For more information on this topic, please see the following links:President Boyd K. Packer: Children of God (audio link, video link)

The post I Am A Child of God appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Because of the ultimate goal of being together as families through eternity, all that we do as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints points to the temple. The temple, in turn, points us to the Savior, who makes it possible for us to receive eternal life and to be together as families.

Given the eternal importance of family relationships, a key theme in our teachings is that our most important priorities are our relationship with God and our relationships with our families. As was recently taught in a Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting,

So much of what we concentrate on in mortality—power, prominence, property, prestige—are things that we don’t have any evidence will make any difference in the next life. But family will (Elder Dallin H. Oaks).

Some of the things we are counseled to do on a regular basis are to have family prayer morning and night, to read scriptures together each day as a family, to hold Family Home Evening weekly (most of us do this on Monday nights), and to eat together each day.

This doctrine of the eternal nature of the family can bring great comfort to those who have lost loved ones. It also can provide an anchor of hope and perspective to those whose family life is currently less than ideal. Consider this from Elder Richard G. Scott (a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles):

Throughout your life on earth, seek diligently to fulfill the fundamental purposes of this life through the ideal family. While you may not have yet reached that ideal, do all you can through obedience and faith in the Lord to consistently draw as close to it as you are able. Let nothing dissuade you from that objective. If it requires fundamental changes in your personal life, make them. When you have the required age and maturity, obtain all of the ordinances of the temple you can receive. If for the present, that does not include sealing in the temple to a righteous companion, live for it. Pray for it. Exercise faith that you will obtain it. Never do anything that would make you unworthy of it. If you have lost the vision of eternal marriage, rekindle it. If your dream requires patience, give it.

We are repeatedly taught that no person who lives a faithful life will have any of the blessings that God has for His children withheld. We don’t understand all the details of how He will be able to sort through all the trials and troubles that do come to many, but we do believe that the key to obtaining all of the blessings of eternal families is faith and obedience and reception of the saving ordinances and covenants of the gospel. And trusting in the promises of God.

For more information on this topic, please see the following links:The Gospel Blesses Families and Individuals
Elder Bruce C. Hafen: Your Longing for Family Joy
Elder Robert D. Hales: The Eternal Family
President Gordon B. Hinckley: Why These Temples?
Elder M. Russell Ballard: What Matters Most is What Lasts Longest
Elder David A. Bednar: Marriage is Essential to His Eternal Plan
Elder Henry B. Eyring: The Family
Elder John H. Groberg: Family: The Eternal Perspective (link to audio)You can also search lds.org on topics such as eternal families, temples, eternal marriage, and other related topics, or browse our website on the following topics:
Family
Marriage
Purpose of Life
Temple
CovenantsIf you have any questions about this topic, please feel free to contact us at ‘mormonwoman’ AT ‘gmail’ DOT ‘com’

The post Families Can Be Eternal appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

In a recent Worldwide Leadership Training Broadcast, we were reminded that homemaking is about creating a nurturing environment that points members of a family toward eternal life. In this sense, regardless of our ages or stages of life, we are all homemakers, because we each have the opportunity to create a spiritual environment, for ourselves and others.

This is something that has been taught for decades. Sister Belle S. Spafford, a former female leader (president of the Relief Society), said this:

“Homemaking, as I view it, falls into two major divisions: homemaking and housekeeping. Homemaking takes into account the spiritual values: love, peace, tranquility, harmony among family members, security. It makes of a place of residence a spot to which family members can retire from a confused and troubled world and find understanding and rejuvenation. Its character is quietness; it evidences good taste, culture, and refinement. Men, women, and children alike have their individual contributions to make to good home and family life, and each shares in its benefits.

“Housekeeping involves the work of keeping a house clean, orderly, and well managed. This includes financial management, failure in which often becomes a source of family friction” (Belle S. Spafford, A Woman’s Reach [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974], pp. 24–25).

We encourage our teenaged young women to do their part to strengthen their homes and families — in essence, we encourage them to be homemakers in their own right.

For more information on this topic, please see the following links: Julie B. Beck: Mothers Who Know
“Homemaking: An Opportunity for Every Woman (this is an example of a visiting teaching message — we as Mormon women each visit a few sisters every month to discuss topics such as these, to build friendship and sisterhood, and to watch over and care for each other)

Sydney Smith Reynolds: Wife and Mother: A Valid Career Option for the College-Educated Woman
Barbara B. Smith: Makers of Homes

Katherine Padilla, My Stay-at-Home Education (one woman’s perspective on how “choosing to stay home with your children doesn’t mean stopping your own progress”

The post We Are Homemakers appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.