Cherishing Moments

I saw this quote on Facebook and I couldn't agree more. It made me think of the moments I shared with my parents. Some of my most cherished memories growing up consist of moments where my father let me tag along with him on his Saturday errands and sharing his big gulp sprite with me. He would listen to me rattle on about everything. I would talk his ear off. He made me feel like what I had to say was important, and that I'm not wasting his time.

My mother would sit down with me at times to play, at times we would be playing school, other times it was a game. Even though my mother would have a million things on her list to do each day, she spent her time with me. When we were off track she would take us on adventures. I was a bit young when my mom would help my siblings put on carnivals for the neighborhood kids to come attend. She is simply amazing.

Through the years my parents did provide material things for me, but I don't remember those as much as I do the moments they spent time with me. President Uchtdorf said once that love was spelled T-I-M-E. I can't argue with him, he is totally right.

I want to challenge anyone who reads this to spend more time with your loved ones to help make them feel cherished.

The Last Two Paragraphs

The last two paragraphs of The Family: A Proclamation to the World states:

"We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse of offspring, or who fail to fulfill responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

"We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society."

I feel as though these two paragraphs are very straight forward in their warning to the individuals of society.  There is no need to add other words from the prophets or scriptures.

This past semester while taking Family Foundations at BYU-Idaho Online, I chose to do my part as a responsible citizen and designed this blog in hopes of sharing how important the family unit was and ways that you could strengthen your family unit.  Though this class may be over now, but my duty is not.  I will continue to make posts on this blog on occasion when I have something I'd like to share that may help you and your family stay strong.  I invite you as always to help "promote measures that were designed to maintain and strengthen the family" today and everyday of your lives.

The 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Paragraphs

The fourth through seventh paragraphs of The Family: A Proclamation to the World states:

"The first commandment of God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully weeded as husband and wife.

"We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan.

"Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. 'Children are an heritage of the Lord' (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives--mothers and fathers--will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

"The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed."

 Overall I feel these paragraphs shows us the responsibilities of parents.  Below are some videos I felt help share this message.

 

 Moments that Matter Most

I often feel that parents get too caught up in their own things, that they often lose sight of what matters most--their family.

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

I feel that this video helps us show how parents and other family members can provide for the children spiritually.

Let Us Be Men

This video is just a snippet to show the role of a father.  In 1987, President Ezra Taft Benson gave a talk titled, To the Fathers in Israel.  I recommend all fathers to read this talk from the October 1987 General Conference.  But I want to share a list he shares of ten specific ways fathers can give spiritual leadership to their children:

1. Give father's blessings to your children.
2. Personally direct family prayers, daily scripture reading, and weekly family home evenings.
3. Whenever possible, attend Church meetings together as a family.
4. Go on daddy-daughter dates and father-and-sons' outings with your children.
5. Build traditions of family vacations and trips and outings.
6. Have regular one-on-one visits with your children.
7. Teach your children to work, and show them the value of working toward a worthy goal.
8. Encourage good music and art and literature in your homes.
9. As distances allow, regularly attend the temple with your wife.
10. Have your children see your joy and satisfaction in service to the Church.

Motherhood an Eternal Partnership with God

I feel that this video did an awesome job in showing the importance of motherhood.  But, there is still so much to learn as well.  In 1987, President Ezra Taft Benson gave a talk titled, To the Mothers in Zion.  This is another awesome talk.  I recommend all mothers to read this talk.  But, I want to share with you now ten specific ways mothers can spend effective time with their children:

1. Be at the Crossroads.
2. Be a Real friend.
3. Read to Your Children.
4. Pray with Your Children.
5. Have Weekly Home Evenings
6. Be Together at Mealtimes.
7. Read Scriptures Daily.
8. Do Things as a Family.
9. Teach Your Children
10. Truly Love Your Children. 

 The talk will go into more detail for each of these ten ways. 

I hope what you have seen in this post will help you become a better mother or father, or to prepare now to be a mother or father.  As always feel free to share this on social media.

The 3rd Paragraph

The third paragraph of The Family: A Proclamation to the World states:

"In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally."

Elder Bruce R. McConkie in his talk, Celestial Marriage, said:

"When we as Latter-day Saints talk about marriage, we are talking about a holy, celestial order.  We are talking about a system out of which can grow the greatest love, joy, peace, happiness, and serenity known to humankind. We are talking about creating a family unit that has the potential of being everlasting and eternal, a family unit where a man and a wife can go on in that relationship to all eternity, and where mother and daughter and father and son are bound by eternal ties that will never be severed. We are talking about creating a unit more important that the Church, more important than any organization that exists on earth or in heaven, a unit out of which exaltation and eternal life grow; and when we talk about eternal life, we are talking about the kind of life that God our Heavenly Father lives."

How awesome is that?!  Why settle for a marriage that only lasts during this lifetime, when you could have one the lasts forever?  This kind of marriage can only take place inside our holy temples.  To do this you must make and keep sacred ordinances and covenants.

Elder Boyd K. Packer in his talk, Covenants, said:

"No matter what citizenship or race, whether male or female, no matter what occupation, no matter your education, regardless of the generation in which one lives, life is a homeward journey for all of us, back to the presence of God in his celestial kingdom.

"Ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into His presence.  To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality."

Making those ordinances and covenants are important, but it's keeping them that is a challenge.  Satan does not want us to do what is good, so he works overtime in tempting our natural man.  We can't let our natural man escape our guard when it comes to the ordinances and covenants we made.  That is why we are put into family units.  Our family was created to be our support group and our cheerleaders.  It's up to each member of the family unit to make sure we all make it back to our Heavenly home--back to our Father.

Knowing this, it's important that we have good relationships with our family members.  Colossians 3:8-14 is a great scripture to help us maintain good relationships.  It reads:

"8: But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

"9: Lie not one to another, seeing that ye had put off the old man with his deeds;

"10: And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

"11: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,  Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

"12: Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

"13: Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

"14: And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness."

From that scripture I'd like to point our "forgiving."  We are all humans and therefore we make mistakes.  We can not hold a grudge against those that hurt us, we must forgive them.  If we can work on following this scripture, then we can easily keep those ordinances and covenants that we make in the temple of God.

 

The 2nd Paragraph

The second paragraph of The Family: A Proclamation to the Word states:

"All human beings--male and female-- are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."

There is a reason why God created both male and female.  In his talk, For Time and All Eternity, Elder Boyd K. Packer taught:

"The plan of happiness requires the righteous union of male and female, man and woman, husband and wife. Doctrines teach us how to respond to the compelling natural impulses which too often dominate how we behave.

"A body patterned after the image of God was created for Adam, and he was introduced in the Garden. At first, Adam was alone. He held the priesthood, but alone, he could not fulfill the purposes of his creation.

"No other man would do. Neither alone nor with other men could Adam progress. Nor could Eve with another woman. It was so then. It is so today.

"Eve, an help meet, was created. Marriage was instituted, for Adam was commanded to cleave unto his wife [not just to a woman] and 'to none else.'"

Another man could not do for Adam.  He needed Eve.  He needed a woman.  This brings us to the topic of marriage--eternal marriage to be exact.  Elder David A. Bednar in his talk, Marriage is Essential to His Eternal Plan, gives us two compelling doctrinal reasons to help us understand why eternal marriage is essential to the Father's plan.

"Reason 1: The natures of male and female spirits complete and perfect each other, and therefore men and women are intended to progress together toward exaltation."

 Elder Bednar goes on to explain:

 "By divine design, men and women are intended to progress together toward perfection and fullness of glory. Because of their distinctive temperaments and capacities, males and females each bring to a marriage relationship unique perspectives and experiences.  The man and the woman contribute differently but equally to a oneness and a unity that can be achieved in no other way.  The man completes the woman and the woman completes and perfects the man as they learn from and mutually strengthen and bless each other."

Reason number two is pretty much a given, but in Elder Bednar's words he states:

"Reason 2: By divine design, both a man and a woman are needed to bring children into mortality and to provide the best setting for the rearing and nurturing of children."

Our gender is essential to God's plan and our eternal destiny as His spirit sons or daughters.  We were not just born the way we are.  There is no mistake in our gender.  There is no need to have an expensive operation to change your gender.  God gave us the gender that we have for a purpose, and it's up to us to learn what that purpose is and to work towards achieving it.

As always feel free to share with others.

The 1st Paragraph

The first paragraph of the document The Family: A Proclamation to the World states this:

"We the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children."

 Right now this subject is quite controversial.  But I do have a testimony this this statement is true.  I have a testimony that the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles are prophets, seers, and revelators.  I know that they foresaw this day back in 1995 when this Proclamation was revealed.  I know this has come from God.

In BYU address given on November 5, 1995 titled The Family, President Henry B. Eyring said:

"A little child would feel safe hearing the words that marriage between a man and woman is ordained of God.  The child would know that the longing to have the love of both father and a mother, distinct by somehow perfectly complementary, exists because that is the eternal pattern, the pattern of happiness.  The child would also feel safer knowing the God would help mother and father resolve differences and love each other, of only they ask for his help and try. Prayers of children across the earth would go up to God, pleading for his help for parents and for families."

A child needs both a mother and a father.  Though circumstances may arise in life that would prevent a child to have both a mother and a father at home as stated later on in the Proclamation, but it's important that they have both as long as possible.

In the same address, President Henry B. Eyring said:

"The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.  Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.  Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."

 I'd like to point out "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ."  I understand that there are members of the church that really struggle with same-sex attraction, but as long as they don't follow through with that temptation, then they have not sinned.   Families that have members in their family that struggle with this need to still love them.  If they will embrace them with love, then happiness in the family can still be achieved.

3 Aspects About the Title

It is important to know three aspects about the title.

1. The Subject
2. The Audience
3. Those who Proclaim

The title of the proclamation reads: "The Family: A Proclamation to the World--The First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

An address given at BYU on November 5, 1995 titled, The Family, President Henry B. Eyring states this concerning the title of the proclamation:

"Three things about the title are worth our careful reflection. First, the subject: the family.  Second, the audience, which is the whole world.  And third, those who proclaimed are those we sustain as prophets, seers and revelators.  That means that the family must be as important to us as anything we can consider, that what the proclamation says could help anyone in the world, and that the proclamation fits the Lord's promise when he said, "Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same" (D&C 1:38).

The world is losing it's sight on the family and what it means to be a family.  I hope you join with me in sharing the importance of this document to the world.