Culture at Home, Culture for the Future

 Hello everyone! Welcome to my third blog post so far, and it's crazy that we're already into the month of October. There have been a lot of different, new and exciting things that I have been learning so far in class. One thing that I loved learning more about was how important culture is. At first, I attributed culture mainly to describe a larger group of people, such as Hispanic culture or American culture. But as I learned more about what that word really means, it could also be described in smaller groups of people as well. Culture also exists inside families, with friends; it's the overarching word to describe the customs or characteristics of any type of social group. 

The way you act within the walls of your home, the way you interact with you family members, that is the culture inside of your family. Each individual family has their own unique culture. I have one inside of my family, and you have one as well. For example, one thing that my family and I do every year during Christmas, is we go to visit our grandparents' house. Aunts, uncles, and cousins all gather there year after year. It might not be that unique, you might also have a family tradition such as that, but it's still a part of our culture to gather with extended family during that part of the year. 

Sometimes our culture can cause problems, especially when it comes to relationships with others. I realized this a lot while I was serving a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I served in both the Oakland/San Francisco Mission, as well as the Jamaica Kingston Mission, and I served with many missionaries who had different cultural backgrounds than I did. Sometimes it even caused problems between us, and someone may not have even been aware that what they were doing would bother someone else. It was just a part of their culture. In Jamaica, their culture is a lot different than here in America. But diving even deeper than just the geography, the culture inside their families were also very peculiar as well. The way they interacted, their mannerisms, and they're all very friendly people as well. 

With all this said, there is another interesting perspective worth talking about. Culture can change. It doesn't need to stay the same. The culture in your family might not be the same culture you are introducing into your married life. There was a quote I found recently by a man named Chimamanda. He said, "Culture does not make people. People make culture." And that is so true! If there is something you don't like concerning the culture you grew up with, you can change it! For example, when I was growing up, the gospel wasn't talked about as much in the home. We rarely ever did scripture studies as a family, and for us to have a Family Home Evening together was even more scarce. We went to church every Sunday, and even went to other activities, but that was where it ended. Once we got home, it's like we forgot that church existed until the next Sunday rolled around. And that is one thing that I want to change about my culture as I raise my own family in the future. There are other things as well, and I'm sure you can think of plenty of things that you want to change about your culture. I invite you to think about and ponder what elements of your culture are the most important to you in your life. What you hold dearest, and what you want to take with you.