Sarah was the most happiest person on the earth and was getting ready to be married to someone she truly loved.  She was engaged and planning for her wedding within the next two months. She had always planned of getting married one day and actually starting a family. During her date with her fiancĂ©, she was being pressured to do some things that were morally wrong. 

More to come with this story in a moment.

What is my talk about today?

I was asked to speak today about how, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” guides me and how it can guide you.

I have to admit, that I never really took the time to really apply the article to my life until recently when I was asked to give this talk.  When I read it all the way through, it got me to pondering about some aspects of my life and it also got me to remembering some of the counsels that my patriarchal blessing gives me.

Well, the question is, “How does it guide me?”

There are many ways that this proclamation can guide me. However, I want to share with you the two most important ones and the information on how it guides me, is how it can also guide you.

First, it reminds me that I must be a worthy individual, not only a worthy individual, but also a worthy priesthood holder within my marriage.  Being a worthy priesthood holder means that I must never deliberately harm my wife in anyway. Also, it means that I should serve her, make her feel special and treat her like a daughter of God. Not only that, but it also helps me to remember that I need to prepare myself well, for when the day comes that Olivia and I do have children, to treat them in the same respect as my wife..

Second, it helps me to remember my purpose here on this earth.   As we remember our Heavenly Father’s Plan, we were all spirit children of our Heavenly Father.  He wanted us so much to become more like Him.  He wanted us to come here to gain bodies like His, immortal and incorruptible. We were also sent here to be tested and tried.  No better way to be tested and tried, is through a family.

A family which consists of a man and woman joined in holy matrimony sealed as husband and wife, for time and eternity and bearing children within that marriage. While bearing children, comes the grave responsibility of making sure that they return to live with their Heavenly Father.

President Lorenzo Snow stated, “Let families put themselves in possession of all the good they can-be in a position to do right continually in the path to exaltation and glory.”

To the parents in this ward, I would like to remind you, you were given a special calling to the children that you have stewardship over within the walls of your home.  Remember, that these are Heavenly Father’s children.  These same children are your spiritual brothers and sisters who you have a duty to teach right from wrong.  Heavenly Father is counting on you to teach them the gospel, and yet once they have learned the gospel, their choices can be made accordingly.  If you have taught them the gospel, you have nothing to fear, and the sins are no longer on your heads.

President Joseph F. Smith remarked:

“Let love, peace, and the Spirit of the Lord, kindness, charity, sacrifice for others, abound in your families. Banish harsh words . . . and let the Spirit take possession of your hearts.  Teach your children these things, in spirit and power . . . Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with . . . the gospel of Christ.”

To the youth in this ward, I would like to let you know, that your parents love you and have been where you have been.  They have been your age before. You may not think so but it’s true. Listen to and obey your parents.  They do not want you to have to learn the hard way.  Once you take the wrong step, sometimes it is really hard to retrace your steps.  Repentance is a sore process, but if you are making the right choices, then you do not have to suffer the consequences, only the blessings from living the gospel as taught within the home.

In Ephesians 6:1-4, the Apostle Paul writes:

1 CHILDREN, Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

2 Honour thy father and mother,

3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

4 And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in nurture and admonition of the Lord.

During her discussion with her fiancĂ©, Sarah was realizing that by her fiancĂ© tempting her, he had so little respect for her.  She could remember all the gospel principals that she had been taught while growing up, including what, “The Family, Proclamation to the World,” counsels her to do.  She always vowed to herself as an individual that she would never fall to temptations from those she dated.  She knew that if she were to fall to the temptation, that she would be thwarting her Heavenly Father’s plan for her. 

She chose to honor her mother and father, as well as her Heavenly Father, by saying no to her fiancé. She broke off her engagement and stopped dating this young man.

A year later, she met and fell in love with another young man who truly loved her and deeply respected her for who she was.  Not once did this young man ever tempt her during the course of their courtship and engagement.  After she and her newly fiancĂ© were married and sealed in the temple for time and eternity, they began a family.

I believe that the family is so important to our eternal perspective. In a world when society says its ok for same gender relationships or for relationships outside of marriage, we as members need to shine out in proving society wrong. We need to be able to prove to them as modern day prophets have, that a marriage consists only between a man and a woman, and it is only through that union that children may be raised up in righteousness.

We are in a war right now, a war for souls. This war for souls has been ongoing since the beginning of time. That is why we as members need to continue to make sure that the family unit stays the way our Heavenly Father intended it to be.

President Spencer W. Kimball stated:

“It is important for us to cultivate in our own family a sense that we belong together eternally, that whatever changes outside our home, there are fundamental aspects of our relationship which will never change.”