinions. However, I was surprised to see how much the same everyones thoughts were. It came down to that we are all children of God and that we need to try and see each other in the same way that our Father in Heaven sees them. We don't have to agree or support their decisions, but we do have to love them for who they are and not pass unrighteous judgment. I love all of the different perspectives from the class. It is amazing to me how many people within our church are closely related to someone who has chosen to act on their gay tendencies. I think it is good to have that balance so that we can remember to be respectful of others when we are discussing such controversial topics.