Fathers are so precious in a child's life, They have to be there to fully support them when there is a need. Children recognize when a father is present and when he is not. Life is a continue tremulous battle field and where would the family be without fathers? the example of a father is a powerful one and needs to be shown to the world as a positive influence. I am especially thankful for my husband in my life and being my stronghold to help keep me afloat when my boat is rocked by the stormy seas of life. I know that he will be my companion and best friend for all of time. I can always count on him. Im so thankful for the priesthood that he holds, it makes me so proud when he exercises that power.

This week I have felt so small compared to the universe and how I am surrounded by the marvelous miracles that happen on a daily basis. I know that my life can be made strong through adversity and trial. Things that can be difficult for me can become a strength in the eyes of my Father. I am so thankful for the sadness in my life so I can see and appreciate the goodness and happiness that I have. I can see more blessings when I see more sorrow, I know that it seems like it wouldn't work like that but honestly, I feel like I can see all that Heavenly Father can do for me. He knows me and knows how I feel. He understand my life and my heart. Like this little ant, he will empower me with he great spirit and help me to do all things that are hard.

I love how the savior knows all things and he can be such an uplifting love when we need it. I believe with my whole heart that if I do as God would have me do then I will be blessed. All of us can receive the love of the atonement and can feel the peace that comes with it.

In our class, we talked about gender roles and how men and women are very different from each other. Me and woman were created equal so that they can serve different purposes on this earth. They each do specific things to balance one another and we can't have one without the other. Men and women need each other to serve specific roles. Men provide, protect and women nurture. Dad and mom are given children to raise, to help nurture and grow.

This Week it was an amazing experience to be in a classroom that brings real world problems to the discussion. It never clicked for me that so many people have changing life experiences that can change the structure of their family. It made a huge impact on me and how I saw other families. I know that many of us can go through events in our life that test and trial, that make us break down and feel like we are running in the dark with no sense of direction. We can be worried about what will happen and how things will change, for the better or for the worst. We may start out to have the best intentions but it doesn't always happen to what we think may be the outcome. I know that these hopes and dreams that we thought could set us free, actually bind us to a new bizarre culture that we aren't use to. This molds our family differently. For example, this week we talked about a family trying to immigrant to the United States from Mexico. We discussed how difficult it would be to get enough money to just send one person ( such as the father, to test the waters). The family may think that it will only take a couple months till they can come join, but on the other hand, it takes years instead. Their whole family system is now upside down because of the changing roles of the parents and the children.

When people think of cultural, they think that there is a difference between, skin color, race, or location. But have you ever thought about cultural from your family. Most of us don't realize there is a cultural that our families have. There is a set of beliefs, or traditions that we follow as a group that some other families do not. Most of us don't realize how those traditions were set up, They simply were already there and you just follow along. Sometimes it isn't easy to recognize the rules we have set up because they aren't written down on paper, they are just established from the fact that we learned through experience. It is a quite interesting part of life.

 I am really into my class that I am taking at BYU-I, It is amazing how there are so many things that contribute to the family that I never realize are apart of it. This week we talked about how the family has different relationships and different boundaries that they perceive about themselves. We related the boundaries to fences, there needs to be a balance between how open and closed off you are. Some families have relationships that have a cinder block wall, that means it is a solid line that shows to other people that they are private and not friendly or open to other people. Another situation would be if there were no boundaries, It is too open to the outside and have no protection. People don't understand that there should be some privacy. The perfect in between is having a white picket fence. It shows to other people that there is a boundary and keeping things to the family, but it also shows there isn't a cut off of friendliness because of the spaces. I think we need to make sure our families have a good boundary around us.