Finances

This week we talked about finances and the class discussion became very interesting to me. One girl was talking about how her family went out to eat multiple times in one week to make the move they had just made to a new state more fun. At the end of the week the father sat them all down and told them how much they had spent, and concluded that it could have bought them two tickets to Disney Land. What she said next was what I thought was the most interesting. It taught us the value of how we can either have something good now or save up for something great later.
This theme of saving for something great is seen all though out our lives, with our appetites and passions, with parenting skills with everything. The sooner it is learned, practiced and mastered, the sooner we become masters of our life.
Finances is just one of the ways to teach us how to bridal our passions, and what an effective way it is! Because we see our consequences right away and we know that we can hide from those consequence by going into debt, but they will always come back to haunt us. Another interesting thing on the positive side of finances is that living within our means gives us peace. Peace is not really described as a "rush" but just something that is there. This is the same with life as we bridal our  passions we are mostly just given a lasting peace.
This is important for us to learn because its just the fact of life. No bells or whistles no prizes really for being responsible just peace. But I think all of us that posses peace or have and are now missing it know the true value of peace is great.

"We'll be ok, if we use it."

"We'll be ok if we use it" Was the closing remark to me from my teacher at the end of this weeks discussion. What did he mean by that? Well it was a response to my comment of a scripture that was flipped quote by a lady in the church Relief Society Presidency. The scripture is to much is given much is required. She then flipped it and said; to whom much is required much is given. But we need to use what has been given to us.
So what resources have been given to these families that are asked to be stable in such an unstable world. Many of these we talked about this week. The most important key is creating a stable marriage to build a stable family upon. This can be done through correct communication. Many of these correct communications are taught through the scriptures.

Ephesians 4:29

• New Testament

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 

This is one of many scriptures we dissected in class this week. We talked about each word and what it meant. The word that stuck out to me the most however was the word corrupt. Our teacher asked us what came to our mind when we saw that word. What came to mine was when talking about the apostasy, how when Christ was crucified and his apostles we're killed the authority to run His church was taken from the earth, and what was left was corrupt. 

My class mates said other things that they thought of with the word corrupt communicating, one stating; sarcasm. Now I just got back from one of my sisters houses and she was saying the whole weekend how her family has come to be fluid speakers in the language of sarcasm. To prove her point she said how her autistic daughter who is not made to understand sarcasm can even understand it because thats the language she was brought up on. Now I'm not pointing fingers at my sister and her family because to be honest sarcasm is a form of corrupt communication that we are all quite fluent in, in our society today.

After this was mentioned I started to make a connection between the apostasy and corrupt communication of today. Many people know nothing about the fact that Christ's church was ever lost from the earth, therefore they don't find it too interesting when we tell them the good news of it being restored. Well, many people do not know the damages of some of the corrupt communications that are going on, because everyone speaks it fluently. It is our job to be examples of CORRECT communication. Help people see that this communication can be restored along with marriages. 

The second scripture we discussed was; 

D&C 121:43

• Doctrine and Covenants

Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; 

This scripture was so fun to brake down, but since it took a good chunk of time ill just share my two favorite words from it; Betimes and Sharpness. 
Betimes: Seasonally. Our teacher asked what if you pruned a tree in the wrong season. Answer: it would either not bring forth fruit or die all together. When we Reprove we need to do it at the right time and for the right reason or it could be very harmful.
Sharpness, this one blew my mind! Our teacher quoted a talk by a general authority who redefined sharpness for us. He said think about when your family member is going in for surgery how sharp do you want that doctors tool to be. The sharper it is the cleaner the cut will be and he will be able to get in and out without harming anything more than completely necessary.
Quote: How often do we have conversations with our family members like going into surgery with a butter knife." When we must reprove we must do it in the most delicate way with our best tools. Not going in and sloppily cutting by saying something sarcastic like " oh yea you never leave your clothes on the floor." What would that have sounded like with precise what you meant kind careful language. Maybe, " I know I'm sorry for the mess I made, if I clean this up, do you think you could pick up your clothes it would be so helpful and make cleaning the house less overwhelming. Something like that I don't know. 
SO this week I'm going to work on my communication last but not least one tool we have been given to help us better communicate with our spouses is the tool of being able to communicate with our father in heaven and if we use it, we'll be ok!