White, Mormon girl, from beach town and brothers

My Cultural Diorama

For all of you who may follow my blog, this post is for a school assignment :)  enjoy!

I'm a Mormon

This is a picture of the San Diego LDS Temple. We have this picture hanging in our home (it was actually taken by my father-in-law, who is a photographer!).  I grew up in the LDS faith.  Growing up in this faith has probably been the biggest and best factor in my life that has shaped me into who I am today.  My friends growing up were mostly all Mormon, and they are who helped me follow a good path in life and make good choices.  My church leaders and teachers were always there to help me when I was struggling and to inspire me and get me through hard things.  As I developed a testimony of my own, the knowledge was solidified in my mind that there is a bigger purpose to this life.  Keeping that eternal perspective in mind has helped me get where I am today and I am so grateful for this joyous gospel in my life!

I am so glad I was able to be married to my eternal companion in this temple, partially because I dreamed of being married in it since I was very little, partially because it is the most beautiful temple in the world, and mostly because now I am sealed to my best friend forever!


Baseball

For a lot of my early life, I was the only girl with three brothers.  Sports, and especially baseball, were very popular in my house.  Attending my brother's baseball games, throwing the ball around with them, and simply observing my parents being so supportive of their interest in the game has helped me develop a love for baseball.  When I was 15, my parents decided to have another baby.  I was 100% sure it would be a girl, and I could not wait to have a sister.  Ha!  How could I have been so silly?  Lo and behold, a baby boy was born and I was now the only girl with four brothers.  Since I was old enough to be a big help around the house, I feel like I partially helped raise my little brother.  What a blessing he has been in my life and in the life of my family.  Another little brother equaled even more baseball!

Growing up with my brothers, and being old enough to help be a mommy, has helped me learn patience, love, and gratitude.  I was definitely humbled when I found out I was going to have a baby brother, and I learned that Heavenly Father has a bigger plan for us then I do.  I'm not sure if a little girl could have brought the same joy and blessings that my little brother has brought to our family.  Heavenly Father knows best!

Psychology

The subject of Psychology has played a big role in my life.  We have lots of psychology books like this one lying around my home.  My Mom never finished getting her degree when she first attended college.  Because of that, she has always told me that no matter what, I would get my undergraduate degree.  She has put this idea in my mind every day of my life.  I was really grateful for this when I was in my senior year of high school because I never wondered what I was going to do next in my life, I knew I was going to college.  My Grandparents have always been very supportive of getting a higher education, and have helped me achieve my degree by helping me financially and by inspiring me through their academic achievements. My Mom is now back in school finishing her degree in Psychology.  My husband is about to graduate with a degree in Psychology.  I love the subject of psychology, and I am sometimes surprised that I didn't pursue a degree in Psychology.

One other reason I love this subject is because I have a brother who has made some interesting choices in his life.  Because of these choices, I was able to attend a lot of seminars and youth camps while I was younger that were aimed at attaining self-confidence and understanding how the human mind works and what it has power to do.  I always found these fascinating and was able to more fully understand why people did a lot of the weird things they did, even why I did a lot of the things I did, and thought the things I thought, because I attended these psychological seminars and was exposed to these ideas.


These three artifacts in my life, along with countless others, have helped me to become who I am today, with my personality and character.  They have helped shape me culturally and have given me the views and opinions on life I now have.