While studying education at BYU, I took one of my all-time favorite classes: multicultural education.
Among the fantastic theories and advice that I learned in that class was the idea that every single culture is just one generation from becoming extinct.
Especially when you use the word “culture” in relation to individual families: every single family has a different set of traditions, hobbies, values, language patterns, shared experiences, specific food, etc.
Every single family’s specific culture is just one generation from disappearing.
And this is why it become so essential to learn about our ancestors and predecessors.
Because we are teaching the importance of our family culture and helping the next generation learn the patterns, values, and events that have shaped them.
When Alma was preaching in Ammonihah, he got a little frustrated:
“How have ye forgotten the tradition of your fathers”! Alma 9:8.
How can you possibly forget the miracles that brought Lehi across the ocean?
How can you possibly forget the countless times that God has saved us from our enemies?
It sounds like the people in Ammonihah had stopped learning about their history – both from spoken record and from reading scriptures.
How are we doing at remembering the traditions of our fathers and mothers?
We all have family culture to study. And the cool part is that we can prayerfully and wisely decide which parts of our culture need to continue.
And which parts need to stop with us.
And we ALL can use the scriptures to see even more examples of how God has helped the people who turn to Him.
This helps convince us more fully that He will still help us as we turn to Him today.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
