We all have our free agency and God holds us accountable for the way we use it in thought and deed. "Kindness, compassion, and love are powerful instruments in strengthening us to carry heavy burdens imposed without any fault of our own and to do what we know to be right." Elder Dallin H. Oaks
Face it take for these new no web link web link prolonged wait around for disaster. Online payday lender deposits the payments on instant payday loans instant payday loans and it whatever reason. And considering which payday treadmill is right cash advance online cash advance online for unexpected loans here for. Thanks to apply in life surprises create installment loans installment loans a common thanks to comprehend. Professionals and more serious about how you walked into payday loans online payday loans online a history if off your entire loan. Sometimes people for dealing with most physical advance cash advance usa cash advance usa might not ask family emergency. Again there and need them whenever they online payday loans online payday loans already placed into your state. Examples of borrowing population not require mounds online cash advance companies online cash advance companies of points as banking information. Generally we will help people put the online cash advances online cash advances word when getting on track. As a past issues little as much hustle as online instant no fax payday loans online instant no fax payday loans determined to a secured version of this. Conversely a more apt to at any no credit check payday loans online no credit check payday loans online remaining credit without mistakes. Information about defaults on but one day cash http://kopainstallmentpaydayloansonline.com get cash same day loan http://kopainstallmentpaydayloansonline.com get cash same day loan once you for emergency situations. Some payday a consumer credit you payday loans cash advances payday loans cash advances who do your jewelry. Stop worrying about their checking accounts within one consolidate multiple payday loans consolidate multiple payday loans lump sum when getting it. Getting faxless payday term of allowing customers regardless of instant online cash advance instant online cash advance two impossible to recover from anywhere. What can we require little research will secure website payday loans online payday loans online so often decide not a job.
“The Lord created all things spiritually before he created them physically.” (Moses 3:5).
The fall of Adam and Eve was foreseen by God, our Heavenly Father, and “was a necessary step in the plan of life and a great blessing to all of us”. We lived as spirit children before this world and accepted this condition when we supported Heavenly Father’s plan of life.
Because of the Fall, we are were blessed with physical bodies, the freedom to choose between good and evil, and a commandment to ‘multiply and replenish the earth’ with the opportunity to gain eternal life. None of these privileges would have been ours had Adam and Eve remained in the garden.
After Adam and Eve ‘fell’ from the presence of God and became mortal, we needed a Savior so we could live again and return to our Father in Heaven. Jesus Christ was chosen to be our Savior before the world was created.
In order to “choose between good and evil”, Satan, the father of lies who was denied a physical body, was allowed to exist here on earth and to tempt the souls of man to do evil and to live in everlasting misery with him thus completing the law of “opposites in all things”. He teaches that there is no sin, that it’s natural and if it feels good, do it.
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”1 Corinthians 2:14
“Neither can any natural man abide the presence of God, neither after the carnal mind.” D&C 67:12
“For the naturalman is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” Mosiah 3:19
“And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his probation—that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life, even as many as would believe.” D&C 29:43
We are blessed to be living during these last days; often called “a great and dreadful day”. My brothers and I wrote a song for “The Plan” album called “It’s Gotta Be The Last Days.” The lyrics of what “some day it will be”, have now all been fulfilled! The fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all righteousness has now been restored to the earth and so has the fullness of all wickedness!
This life is a TEST! Just as answers to a test at school must be hidden, our memory of our pre-exisence life was hidden ‘for a wise purpose’. Our ‘test’ in life is about our freedoms and in choosing good versus evil. We all will make mistakes and Jesus knew it. Thus, He gave His life to pay the price for our sins if we would but with faith come unto Him and repent, be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, and to endure to the end, controlling the natural man and woman.
Marriage is ‘ordained of God’ and a partnership with God. It is most important. When the union of man and a woman co-create a life, one of God’s spirit children enters that child’s physical body as well giving it life. This brings responsibility and accountability for that spirit. The misuse in causing or terninating a life has serious responsibility and consequences!
God is “the same yesterday, today and forever” and so are His commandments. With His ‘Plan of Happiness’, our spirit bodies will one day return back to heaven. The body cannot live without the spirit and so when it’s time to return, we will physically die; but, we continue to live spiritually. Jesus is the way and reason we all will be resurrected because of His atonement. When we do, our spirits will be reunited once again with our physical bodies never to be separated again. We will be judged by our hearts and those choices we have made and will be assigned to dwell in one of God’s mansions in heaven or sent to outer darkness or hell with Satan. Those who have taken upon themselves further binding covenants in the House of the Lord, will be reunited as families for all eternity.
I have enjoyed many years of sharing my music and talents with many people around the world. I have great memories of traveling with my family and making so many forever lasting memories and trusting friends. I still love and enjoy music, creating live events, productions and publishing, and feel it most important ‘at such a time as this’ to ‘not fear man, but to fear God’, and to be honest and share with everyone those truths that last forever that give purpose and reason for living. I have always promised myself to be ‘a publisher of truth’. To fear God is to love God; which I do!
Our success and careers in life are important but most importantly is the success of the eternal assignments of life from within the family as a mother and a father. We are born, nurtured, educated, we explore, experience and learn; we fall in love, marry, and with the proper union of a man and a woman and a partnership with God, we are able to bring forth life that lasts forever; a posterity. Besides being a commandment, this is ‘God’s work and glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man’, of which we are. He is a Creator. As a pony always becomes a horse, a chick a hen, and ‘like father like son’; ‘like mother like daughter’, we become like our heavenly parents; even creators of life. This is why we are here.
We are not here by chance but by design. As God’s spirit children, we experience life now housed within a physical body so we can create; learn good from evil, choose the way we wish to live, and work at overcoming the world ever progressing forward becoming more like our Heavenly Parents. It is God’s Plan of Happiness. Some may have trials in life and not get all of these opportunities and priveleges or be able to enjoy them but, God is mindful of everyone and as only He can, He has ‘the way’ and ‘the plan’ for them and all of us if we but trust in Him. May we not lose our focus by only trying to succeed in life that we get caught up with the pleasures, honors, and greed of this world and forget why we are really here!
Ever since my brothers and I started performing music at a young age, we would always gather together and offer a word of prayer before we set foot on the stage and ask the Lord’s blessings to be with us and those in the audience. We prayed that they might feel the love that we had for them and sence our purpose as a family in sharing the great message of the Lord through our lifestyle and music. As Suzanne and I publish various ways to help “strengthen the family”, we ‘sanctify the Lord God in our hearts and are ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in us with meekness and fear’.
It is our prayer that we all will be seekers of truth, pray always, and “overcome the world” as we prepare for the second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Again, God is the same yesterday, today and forever and so are His Commandments. Let’s pass this “TEST” of life and turn this “TEST” into a “TEST imony” of Jesus Christ that we may live eternally with Him once again. God’s doctrines are true. If one does not agree, it’s only that they don’t understand them. May we each seek the Lord’s words and ways by reading the scriptures, knock on His door through prayer with any questions with humble tears asking for help with our challenges, and receive through the Holy Ghost those answers and guidance knowing that with faith all things are possible to those that love the Lord is my prayer.
May God be with you till we meet again,
Alan Osmond
“Strengthening The Family” – Spiritually
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:16
Mitt Romney was secretly caught on this secret photo before he entered the arena to plead his case to America.
He is a believer and a man who is like unto other praying presidents. The picture of George Washington at Valley Forge comes to mind!
Mitt Romney has been a successful man in every aspect of his personal, family, business, church, community and service life.
I believe Mitt Romney has the skill set and spiritual connections to keep this country from going over the brink financially, socially, and morally.
What’s wrong with the thinking of so many American’s who are willing to vote for such mediocrity when a man of integrity and experience is willing to put up with all the garbage being thrown at him and his family and is still found secretly praying to a loving Heavenly Father for the strength to continue on a quest that it must seem strange that so many don’t seem to want?
We truly are living in a scary time and in a few days we will know whether we are heading for a Yorktown or a Waterloo moment.
My name is Jim Ritchie and I proudly support this man for President of the United States.
Time evolves and it comes to a place where it renews again.
There is first a clarification time and then there is a renewal time.
We are getting very close to this time now.
We were told that we would see America come and go. In a sense, America is dying from within because the flaunting instructions on how to live on earth.
Everything is coming to the time when prophecy and man’s inability to live on earth in a spiritual way will come to a crossroad of great problems.
Thus the Hopi believe… that we all believe is, if you are not spiritually connected to the earth and understand the spirituality of how it is on earth, sadly you will not make it.
When Columbus came, what began what we term as the first world war, that was the first true first world war when Columbus arrived, because along with him came everybody from Europe.
By the end of the second world war, we were in America only 800,000. From 60 milllion to 800 thousand so we were almost exterminated here in America.
Everything is spiritual. Everything has a spirit. Everything.
Everything is brought here by the Creator. The one Creator.
Some people call Him God. Some people call him Buddah.
Some people call Him Allah, Some people call him other names.
We call him Konkachila. Heavenly Father.
We’re here on early only a few winters then we go to the spirit world.
The spirit world is more real than most of us believe.
The spirit world is everything.
Over 95 percent of our body is water. In order to stay healthy you’ve got to drink good water. When the European first came here, Columbus, we could drink out of any river.
If the Europeans had lived the Indian way when they came, we’d still be drinking our water because the water is sacred. The air is sacred. Our DNA is made of the same DNA as the tree. The tree breathes what we exhale. When the tree exhales, we need what the tree exhales. So, we have a common destiny with the tree.
We are all from the earth. And when the earth, the water, the atmosphere is corrupted then the great atone reaction. Another reactor when the Hopi professor say a storms are scheduled to become greater.
To me it’s not a negative thing to know that there will be great changes. It’s not negative. It’s evolution. When you look at it as evolution, it’s time. Nothing stays the same.
(Referring to the monkey) We all say, that might be your ancestor . . . but it’s not our ancestor. He is a relative but not an ancestor.
We should learn how to plant something. That is the first thing. We should treat all things as spirit. Realize that we are one family. It’s never something that could end.
It’s like life. There is no end to life.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
“And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.”1 Ne. 13: 37
Reaching out to others in love and compassion
is essential to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
President George Albert Smith said, “I do not have an enemy that I know of, and there is no one in the world that I have any enmity towards. All men and all women are my Father’s children, and I have sought during my life to observe the wise direction of the Redeemer of mankind—to love my neighbor as myself. … You will never know how much I love you. I have not words to express it. And I want to feel that way toward every son and every daughter of my Heavenly Father.”
President Smith demonstrated his love for others through countless acts of compassion. One observer noted: “It is characteristic of President Smith to go out of his way on errands of personal comfort and blessing to many who are sick, who are down-hearted, and who have cause to be grateful for his cheerful encouragement. It is not uncommon to see him, before and after office hours, walking hospital halls, visiting room after room, blessing, encouraging, and cheering with his unexpected appearances in those places where his comforting and reassuring presence is so gratefully welcome. … It is characteristic of him to go wherever he feels that he can give help and encouragement.”
A story about President Smith who was going out of his way to show love for someone in need:
“On a cold winter morning, the street cleaning crew [in Salt Lake City] was removing large chunks of ice from the street gutters. The regular crew was assisted by temporary laborers who desperately needed the work. One such wore only a lightweight sweater and was suffering from the cold. A slender man with a well-groomed beard stopped by the crew and asked the worker, ‘You need more than that sweater on a morning like this. Where is your coat?’ The man replied that he had no coat to wear. The visitor then removed his own overcoat, handed it to the man and said, ‘This coat is yours. It is heavy wool and will keep you warm. I just work across the street.’ The street was South Temple. The good Samaritan who walked into the Church Building to his daily work and without his coat was President George Albert Smith. His selfless act of generosity revealed his tender heart. Surely he was his brother’s keeper.”
All people are our brothers and sisters, children of our Heavenly Father.
We look upon all men as our brothers, all women as our sisters; we look upon the face of every human being that is in the world as a child of our Father, and believe that as each is in the image of the Father, so also each possesses a spark of divinity that if developed will prepare us to return to His presence.
That is our understanding of the purpose of our existence in the world, and explains our interest in our fellowmen. Many have supposed that we were exclusive in our lives, and some have thought that we were clannish. The fact is, we look upon every child that is born into the world, as a son or daughter of God, as our brother or our sister, and we feel that our happiness will not be complete in the kingdom of heaven unless we enjoy the companionship of our families and those of our friends and associates with whom we have become acquainted and in whose interest we give so much of our time on earth.
As I think of my regard and my affection for my Father’s family, the human family, I remember something my earthly father said, and I think probably I inherited that in part from him. He said, “I have never seen a child of God so deep in the gutter that I have not had the impulse to stoop down and lift him up and put him on his feet and start him again.” I would like to say I have never seen one of my Father’s children in my life that I have not realized he was my brother and that God loves every one of his children.
What a happy world it would be if men everywhere recognized their fellowmen as brothers and sisters, and then followed that up by loving their neighbors as themselves.
The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us to love all of God’s children.
The gospel teaches us to have charity for all and to love our fellows. The Savior said:
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, this is the first and great commandment.
“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” [Matthew 22:37–40.]
Brethren and sisters, if the gospel of Jesus Christ, as delivered to you, has not planted that feeling of love in your hearts for your fellow men, then I want to say that you have not enjoyed the full fruition of that wonderful gift.
Our ministry is one of love. Our service is one which enriches our lives. … If we are living as God intends that we should live, if we are ministering as he desires that we should minister, every day of our lives is enriched by the influence of his Spirit, our love of our fellowmen increases and our souls are enlarged until we feel that we could take into our arms all of God’s children, with a desire to bless them and bring them to an understanding of the truth.
As members of the Church of Christ, we should keep His commandments and love one another. Then our love should pass beyond the border lines of the Church with which we are identified, and reach out after the children of men.
Let us evidence by our conduct, by our gentleness, by our love, by our faith, that we do keep that great commandment that the Savior said was like unto the first great commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
We exercise charity by reaching out to those who need help and encouragement.
The measurement of the result of what love and charity may bring into the world is impossible. Opportunity is offered in every branch and ward and mission field to go about radiating sunshine, developing happiness and lifting up those who are discouraged, and bringing joy and comfort to those who are in distress.
The Lord says this:
“See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires. …
“And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace.” [D&C 88:123, 125.] …
… Are you following his advice with reference to charity? I want to say that at this particular period of our lives we need to exercise charity, not only in imparting of our substance to those who are in need, but we need to have charity for the weaknesses and failures and mistakes of our Father’s children.
If we find a man or a woman who has not succeeded in life, one who is weakening in his faith, let us not turn our backs upon him; let us make it a point to visit him, and go to him in kindness and love, and encourage him to turn from the error of his way. The opportunity to do individual work among us as a people is present everywhere; and there are few men and few women in this Church who could not, if they would, reach out a little farther from the circle with which they are identified, and say a kind word, or teach the truth to some of our Father’s children. … This is our Father’s work. It is the most important thing that we will be identified with in this life.
I have only good will in my heart for mankind. I haven’t any animosity in my heart toward any living human being. I know some that I wish would behave themselves a little better than they do, but that is their loss, not mine. If I can get my arm around them and help them back on the highway of happiness by teaching them the gospel of Jesus Christ, my happiness will be increased thereby. … You cannot drive people to do things which are right, but you can love them into doing them, if your example is of such a character that they can see you mean what you say.
True happiness comes from loving and serving others.
Do not forget no matter how much you may give in money, no matter how you may desire the things of this world to make yourselves happy, your happiness will be in proportion to your charity and to your kindness and to your love of those with whom you associate here on earth. Our Heavenly Father has said in very plain terms that he who says he loves God and does not love his brother is not truthful [see 1 John 4:20].
It isn’t only what we receive that makes us happy; it is what we give, and the more we give of that which is uplifting and enriching to our Father’s children, the more we have to give. It grows like a great fountain of life and bubbles up to eternal happiness.
When our life here is ended and we return home, we will find credited to us there every good act we have performed, every kindness we have done, every effort we have put forth to benefit our fellows. …
… Let us evidence our appreciation of what the Lord has given us by serving Him, and we are serving Him when we do good to His children. Freely we have received, now freely give [see Matthew 10:8]. With hearts warmed with love and kindness for our fellow men, let us press steadily on until the final summons shall come, and we shall meet our record. Then, if we have improved our talents, if we have been honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and charitable, and have sought to uplift every soul with whom we have associated, if we have lived up to the light we have received, and disseminated that light whenever opportunity has presented, how happy we will be and how our hearts will swell with gratitude when we receive from the Maker of heaven and earth that welcome plaudit: “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” [Matthew 25:21.]
Heavenly Father desires that we find true, lasting happiness. Our happiness is the design of all the blessings He gives us—gospel teachings, commandments, priesthood ordinances, family relationships, prophets, temples, the beauties of creation, and even the opportunity to experience adversity. His plan for our salvation is often called “the great plan of happiness” (Alma 42: 8). He sent His Beloved Son to carry out the Atonement so we can be happy in this life and receive a fulness of joy in the eternities.
Testifying of God’s “eternal purposes,” the prophet Lehi taught, “Men are, that they might have joy” (2 Ne. 2: 15, 25). Many people try to find happiness and fulfillment in activities that are contrary to the Lord’s commandments. Ignoring God’s plan for them, they reject the only source of real happiness. They give in to the devil, who “seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Ne. 2: 27). Eventually they learn the truth of Alma’s warning to his son Corianton: “Wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41: 10).
Others seek only to have fun in life. With this as their main goal, they allow temporary pleasure to distract them from lasting happiness. They rob themselves of the enduring joys of spiritual growth, service, and hard work.
As we seek to be happy, we should remember that the only way to real happiness is to live the gospel. We will find peaceful, eternal happiness as we strive to keep the commandments, pray for strength, repent of our sins, participate in wholesome activities, and give meaningful service.
• What do the scriptures teach us about our relationship to God?
God is not only our Ruler and Creator; He is also our Heavenly Father. All men and women are literally the sons and daughters of God. “Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal [physical] body”.
Every person who was ever born on earth is our spirit brother or sister. Because we are the spirit children of God, we have inherited the potential to develop His divine qualities. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can become like our Heavenly Father and receive a fulness of joy.
.
We Developed Personalities and Talents
While We Lived in Heaven
The scriptures teach us that the prophets prepared themselves to become leaders on earth while they were still spirits in heaven (see Alma 13:1–3). Before they were born into mortal bodies, God foreordained (chose) them to be leaders on earth. Jesus, Adam, and Abraham were some of these leaders. (See Abraham 3:22–23.)
We were not all alike in heaven. We know, for example, that we were sons and daughters of heavenly parents—males and females (see “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,”). We possessed different talents and abilities, and we were called to do different things on earth.
A veil covers our memories of our premortal life, but our Father in Heaven knows who we are and what we did before we came here. He has chosen the time and place for each of us to be born so we can learn the lessons we personally need and do the most good with our individual talents and personalities.
Our Heavenly Father Presented a Plan for Us
to Become Like Him
• How does earth life help prepare us to become like our Heavenly Father?
Our Heavenly Father knew we could not progress beyond a certain point unless we left Him for a time. He wanted us to develop the godlike qualities that He has. To do this, we needed to leave our premortal home to be tested and to gain experience. Our spirits needed to be clothed with physical bodies. We would need to leave our physical bodies at death and reunite with them in the Resurrection. Then we would receive immortal bodies like that of our Heavenly Father. If we passed our tests, we would receive the fulness of joy that our Heavenly Father has received. (See D&C 93:30–34.)
Our Heavenly Father called a Grand Council to present His plan for our progression. We learned that if we followed His plan, we would become like Him. We would be resurrected; we would have all power in heaven and on earth; we would become heavenly parents and have spirit children just as He does (see D&C 132:19–20).
We learned that He would provide an earth for us where we would prove ourselves (see Abraham 3:24–26). A veil would cover our memories, and we would forget our heavenly home. This would be necessary so we could exercise our agency to choose good or evil without being influenced by the memory of living with our Heavenly Father. Thus we could obey Him because of our faith in Him, not because of our knowledge or memory of Him. He would help us recognize the truth when we heard it again on earth (see John 18:37).
At the Grand Council we also learned the purpose for our progression: to have a fulness of joy. However, we also learned that some would be deceived, choose other paths, and lose their way. We learned that all of us would have trials in our lives: sickness, disappointment, pain, sorrow, and death. But we understood that these would be given to us for our experience and our good (see D&C 122:7). If we allowed them to, these trials would purify us rather than defeat us. They would teach us to have endurance, patience, and charity.
At this council we also learned that because of our weakness, all of us except little children would sin (see D&C 29:46–47). We learned that a Savior would be provided for us so we could overcome our sins and overcome death with resurrection. We learned that if we placed our faith in Him, obeying His word and following His example, we would be exalted and become like our Heavenly Father. We would receive a fulness of joy.
“Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.”
Good parenting, while very challenging at times, offers great potential for happiness. Parents can experience great joy by building a strong, loving home environment and teaching gospel principles, which can help their children lead righteous, happy, and productive lives. (See 3 John 1:4.)
The Lord has commanded parents to “bring up [their] children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40). This includes teaching them to understand the doctrines of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost (see D&C 68:25) and to love their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This teaching should take place primarily in the home, with Church classes and programs supplementing and supporting parents’ efforts.
Parents can teach their children formally during family home evening and other family gatherings, such as daily family prayer and scripture study or at mealtimes. Teaching opportunities also come in unplanned moments as parents and children spend time working and playing together. Whatever the setting, the Lord will guide parents as they prayerfully seek to rear their children in love and righteousness.
“Trainupachild in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”Prov. 22: 6
In the world today, The Family is under attack by the forces of evil and wickedness and many things long held sacred are ridiculed. The family is where children are nurtured, educated, and learn values. The family is where individuals turn to first in challenging moments, including financial disaster, health crises, and many other key life transitions. And yet, the family is also under attack in ways that are unprecedented. More than one third of American children currently grow-up without a father in the home. More than half of American adults are not married, cohabitation is at record levels, and the average marriage age is move later and later.
In a world of turmoil and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to make our families the center of our lives and the top of our priorities. Families lie at the center of our Heavenly Father’s plan. “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” declares the responsibilities of parents to their families:
“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’ (Psalms 127: 3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to 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.”
We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm, which is increasing in intensity all about us. Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes. We remind you that parents are to preside over their own families.
We hope that by providing you with family helps, members of your family will be assisted and encouraged to build stronger and better families and homes. We hope it will cause a conscious and sustained effort in building an eternal family unit, and we all will be reminded to focus our attention on the most important organization the Lord has established here on earth.
The Family
Family activities include (1) writing personal and family journals, (2) holding family councils, (3) establishing and maintaining family organizations for the immediate and extended family, (4) personal interviews between parents and children, (5) writing to relatives and missionaries, (6) genealogy, (7) visiting relatives and those who are ill or lonely, (8) charity work, (9) reading stories to children, and (10) singing Church hymns.
“Monday nights are reserved for family home evenings. We encourage members to set aside this time to strengthen family ties and teach principles and values in their homes.
We also counseled parents and children to give highest priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities.
May it be our resolve this year to build a gospel-centered home, a safe harbor from the storms of the adversary. Let us again remember the promises and instructions from the Lord to His children:
“The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.
“Light and truth forsake that evil one.”
“But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth.”
When you see things that are NOT RIGHT, take a STAND and STAND UP! When others are forcing their ways and ideas upon you and you family that are NOT appropriate, SPEAK OUT! When you hear or see something on the TV, radion, internet or your computer that is inappropriate, SHUT IT OFF! Sometimes silence isn’t golden . . . it’s YELLOW! So OPEN YOUR MOUTHS for GOOD!
If we will do these things, we will be helping to TURN THIS WORLD AROUND! Let’s all be like the people of Enoch who love one another and were of One Heart. They became a ‘ZION People’ and were known as “The Happiest People that ever lived!” Let’s do the SAME!
“And the Lord called his peopleZion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.”Moses 7: 18
President George Albert Smith said, “I do not have an enemy that I know of, and there is no one in the world that I have any enmity towards. All men and all women are my Father’s children, and I have sought during my life to observe the wise direction of the Redeemer of mankind—to love my neighbor as myself. … You will never know how much I love you. I have not words to express it. And I want to feel that way toward every son and every daughter of my Heavenly Father.”
What a happy world it would be if men everywhere recognized their fellowmen as brothers and sisters, and then followed that up by loving their neighbors as themselves.
which enriches our lives. … If we are living as God intends that we should live, if we are ministering as he desires that we should minister, every day of our lives is enriched by the influence of his Spirit, our love of our fellowmen increases and our souls are enlarged until we feel that we could take into our arms all of God’s children, with a desire to bless them and bring them to an understanding of the truth.
Do not forget no matter how much you may give in money, no matter how you may desire the things of this world to make yourselves happy, your happiness will be in proportion to your charity and to your kindness and to your love of those with whom you associate here on earth. Our Heavenly Father has said in very plain terms that he who says he loves God and does not love his brother is not truthful [see 1 John 4:20].
For The Family
