Welcome, welcome. 

As always, I've learned a lot this week. I didn't really know what I was getting into when I signed up for this class. I only knew I needed it for my major. But this class is causing me to love my major even more. 

This week we discussed a little bit of culture, social class, and immigration. 
We were asked to answer this question: 
What do you think? Are all cultures equal in terms of being right and wrong, good and bad? Do we have the right to proclaim one set of values to be better than another?

I don’t think it is our place to judge another culture. We all come from different backgrounds and grow up in different circumstances. We don’t really have a right to proclaim one set of values to be better than another because we don’t walk in their shoes. What I mean by this is that we haven’t lived the same life as them. In class, we learned that culture is a sort of social group. Inside of each culture are shared arts, attitudes, and behaviors. Elder Oaks teaches us that, “This gospel culture comes from the plan of salvation, the commandments of God, and the teachings of the living prophets. To help its members all over the world, the Church teaches us to give up any personal or family traditions or practices that are contrary to this gospel culture.”

Next, we discussed some measures of social class and SES(Socioeconomic Status). Some of the measures included:

• Income
• Ancestry
• Behavior(mannerism)
• Confidence
• Recreational
• Education
• Time
• Location
• Speech
• Dress

We watched a video about Tammy and how her social class affected her family and future generations. One thing that we discussed in class was how Tammy's life could've been changed if she had a husband and her children had a father. One more person in that household could've made a huge difference; Tammy could've had a support system. Here's Tammy's story:

Thanks for reading. Families are great. I'd like to leave y'all this week with another quote from Elder Oaks:

"If we could only see above our current circumstances and know our true location on the journey to eternal life, we would realize what great progress we are making."

Have a great week. I encourage you to try to find a way to strengthen your family relationships somehow this week,because they are one of God's greatest gifts to us. 

Thanks for reading,

Karly B.