Week 3

This week has been interesting. Alot of what I have been learning in my Family Relations class is matching up with what I have learned in my other classes that aren't even related. For example, earlier today I was reading in The Book of Mormon and I came across a scripture that I wasn't too sure what it meant. Later, I went to my Family Relations class and the scripture was clarified right before class ended. It was amazing to have that happen so quickly. The scripture I was confused about was 2 Nephi 1:6 where it is talking about the promised land and who will live there. It says that no one will come to this land (the promised land, probably the USA) unless they are brought here by the will and help of the Lord. In my family relations class, we did some role playing with the scenario of a Mexican family trying to come to the United States and the effects that has on a family. Some interesting stories came up about different experiences of this. I learned how every single family member can be effected by everything that happens to any of the family members. Anyway, the closing thought that our professor shared with us was that no one knows what people's circumstances really are. If someone is coming from a different country, you have no idea what they went through to get here or why they came. They could have been inspired of the Lord to come to a new country. Any harsh judgements you might have about them, you have no idea what it took for them to get to where they are. The family can get really messed up in stressful situations but with the Lord's help, relationships can mend and life can continue. At the beginning of this week we watched some video clips that really surprised me. They were all related to social status and the different levels that we place people on subconsciously. There was one woman in a video that lived in a trailer that was run down. She was a single mother of about four sons and she worked at Burger King. By her appearance she looked run down but she was willing to work for her family. She had to walk ten miles to get to work every day and people would yell at her from their cars and call her some naughty names. This woman was fairly satisfied with her way of life. She didn't really motivate her children to do better than her. One of her sons was different than the others. He wore nicer clothes and was ashamed of the way his family lived. He wanted a better life while his family was complacent. I couldn't help but feel bad for both the mother and her son. I was touched by this video and I wish I could help people in those situations. There were other videos that were interesting as well. One was of a woman being taught how to attract wealthy men. She looked about middle class and was having no success in finding a good man. When she learned how to dress and act like a wealthy woman she attracted wealthy men. It is interesting how our society puts labels on everyone without even realizing it. People from different social classes would get along just fine together if they didn't belong to a social class. I can't help but think of all the people we are missing out on meeting because of the barriers of social class. This week was full of things that got me thinking about how I can change my life to better include people of all kinds. The saying don't judge a book by its' cover has never before meant so much to me.