W04 Assignment_ Journal 10.7.23

Week 04 Notes:  We have all been taught (directly or indirectly) to think, feel, and act the way we do  “We’re born to be righteous, but we have to learn what, exactly, people like us should be righteous about.” – Haidt (The Righteous Mind)  We should examine not only the family environment influencing someone, but also the others in their life, systems and entities  “The family is the most powerful, the most humane, and by far the most economical system known for building competence and character.” - Professor Bronfenbrenner  Family = fundamental unit of society  “No success can compensate for failure in the home.” - President David O. McKay’  Socialization = the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, and character traits that enable them to participate as effective members of groups and society.  We should always “promote and defend” and not “attack and dehumanize” when having hard conversations with those who have opposing views.  Just because truth is rejected or not popular, doesn't make it any less true.  Family Advocacy involves 6 areas: o Fundraising o Policy and Law o Social Media o Strong Coalitions o Research and Knowledge o Persuasive Speech and Writing  What happens in one system can influence the other systems  Children are socialized and supported by their families, schools, and communities which helps to nurture a children’s development, thus enabling them to become a contributing adult.  Hearing and trying to understand differing perspectives can be illuminating and humbling  Patterns are vital to understand and discern because they help us see the consequences of keeping or violating natural law.  "Throughout the world, the family is increasingly under attack. If families fail, many of our political, economic, and social systems will also fail." - President Russell M. Nelson  Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory views child development as a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment, from immediate family and school settings to broad cultural values, laws, and customs.  Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems: o Microsystem o Mesosystem o Exosystem o Macrosystem o Chronosystem  The microsystem is the most influential level of the ecological systems theory.

Week 04 Reflections: What personal impressions did you have as you reviewed the material? This week’s study materials were of a “heavy topic” nature all around, and my key takeaways were that.. it’s complicated. There’s a lot of information from both sides of each debate and as advocates we must remain unbiased and understand all aspects. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we must have unconditional love for all of our earthly brothers and sisters, even if they do not believe or behave the same way we do. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard, and set an example for others, without becoming too overbearing and pushing them away from the light and into the darkness. What did you learn from your peers this week? We discussed a lot about how there isn’t one particular cause or one particular solution for many things when it comes to advocacy. It’s important to have a clear understanding and education in all social, political, cultural, etc. aspects, even if you don’t agree with them. Having the “whole picture” when trying to advocate for someone is critical for providing the best kind of support. How is this lesson helpful to you as a family advocate? Echoing my thoughts in the other reflection questions, I believe it has helped me become more open to different ideas/beliefs. Life impacts us each in unique ways, such as religion, race, gender, economic status, etc. All of these factors will vary when we work with children as their advocate. If we are only speaking from our own personal experiences, then we will be more limited in who and how many people we can help. Empathy can be a great unifier in helping them see that you can understand their situations, even if you haven’t experienced it yourself. ( Week 03 "Getting Outside My Moral Matrix" assignment REPLACES the W03 Journal entry.) Week 02 Notes:  Israel is God’s covenant people  Hebraic meanings of the word Israel: let God prevail  Family is central to God’s plan and it’s our duty to protect the children  Character is who we are at our core as individuals, whereas Personality can be altered more frequently by outside factors  Christ doesn’t want us to have His personality, He wants us to develop His character  Having different personalities is not a bad thing, as it can give us unique views and allow us to advocate for people of all walks of life  Strengths and weaknesses come from all personality traits, but having Christlike character can amplify our strengths and develop our weaknesses for the better

What did you learn from your peers this week? (PLEASE NOTE: If you are unable to attend your zoom meeting in any given week, you can still receive points for answering this question by discussing the week's topics with a family member and friend and then giving a brief summary of your discussion and what you learned from the person you shared with.) I really liked something Tihane said about character. That it is, “who we are when no one is looking.” We also all had really good discussion around sin and how it can be viewed as different levels of sin, when really no one is perfect and we shouldn’t be letting our own perceptions or biases influence judgement towards others. How is this lesson helpful to you as a family advocate? This lesson was great in helping me realize that certain topics I’m passionate about and would like to advocate for in the future, still have a lot of unknown information to me. I think in order to properly advocate, you must be knowledgeable about all aspects of a topic and be willing to learn more each day. I need to learn to be prepared for whatever questions and comments may be asked and be willing to listen to other’s perspectives. It also gave me an opportunity to think about what topics are the most important to me and what I’d like to pursue further. Week 01 Notes:  With the gift of agency, we are given the choice to follow or not to follow the voice of the Holy Ghost  The Holy Ghost helps us become “learners who act on faith”  When we have the knowledge to seek answers by faith, then we will be guided, strengthened, and protected to act and ultimately do what is right  Having agency as a learner gives us the great responsibility to monitor what we will learn and how well we will learn  We can all end up creating limitations on ourselves  Agency allows us to be independent of the choices and actions we take and not just adjust as things are thrown our way without a choice in the matter  We are all solely responsible for our academic successes throughout our lives because of the great gift of agency  Knowledge is the only thing we take with us to the Eternal Kingdom  How much we each learn while on Earth will affect and determine our next life  Understanding and fulfilling our responsibility will help us stand up for our beliefs and values  Understanding our responsibilities will help us as learners will help us follow the path of righteousness  "A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth." (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith)

 We are gaining all the knowledge we can to help us defeat the evils of this world  Our voices will be powerful when we have to advocate for those who may not be able to  The family is one of the crucial things that help a child's development, which means that we must do what I can to protect them  "Whether by my own voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same."  As an advocate, we are speaking the words of Heavenly Father in protecting His children  "The simple truth is that the family is 'the fundamental unit of society."  Many of us can pour out our hearts and souls in prayer, but we often forget to listen afterwards to hear what Heavenly Father has to say back to us  "Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses— yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will grow into the principle of revelation.” (Russell M. Nelson)  Some believe we have no choice whether we get offended/upset/angry in certain situations, however if our spouse, coworker, family member, etc., says something that is offensive to us, it is up to us individually how offended/upset we will become by it  Giving others control over our emotions, goes against the idea of agency for our choices  Agency is applied in small and large ways. It’s not just life changing decisions, it’s also the daily things like; waking up on time for school/work, eating a healthy breakfast, attending Church activities regularly. Week 01 Reflection: 1. What personal impressions did you have as you reviewed the material? I was particularly prompted by the lessons to consider how important the family is and how impactful having a strong family unit is to the future of our society. The meaning of what a family is has changed a lot in recent years. Many couples have children without being married first or establishing a firm family foundation. This can also further contribute to the downfall of the marriage in the future since each person may view a family dynamic differently. I believe that if we are strong in our morals and beliefs then we can work together to combat Satan’s influences. 2. What did you learn from your peers this week? (If you were unable to attend your zoom meeting you can still respond to this question by discussing what you learned with a family member or friend and writing a paragraph summary of what you learned during that discussion.) There wasn’t a zoom meeting this week, however, I was able to share some of the lessons with family and friends. In the past when I’ve shared lessons from classes, I’ve needed to do most of the talking to keep the discussion flowing. This topic, however, was relatable enough for everyone that they felt more comfortable chatting. We all have individual agency and even if someone’s beliefs are different, we can still love them. When we’re more open with each other, and start these conversations with friends and family, it can lead them to ask more questions in the future as well. As I have these conversations, I realize that sometimes it’s not just about the