Humming Along with Mom

Why can't I think of anything to write? Life just hummms along without much out of the ordinary. We're busy and happy with the usual. Dad "works" long hours as his project nears the end. He calls it play. Some of us amusingly observed that he enjoyed the holidays with so much more relaxation this year, and never uttered his former dread of, "Oh no, I have to go back to school soon." Uncle Vern even complains occasionally that he works too much, but not too often. I think Ken would work many more hours if it weren't for his High Council calling that keeps him busy with meetings, talks and plans for the next Stake Conference.

At the branch, they called me to teach the teenage Sunday school class. It's like having all my previous 8th grade remedial reading classes combined into one! So last week I prepared carefully--especially since I didn't have the manual yet. I baked cookies, read my scriptures and had the New Era ready. I arrived at church, only to be told that I would start next Sunday, since they hadn't told the current teacher yet. As we sat through Sacrament Meeting, we noticed that she wasn't showing up, and by the end, they came and told me I'd get to teach it after all. So I wandered around looking for the class for about ten minutes, and when I finally discovered which room it was in, someone else was in there teaching it. I guess it's time to start baking cookies for the next lesson, because those last ones are nowhere to be found.

At school, we just finished the second-to-last yearbook deadline, and I mailed it a whole week early. You should see the parent ads. I had some really creative talent emerge at the last minute. What a year! My little French club is counting down the days to our trip. It's about two months away. I lost four French students at semester, but I gained two, which is pretty amazing. I now have two wonderful foreign exchange students: Anja from Germany and Carolina from Sweden. They're both little dolls, and their French inspires the rest of the class to reach greater heights. Who would think we'd have such students right here in Logandale! The classes are looking forward to our big French West African cultural day where we make cous cous with ground nut sauce and fried plantains plus tropical fruit salad for dessert...next chapter. Boyd Earl has a student teacher--a luxury I'll never know, and she wants to come observe me. She wants me to show her how to do bell work and write the objective on the board because Boyd says he doesn't know how to do any of that, and he admits it in front of the both of us.

McKay sent me a CNN article about Dance Dance Revolution. It calls it "...a beguiling version of the twister mat...where the rewards -- and the depth -- come after hours and hours of practice, when you've got a song's dance moves memorized, and magically the dancing becomes instinct. It's an almost spiritual moment, when you look down and realize your feet are doing something you are only mildly aware of telling them to do." It makes me want to run out and get my own system. I miss Matt and his DDR system. We didn't get to play it nearly enough over the holidays. But they were certainly delightful and busy days with visits from Melanie's family and Becca's family with Matt & McKay and Chris's family all right there playing games with us and enjoying all the Christmas goodies.

We hope everyone's making it through the cold winter in Iowa and Philadelphia. It's pretty chilly here too, but we've learned not to complain about our 50^o cold snaps. We made it through with only one bout with the flu this season, and that was Dad's. After all the years he fended off germs at school, they finally caught up with him on his new job. We hope everyone's well and happy, and we look forward to the next reunion when we get to see you all together again. --Love, Mom & Dad

Dad's Latest Talk

"The Family is central to the Creator's plan of salvation"

Break out your scriptures. Start with D&C 76:23 We were in the beginning.

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 Deity... Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents. Joseph F. Smith stated we were 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 was our spirit brother or sister in heaven. The first spirit born to our heavenly parents was Jesus Christ, so he is literally our elder brother. Because we are the spiritual children of our heavenly parents, we have inherited the potential to develop their divine qualities. Brigham Young taught, "If we choose to do so, we can become perfect, just as they are."

Is that our desire? I would say yes or we'd be elsewhere today.

So our Heavenly Father has a plan for us to become like Him. Since we could not progress further in heaven, He called a Grand Council to present his plan for our progression. We learned that if we followed his plan, we would become like him. Turn to D&C 132:19-20. We would have a resurrected body; we would have all power in heaven and on earth; we would become heavenly parents and have spirit children just as he does.

Is the family important to our Heavenly Father? President Brigham Young explained that our families are not yet ours. The Lord has committed them to us to see how we will treat them. Only if we are faithful will they be given to us forever. What we do on earth determines whether or not we will be worthy to become heavenly parents.

In the early 60's, President David O. McKay said, "With all my heart I believe that the best place to prepare for eternal life is in the home." He also often admonished us, "No success can compensate for failure in the home."

In 1973, President Harold B. Lee taught, "The most important of the Lord's work that you will ever do will be the work you do within the walls of your own home."

Turn to the Old Testament - Proverbs 22:6 In 1971 President Spencer W. Kimball told us, "You are fulfilling the purpose for which you were sent to this world by keeping your own lives righteous, bearing and rearing this great family, and training them in faith."

President George Albert Smith In 1941 addressing husbands and fathers, said: "Some seem to think that the woman's responsibility is to take care of the home and everything else while the man goes to his meetings. I want to tell you that your chief responsibility is in your own home."

Joseph Fielding Smith "May we remind you of just how important the family unit is in the overall plan of our Father in heaven. In fact, the Church organization exists to assist the family and its members in reaching exaltation."

Look in Ephesians 6:4 Ezra Taft Benson stated, "In an eternal sense, salvation is a family affair. God holds parents responsible for their stewardship in rearing their family. It is a most sacred responsibility." He went on to say, "Families must spend more time together in work and recreation. Family home evenings should be scheduled once a week as a time for discussions of gospel principles, recreation, work projects, skits, songs around the piano, games, special refreshments, and family prayers. Like iron links in a chain, this practice will bind a family together in love, pride, tradition, strength, and loyalty."

President Gordon B. Hinckley, in Sept of 2002 said "What is the great strength of [this] Church? ... It is the emphasis which we place on families... Keep your families close together and love and honor your children."

"You have to establish in your life some sense of prioritizing things, of giving emphasis to the important things and of laying aside the unimportant things that will lead to nothing. Establish a sense of justice, a sense of what is good and what is not good, what is important and is not important; and that can become a marvelous and wonderful blessing in your lives."

"The primary function of a Latter-day Saint home is to ensure that every family member works to create the climate and condition in which all can grow toward perfection. For the parents, this requires a dedication of time and energy far beyond the mere providing of their children's physical needs. For the children, this means controlling the natural tendency toward selfishness."

"Parents and children must be willing to put family responsibilities first in order to achieve family exaltation."

What must we do to make our families eternal?

Husbands and wives should be thoughtful and kind to each other. They should never do or say anything to hurt each other's feelings. They should also try to do everything possible to make each other happy. By modeling this behavior your children will learn to be thoughtful and kind.

Turn to Mosiah 4:14-15. Parents are to teach children to love one another. In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin explained:

"Ye will not suffer your children... [to] fight and quarrel one with another... "But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another."

Why are some families strong? The reasons are complex. But there are answers. Research shows that the presence of a father in the home is far more likely to produce responsible, law-abiding children than if the father is not there. We can add firm and loving father.

The most important teachings in the home are spiritual. Parents are commanded to prepare their sons and daughters for the ordinances of the gospel: baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordinations, and temple marriage. They are to teach them to respect and honor the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Most importantly, parents are to instill within their children a desire for eternal life and to earnestly seek that goal above all else.

Eternal life may be obtained only by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

When parents themselves have complied with the ordinances of salvation, when they have set the example of a temple marriage, not only is their own marriage more likely to succeed, but their children are far more likely to follow their example.

Turn to D&C 88:119. Parents who provide such a home will have, as the Lord has said, "a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning... a house of order, a house of God." Regardless of how modest or humble that home may be, it will have love, happiness, peace, and joy.

How to proceed. Let's read the thirteenth Article of Faith. Hold those qualities in the back of your mind for a moment while you answer these questions. Where did you learn to wash your hands? In the home. Walking? In the home. Eating? In the home. Speaking? In the home. Cooking? In the home. Cleaning the yard? In the home. Love? In the home. Honesty? In the home. Kindness? Courage? In the home. Thoughtfulness, cleanliness, loyalty, courtesy, helpfulness, charity, friendliness, reverence, respect, faith, prayer? In the home. You notice there is a pattern. Where will or did you learn about the qualities included in the admonitions of Paul? All of us want to have happy, successful families. The following practices will help us achieve this:

Look in 3 Nephi 18:21

1. Have family prayer every night and morning.

2. Teach children the gospel by meeting together as a family at least once a week to study gospel principles.

3. Daily scripture study. H. Burke Peterson said in April Conference of 1975, "There shouldn't be--there mustn't be--one family in this Church that doesn't take the time to read from the scriptures every day"

4. Do things together as a family, such as work projects, outings, and decision making.

5. Kneel together as husband and wife each night in prayer.

See Moroni 7:45-48

6. Learn to be kind, patient, long-suffering, and charitable.

Turn to D&C 59:9-10

7. Attend church meetings regularly.

8. Follow the counsel of the Lord in D&C 88:119 "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even 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."

Once again, the family is the most important unit in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church exists to help families gain eternal blessings and exaltation. The organizations and programs within the Church are designed to strengthen us individually and help us live as families forever.

There are not enough hours in the week for me to teach your families gospel truth. It is your responsibility and stewardship as parents to teach your families. That task may seem immense, it is. The prophets have given us a method to accomplish this.

89 years ago, in 1915 President Joseph F. Smith asked the people of the Church to have family home evening, to set aside one evening a week devoted specifically to the family. It was to be a time of teaching, of reading the scriptures, of cultivating talents, of discussing family matters. It was not to be a time to attend athletic events or anything of the kind. It is important that fathers and mothers sit down with their children, pray together, instruct them in the ways of the Lord, consider their family problems, and let the children express their opinions, desires and talents. This program came under the revelations of the Lord in response to a need among the families of the Church. If there was a need 89 years ago, that need is certainly much greater today.

President Hinckley explained to the Boston Globe how we as church members have such strong moral values. "We have a family home evening program once a week [Monday night] across the Church in which parents sit down with their children. They study the scriptures. They talk about family problems. They plan family activities and things of that kind. I don't hesitate to say if every family in the world practiced that one thing, you'd see a very great difference in the solidarity of the families of the world".

Turn to Isaiah 54:13. President Hinckley has told us "[The Lord] expects us to have family home evening--one night a week--to gather our children together and teach them the gospel. Isaiah said, 'And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord.' That is the commandment: 'All thy children shall be taught of the Lord.' And the blessing: 'And great,' he said, 'shall be the peace of thy children.'"

"You have to establish in your life some sense of prioritizing things, of giving emphasis to the important things and of laying aside the unimportant things that will lead to nothing. Establish a sense of justice, a sense of what is good and what is not good, what is important and is not important; and that can become a marvelous and wonderful blessing in your lives."

Letter from the First Presidency

October 4, 1999

To: Members of the Church throughout the World

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Monday nights are reserved throughout the Church for family home evenings. We encourage members to set aside this time to strengthen family ties and teach the gospel in their homes. Earlier this year we called on parents to devote their best efforts to the teaching and rearing of their children in gospel principles which will keep them close to the Church. We also counseled parents and children to give highest priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities. We urge members, where possible, to avoid holding receptions or other similar activities on Monday evenings. Where practical, members may also want to encourage community and school leaders to avoid scheduling activities on Monday evenings that require children or parents to be away from their homes. Church buildings and facilities should be closed on Monday evenings. No ward or stake activities should be planned, and other interruptions to family home evenings should be avoided.

Sincerely yours,

Gordon B. Hinckley

Thomas S. Monson

James E. Faust

President Spencer W. Kimball in 1976 "Family home evening is for everyone. It is for families with parents and children, for families with just one parent, and for parents who have no children at home. It is for home evening groups of single adults and for those who live alone or with roommates..."

Holding regular family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellowmen, and trust in our Father in heaven. Family home evening will hold your family together. Our prophet has promised that great blessings will come to all who conscientiously plan and hold weekly family home evenings. If we go forward with our family home evenings, our homes will be enriched, our lives will be purified, and the gates of hell will not prevail against us.