Family
Family Gems - 9 November 2009
Include Children in Solving Family Problems
“Parents need to draw the children into the problem-solving process by letting them be heard. For example, I came home at times to find that the children had not cleaned their rooms or done other things they were supposed to do. My wife had her hands full with seven children to raise. So I called the children together for a short council meeting. We talked about what needed to be done and decided on a course of action. Talking about the course of action makes all the difference. If it’s mandated or dictated, there will usually be resistance. But if parents will establish a climate conducive to openness, where every person is important and every opinion is valued, they can create a kind of spiritual synergism in the home, where the combined action or cooperation that results is greater than the sum of the individual parts.”
and Barbara Ballard, “Family Councils:
Topics: Family
Daily Gems - 3 November 2009
Tithing: Foundation of Provident Living
“The foundation of provident living is the law of the tithe. The primary purpose of this law is to help us develop faith in our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Tithing helps us overcome our desires for the things of this world and willingly make sacrifices for others.”
Topics: Family, Financial Management
Family Gems - 12 October 2009
Family Experiences Provide Important Development Opportunities
“Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. As we do so, we should remember that our family relationships—even more than our Church callings—are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur. The conversion we must achieve requires us to be a good husband and father or a good wife and mother. Being a successful Church leader is not enough. Exaltation is an eternal family experience, and it is our mortal family experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it.”
Topics: Family
Daily Gems - 1 October 2009
The Lord’s Will Be Done
“When should we pray? Whenever we desire! Alma taught, ‘Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good’ (Alma 37:37). . . . Jesus reminded His disciples ‘that they should not cease to pray in their hearts’ (3 Nephi 20:1). The practice of Church members is to kneel in family prayer each morning and evening, plus having daily personal prayers and blessings on our food (see Ensign, Jan. 1976, 11).”
Family Gems - 25 September 2009
Within Families Children Learn to Cope with This World
“Let us . . . honor the special place of the family. As James Q. Wilson wrote:
“ ‘We learn to cope with the people of this world because we learn to cope with the members of our family. Those who flee the family flee the world; bereft of the [family’s] affection, tutelage, and challenges, they are unprepared for the [world’s] tests, judgments, and demands’ (The Moral Sense [1993], 163).”
Topics: Family
Family Gems - 14 September 2009
Seek to Create the Ideal Family
“Through the restored gospel we learn there is an ideal family. It is a family composed of a righteous Melchizedek Priesthood bearer with a righteous wife sealed to him and children born in the covenant or sealed to them. With a mother in the home in an environment of love and service, the parents teach their children, through example and precept, the ways of the Lord and His truths. They fulfill their divinely appointed roles mentioned in the family proclamation. Their children mature by living teachings instilled from birth. They develop characteristics of obedience, integrity, love of God, and faith in His holy plan. In due course, each of those children seeks a companion with similar ideals and aspirations. They are sealed in the temple, bear children, and the eternal plan continues, with generation strengthening generation.”
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood, Example, Family
Family Gems - 7 September 2009
Families Are Strengthened through Gospel Activities
“One example of great importance for humanity is strengthening our own families. The principle of family home evening was given to us in 1915. President McKay reminded parents again in 1964 that ‘no other success can compensate for failure in the home’ (Quoted from J. E. McCulloch, Home: The Savior of Civilization (1924), 42; in Conference Report, Apr. 1964, 5). In 1995 the prophets of our day called upon all the world to strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society (see “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Liahona, Oct. 2004, 49; Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102).”
Family Gems - 31 August 2009
Career Choices Impact Family Life
“Each of you has the agency to prayerfully and humbly choose how to approach your career opportunities. Every choice has a consequence. You cannot have everything and do everything. You must choose with eternal priorities in mind. I would hope that you will understand that there are no glamorous careers. Every form of employment has its own innate challenges. Many choices available in the world today compete with eternal goals and responsibilities. Many choices could persuade you to delay or limit the number of children you invite into your family. Many choices could rob you of critical time and energy necessary to adequately care for your spouse, your children, and your responsibilities in the Lord’s kingdom. These decisions are between you and the Lord. He knows the desires of your heart and your unique situation.”
Topics: Family
Family Gems - 24 August 2009
Children Can Learn Principles of Provident Living
“We should regularly review our family income, savings, and spending plan in family council meetings. This will teach our children to recognize the difference between wants and needs and to plan ahead for meaningful use of family resources. . . . Whenever we want to experience or possess something that will impact us and our resources, we may want to ask ourselves, ‘Is the benefit temporary, or will it have eternal value and significance?’ Truthfully answering these questions may help us avoid excessive debt and other addictive behavior.”
Topics: Family
Daily Gems - 13 August 2009
Prayers for Those We Serve
"Do those we serve hear us pray for them with faith and sincerity? If those we love and serve have not heard and felt the influence of our earnest prayers in their behalf, then the time to repent is now. As we emulate the example of the Savior, our prayers truly will become more meaningful."
Topics: Family
Family Gems - 3 August 2009
Men and Women Were Created to Complement One Another
“In His grand design, when God first created man, He created a duality of the sexes. The ennobling expression of that duality is found in marriage. One individual is complementary to the other. As Paul stated, ‘Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord’ (1 Corinthians 11:11).
“There is no other arrangement that meets the divine purposes of the Almighty. Man and woman are His creations. Their duality is His design. Their complementary relationships and functions are fundamental to His purposes. One is incomplete without the other.”
Topics: Family
Family Gems - 17 July 2009
Use Every Opportunity to Strengthen Families
“Scriptures, family home evening, and family prayer will strengthen families. We need to take every opportunity to strengthen families and support one another to stay on the right path.”
Topics: Family
Family Gems - 22 June 2009
Our Homes Should Be Filled with Gospel Treasures
“We may be well-advised to consider together, in family council, standards for our homes to keep them sacred and to allow them to be a ‘house of the Lord.’ The admonition to ‘establish . . . a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God’ (D&C 88:119) provides divine insight into the type of home the Lord would have us build. Doing such begins the construction of a ‘spiritual mansion’ in which we all may reside regardless of our worldly circumstance—a home filled with treasure that ‘neither moth nor rust doth corrupt’ (see Matthew 6:19–20; 3 Nephi 13:19–20).”
Topics: Family
Family Gems - 15 June 2009
No Matter Our Situation, We All Bear the Responsibility to Strengthen Families
“It is the responsibility and blessing of each of us to strengthen our families and homes. Each of us is in a different family situation. Some families have a mother and father with children at home. Some couples no longer have children at home. Many members of the Church are single, and some are single parents. Others are widows or widowers living alone.
“No matter what our family looks like, each of us can work to strengthen our own families or help in strengthening others.”
Topics: Family
Daily Gems - 22 May 2009
Equal Partnership
"The family proclamation states that a husband and wife should be equal partners. I feel assured that every wife in the Church would welcome that opportunity and support it. Whether it occurs or not depends upon the husband. Many husbands practice equal partnership with their companion to the benefit of both and the blessing of their children. However, many do not. I encourage any man who is reluctant to develop an equal partnership with his wife to obey the counsel inspired by the Lord and do it. Equal partnership yields its greatest benefit when both husband and wife seek the will of the Lord in making important decisions for themselves and for their family."
Family Gems - 18 May 2009
Pray for Others
"Do our spouses, children, and other family members . . . feel the power of our prayers offered unto the Father for their specific needs and desires? Do those we serve hear us pray for them with faith and sincerity? If those we love and serve have not heard and felt the influence of our earnest prayers in their behalf, then the time to repent is now. As we emulate the example of the Savior, our prayers truly will become more meaningful."
Daily Gems - 13 May 2009
Strengthening Families and Homes
"[Women are] to strengthen families and homes. Families worldwide are being assaulted and weakened by corrupt practices and false teachings. . . .
"The First Presidency has counseled, 'However worthy and appropriate other demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the divinely-appointed duties that only parents and families can adequately perform' (First Presidency letter, Feb. 11, 1999). . . .
"Relief Society should be organized, aligned, and mobilized to strengthen families and help our homes to be sacred sanctuaries from the world."
Topics: Relief Society, Family, Womanhood
Family Gems - 24 April 2009
Fathers Have a Divine Role in Families
“Satan, in his carefully devised plan to destroy the family, seeks to diminish the role of fathers. Increased youth violence, youth crime, greater poverty and economic insecurity, and the failure of increasing numbers of children in our schools offer clear evidence of lack of a positive influence of fathers in the homes (see David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem [1995], introduction, 25–48; David Popenoe, Life without Father [1996], 52–78). A family needs a father to anchor it.”
Topics: Fatherhood, Family
Family Gems - 20 April 2009
Our Homes Should Exemplify a Legacy of Love
“Do we exemplify [a] legacy of love? Do our homes? Bernadine Healy, in a commencement address, gave this counsel: ‘As a physician, who has been deeply privileged to share the most profound moments of people’s lives including their final moments, let me tell you a secret. People facing death don’t think about what degrees they have earned, what positions they have held, or how much wealth they have accumulated. At the end, what really matters is who you loved and who loved you. That circle of love is everything, and is a great measure of a past life. It is the gift of greatest worth’ (“On Light and Worth: Lessons from Medicine,” Commencement address, Vassar College, 29 May 1994, 10, Special Collections).”
Topics: Family
Family Gems - 13 April 2009
Husbands and Wives Are Equal Partners
“Remember, brethren, that in your role as leader in the family, your wife is your companion. As President Gordon B. Hinckley has taught: ‘In this Church the man neither walks ahead of his wife nor behind his wife but at her side. They are coequals’ (in Conference Report, Oct. 1996, 68; or Ensign, Nov. 1996, 49). Since the beginning, God has instructed mankind that marriage should unite husband and wife together in unity (see Genesis 2:24). Therefore, there is not a president or a vice president in a family. The couple works together eternally for the good of the family. They are united together in word, in deed, and in action as they lead, guide, and direct their family unit. They are on equal footing. They plan and organize the affairs of the family jointly and unanimously as they move forward.”
Topics: Family, Melchizedek Priesthood
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