Week Twelve.

I was really surprised by the divorce rate happening at BYU-Idaho. It's shocking to think that marriage is falling apart even within the church. Divorce is an emotionally exhausting experience. I feel bad for any couple that has to go through that event in their lives. Divorce is hard on the whole family. Children adjust to a divorce better if the parents decide to remain cordial to one another. Divorce is happening more and more in this world. I'm getting married this week and I will always strive to keep the love alive with my spouse. I will be selfless. I will always try my best to put him first. I will always strive to be the best person that I can be. I know that forgiveness and repentance will need to be apart of my life even more when I am married. Feelings get hurt easily, but through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can learn to forgive and forget and move on. It may take time sometimes, but I know that it will be worth it. It will be worth it if I work for it. Nothing comes easy. It's by hard work that great things happen.

Week Eleven.

The purpose of parenting is to raise children in love, righteousness, and truth. Parents are rising children of God. Parents and children are affected by parenting. Depending on how the parent raises the child, the child can be affected forever. Parents have and leave a lasting impression. I think to better understand God, we become parents. I definitely think that God is an authoritative parent. He is active in the raising of the child. I think that authoritative parent is the best parent to be. They demand and they respond. There is just the right amount of love within an authoritative parent. Just how Heavenly Father expects a lot out of us, he loves us just the same when we fail. God sent his Son so that we could have the atonement and become perfected through Christ. As a parent we need to be willing to give second chances, but also teach our children right from wrong. Being a parent is a huge responsibility but I think there will be so much happiness from being a parent and raising children.

Week Ten.

I really liked learning about "One for the Money" this week. I am really going to try and apply those principles into my life. I will be getting married in three weeks and I know we will be using this handbook a ton in our home. Right after we get married, we are going to start a budget to see how much we will be spending each month. Both of us are working and going to school full time and I know money will be tight. But what a blessing we have to have this manual! I know that by paying our tithing first that we will be blessed. I always pay my tithing and I know that my fiance does at well. I know that we both have a testimony of it and we will be able to blessed from it in our married life. I also want to use the debt eliminator. I've been blessed to stay out of debt, but I know that my fiance has some student loans. I hope that we will be able to apply what I learned in class and start using it in our home.

Week Nine.

I'm so excited to use the council method in my life. I really do think that it will be such a blessing. I'm excited to be able to have family councils and even spouse council in my life. I honestly know that it will help my family in so many ways. I think it is so important that family councils start with a prayer. What a great opportunity to invite the spirit to be with you. I also love that within the council method that every person gets a say in the matter. I think it's so important for each family member to be able to have a voice and an opinion on the matter. Each person needs the opportunity to speak. I also love that after everyone discusses the matter that another prayers should be given. So that we can now speak with our Heavenly Father and ask for his approval. I know that the council method is from God and that this is how he would want things done within our families and the church.

Week Eight.

Crisis will always occur. There will be moments in our lives when tragic moments will happen. It is what we do with these events that makes the difference. In a family setting, the family can either rely on each other or be pulled apart. I would hope that in my family when sometimes tragic happens, that my family will be able to pull together and become closer. I hope that we will be able to show our love for one another in troubling times. I hope that we will be able to call upon God for his help, assistance, and patience in our trials. I know that it is through our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that we will be able to get through anything. We will not be handed anything we can't handle. I think a lot of our situations depends on our attitudes. Sometimes we just need to see things as a blessing instead of a curse.

Week Seven.

Infidelity is such a huge problem these days. I've seen it occur in my family, my fiance's family, friends' parents, people in my ward. It's become a problem within and out of the church. Because my finance' and I have both witnessed infidelity within our families, we have talked a lot about loyalty to one another. We have talked about facebook and texting other people. We have made a promise that we will never say anything ill about one another to friends or family. We will confide in each other, and not family or best friends. We both have made promises to be faithful forever. We have promised to never cross any boundaries. I especially feel that facebook can be a huge hang up for couples. Rob and I have talked about facebook and what type of influence it will have on our relationship. We have set guidelines and rules to follow. I've heard and seen so many families be town apart because of facebook. What a silly little thing to get hung up on. Because Rob and I have set these rules, I know it will bless our relationship.

Week Six.

I really enjoyed class this week. We talked about the adjustments that marriage entail. I am engaged now, and I will be getting married April 7th. Marriage is going to be a HUGE adjustment. In class we talked about what those adjustments might be. Some of those were: going grocery shopping for two, waking up to someone next to you, dealing with in laws, being with someone all the time. But something that I realized is, if I prepare now for those adjustments, it won't be as big as a shocker hopefully. Right now, my fiance' and myself go grocery shopping together,we make and eat lunch and dinner together everyday, we read our scriptures together daily. We're really trying to transfer into marriage as easy as possible by developing habits now, instead of later. Of course there are so many new things I will be exposed to when I get married and I can't even imagine what all of those things will be and I won't be able to prepare for all of them, but by doing little things now that will prepare me for marriage, I can be ahead of the game. I'm so grateful for a a fiance' who wants to practice principles that will pass over into marriage.