Family

POSITION STATEMENT

Families are important in Heavenly Father's plan. We will have families in the eternities and have come to the earth to experience loving family relationships. Our Heavenly Father has taught us how to love and serve others and it is vitally important that we love our children and teach them this principle. Parents are entrusted with precious children who deserve to be nourished in Spirit and strength. We need to foster joy and happiness within the walls of our homes, as it should be a place where compassion and forgiveness are taught. Children should be taught the gospel within the home and learn to love the gospel through family discussions with scripture study and prayer. Our homes can be a heaven on earth, where the family can learn to support and sustain one another and the Spirit of God can dwell and peace and happiness can be fostered.

QUOTES

1.

"In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e, time."

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Of Things That Matter Most, General Conference, October 2010

2.

“Children are highly vulnerable. They have little or no power to protect or provide for themselves and little influence on so much that is vital to their well-being. Children need others to speak for them, and they need decision makers who put their well-being ahead of selfish adult interests.”

Elder Robert C. Oaks, “Protect the Children”, General Conference, Oct 2012

3.

"Melchizedek Priesthood holders who are fathers in sealed families have been taught what they must do. There is nothing that has come or will come into your family as important as the sealing blessings. There is nothing more important than honoring the marriage and family covenants you have made or will make in the temples of God."

President Henry B. Eyring, “Families under Covenant”, General Conference, April 2012

4.

“Lessons taught in the home by goodly parents are becoming increasingly important in today’s world, where the influence of the adversary is so widespread. As we know, he is attempting to erode and destroy the very foundation of our society—the family. In clever and carefully camouflaged ways, he is attacking commitment to family life throughout the world and undermining the culture and covenants of faithful Latter-day Saints.”

Elder L. Tom Perry, “Becoming Goodly Parents”, General Conference, October 12, 2012

5.

“Parents must resolve that teaching in the home is a most sacred and important responsibility. While other institutions such as church and school can assist parents to “train up a child in the way he [or she] should go” (Proverbs 22:6), this responsibility ultimately rests on the parents. According to the great plan of happiness, it is goodly parents who are entrusted with the care and development of Heavenly Father’s children.”

Elder L. Tom Perry, “Becoming Goodly Parents”, General Conference, October 12, 2012

6.

“In these perilous times it is not enough for our youth to merely know. They must do. Wholehearted participation in ordinances, quorums and auxiliaries, inspired programs, and fortifying activities helps youth put on the whole armor of God. Will we help them put on that armor so they can withstand the fiery darts of the adversary? To truly choose the Lord’s way, they must know His way. And to truly know His way, we must teach and lead them to act, to participate, to do.”

Elder Robert D. Hales, “Our Duty to God: The Mission of Parents and Leaders to the Rising Generation”, General Conference, April 2010

7.

“When we have a family home evening, a family council, or a meaningful gospel conversation with our children, we have the opportunity to look into their eyes and tell them that we love them and that Heavenly Father loves them. In these sacred settings, we can also help them understand, deep in their hearts, who they are and how fortunate they are to have come to this earth and to our home and to participate in the covenants we have taken in the temple to be a family forever. In every interaction we share, we demonstrate the principles and blessings of the gospel.”

Elder Robert D. Hales, “Our duty to god: the mission of parents and leaders to the rising generation”, General Conference, April 2010

8.

"It is OK if the house is a mess and the children are still in their pajamas and some responsibilities are left undone. The only things that really need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening."

Linda S. Reeves, Protection from Pornography, “A Christ-Focused Home", General Conference, April 2014

9.

“Parents simply cannot flirt with skepticism or cynicism, then be surprised when their children expand that flirtation into full-blown romance. If in matters of faith and belief children are at risk of being swept downstream by this intellectual current or that cultural rapid, we as their parents must be more certain than ever to hold to anchored, unmistakable moorings clearly recognizable to those of our own household. It won’t help anyone if we go over the edge with them, explaining through the roar of the falls all the way down that we really did know the Church was true and that the keys of the priesthood really were lodged there but we just didn’t want to stifle anyone’s freedom to think otherwise. No, we can hardly expect the children to get to shore safely if the parents don’t seem to know where to anchor their own boat.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “A Prayer for the Children”, April 2003

10.

“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. Give Priesthood blessings. And bear your testimony! Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own. The prophet Nephi said near the end of his life that they had written their record of Christ and preserved their convictions regarding His gospel in order “to persuade our children … that our children may know … [and believe] the right way.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “A Prayer for the Children”, April 2003