Family

My position on the family unit is one of great reverence and gratitude.  I know that the family is of God.  He intends for us to live in family units.  In this way we can grow and become what he wants us to be.  Everything we experience here in this life is in to help us in our relationships and associations now and in eternity.  There are sacred roles in families.  As we seek to follow these as best as our circumstances allow we will be blessed and strengthened.  I know this from my own experience.  The family is under attack, Satan will never live in a family unit and seeks to destroy the very fibers that sustain a family unit.  Knowing this we can be better prepared to identify his ploys and tactics so we can remain strong and have peace.  In my own family we have felt his tentacles of trouble and have struggled to become free from his intentions.  As we work together as a family and seek strength from the Lord, we become a force for goodness he cannot overcome.  But we must also be vigilant in our efforts or he sneaks in in subtle ways and takes anchor wherever he can find place. Daily we combat this with our testimony of family and why it is important.

Supporting Quotes:

1.      Elder D. Todd Christofferson – April 2015 General Conference, “Why Marriage, Why Family?” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/why-marriage-why-family?lang=eng “Certainly the adversary is pleased when parents neglect to teach and train their children to have faith in Christ and be spiritually born again. Brothers and sisters, many things are good, many are important, but only few are essential.” 

2.      Elder D. Todd Christofferson – April 2015 General Conference, “Why Marriage, Why Family?” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/why-marriage-why-family?lang=eng “God ordained that men and women should marry and give birth to children, thereby creating in partnership with God, the physical bodies that are key to the test of mortality and essential to eternal glory with Him.”

3.      Pres. Henry B. Eyring – April 2012 General Conference “To My Grandchildren” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/to-my-grandchildren?lang=eng “It is only with the companionship of the Holy ghost that we can hope to be equally yoked in a marriage free from discord.  I have seen how this companionship is crucial for felicity in a marriage.  The miracle of becoming one requires the help of heaven, and it takes time. Our goal is to live together forever in the presence of Heavenly Father and our Savior.”

4.      Pres. Henry B. Eyring – April 2012 General Conference “To My Grandchildren” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/to-my-grandchildren?lang=eng “Life in families will test us. That is one of God’s purposes in giving us the gift of mortality—to strengthen us by passing through tests. That will be especially true in family life, where we will find great joy and great sorrow and challenges which may at times seem beyond our power to endure them.”

5.      Pres. Henry B. Eyring – April 2012 General Conference “To My Grandchildren” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/to-my-grandchildren?lang=eng “Go to the Savior for relief from pain, a relief only he can give. …accept and magnify every calling offered in the Church. That choice is one of the great keys to family happiness. “The pressures at every stage of life can tempt us to reject or neglect calls to serve the Savior. That can put us in spiritual peril for ourselves, our spouses, and our families.”  “While serving others, we are more likely to plead for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Success in the Lord’s service always produces miracles beyond our own powers.”

6.      Pres. Henry B. Eyring – April 2012 General Conference “To My Grandchildren” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/to-my-grandchildren?lang=eng “President George Q. Cannon said this about how God has prepared you and me and our children for the tests we will face: “There is not one of us but what God’s love has been expended upon. There is not one of us that He has not cared for and caressed. There is not one of us that He has not desired to save, and that He has not devised means to save. There is not one of us that He has not given His angels charge concerning. We may be insignificant and contemptible in our own eyes, and in the eyes of others, but the truth remains that we are the children of God, and that He has actually given His angels—invisible beings of power and might—charge concerning us, and they watch over us and have us in their keeping.” What President Cannon taught is true. You will need that assurance, as I have needed it and depended on it.” God has devised means to save each of His children. For many, that involves being placed with a brother or a sister or a grandparent who loves them no matter what they do.”

7.      Pres. Henry B. Eyring – Oct 2014 General Conference “Continuing Revelation” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/continuing-revelation?lang=eng “The revelation of a parent has its lasting effect in the personal revelation that continues in the child.”

8.       Elder Oaks – October 2014 General Conference, “Loving Others and Living with Differences” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/loving-others-and-living-with-differences?lang=eng “. . . Kindness is powerful, especially in a family setting.” “As difficult as it is to live in the turmoil surrounding us, our Savior’s command to love one another as He loves us is probably our greatest challenge. I pray that we may understand this and seek to live it in all of our relationships and activities.”

9.      Pres. Boyd K. Packer – April 2010 General Conference “The Power of the Priesthood” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/04/the-power-of-the-priesthood?lang=eng “It is crucial for everyone to understand what is expected of the brethren.  Unless we enlist the attention of the mothers and daughters and sisters- who have influence upon their husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers – we cannot progress.  The priesthood will lose great power if the sisters are neglected.”  

10.  Elder Quentin L. Cook – April 2015 General Conference “The Lord is My Light” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-lord-is-my-light?lang=eng “The beautiful traditions of religious observance in the home need to be embedded in the hearts of our children.” “Brothers and sisters, if we faithfully have family prayer, scripture study, family home evening, priesthood blessings, and Sabbath day observance, our children will know what time it is at home. They will be prepared for an eternal home in heaven, regardless of what befalls them in a difficult world. It is vitally important that our children know they are loved and safe at home.”

11.  Elder Christofferson - October 2013 “The Moral Force of Women” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/the-moral-force-of-women?lang=eng “In all events, a mother can exert an influence unequaled by any other person in any other relationship. By the power of her example and teaching, her sons learn to respect womanhood and to incorporate discipline and high moral standards in their own lives. Her daughters learn to cultivate their own virtue and to stand up for what is right, again and again, however unpopular. A mother’s love and high expectations lead her children to act responsibly without excuses, to be serious about education and personal development, and to make ongoing contributions to the well-being of all around them.”