Thursday, April 28, 2011

Marriage





Elder H. Burke Peterson, “Unrighteous Dominion”,  Ensign July 1989
"Reproving with sharpness means reproving with clarity, with loving firmness, with serious intent. It does not mean reproving with sarcasm, or with bitterness, or with clenched teeth and raised voice. One who reproves as the Lord has directed deals in principles, not personalities. He does not attack character or demean an individual.
"In almost every situation in which correction is required, private reproof is superior to public reproof. Unless the whole ward is in need of a reprimand, it is better for a bishop to speak to the individual rather than to use the collective approach. Similarly, a child or spouse has the right to be told privately of mistakes. Public correction is often cruel or, at the least, misguided."




Elder Richard G. Scott, The Eternal Blessings of Marriage, General Conference April 2011
If you are married, are you faithful to your spouse mentally as well as physically?
...

Do you tell your wife often how very much you love her? It will bring her great happiness. I’ve heard men tell me when I say that, “Oh, she knows.” You need to tell her. A woman grows and is greatly blessed by that reassurance. Express gratitude for what your spouse does for you. Express that love and gratitude often. That will make life far richer and more pleasant and purposeful. Don’t withhold those natural expressions of love. And it works a lot better if you are holding her close while you tell her.


The Teachings of Howard W. Hunter, ed. Clyde J. Williams (1997), 130.
Successful marriage is more a matter of being the right person than marrying the right person. [Marriage] is a learned behavior. Our conscious effort, not instinct, determines the success. The motivating force stems from kindness, true affection, and consideration for each other's happiness and welfare.

President Thomas S Monson, Priesthood Power, General Conference April 2011
"Choose a companion carefully and prayerfully; and when you are married, be fiercely loyal one to another. Priceless advice comes from a small framed plaque I once saw in the home of an uncle and aunt. It read, ‘Choose your love; love your choice.’ There is great wisdom in those few words. Commitment in marriage is absolutely essential."



Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Desire", April 2011 General Conference
"I close with a final example of a desire that should be paramount for all men and women—those who are currently married and those who are single. All should desire and seriously work to secure a marriage for eternity. Those who already have a temple marriage should do all they can to preserve it. Those who are single should desire a temple marriage and exert priority efforts to obtain it. Youth and young singles should resist the politically correct but eternally false concept that discredits the importance of marrying and having children."
...

I am sure that some anxiously seeking young men would want me to add that there are some young women whose desires for a worthy marriage and children rank far below their desires for a career or other mortal distinctions. Both men and women need righteous desires that will lead them to eternal life.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley,Ensign, Feb. 1999, 4
“Be fiercely loyal one to another”

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Raising Children

Sister Joy D Jones, A Sin Resistant Generation, April 2017 General Conference
Helping children understand, make, and keep sacred covenants is another key in creating a sin-resistant generation.”
 ...
Teaching children to keep simple promises when they are young will empower them to keep holy covenants later in life.”
 ...
A succession of small, successfully kept promises leads to integrity.”


Tad R Callister “Parents: The Prime Gospel Teachers of Their Children” , October 2014 General  Conference
Elder Richard G. Scott, in Conference Report, Apr. 1993, 43; or Ensign, May 1993, 3430 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord.My Thoughts on the above. We must read from the words God had revealed regularly to our children. 28 And they shall also ateach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.
{
Elder Jeffrey R Holland, A Prayer for the Children”, General Conference April 2003
Elder Steven R Bangerter, Laying the Foundation of a Great Work
...


"I remember my father stretched out by the fireplace, reading the scriptures and other good books, and I would stretch out by his side. I remember the cards he would keep in his shirt pocket with quotes of the scriptures and Shakespeare and new words that he would memorize and learn. I remember the gospel questions and discussions at the dinner table."
Enos 1:3
 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.


L Tom Perry, Finding Lasting Peace and Building Eternal Families, October 2014 General Conference
Fathers are personally involved in leading family prayers, daily scripture reading, and weekly family home evenings.


“Fathers build family traditions by being involved in helping plan vacation trips and outings that will involve all of the family members. Memories of these special times together will never be forgotten by their children.
“Fathers hold one-on-one visits with their children and teach them gospel principles.
“Fathers teach sons and daughters the value of work and help them establish worthy goals in their own lives.
“Fathers set an example of faithful gospel service.

You must be willing to forgo personal pleasure and self-interest for family-centered activity, and not turn over to church, school, or society the principal role of fostering a child’s well-rounded development. It takes time, great effort, and significant personal sacrifice to ‘train up a child in the way he should go.’ But where can you find greater rewards for a job well done?”
2 Chronicles 34:29-30
29 ¶Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

Children can not obey God if they don't know what he has said.
}


Elder David F Evans, Was It Worth It?, General Conference April 2012
"In this and every other important endeavor, our most important work is always within our own home and family.2 It is within families that the Church is established and real growth occurs.3"
...
We must be faithful ourselves so that they can see our example of love for the Lord and His Church.”
...
We help our children rely on the Savior’s Atonement and know the forgiveness of a loving Heavenly Father by showing love and forgiveness in our own parenting. Our love and forgiveness not only draw our children closer to us but also build their faith in knowing that Heavenly Father loves them and that He will forgive them as they strive to repent and do better and be better. They trust this truth because they have experienced the same from their earthly parents.”
...
"The work of naturally and normally sharing the gospel with those we care about and love will be the work and joy of our lives"

Sister Cheryl A Esplin, Teaching Our Children to Understand, General Conference April 2012
"If we are ready and will let the Spirit guide in these situations, our children will be taught with greater effect and understanding."

25 And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.

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.


Elder H. Burke Peterson, “Unrighteous Dominion”,  Ensign July 1989
"Reproving with sharpness means reproving with clarity, with loving firmness, with serious intent. It does not mean reproving with sarcasm, or with bitterness, or with clenched teeth and raised voice. One who reproves as the Lord has directed deals in principles, not personalities. He does not attack character or demean an individual.
"In almost every situation in which correction is required, private reproof is superior to public reproof. Unless the whole ward is in need of a reprimand, it is better for a bishop to speak to the individual rather than to use the collective approach. Similarly, a child or spouse has the right to be told privately of mistakes. Public correction is often cruel or, at the least, misguided."



Alma 5:47
 47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.


C. C. Miller, “The Echo,” in Best-Loved Poems of the LDS People, ed. Jack M. Lyon and others (1996), 312–13
"’Twas a sheep not a lamb
That strayed away in the parable Jesus told,
A grown-up sheep that strayed away
From the ninety and nine in the fold.
And why for the sheep should we seek
And earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger when sheep go wrong:
They lead the lambs astray.
Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray.
When sheep go wrong,
It won’t take long till the lambs are as wrong as they.
And so with the sheep we earnestly plead
For the sake of the lambs today,
For when the sheep are lost
What a terrible cost
The lambs will have to pay."


Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-44
41 No apower or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the bpriesthood, only by cpersuasion, by dlong-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

42 By akindness, and pure bknowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the csoul without dhypocrisy, and without eguile

43 aReproving betimes with bsharpness, when cmoved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of dlove toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;

44 That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of adeath.


 7Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings.

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

My Thoughts
{
We have to work hard to find opportunities to teach our children the things of God in everything we do with them.  On the way to the grocery store. While watching movies or sports. While they tell us about how their day, evening, or a date was.

If talking about spiritual things happens constantly, it will not be foreign or awkward to them when you have an urgent lesson you need to teach them.  It will likely make family home evenings, family scripture study, and so forth easier.

}
I believe that it is less a question of whether our children are ‘getting it’ in the midst of our teaching, such as while striving to read the scriptures or to have family home evening or to attend Mutual and other Church meetings. It is less a question of whether in those moments they are understanding the importance of those activities and more a question of whether we, as parents, are exercising faith enough to follow the Lord’s counsel to diligently live, teach, exhort, and set forth expectations that are inspired by the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is an effort driven by our faith—our belief that one day the seeds sown in their youth will take root and begin to sprout and grow.”
“The things we talk of, the things we preach and teach determine the things that will happen among us. As we establish wholesome traditions that teach the doctrine of Christ, the Holy Spirit bears witness of the truthfulness of our message and nourishes the seeds of the gospel that are planted deep in the hearts of our children by our efforts all along the way. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Family

Joseph Fielding Smith, " Counsel to the Saints and to the World", April 1972 General Conference
“To all the families in Israel we say: The family is the most important organization in time or in eternity. Our purpose in life is to create for ourselves eternal family units.”


Elder David F Evans, Was It Worth It?, General Conference April 2012
"In this and every other important endeavor, our most important work is always within our own home and family.2 It is within families that the Church is established and real growth occurs.3"

President Boyd K Packer, And a Little Child Shall Lead Them, General Conference April 2012
The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is to see a husband and his wife and their children happy at home, protected by the principles and laws of the gospel, sealed safely in the covenants of the everlasting priesthood. Husbands and wives should understand that their first calling—from which they will never be released—is to one another and then to their children.


Elder Richard J. Maynes, Establishing a Christ-Centered Home, General Conference April 2011
Understanding the eternal nature of the family is a critical element in understanding Heavenly Father’s plan for His children. The adversary, on the other hand, wants to do everything in his power to destroy Heavenly Father’s plan. In his attempt to defeat God’s plan, he is leading an unprecedented attack on the institution of the family. Some of the more powerful weapons he uses in his attack are selfishness, greed, and pornography.
“Our eternal happiness is not one of Satan’s objectives. He knows that an essential key to making men and women miserable like himself is to deprive them of family relationships which have eternal potential. Because Satan understands that true happiness in this life and in the eternities is found in the form of family, he does everything in his power to destroy it.


“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2010, 129

“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.”



Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Fundamental to Our Faith, Ensign January 2011
The power to create mortal life is the most exalted power God has given His children. The use of this creative power was mandated in the first commandment to “be fruitful, and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Another important commandment forbade its misuse: “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14), and “ye should abstain from fornication” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). The emphasis we place on this law of chastity is explained by our understanding of the purpose of our procreative powers in the accomplishment of God’s plan.