Cultural Diversity

           Each culture is formed by attitudes or behaviors of a particular social group. When we talk about family culture, we are not necessarily referring to the geographic area where we live, or the language we speak. Each family has its own culture, and it is determined by the community in which they live, the culture of ancestors, or even influenced by their religion.

            I was born and raised in Uruguay, you could say a Latin-American culture. I grew up speaking Spanish, eating different food, and even dressing different than other cultures. I also grew up in an LDS family, which greatly influenced our own family culture. In my community, LDS families are the minority, making my family’s culture even more unique than other ordinary Uruguayan families. At the same time, I could see considerable differences between Uruguayan LDS families.

I found interesting to observe other families, and it is fun to look at their outcomes that form their own culture. When I served as a missionary for my church, I was able to learn a lot from other families, especially because I was in a different country. I had to learn a new language, and learn about the people’s culture so I could better relate to them and help them. My mission was a great experience because it taught me a lot of things that will influence my own future family culture.

As we studied about cultures this week, I pondered a lot about the different things I want to keep from my family culture, and which things I want to improve or replace. For example, I remember since I was little I hated doing chores at home. We did not get paid, and for my age, it was hard and boring; I just wanted to go play. I would see other kids playing all day, while their “cleaning lady” or their mom did everything for them in the house. My mom always said she would never paid anyone to watch over us or clean the house, because we could all serve at home and help her. At the time it was annoying, but now as I look back, it taught me a lot, and it shaped me into who I am today. I am in college, and I definitely don’t have a cleaning lady, not even a mom to clean the house for me, do my laundry, and cook. My mother taught me to do things on my own, and that led me to be organized, clean, and independent. This is one of the things I want to keep for my family. I want to teach my children to do things at home. I want them to learn how to clean, and learn that they need to do it for themselves, nobody will do it if they do not do it. Something that I learned while on my service mission, is the importance of communication between family members. I would like to incorporate into my future family a good and open communication. I want to hold family councils every week. I want to make sure that every family member gets to spend some time with someone else by going on weekly dates for example. 

Now is your turn! What are the aspects of your own culture that you want to keep, and which ones would you like to replace or improve? Take a time to carefully choose things, and write them down. One day you and your future generations will appreciate it.