Valentine's Day and President's Day

Hey friends!
Wasn't this a great week? I hope life is going well for you.

So here are this week's announcements:
1. Bishopric FHE is tomorrow.
2. Wednesday is Institute at 7pm in B092 JFSB.
3. Thursday is our ward temple trip at 7pm. Meet at Club 440 at 6:20pm to carpool. I've been informed that there will be ice cream afterwards.
4. Friday night at 7pm is a combined Relief Society. We'll be having a movie night. :D
5. Sunday the 23rd there will be a stake fireside with Elder and Sister Hafen at the Pioneer Building.

I think that's it for the week. We had a combined Relief Society lesson today and Rachel did a fabulous job. The Spirit was so strong today! I love Relief Society. I hope y'all have a great week and enjoy the extra day.

Rachel: Just a heads up, it’s kind of a joke in my family, we count how long it takes for someone to start crying. They are tender to me. This is my opportunity to brag about my family.
Not all of us are there. My family has grown since this picture.
Our lesson today is on strengthening and preserving the family. What are you guys doing now? We’re all single now and trying to figure out what to do with life, but I think we’re all preparing. As you’re thinking about this, I want you to think about what you can do to strengthen and preserve your own family. The world is attacking the family, so please keep some of these things in your mind.

I asked my sisters what they’re doing to strengthen their families. My sister Katie shared a lot about how each night they sit down with their two boys and ask them what they did that was good or not so good and how they can be better. They have such a desire to be good. It’s ingrained into their mind. Brandon always runs up to me and gives me a huge kiss. They’re always trying to do good.
I had the opportunity to last night to watch my other sister put her children to bed. He was learning to pray. It was the sweetest thing seeing my sisters teaching their children the principles of the gospel.
My brother just had a baby the last couple weeks. Just watching him interact with his daughter is amazing. He has the biggest heart and is so excited to be a dad. You can tell he’s already so cautious of the things he wants to teach this little girl. I think that’s from the example of my parents.
I think about my parents and the example they are. We’re not a perfect family, but I think about what they did and trying to install the principles of the gospel. We’d try to have dinner together. We’d play games for hours and build relationships with one another. Time with family is precious time. I feel like I’m becoming better just by learning from their examples.
I took a family recreation class at BYU-I. There’s the saying that “families that play together, stay together.” It’s true. I think that’s why my brother’s coming back.

Gordon B. Hinckley gave this document during a RS broadcast. It’s not just for the church. It’s a proclamation to the world. I feel like that document and this lesson go hand in hand. Listen carefully as we read it. Then when we go through the lesson, think about the proclamation and help tie it in.

http://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation

This is so simple, but so powerful.
Emily S.: I love how it talks about our heavenly parents. It’s a nice thought for me.
Ryan: Brooke and I were studying from PMG and taking turns teaching each other. I was teaching her how the gospel blesses families. The gospel helps the family become a unit you want to spend eternity with.
Rachel: So many people might have this concept, that this is hard. I struggled with that for a while, but family is eternal and we’ll will be together forever. I’m grateful for my brother’s example of getting married and having a child after that. The world he lives in is different from us. The world does attack the family. I feel like JFS said it perfectly.

Family unity and family commitment to the gospel are so important that the adversary has turned much of his attention to the destruction of families in our society. On every side there is an attack on the basic integrity of the family as the foundation of what is good and noble in life. … Liberalization of abortion laws throughout the world suggests the existing disregard for the sacredness of life. Families are torn apart by increasing use of illegal drugs and the abuse of legal drugs. Contempt for authority by more and more young people usually begins with disrespect and disobedience in homes.
As the forces of evil attack the individual by tearing away at his family roots, it becomes critical for Latter-day Saint parents to maintain and strengthen the family. There may possibly be a few very strong individuals who can survive without the support of a family, but more of us need the love, teaching, and acceptance that come from those who care very deeply.

That’s powerful. This is satan’s goal. We all have families. Here they are trying to attack the family. He says later that there’s no substitute for a righteous home. What can you do?
Ginger: I had a very strong thought this morning. With all the stuff that’s happening, I feel like satan has been trying really hard to confuse me with what is right and wrong. I’ve been trying and planning really hard to prepare to be a mother, but I feel this recommitment to stand for truth and my faith. If we realize the capacity to be great and go forward with purpose, you’re doing it not just for you, but your husband and children.
Rachel: there’s always someone talking against us, but we do have the capacity to be great. Thank you for sharing that.
Marren: I think it’s inevitable that people are going to mess up in our families, but just loving them, and loving them even more, I’ve seen that’s what’s important. They’re someone you should love no matter what they do.
Ky: This week I was thinking about my relationship with my family. I’ve been away for 5 years now. I’m bad about staying in touch with long distance relationships. I was thinking about how the girls I work with are away from their families in the treatment center. Their families have really strong relationships with most of them. The ones that can rely on those relationships are so motivated and can move forward. I find that when I’m struggling is when I move away from my family. Realizing that made me grateful that I have that.
Rachel: Like Ky was saying, I’ve worked with youth like that before. It’s interesting because we were talking about our relationships with families. A lot of these people have problems because of their relationships with their families. The family is the central place we should be able to turn and safe. Having that support and love from my own family is a wonderful thing. Like Marren said, letting our families that we love them is a huge thing. My relationship with my brother hasn't always been strong, but my parents always love him. He’s always welcome to come home. I think it’s an excellent way to fortify our families.
We’re going to jump ahead here. Think about this:

The plan given in the Gospel for the government of man on this earth is typical of the law governing in the kingdom of God. Is it possible to imagine a greater source of sorrow than to be left in the eternal world without claim on father or mother or children? The thought of a nation without the family unit as its fundamental foundation, where all the citizens are comparatively strangers to each other and where natural affection is not found; where no family ties bind the groups together, is one of horror. Such a condition could lead to but one end—anarchy and dissolution. Is it not reasonable to believe the same thing true in relation to the kingdom of God? If in that kingdom, there were no family ties and all men and women were “angels” without the natural kinships, as many people believe, could it be a place of happiness—a heaven?

Can you guys imagine that? Picture it now. Can you imagine life without your family? Can you imagine life in the eternities without your family? That’s why we have the plan of happiness. We can be with our families forever.
Here’s what the family proclamation says about that.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

Wow! The falling of nations because of the destruction of the family.
Brittany: I think it’s a really dramatic thing. But I think we see that in our own society. I particularly feel this way when I hear about a public shooting. I can’t help but wonder that something was wrong at home for that person. There are others who don’t go out and show their problems as dramatically, but we need a mom and a dad who love us and care for us to help us.
Ginger: I’m studying the Pearl of Great Price. We talked about how god gave Adam and Eve in marriage before they left the garden. From the very beginning god wanted the world and society to be structured around family. The building block of his plan. I don’t know anything about physics, but the very nature of atoms and molecules allows things to function. If you mess with that, it would literally fall apart.
Rachel: I love that comparison.
Abby: I have a lot of thoughts. The church has this culture where everyone comes from perfect families. A mother and father both in the church. Often we have lessons, … a lot of times a lot of conversations in the church with people who have broken families. The proclamation says we each have a divine nature and destiny. Prophets have foretold that families will be broken apart. It shows how important it is to treat everyone like family. We’re all here without families right now. We should treat our roommates like family. Even if you don’t have a mother and father, or if you don’t have what you think should be greater, you can still treat people around you in they way you should be treated.
Rachel: It makes me think about why we call each other brothers and sisters in the church. Maybe our family isn’t the ideal family, none of us are perfect, but that’s why we have the church. Knowing that we have a family here. We are brothers and sisters in the gospel. And we should treat each other like that.
W’re out of time, but please read through the lesson and write down your thoughts. Maybe what you can do to strengthen your family.
One last thought from President Smith.

Do you spend as much time making your family and home successful as you do in pursuing social and professional success? Are you devoting your best creative energy to the most important unit in society—the family? Or is your relationship with your family merely a routine, unrewarding part of life? Parent and child must be willing to put family responsibilities first in order to achieve family exaltation.

What are you doing? What are your priorities? What are you doing to prepare for your family and strengthen your relationship with your family.
I know that these things are true. I know the proclamation was inspired and for the world. All I wanted to do on my internship was share this document. I feel so strongly about my family. I love my family so much. I love all of you because we are family. What a blessing it is to know that we can be together with our families forever.