"Decide now to make general conference a priority in your life. Decide to listen carefully and follow the teachings that are given. Listen to or read the talks more than once to better understand and follow the counsel. By doing these things, the gates of hell will not prevail against you, the powers of darkness will be dispersed from before you, and the heavens will shake for your good."
I'm not yet a grandparent, but I can appreciate what it is to try and teach your children about making good choices, choices that will lead to their own happiness. I liked how Pres Eyring said,
"Heavenly Father has made each of us unique. No two of us have exactly the same experiences. No two families are alike. So it is not surprising that advice about how to choose happiness in family life is hard to give. Yet a loving Heavenly Father has set the same path to happiness for all of His children. Whatever our personal characteristics or whatever will be our experiences, there is but one plan of happiness. That plan is to follow all the commandments of God."
Pres Eyring shared questions that have helped him make good choices. “What choices have led me toward loving the Lord with all my heart and soul and with all my mind?” He goes on to talk about how different we all are and yet how we are all the same- children of a loving Heavenly Father.
"Heavenly Father has perfect foresight, knows each of us, and knows our future. He knows what difficulties we will pass through. He sent His Son to suffer so that He would know how to succor us in all our trials."
And then he shared a quote from President George Q. Cannon, a quote I wish I had with me yesterday. A sister on my Visiting Teaching route had a child pass away recently and is feeling such sorrow and anguish. She is angry and abandoned by God and has so many questions. All of which are normal grieving steps. I could definitely relate and tried to share the testimony I gained from losing my child- a testimony of the love of our Heavenly Father and the one true source of comfort, our Savior, but she's a little too angry right now. Perhaps I'll make a card with this quote on it and mail it for V-Day.
“There is not one of us but what God’s love has been expended upon. There is not one of us that He has not cared for and caressed. There is not one of us that He has not desired to save, and that He has not devised means to save. There is not one of us that He has not given His angels charge concerning. We may be insignificant and contemptible in our own eyes, and in the eyes of others, but the truth remains that we are the children of God, and that He has actually given His angels—invisible beings of power and might—charge concerning us, and they watch over us and have us in their keeping.”
My most prized treasure, my only jewels are my children. They have given me and your father so much joy and happiness. It is no wonder that I miss them so much. And they have given me grandchildren, a blessing I could not fathom before I was given the blessing. Family is what really matters and it is here that we learn the attributes of becoming like Heavenly Father. I have loved the experience to be raised by such choice spirits. I love you with all my heart.
Marco Castro Castro spoke about preparing to be an eternal family in the Feb. Ensign. He said: " There is no magic recipe for success in marriage. The ingredients are found, as they always have been, in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not until we realized that the Lord needed to play a prominent role in our marriage, did our marriage begin to change. We realized that we were never going to be able to work through, much less solve our conflicts by ourselves. Only when we included the Lord, did our marriage start to improve-gradually and in His way and in His own due time."
Elder David A Bednar stated in his book "More Diligent and Concerned at Home": Feeling the security and consistency of love from a spouse, a parent, or a child is a rich blessing. Such love nurtures and sustains faith in God. Such love is a source of strength and casts out fear. Such love is the desire of every human soul.
Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our church callings and in our livelihood. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities and nations. Love is the power that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparralleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our work and our talk. President Dieter F Uchtdorf.
Henry B Eyring in his book, Our Perfect Example, said" The greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience, are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. And the sorrow comes primarily from selfishness which is the absence of love. The ideal, God holds for us, is to form families in the way most likely to lead to happiness and away from sorrow."
We build deep and loving family relationships by doing simple things together, like family dinner and family home evening and by just having fun together. In family relationships love is really spelled t I m e, time. Taking time for each other is the key for harmony at home. We talk with each other and we appreciate our differences as well as our commonalities. We establish a divine bond with each other as we approachGod together through family prayer, gospel study and Sunday worship. President Dieter F Uchtdorf in his book, Of Things That Matter.
According to "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"' church leaders declared: " Parents have a sacred duty to rear thier children in love and righteousness , to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be a law abiding citizen wherever they live.". Good parenting while very challenging at times, offer great potential for happiness. Parents can experience great joy by building a strong, loving home environment and teaching gospel principles, which can help thier children lead righteous, happy and productive lives. President Boyd K Packer said: " 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. Children are a heritage of the Lord. One of the great discoveries of parenthood, is that we learn far more about what really matters from our children than we ever did from our parents.". 2010 Conference
My most prized treasure, my only jewels are my children. They have given me and your father so much joy and happiness. It is no wonder that I miss them so much. And they have given me grandchildren, a blessing I could not fathom before I was given the blessing. Family is what really matters and it is here that we learn the attributes of becoming like Heavenly Father. I have loved the experience to be raised by such choice spirits. I love you with all my heart.
ReplyDeleteMarco Castro Castro spoke about preparing to be an eternal family in the Feb. Ensign. He said: " There is no magic recipe for success in marriage. The ingredients are found, as they always have been, in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not until we realized that the Lord needed to play a prominent role in our marriage, did our marriage begin to change. We realized that we were never going to be able to work through, much less solve our conflicts by ourselves. Only when we included the Lord, did our marriage start to improve-gradually and in His way and in His own due time."
ReplyDeleteElder David A Bednar stated in his book "More Diligent and Concerned at Home": Feeling the security and consistency of love from a spouse, a parent, or a child is a rich blessing. Such love nurtures and sustains faith in God. Such love is a source of strength and casts out fear. Such love is the desire of every human soul.
ReplyDeleteBecause love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our church callings and in our livelihood. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities and nations. Love is the power that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparralleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our work and our talk. President Dieter F Uchtdorf.
ReplyDeleteHenry B Eyring in his book, Our Perfect Example, said" The greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience, are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. And the sorrow comes primarily from selfishness which is the absence of love. The ideal, God holds for us, is to form families in the way most likely to lead to happiness and away from sorrow."
ReplyDeleteWe build deep and loving family relationships by doing simple things together, like family dinner and family home evening and by just having fun together. In family relationships love is really spelled t I m e, time. Taking time for each other is the key for harmony at home. We talk with each other and we appreciate our differences as well as our commonalities. We establish a divine bond with each other as we approachGod together through family prayer, gospel study and Sunday worship. President Dieter F Uchtdorf in his book, Of Things That Matter.
ReplyDeleteAccording to "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"' church leaders declared: " Parents have a sacred duty to rear thier children in love and righteousness , to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be a law abiding citizen wherever they live.". Good parenting while very challenging at times, offer great potential for happiness. Parents can experience great joy by building a strong, loving home environment and teaching gospel principles, which can help thier children lead righteous, happy and productive lives. President Boyd K Packer said: " 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. Children are a heritage of the Lord. One of the great discoveries of parenthood, is that we learn far more about what really matters from our children than we ever did from our parents.". 2010 Conference
ReplyDelete