In class we talked about children.  The decision on how many children to have is between a husband, wife and the Lord.  No one should judge anyone on how many kids they choose to have or how long they wait to have children.  This is none of their business.  This is a very personal matter for the couple and the Lord to discuss.  We should never put couples on the spot about how many kids they are going to have or when they are going to have children because it's not about them.

This week we talked about getting ready for marriage.  Marriage can be a scary thing sometimes because who we marry is going to be the biggest decision that we will ever make.  We need to make sure that when we are dating that we are dating people that we would want to marry.  "You marry who you date."  This quote is very true.  We need to be the kind of person that we would want to marry.  We need to marry someone with standards and someone who is patient.  One thing that I really look for is someone who is honest.  That is one of the biggest things for me.  I need to make sure that I'm being honest so that I am worthy to marry someone that is honest.

Fathers are awesome!!  This week we talked about how awesome fathers are and their roles.  Fathers are supposed to be the providers and protectors.  The Family: A Proclamation to the World talks about roles as husbands and wives and fathers and mothers and what they are supposed to do.  Fathers are so important to have in children's lives.  My dad is so important to me.  He does so much for my family.  He works so hard and cares about his family so much.  I am grateful to him and I love him (:

Divorce is such a sad thing in our world today.  So many people are getting divorced these days.  I think a major issue as to why this is happening is because people aren't willing to work out their differences or to change.  One of the major causes of divorce is money problems.  Money should be talked about often.  Having money issues is a very stressful thing and many people don't like to talk about it or bring it up but unfortunately it's something that needs to be addressed regularly.  It's not something that can be hidden under the bush.  Talk about money and always make sure to budget!!

This week we talked about diversity.  Diversity is a beautiful thing.  It helps us get to know different cultures and brings all kinds of amazing people together.  America has many different cultures.  We should be grateful because we get to know so many different people and the way they do things.  This is a blessing for us living in America.  We have such a wonderful country.

Same sex attraction is a touchy subject.  It's not gays, or lesbians, it's "Same sex attraction".  We need to make sure that we don't judge.  That's step number one.  Not judging people will help us personally more than the person we were going to judge. We can still be friends with them and love them.  They have a weakness just like all of us.  We just have different weaknesses here on earth.

LOVE!!
This week we talked about how amazing love is.  We need to make sure that we don't confuse love for anything lustful.  Lust is a horrible thing and we need to check before we date, get engaged, get married, that we are being lustful with the other person.  Lust is from Satan.  He wants us to be lustful so that we will make mistakes. Lust is the opposite of love.  Be careful cause lust can turn into something scary.  Don't mistake lust for love!

We learned about marriage.  Marriage is such an amazing, happy thing!  But we need to realize that once your married that  life is going to be perfect and like a fairy tale because sadly it's not.  We will still have many trials when we are married.  But thankfully most of the time we don't have to go through our trials alone.  We get to go through them with our spouse.  When we are married we get to unite two people together and join lives.  We get to start families and get sealed to them for eternity.  What a beautiful thing for all of us.

In class we talked about family crisis.  We all will come across many crisis's in life and there is nothing we can really do about it.  What we can do though is react the right way.  Sometimes crisis's will tear a family apart but many times it can also bring the family closer together.  We should be grateful for crisis's because they can bring families together and help reunite us.

In class we talked about communication.  Communication is key to having a successful marriage.  It is necessary for couples to communicate.  Without good communication things will get misunderstood.  When communicating it's important to have eye contact, ask questions, and most importantly listen to what is being said.  Often times when we are in a conversation we find ourselves thinking about what we are going to say back before the other person is finished talking.  This is not good communication because then we aren't listening to the rest of what they are saying.

In class we talked about sexual intimacy.  This is a way to show unity as a couple.  This is meant for couples so that they can show each other how much they love and care for each other. Sexual intercourse is a symbol of love.  It's a sacrament because it brings us closer to God.

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass"; "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys".
Harmon Killebrew 

To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.

Barbara Bush

A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure, to provide stability.
Tom DeLay 

Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.
David Ogden Stiers