"Elder
Harold B. Lee added a new dimension to our understanding of Malachi's
prophecy. He explained that one objective of Church programs,
such as family home evening, is 'to turn here upon the earth, the
hearts of parents to children and the hearts of the children to
parents. Can you believe that when parents have passed beyond the
veil that then is the only time when parents should have their hearts
turned to their children and children to their parents?... Maybe it is
time for us to think of turning the hearts of parents to children now
while living in order that, after they are gone to the beyond, there
might be that bond between parents and children that might last beyond
death.'"
Harold B. Lee, Preparing to Meet the Lord, Oakland Temple Dedication, November
1964
as quoted by Richard O. Cowan in The Doctrine and Covenants: Our
Modern Scripture
"Brothers and
sisters,
of all the places where our charitable acts should shine forth, where
our
discipleship must rise above the weaknesses of self, the family is the
most important place. There is no other setting that comes close
in comparison. Yet many--far too many--are more charitable to
others
than to their own."
H. Burke Peterson
"Our Responsibility to Care for Our Own"
General Conference, April 1981
"You can do nothing better for
your children than to have them taking their turn in the family prayer,
expressing gratitude for their blessings. If they do that while
they are young, they will grow with a spirit of thanksgiving in their
hearts."
Gordon B.
Hinckley, fireside,
Naha Okinawa Japan Stake and Okinawa Japan Military District, 20 May
1996
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April
"This world will be no better than its homes."
Richard L. Evans, Area Conference Report
(England)
8/71:71
"Have the same
courtesy
in your homes that you have when you are out in society. Thank
your
wives; thank your children; and say, 'If you please,' 'Excuse
me.'
These little things mean so much and make life so much sweeter."
David
O. McKay (Improvement Era,
December
1968, p. 109)
"No other success can compensate for
failure in the home."
President David
O. McKay, Improvement Era, June
1964,
p. 445
“The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in
the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the
gathering evils around us.”
President Spencer W. Kimball
- Ensign, November 1980
"Every home has both
body
and spirit. You may have a beautiful house with all the
decorations
that modern art can give or wealth bestow. You may have all the
outward
forms that will please the eye and yet not have a home. It is not
home without love. It may be a hovel, a log hut, a tent, a
wickiup,
if you have the right spirit within, the true love of Christ, and love
for one another . . . you have the true life of the home that [we]
build
and are trying to establish"
David O. McKay (General Conference
Report, 1907,
page 63)
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May
"The strength of any nation is
rooted within the walls of its
homes."
(Gordon Bitner
Hinckley)
"God
knows the
feelings
in every human heart. He can soften sorrow and lead when there
seems
to be no light. Prayer can give guidance and confidence. It
reminds us that no one need be alone in this world. If all else
fails,
remember: God and one other person can be a family."
Marvin J. Ashton (Ensign, May 1988, page
64)
"There
is an art to
being
a homemaker. For ourselves and for our families, it is important
that we have a sanctuary ~ a place of refuge away from the world where
we feel comfortable and where, if others come, they, too, can feel
comfortable."
(Barbara
Winder General President of the
Relief
Society.
"Enriching and protecting the home," Ensign,
Mar. 1986 p. 20)
"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."
Joseph
Fielding Smith
"Message from the
First Presidency,"
"Ensign," Jan.
1971, 1
"Here are the
promised
blessings for those who will hold a weekly home evening: 'If the
Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will
result.
Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will
be
developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain
power
to combat the evil influences and temptations which beset them.'
First
Presidency, April 27, 1915, in
Improvement
Era 18:733-34
Ezra Taft
Benson, "God, Family, Country" p. 228
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June
"Permanent homes in which sweet contentment abides are
the strength of any nation. . .
President David O. McKay
"As societies as a whole have
decayed and lost their moral identity and so many homes are broken, the
best hope is to turn greater attention and effort to the teaching of
the next generation —our children. In order to do this, we must first
reinforce the primary teachers of children. Chief among these are the
parents and other family members, and the best environment should be in
the home. Somehow, some way, we must try harder to make our homes
stronger so that they will stand as sanctuaries against the
unwholesome, pervasive moral dry rot around us. Harmony, happiness,
peace, and love in the home can help give children the required inner
strength to cope with life's challenges."
James E. Faust, "The
Greatest Challenge in the World—Good Parenting," Ensign, November
1990, p.32
"In a profound
sense,
a family is not alone. When it is consecrated to the Lord's work,
His Spirit will always be with them."
Barbara B.
Smith (Ensign, November
1981,
page 85)
"I
wonder if having
casual
and infrequent family home evening will be enough in the future to
fortify
our children with sufficient moral strength. In the future,
infrequent
family scripture study may be inadequate to arm our children with the
virtue
necessary to withstand the moral decay of the environment in which they
will live. Where in the world will the children learn chastity,
integrity
honesty, and basic human decency if not at
home.
These values will, of course, be reinforced at church, but
parental teaching is more constant."
Elder James E. Faust
"The Greatest Challenge In The World--Good Parenting" - General
Conference, October 1990
"The
family circle is the ideal place to
demonstrate and learn kindness, forgiveness, faith in God, and every
other practicing virtue of the gospel of Jesus Christ."
Elder
Dallin H. Oaks - Ensign,
June 1985, 9
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July
"We emphasize that the greatest work you will do will be within
the
walls of your home."
President Harold B. Lee, Ensign, July 1973, p.
98
David B. Haight:
"The evidence is
overwhelming
and the need so critical for a strong bond of respect and admiration in
our homes. The trend is growing more acute daily. Latter-day
Saint
parents must analyze the foundation on which their homes are being
built,
for the rains of evil are descending. Parents must prayerfully
prepare
for their particular family needs."
"A Foundation Whereon Men Cannot Fall"
General Conference, April 1972
"One of the great
challenges
that faces us, and I think that faces the Western World, is to keep the
family intact and viable and strong — father, mother, children working
together to accomplish something — that is a great challenge. To
me it is wonderfully refreshing to see our Latter-day Saint families,
little
children with fathers and mothers who love them and care for them and
nurture
them and lead them along and would do anything in the world to help
them.
I think we are building a future for the Church and also a future for
the
nation of which we are a part — every nation across the world.
You
can't have good people with good homes and not materially affect the
course
of the nation. No nation is stronger than the homes of its
people."
President
Gordon B. Hinckley — From Church
News
interview, Nov. 2, 1999
(published in Church News Feb. 3, 2001)
"The
home is the laboratory
of our lives, and what we learn there largely determines what we do
when we leave there."
Thomas
S. Monson (November 1988 Ensign)
Elder
Boyd K. Packer said
to the single members of the Church, "We talk a lot about
families. Sometimes in bitterness, you will want to say 'all this
talk about
families,
but I don't have a family, and… ,' stop there! Don't add
that extra phrase, 'I wish they
would stop talking so much about families.' You pray that we do keep
talking
about families; about fathers and mothers and children and family home
evening, temple marriage and companionship and all of the rest,
because all of that will be yours. If we stop talking about it,
then
you, among all others, will be the losers."
Melchizedek Priesthood MIA Conference, June
1973
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August
"Good homes are still the
best source of good humans."
Neal A. Maxwell (Ensign, October 1974, page 71)
"I
like to compare
the
home evening, family prayer, and other associated activities of the
Church
for the saving of the family, when they are conscientiously carried
out,
with an umbrella. If the umbrella is not opened up, it is little more
than
a cane and can give little protection from the storms of nature.
Likewise,
God-given plans are of little value unless they are used."
Spencer W.
Kimball,
General
Conference, October 1969
"We can learn to
serve and to forgive
within our sample of humanity, including settings no larger than the
family or friendships. "
"Our Heavenly Father has organized us into families
for the purpose of helping us successfully meet the trials and
challenges of life. The home also exists to bless us with the
joys and privileges of family associations. Our family is our
safety place, our support network, our sanctuary, and our salvation."
Rex D.
Pinegar, "Home First," Ensign, May 1990,
p. 9
"There has never
been a time when the
world was in greater need of the strength and security that are best
sown and cultivated in the deep, fertile soil of family love."
Elder M.
Russell Ballard - Ensign,
June 2003, 14
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September
"We
have to keep the commandments and
conduct ourselves in such a way that our families will want to live
with us in the eternities. "
Elder
Robert D. Hales - Ensign,
Nov. 1996, 65
From the book The Teachings of Ezra Taft
Benson:
"The
Church teaches that everything should center in and around
the
family. It stresses that the preservation of family life in time
and eternity takes precedence above all other interests."
N. Eldon Tanner on
Family Prayer
"Family prayer in
any
home will draw the family closer together and result in better feelings
between father and mother, between parents and children, and between
one
child and another. If children pray for their parents, it makes them
more
appreciative of their parents, and as they pray for one another, they
feel
closer to one another and part of each other, especially as they
realize
that they are talking to their Father in heaven while on their knees in
family or secret prayer. Then is when we forget our differences and
think
of the best in others, and pray for their well-being and for strength
to
overcome our own weaknesses. There is no doubt that we are better
people
when we try to tune in to the spirit of our Father in heaven so that we
might communicate with him and express our desire to do his will as we
pray for his blessings."
(Conference Report, October 1967, p. 56)
"I hope, my brothers and sisters, that you are having your family home
evenings with your children. You cannot afford to postpone
this.
The days, the months, and the years pass so quickly, and before long it
will be too late. "
President
Gordon B. Hinckley -
Veracruz,
Mexico, January 28, 1996
"The
family is a creation
of the Almighty. It represents the most sacred of all relationships. It
represents the most serious of all undertakings. It is the fundamental
organization of society."
President
Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign,
May
2005, p. 8
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October
"Homemaker is the
ultimate
career. All other careers exist for one purpose only---to support
the ultimate career!"
~ C. S.
Lewis ~
A
few years ago, Bishop
Stanley
Smoot was interviewed by President Spencer W. Kimball. President
Kimball asked, "How often do you have family prayer?"
Bishop Smoot answered, "We
try
to have family prayer twice a day, but we average about once."
President Kimball
answered, "In
the past, having family prayer once a day may have been all right. But
in the future it will not be enough if we are going to save our
families."
"The Greatest Challenge
In The
World-- Good Parenting", General Conference, October 1990;
see Ensign, Nov 1990, p. 33
"No service in the Church or in the
community transcends that given in the home."
President Boyd K. Packer - Ensign,
Nov. 1997, 7
"If we do not teach our children,
society will. And
they--and
we--will live with the results."
--Stephen R.
Covey--
Book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
Families
"No other activities should
involve our family members on Monday night. This designated time
is to be with our families."
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November
"Sending your child out the
door without family prayer is like sending
him out in a snowstorm without a coat."
"If the foundation
of
a well-ordered society is a healthy, happy home, then the problem of
lawlessness
will not be solved by more laws or legislation; but by fathers and
mothers
exerting a moral influence and example in their own families, tempered
with love and understanding."
~ J. Spencer Kinard ~
"My sincere
counsel to
you today is to recommit yourselves to these two basic practices that
have
been the source of so many blessings....Never let a day go by without
holding
family prayer and family scripture study. Put this, the Lord's
program,
to the test and see if it does not bless your home with greater peace,
hope, love, and faith.
"I promise you that
daily
family prayer and scripture study will build within the walls of your
home
a security and bonding that will enrich your lives and prepare your
families
to meet the challenges of today and the eternities to come."
(L. Tom
Perry, "Back to Gospel Basics,"
General
Conference, April 1993; see Ensign May 1993, p. 92)
"Say
your prayers
always
before going to work. Never forget that. A father—the head
of the family—should never miss calling his family together and
dedicating
himself and them to the Lord of Hosts, asking the guidance and
direction
of his Holy Spirit to lead them through the day—that very day.
Lead us this day, guide us this day, preserve us this day, save
us from sinning against thee or any being in heaven or on earth this
day!
If we do this every day, the last day we live we will be prepared to
enjoy
a higher glory."
"Journal of
Discourses", 12:261
Teachings of Presidents of
the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 45-46
"Some business
leaders
have also looked at the family home evening program and recommended it
to their employees. Employees do better work when things are
going
well at home."
Repeated
by: Loren C. Dunn, "Our Precious
Families,"
Ensign, Nov. 1974, 9
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December
"I feel satisfied
that there is no
adequate substitute for the morning and evening practice of kneeling
together—father, mother, and children."
President
Gordon B. Hinckley - Ensign, Feb.
1991, 2
"A wise father ... counseled, "Son, if you ever find yourself in a
place you shouldn't ought to be - get out!" Good advice for a
son. Good advice for a father, too."
Thomas
S. Monson (Ensign, May 1989, page 44)
"Did you pray in
your
family this morning?" "No." "Why?" "I was in too much
of a hurry." Stop! Wait! When you get up in the
morning,
before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of food, call your
wives
and children together, bow down before the Lord, ask him to forgive
your
sins, and protect you through the day, to preserve you from temptation
and all evil, to guide your steps aright, that you may do something
that
day that shall be beneficial to the Kingdom of God on the earth.
Have you time to do this? Elders, sisters, have you time
to pray?
Brigham Young, JD 15:36
"It often takes a seemingly
superhuman effort to get everyone together for family home evening. You
may not always feel like praying when you finally do get together, but
it will pay great dividends if you persevere."
James E.
Faust,
"Enriching Our Lives through Family Home Evening," Liahona, June 2003, 4
"The family should kneel together
daily in family prayer. Alma 58:10 tells
us: 'Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he
would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies,
yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our
lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people.' Our
family has always needed to be strengthened--and still does--and
kneeling
in prayer daily certainly helps. Children need to be constantly
taught how they should act when they mature and have their own
families."
LeGrand
R. Curtis, "Happiness
Is Homemade," Ensign, November
1990, p. 13
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