A Brigham Young University Student Journal
by: Jamie Bjazevich Without any explanation needed, almost everyone knows the taboos of family dinner conversations.Eating together can be a bonding and unifying experience so naturally we avoid topics that could be sources of dispute—politics included. While we might still have a bad taste in …
By: Elizabeth Hansen For all the women who were able to watch, read, or hear about General Women’s Conference this past October, probably heard President Nelson’s Book of Mormon challenge. He challenged all the women to read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover …
By: Elizabeth Hansen
Whether you are single, married and not ready for kids, don’t want children, struggling with infertility, or more, you can still be a parent—mother or father—in many ways.
There are many relationships we have in our lives where we can step into the role of a parent figure. Maybe you have nieces, nephews, young cousins, close friends with kids, a church position working with kids, and more. We have opportunities in these places and more to be a parent to others. A lot, if not everything, a parent does boils down to love. Because we love someone, we give them good advice. Because we love someone, we set appropriate boundaries. Because we love someone, we learn their fears, dreams, strengths, and weaknesses. Because we love someone, we check up on them. Because we love someone, . . .
We can do all the above and more for those who may not be our own flesh and blood, but that we love all the same. Kids need a lot of great role models, not just their mom and dad. Mom and dad cannot be with their kids 24/7. Kids go to school, sports events, church, clubs, Uncles Joe’s house for the week, etc. All it takes is a change of perspective to see that we can all be parents in various places. We just have to keep our actions rooted in love and treat these kids how we would our own children.
There are even ways to reach out to children in a less direct manner. If you don’t have a lot of natural interaction with kids, you can always volunteer to work with kids. There are many after school programs like the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Volunteer with Children, local day cares, day care for children with special needs, and more. We can be more than a babysitter in all of these capacities. We can make a difference and be a parent to those around us.
Of course, I am not saying that we need to be these children’s parents. They have parents. It’s not our place to argue or teach against their family values or something their parents have taught them. But, when they are in our temporary care, we can lead and guide them in the right ways and let them know they are loved.
“I’ll come play with you really soon!” Yeah, we’ve heard that one before. I’m currently studying the English language in one of my classes, and we discussed a property of language known as cultural transmission. This means you learn and define words as you hear …
As college students, newly weds, young parents, or even veterans in the marriage arena, your home can be a place of refuge that you can call your own and also personalize to your own tastes and desires. However, it can sometimes be tricky to know …
God organized us into families to give us a way to help and support each other. I was thinking about this as I read 1st Nephi chapter 8 in the Book of Mormon. This chapter is about Lehi, who was a prophet of God around 600 BC in Jerusalem. The Lord warned Lehi that Jerusalem was about to be destroyed and instructed him to take his family and flee into the wilderness. Lehi’s family, at this time, consisted of at least his wife, Sariah, and four sons: Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi.
While in the wilderness, Lehi had a dream, commonly referred to as the “Vision of the Tree of Life.” In this dream, Lehi sees a tree and eats some of its fruit. The fruit is the most delicious thing that he has ever had, and he immediately wants his family to come so that they can enjoy it too. He looks around and sees Sariah, Sam, and Nephi, and he waves at them and calls them over so that they can enjoy the fruit. He looks around again for his other sons, and sees Laman and Lemuel, but when he calls to them, they refuse to come.
After Lehi wakes up from his dream, he gathers his family around him and tells them about the dream. In interpreting the dream, Lehi realizes that the fruit represents eternal life. He realizes that Sariah, Sam, and Nephi enjoyed the blessings of the fruit, but that Laman and Lemuel refused. This causes him to worry about his two oldest sons; he wants the best for them, but they had refused the joy that the fruit in his dream could bring them. Lehi talks to Laman and Lemuel, and “he did exhort them with all the feeling of a tender parent” (1st Nephi 8:37). He pleads with them to accept the fruit (and eternal life) and be happy, because he loves them.
Lehi always loved his sons, regardless of the questionable decisions that they often made. He supported and guided them to help them know what to do. And he didn’t do it in a mean or strict manner, but tenderly and lovingly. We have the opportunity to do the same thing in our families. We all make questionable decisions sometimes, and we can help others when they make them. We can guide our family members to make better decisions, we can have discussions with them about the consequences of their decisions, and we can love them no matter what they do. God gave us families so that we could provide this love and support for each other. God loves us, and He has given us each other, our families, so that we can feel that love.
To learn more about Lehi and his family in the Book of Mormon, visit lds.org
We’re all a little bit obsessed with things we can relate to, whether it’s a painfully true meme about college students or a t-shirt we just have to buy because the words on it seem to come straight from our soul. One of the latest …
When I worked as the front desk medical assistant a few years ago at a primary care physicians office, I was able to observe many different questions, concerns, and discussions between the physician (Dr. F) and her patients. One afternoon Dr. F came out of …
My parents tell me that Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a dying tradition in their small hometowns of Coeneo and Tunguitiro in Michoacán, México. As a family, we do some symbolic traditions here in America to represent my parents’ culture from when they were younger. The first time I heard of Día de los Muertos was in 2009, when I was eleven. At this point, my abuelita (grandmother) had passed away earlier that year in April. Then my great-grandmother passed away in 2013, at the age of 103. Before these deaths, there was never really a reason to celebrate the holiday because we didn’t have anyone to be on our ofrenda (altar). Now we celebrate Día de los Muertos every year with the rest of our culture. It is a two-day celebration because November 1st is dedicated to the angelitos (deceased children) and November 2nd is dedicated to the deceased adults. My family and I usually go wild on the second day because we have more deceased adults than we have deceased children in our family. Some of the things we do to bring the holiday into our home range from hanging up pictures to putting out toys or other things that our deceased family members liked during their life on earth. As my brothers and I have grown up, moved out, and either gotten married or gone to school, we try to keep this tradition alive in our respective homes. My brothers and I usually make an altar full of pictures and some snacks that our deceased family members loved or replicas of knickknacks that they loved during their lifetime. My parents usually go all out with the food and decorations because they have a lot of experience with how to set everything up.
I remember talking with other Latins about Día de los Muertos, and they all have differing opinions. Some don’t usually celebrate it, others do but don’t go all out like we do, and for others, it’s just another day in the year. This tradition is very symbolic to my family because we are celebrating something that is not as important in America. This is my family’s culture. This holiday brings back both happy and sad memories. This holiday is what family is all about. With our thriving loved ones, we celebrate our deceased family members, who are dearly loved. Whether you celebrate Día de los Muertos or not, let us all remember our loved ones and celebrate them from time to time.
As a busy student, one of the most common feelings in my life is stress and I’m sure I’m not the only student who feels this way. Each semester, I wonder how I can relieve this stress. I try to prepare myself with some steps …