Family

 1.  “We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm, which is increasing in intensity all about us. Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes.”

L. Tom Perry, The Importance of the Family, General Conference April 2003

 2.  “Surely, the most important ingredient in producing family happiness for members of this Church is a deep religious commitment under wise, mature parental supervision. Devotion to God in the home seems to forge the spiritual moorings and stability that can help the family cope. Some may say this is an over-simplification of a very complex problem, yet I believe the answers lie within the framework of the restored gospel of Christ.”

  “One of the reasons for weakened families is the lack of absolutes. An absolute has no restriction, exception, or qualification. It is fixed and certain. There must be some things which family members should always try to do, and some activities that family members should scrupulously avoid. Truthfulness should be an absolute in every family.”

James E Faust, “Enriching Family Life”, General Conference April 1983

3.  “Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.”

Thomas S Monson, “Three Goals to Guide You”, General Conference October 2007

 
4.  “Parents should teach their children to pray. The child learns both from what the parents do and what they say. The child who sees a mother or a father pass through the trials of life with fervent prayer to God and then hears a sincere testimony that God answered in kindness will remember what he or she saw and heard. When trials come, that individual will be prepared.

In time, when the children are away from home and family, prayer can provide the shield of protection the parent will want so much for them to have.”

Henry B Eyring, “That He May Write Upon Our Hearts,” Ensign Article, First Presidency Message August 2009

 

5.  “While our individual salvation is based on our individual obedience, it is equally important that we understand that we are each an important and integral part of a family and the highest blessings can be received only within an eternal family. When families are functioning as designed by God, the relationships found therein are the most valued of mortality. The plan of the Father is that family love and companionship will continue into the eternities. Being one in a family carries a great responsibility of caring, loving, lifting, and strengthening each member of the family so that all can righteously endure to the end in mortality and dwell together throughout eternity. It is not enough just to save ourselves. It is equally important that parents, brothers, and sisters are saved in our families. If we return home alone to our Heavenly Father, we will be asked, “Where is the rest of the family?” This is why we teach that families are forever. The eternal nature of an individual becomes the eternal nature of the family.”

Robert D Hales, The Eternal Family, General Conference October 1996

6.   “Latter-day Saints recognize the transcendent importance of the family and strive to live in such a way that the adversary cannot steal into our homes. We find safety and security for ourselves and our children in honoring the covenants we have made and living up to the ordinary acts of obedience required of the followers of Christ.”

“Isaiah said, “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.”²

That peace is also promised in the revelations in which the Lord declares, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.”³

“The consummate power of the priesthood has been given to protect the home and its inhabitants. The father has the authority and responsibility to teach his children and to bless and to provide for them the ordinances of the gospel and every other priesthood protection necessary. He is to demonstrate love and fidelity and honor to the mother so that their children can see that love.”

“I have come to know that faith is a real power, not just an expression of belief. There are few things more powerful than the faithful prayers of a righteous mother.”

“Teach yourself and teach your families about the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You will do no greater eternal work than within the walls of your own home.”

Boyd K Packer, “These Things I Know”, General Conference April 2013

7.  “Be certain that every decision you make, whether temporal or spiritual, is conditioned on what the Savior would have you do.  When He is the center of your home, there is peace and serenity.  There is a spirit of assurance that pervades the home, and it is felt by all who swell there.”

Elder Richard G. Scott, “For Peace at Home”, General Conference April 2013

8.  “Start with your children.  You parents bear the primary responsibility to strengthen their faith.  Let them feel your faith, even when sore trials come upon you.  Let your faith be focused on our loving Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Teach that faith with deep conviction.  Teach each precious boy or girl that he or she is a child of God, created in His image, with a sacred purpose and potential.  Each is born with challenges to overcome and faith to be developed.”

Elder Russell M Nelson, “Face The Future”, General Conference April 2011

9.  “Continue building lasting, loving relationships for all family members. Listen to one another, be united, work together, play together, pray together, study together. Live celestial principles together, serve the Lord together. Find those precious teaching moments with one another. Don’t let them slip through your fingers, but feed and nurture these special occasions. Never let golden opportunities go by in your relationships with your family members that will help build eternal principles.”

Elder L Tom Perry, “Born of Goodly Parents”, General Conference April 1985

10.  “Our family-centered perspective should make Latter-day Saints strive to be the best parents in the world. It should give us enormous respect for our children, who truly are our spiritual siblings, and it should cause us to devote whatever time is necessary to strengthen our families. Indeed, nothing is more critically connected to happiness—both our own and that of our children—than how well we love and support one another within the family.”

Elder M Russell Ballard, “What Matters Most Lasts the Longest”, General Conference October 2005