President Thomas S. Monson said, “Dare to be a Mormon. Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose firm; dare to make it known.” This quote, given to us by the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints completely explains and connects the major aspects of my culture in three short sentences. I have been very aware of my cultural identity from a young age as I was born into the LDS church, thus giving me a strong foundation for everything that is a part of my culture. I will now further connect and explain President Monson’s quote to my culture.

First I will start with: “Dare to be a Mormon.” I have been a Mormon all my life and the people I know through the church are like a family to me. I have been surrounded by these members of the church and my family who are also members of the church. I have literally grown up with the church in being encompassed by church members, attending church every Sunday, and attending all other church meetings and activities. Obviously, my culture is constructed around my religion. I have been known as one of the Mormon kids all my life, and I dare to be a Mormon. I display my values and beliefs in the way I dress, the symbols I wear, the way I talk and my choice of vocabulary, and who I choose to spend time with. I choose to dress modestly as I believe that my body is sacred. I wear the Church’s Young Women’s symbol on a necklace and I have the symbol on the back of my phone, this shows that I stand for truth and righteousness. I choose to speak using no profane language whatsoever because doing so only displays anger or disrespect in my opinion.  I choose to spend time with the people I know through the church because I know they share the same values that I have, they are my family and I know that they will help me stand for truth and righteousness as well.

In standing for truth and righteousness I “Dare to stand alone.” I even stand alone without my friends there to support me. I am a tennis player and my eighth grade year I was on the High School Junior Varsity team. When you are on the team you are expected to play in tournaments. This was a problem for me because the tournaments were on Saturday but continued on Sunday. I believe that the Sabbath day, or Sunday, is a day of rest and a day to devote your time to God. I do not watch non-church related movies, exercise, do homework, or go to the store on Sundays. Rather, I devote my time to attending church, scripture study, prayer, and watching church related videos. My coach needed more players for the tournament and there was another girl on the team who was also Mormon. She chose to play in the tournament. When my coach asked if I would be willing to participate in the tournament, I said that I would not because I had church on Sunday. Coach thought it was strange that I would not go but that the other girl would. I made the choice to display my integrity that day. I chose to stand alone and adhere to my values and moral code. I also stand alone in many other ways. For example, whenever other people use profane language, I ask them to please not use such language around me. I am constantly made fun of when I ask people to refrain from cursing or using the Lord’s name in vain. I also choose not to date until I am sixteen years old, I choose not to drink coffee or tea, and I choose to never consume drugs or alcohol. I stand alone all the time in choosing to stay away from and reject immorality and many people find it either very unique and interesting, very mature of me or annoying. I chose at a young age to refuse to let worldly things and immorality tempt me and take me down a path of unrighteousness. This gave me an incredibly strong foundation for my morals and values.

In having a firm foundation I “Dare to have a purpose firm.” I have been taught to make the decision now of whether I will make certain decisions concerning dating, remaining chaste, following the word of wisdom and more. In doing so I am much better prepared for when I am tempted to make a wrong choice as I will have already created a strong and firm purpose and foundation for what I believe. I have chosen early on to wait until I am at least sixteen years olds to date. I choose to do this because I have seen my close friends experience break ups and heartache at young ages and I do not want to have to deal with that before I am old and mature enough to handle such situations. I am choosing to be chaste until marriage because in doing so you will have true confidence and a sense of whom you are. Procreation is a very sacred thing to be shared with your spouse exclusively and never to be abused. I choose to follow the word of wisdom because our Heavenly Father is very loving like our own parents and knows what is best for us no matter what scientists say about wine being healthy for you. Heavenly Father is an omnipotent being, He knows all. I know that this is true especially because I have seen how alcohol consumption had affected someone very dear to me, as they left the church, and its terrible consequences on their body. As I have created this foundation for my decisions I am prepared for a situation in which someone offers me alcohol and I will be ready with a resounding and triumphant “no”  as I do know what is best for me. In doing so, I also set examples for others and display my beliefs and values.

I always “Dare to make it known.” That I am a Mormon and that I have a strong set of immovable values and beliefs. I am like the flame in the symbol for my Young Women’s group I attend, I burn bright for all to see as I “Stand for truth and righteousness.” I display my values and beliefs as they emanate off of me, like the warmth of a flame, by dressing modestly and not speaking profanely. “I will have the moral courage to make my actions consistent with my knowledge of right and wrong.”(Pg. 61 Young Women’s Personal Progress: Standing as a Witness of God). I do this with displaying my integrity and in the fact that I value choice and accountability as we are all accountable for the choices we make and the consequences that follow our decisions.  I want to share my beliefs with others and I want people to learn more about the LDS church. I plan to serve a mission for the church and I know that I am preparing myself for that as I share the gospel in all the ways that I can.

This is my cultural identity, my inheritance, what I psychologically identify with, and what my invisible webs of culture are made up of. My culture is my family; who consists of all of my friends and people I know from church, my values, my beliefs, and my religion. My culture is me daring to stand alone and let people know my purpose and beliefs. My culture I morality, truth, righteousness, and values. “I am a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it.” (Ann Dibb). Growing up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I learned to keep strong values and a high moral code.