This week in class was probably one of my weeks of school.  I loved talking about dating and marriage.  In class we learned that the average cost of a wedding in the United States is $27,800. This was so astounding to me! In today's world we are seeing new marriage trends that are arising and becoming more prevalent. Less women are getting married.  People are getting married later.  Men and women are becoming equal money contributors. Divorce is also increasing. The solution to most marital problems is to keep dating.  There are 4 different stages to reaching a happy marriage.  The first is dating.  This is when you go on a lot of dates with a lot of people.  During this time you shouldn't be tied down to anyone.  Once you find someone you really like you move on to the second stage which is courtship.  This is when you are exclusively dating one person.  This is a trial stage.  You keep dating and practice decision making together.  The next stage is the engagement.  This is when you have a ring and a date.  You continue to date.  This is a time to plan your marriage.  Most people spend more time planning their wedding than their actual marriage. The last stage is marriage.  During marriage you learn to rely upon each other.  Apply problem solving skills and practice sacrifice. Learn to establish boundaries.  Learn intimacy together.

I loved our discussion in class on Monday about dating.  I liked how we talked about the dating filter.  It all makes sense to have a filter because some things are more important than others when it comes to dating.  The first one, propinquity is the most important because when you are dating someone you want them to be geographically close to you.  The distance between you should not be far.  The next one which I think people don’t like to mention because they don’t like to sound vain it attractiveness.  When you don’t know the inner qualities to them yet, their outward appearance is the only thing you can judge them on.  You must be attracted to them before you get to know them.  This is initially physical, but as you get to know them, they usually become more attractive. The last thing I wrote about the dating filter was similarities.  Similarities are more than just common interests.  This can be religion or anything familiar to you.  I really loved talking about the 3 P’s Elder Oaks talked about when it comes to dating.  They are paid for, paired off, and planned.  I thought it was cool that we could compare those three things to three of the responsibilities fathers have to their families.  To go along with paid for is to provide, paired off is protect, and planned goes with to preside.  When we are dating we are preparing for marriage and the roles we will someday fulfill. 

This week I was especially focused on the aspect of social class and families.  We talked a lot about of the upper class values money and structure and seems so fancy and perfect, while lower class is poor and has no values.  I personally think that class isn’t all about wealth and money.  The world views success as wealth.  I think that it’s about the way you present yourself with what you have.  I also believe that it has a lot to do with your actions especially towards others.  I think that you can have an upper class attitude and technically belong to the lower class due to financial situations.  I also believe in the opposite.  You can be upper class because of your money, but be considered lower class because of your way of life.  So what does this have to do with families?  Well the purpose of families are to bring to pass Heavenly Fathers plan to become like him.  Married couples bring children into the world to provide structure and support for their children.  How they interact with their family is the way they will interact in the world when they are out of the house. Families offer love and support, influence values, and provide finances.  I think that it is important to keep a balance between your social class and family life.  Usually people in the middle class have better family relationships because when you are at the two ends of the spectrum it is easier to not focus on the importance of your family.  If you are upper class you probably focus on money.  If you are lower class you are most likely focusing on working to sustain yourself.  There is a constant struggle between rich and poor.  Anyone can strive to be better.  You can also have a successful family no matter what social class you belong to.