Value of the family highlights LDS Conference weekend
SALT LAKE CITY -Protecting the family from disintegration and not succumbing to hopelessness in frightening times was the theme of this weekend’s General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Conference Center in Salt Lake City was filled with members of the church who came Saturday and Sunday to hear church leaders instruct them, while the talks were broadcast around the world to the nearly 12 million church members.
Many of the talks focused on a call to make the home a place for families to live in happiness and keep God’s commandments.
W. Douglas Shumway of the Quorum of the Seventy said, “Today, we are witnessing an unending assault on marriage and the family. In a society where marriage is often shunned, parenthood avoided and families degraded, we have the responsibility to honor our marriages, nurture our children and fortify our families.”
Shumway said marriage is meant to be a loving relationship between a man and a woman, and nurturing children is among the most eternally important things to do.
L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said Satan’s success in belittling the family is evident in the news and the effects on society such as crime, behavior disorders, poverty and drug abuse.
“Surely we should have learned by now, from the experience over centuries, that the basic family provides the most stable and secure foundation for society and is fundamental to the preparation of young people for their future responsibilities,” Perry said. “We should have learned by now that alternate styles of family formations have not worked and never will work.”
Francisco J. Vi̱as of the Quorum of the Seventy said problems can be solved through simple principles practiced in the home Рfaith, repentance, love, forgiveness and prayer.
“These principles, once applied, will act as a light that will illuminate each member of the family and … will strengthen family relationships,” Viñas said.
Apostle James E. Faust said that in a world where people are bombarded with messages of all kinds, they can determine which messages are most vital by looking at the source and motivation behind the message. He said one important message is the need to strengthen families.
“Far too many families are breaking up,” Faust said. “This heartbreaking trend has an endless train of consequences.”
Church leaders went on to talk about wicked conditions in the world, and instructed church members to prepare rather than fear.
Apostle Dallin H. Oaks said people need to prepare themselves because the signs of the second coming of Christ – such as the gospel restoration, war, earthquakes, false prophets and commotion on the earth – “seem to be increasing in frequency and intensity.”
“Evil that used to be localized and covered like a boil is now legalized and paraded like a banner,” Oaks said. “The good, the true and the beautiful are being replaced by the no-good, the ‘whatever’ and the valueless fodder of personal whim.”
Oaks said spiritual preparation was more likely to be neglected than physical preparation, although it is of more enduring value.
“What if the day of [Christ’s] coming was tomorrow … what practices would we discontinue?” Oaks said. “If we would do those things then, why not now?”
Apostle Richard G. Scott said those concerned by the state of the world have a choice.
“You can wring your hands and be consumed with concern for the future, or choose to use the counsel the Lord has given to live with peace and happiness in a world awash with evil,” Scott said. “We cannot dry up the mounting river of evil influences, for they result from the exercise of moral agency divinely granted by our father. But we can, with clarity, warn of the consequences of getting close to its enticing, destructive current.”
Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the church, said the world is living in perilous times, but it has done so before, as in the Dark Ages. He said the gospel is a light that carries God’s plan of happiness and the atonement through the dark times.
Hinckley said God must weep because “so many of his children through the ages have exercised the agency he gave them and have chosen to walk the road of evil rather than good.”
“We can never compromise the doctrine which has come through revelation, but we can live and work with others, respecting their beliefs and admiring their virtues,” Hinckley said. “Without surrendering any element of our doctrine, we can be neighborly, we can be helpful, we can be kind and generous.”
Apostle Boyd K. Packer said that despite the terror in the world prophesied of in the Book of Mormon, people should not fear the future.
“Remember the atonement of Christ,” Packer said. “The Lord himself encouraged, ‘Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you.'”
D. Todd Christofferson of the Presidency of the Seventy told the youth of the church to lay aside the attitude that rejects the authority of God.
“You hear it expressed today in phrases such as, ‘Do your own thing’ or ‘Right and wrong depend on what I feel is right for me,” Christofferson said. “That attitude is a rebellion against God just as Lucifer rebelled against God.”
Hinckley said he was pleased the Illinois House of Representatives passed a resolution of regret last week for the expulsion of Mormons from Nauvoo, Ill. in 1846, and he said there was “a significant change of attitude toward the Latter-day Saints.” Apostle Russell M. Nelson said he met with government officials in another country who were impressed by the church’s teachings about the family and its welfare program.
On a personal note, Hinckley said his wife Marjorie recently collapsed from exhaustion and her health has not recovered since.
“She’s now 92, a little younger than I am,” Hinckley said. “The clock is winding down, and we don’t know how to rewind it. This is a somber time for me. We continue to hope and pray for her.”
-heidithue@cc.usu.edu