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.