Classy Marriage Class Blog

I grew up with a love of maps. In Walmart, I would frequently ask my mom if she could purchase me a road atlas, which I would then read over and over and sometimes fall asleep while looking at it. In my mind, maps are so much more than just a tool to help us get where we want to go. In fact, in a way, maps are a story of our civilization. They show what happened in the past, through names and historical monuments. They show what we find to be important, through marking particular points of interest. More than just a story of a civilization, the maps we purchase and use are a story of ourselves. Are we buying road maps for a cross-country adventure? Or a topographic map to venture off into the wilderness with? Maybe you need a Coast Guard map showing water depth and obstructions to avoid while piloting your boat. The maps you own tell a story of what is important to you. Alas, maps have become less important in recent years and many do not have an ability to read them. In an excell...

My wife and I go on frequent adventures. This week, we are in Reno, Nevada looking for a home to move to next month. Driving here was fairly uneventful, as one might imagine a drive down 300 miles of Interstate 80 in the middle of nowhere would be, but there were some things even yesterday that this lesson can apply to. I'll share them briefly, but don't let me make you believe that the drive was awful. For the most part, it was pretty great. Somewhere in the rural desert, we were talking about music. My wife was remembering an experience she had as a child with music and I stated a differing opinion. She was displeased with this and the next thirty minutes didn't involve any talking between the two of us. In Reno, we located a restaurant to eat at. As we exited off Interstate 80, we discovered that everywhere in the city center is under construction, and I mean  everywhere . It probably didn't help that there is some big event happening downtown this week, either....

I can remember two pivotal moments in my childhood that singularly led me to develop an understanding of the importance of temples. Both are simple moments that looking on the outside may not mean much. The first was sometime between 1999 and 2001 (because that's when I lived at Fort Lewis, Washington). My parents had asked babysitters to come watch my sister and I before, but never for them to go to Seattle. Despite only being an hour drive, most of my memories of going to Seattle before high school involve going to the airport to see my dad away on some sort of military training mission. This time around, though, my parents were going the temple. I don't recall them doing it often, but I can still remember this time and how significant it was for them to make the trek north for something that wasn't a flight. The second happened when I was in high school. I spent the first semester of my freshman year in Abilene, Texas. I ran cross country and was getting ready for o...

As I'm sure you can tell from my title, I am going to express some views that I feel go directly against the lesson. I hope that I will be able to explain my reasoning clearly and thoroughly enough that you will at least understand why I have my viewpoint. In this week's lesson, we're discussing the Supreme Court ruling on  Obergefell v. Hodges , which is the case that opened the legality of same-sex marriages throughout the United States. After viewing the materials associated with this lesson, it is my opinion that the Supreme Court was correct in making the change. Moreso, I believe the Supreme Court was the exact forum for this case. As it is written in our laws, it is the Court's place and duty to hear such cases. The majority largely cited the Due Process Clause in allowing the change. I don't think this was the right route to take, despite agreeing with the end result. As Justice Alito pointed out in his dissenting opinion, the case of Washington v. Gluc...

Many of us have individuals within our families or circle of influence who have changed drastically from how they were raised. For the sake of keeping with the curriculum of the course, we will call these transitional characters. These transitional characters could make positive changes, such as overcoming an abusive upbringing. On the other hand, they could also have negative consequences, such as a family member who is raised in an active church going family becoming less-active. I would like to focus on the latter. While we never want to see someone leave what Brigham Young called "the Old Ship Zion," we also need to understand the huge importance of agency. I work with a man, who we will call John (because I want him to be anonymous, but I am also uncreative). John is in his mid-twenties, grew up in a strong LDS family in a community with a high LDS population. He never served a mission and went less active for a while, indulging in alcohol and presumably other sins. H...