A bishopric message that appeared in the November 1999 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
In a message addressed earlier this year to members of the Church throughout the world, the First Presidency wrote, “We call upon parents to devote their best efforts to teaching and rearing of their children in gospel principles which will keep them close to the Church.” This same statement was repeated in a second letter just last month.
The commandment to teach and rear children is not new. Parents have always had that responsibility (see, for example, D&C 68:25–28; 93:40–49; and Mosiah 4:14–15). Our prophets seem to sense some urgency, however, in our getting about the task. “We counsel parents and children,” the First Presidency continued in both their February 1999 and October 1999 letters, “to give highest priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities.”
In the February letter, they also added, “However worthy and appropriate other demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the divinely-appointed duties that only parents and families can adequately perform.”
We are to give highest priority to these things. There are some things that only parents and families can perform to survive what must surely lie ahead and to go where the Lord wants us to go as we enter the new century and the new millennium. Both parents and children need to be wise in not letting other activities and demands, however worthy and appropriate they may seem, divert them from focusing on these stated family duties (family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities).
“Husbands and wives—fathers and mothers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations,” we read in the proclamation on the family. “We warn that individuals . . . who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God.”
As we approach the holiday season, may each of us may find the joy, happiness, and fulfillment in our family associations that the Lord intends us to enjoy. May we take our leaders’ counsel seriously when they call upon us to give these things our highest priority. And may the Lord bless us as we do so.
Showing posts with label 1999. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1999. Show all posts
Saturday, April 19, 2008
26. Let Us Live the Gospel in Our Homes
A pastoral message written on Monday, July 26, 1999, as the bishopric message for the August 1999 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette. The same thought was also printed as “A Final Word” in the July 26, 1999, issue of the Family Journal.
In the last general conference President Gordon B. Hinckley urged, “Let us live the gospel in our homes. Let there be an honest manifestation of love between husbands and wives, between children and their parents. Control the voice of anger. Be absolutely loyal one to another” (Ensign, May 1999, 51).
Simply put, that is the message of the Lord to us in our day. It comes from our prophet. It is fully consistent with what apostles and prophets have been teaching us for many years.
In His preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord declared, “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (D&C 1:38).
How are we doing at hearkening to the voice of the Lord through His servants? How are we doing at living the gospel in our homes, the place where surely it matters most? These are thought-provoking questions that deserve our honest attention. Every husband and father, every wife and mother, every son and daughter might ponder such additional questions as these:
• Am I doing my part to make my home a nice place to live?
• Am I carrying my fair share in the chores and responsibilities of the home?
• Am I spending the time I should with each family member?
• Do I take part in daily family prayer?
• Do I study the scriptures alone and with my family?
• Do I participate willingly in a weekly family home evening?
• Do I contribute to the success of that home evening?
• Do I control my anger?
• Do I show love and respect to the members of my family?
• Am I willing to forgive and forget the offenses, real or perceived, of other family members?
• Am I loyal to the members of my family?
“No other success,” taught an earlier prophet, “can compensate for failure in the home” (David O. McKay, in Improvement Era, June 1964, 445). That is not just nice sounding rhetoric or a trite cliché. It is literally true.
Another prophet said, “The greatest of the Lord’s work you brethren will ever do as fathers will be within the walls of your own home” (Harold B. Lee, in Ensign, July 1973, 98). The truth in that simple declaration surely applies to the sisters as well.
May the Lord preserve, protect, and bless our families—fathers, mothers, children, all of us—as we seek to follow the Lord by living the gospel in our homes.
In the last general conference President Gordon B. Hinckley urged, “Let us live the gospel in our homes. Let there be an honest manifestation of love between husbands and wives, between children and their parents. Control the voice of anger. Be absolutely loyal one to another” (Ensign, May 1999, 51).
Simply put, that is the message of the Lord to us in our day. It comes from our prophet. It is fully consistent with what apostles and prophets have been teaching us for many years.
In His preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord declared, “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (D&C 1:38).
How are we doing at hearkening to the voice of the Lord through His servants? How are we doing at living the gospel in our homes, the place where surely it matters most? These are thought-provoking questions that deserve our honest attention. Every husband and father, every wife and mother, every son and daughter might ponder such additional questions as these:
• Am I doing my part to make my home a nice place to live?
• Am I carrying my fair share in the chores and responsibilities of the home?
• Am I spending the time I should with each family member?
• Do I take part in daily family prayer?
• Do I study the scriptures alone and with my family?
• Do I participate willingly in a weekly family home evening?
• Do I contribute to the success of that home evening?
• Do I control my anger?
• Do I show love and respect to the members of my family?
• Am I willing to forgive and forget the offenses, real or perceived, of other family members?
• Am I loyal to the members of my family?
“No other success,” taught an earlier prophet, “can compensate for failure in the home” (David O. McKay, in Improvement Era, June 1964, 445). That is not just nice sounding rhetoric or a trite cliché. It is literally true.
Another prophet said, “The greatest of the Lord’s work you brethren will ever do as fathers will be within the walls of your own home” (Harold B. Lee, in Ensign, July 1973, 98). The truth in that simple declaration surely applies to the sisters as well.
May the Lord preserve, protect, and bless our families—fathers, mothers, children, all of us—as we seek to follow the Lord by living the gospel in our homes.
Friday, April 18, 2008
25. Looking for the Good
A thought written on Monday evening, April 26, 1999, for publication in the May 1999 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette. Henry Haurand served as a counselor in the stake presidency when F. Michael Watson was president of the Bountiful Utah South Stake. Later he served as president of the Frankfurt Germany Temple.
President Henry Haurand spoke in our sacrament meeting a little over a month ago. He shared tender feelings about the Savior, recounting some of the pivotal events from that final week of the Lord’s mortal life. He also mentioned some experiences from the three years he and Sister Haurand served in the Frankfurt Germany Temple.
In the late 1980s, before his call to serve in our stake presidency, President Haurand had been in Germany supervising construction of the Frankfurt Temple, little realizing that a decade later he would return there as temple president.
He once shared an experience he had in 1987 in the not-yet-completed temple: “President and Sister Carlos E. Asay visited the temple. As we were standing in the celestial room Elder Asay asked me if the workers could feel the spirit of the sacred work they were performing. I answered that I did not think so. It is my experience that when you go through the temple looking for things that are not completed yet, that still need to be cleaned up, you cannot feel the Spirit of the Lord. But when you look with your spiritual eyes and see how it will look when it is completed, then you can feel the Spirit. Elder Asay said this is an eternal principle. When you look for fault, you can not have the Spirit of the Lord, but when you look for the good, then you can.”
This principle, President Haurand observed, is true in marriage, with our children or friends, with our neighbors and coworkers. When we look for fault, we cannot have the Spirit of the Lord, but when we look for good, we can.
The Prophet Joseph Smith may have had this same principle in mind when he penned the thirteenth Article of Faith: “. . . If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things” (emphasis added).
President Henry Haurand spoke in our sacrament meeting a little over a month ago. He shared tender feelings about the Savior, recounting some of the pivotal events from that final week of the Lord’s mortal life. He also mentioned some experiences from the three years he and Sister Haurand served in the Frankfurt Germany Temple.
In the late 1980s, before his call to serve in our stake presidency, President Haurand had been in Germany supervising construction of the Frankfurt Temple, little realizing that a decade later he would return there as temple president.
He once shared an experience he had in 1987 in the not-yet-completed temple: “President and Sister Carlos E. Asay visited the temple. As we were standing in the celestial room Elder Asay asked me if the workers could feel the spirit of the sacred work they were performing. I answered that I did not think so. It is my experience that when you go through the temple looking for things that are not completed yet, that still need to be cleaned up, you cannot feel the Spirit of the Lord. But when you look with your spiritual eyes and see how it will look when it is completed, then you can feel the Spirit. Elder Asay said this is an eternal principle. When you look for fault, you can not have the Spirit of the Lord, but when you look for the good, then you can.”
This principle, President Haurand observed, is true in marriage, with our children or friends, with our neighbors and coworkers. When we look for fault, we cannot have the Spirit of the Lord, but when we look for good, we can.
The Prophet Joseph Smith may have had this same principle in mind when he penned the thirteenth Article of Faith: “. . . If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things” (emphasis added).
24. That Ye May Not Remember Your Guilt
A bishopric message published in the February 1999 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette. On February 28, 1999, Kevin Thueson was released as my first counselor. Hyde Frederickson moved from second to first counselor, and Lionel Farr became the new second counselor.
A few weeks ago I had to go to LDS Hospital to have my esophagus dilated. I have had the procedure done a few other times over the years and was not looking forward to the unpleasant experience. Although partially sedated, I could not be put all the way out because I had to cooperate with the doctors during the procedure by swallowing the tube they stuck down my throat.
This time, however, they used a new type of sedative that actually made me forget the whole experience. Although I was apparently awake for the entire procedure, I remember absolutely nothing from when the medication went into my arm until I was being walked back to the recovery area. Pretty nice.
It occurred to me that there is one type of pain that is even more excruciating than physical pain and that is the pain that results from sin. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some way to induce amnesia to forget that type of misery? Fortunately, there is. It’s called repentance.
Notice what Nephi says about not remembering our sin at the day of judgment: “Prepare your souls for that glorious day when justice shall be administered unto the righteous, even the day of judgment, that ye may not shrink with awful fear; that ye may not remember your awful guilt in perfectness” (2 Nephi 9:46).
The only way that happens is to repent of our sins before that great and dreadful day. That’s the only way to prepare our souls so that it will be a glorious day. Otherwise, we will remember our guilt most exquisitely.
If we do repent, however, the Lord promises that even He Who knows all things past, present, and future will forget our transgression: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42). The choice is ours.
A few weeks ago I had to go to LDS Hospital to have my esophagus dilated. I have had the procedure done a few other times over the years and was not looking forward to the unpleasant experience. Although partially sedated, I could not be put all the way out because I had to cooperate with the doctors during the procedure by swallowing the tube they stuck down my throat.
This time, however, they used a new type of sedative that actually made me forget the whole experience. Although I was apparently awake for the entire procedure, I remember absolutely nothing from when the medication went into my arm until I was being walked back to the recovery area. Pretty nice.
It occurred to me that there is one type of pain that is even more excruciating than physical pain and that is the pain that results from sin. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some way to induce amnesia to forget that type of misery? Fortunately, there is. It’s called repentance.
Notice what Nephi says about not remembering our sin at the day of judgment: “Prepare your souls for that glorious day when justice shall be administered unto the righteous, even the day of judgment, that ye may not shrink with awful fear; that ye may not remember your awful guilt in perfectness” (2 Nephi 9:46).
The only way that happens is to repent of our sins before that great and dreadful day. That’s the only way to prepare our souls so that it will be a glorious day. Otherwise, we will remember our guilt most exquisitely.
If we do repent, however, the Lord promises that even He Who knows all things past, present, and future will forget our transgression: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42). The choice is ours.
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