Family

"We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm, which is increasing 

in intensity all about us. Even if the smallest openings are

 left unattended, negative influences can penetrate 

the very walls of our homes." 

L. Tom Perry, The Importance of the Family, April 2003

"...As taught in this scripture, an eternal bond doesn’t just happen as a result of

 sealing covenants we make in the temple." 

Robert D. Hales, The Eternal Family, October 1996

"Today I call upon members of the Church and on committed parents, grandparents, and extended family members everywhere to hold fast to this great proclamation, to make it a banner not unlike General Moroni’s “title of liberty,” and to commit ourselves to live by its precepts. As 

we are all part of a family, the proclamation applies to everyone."

M. Russell Ballard, What Matters Most Is What Lasts Longest, October 2005

"We have programs and activities in both the family and the Church. Each is so interrelated that service to one is service to the other. When children see their parents faithfully perform Church callings, it strengthens their family relationships. When families are strong, the Church is strong. The two run in parallel. Each is important and necessary, and each must be conducted with careful concern for the other. Church programs and activities should not be so all-encompassing that families cannot have everyone present for family time. And family activities should not be scheduled in conflict with sacrament meeting or other vital Church meetings."

Dallin H. Oaks, Priesthood Authority in the Family and in the Church, October 2005

"A family begins when a young man and woman are drawn to one another by an irresistible force of nature. They offer to one another that which distinguishes him as male and her as female, and they want, above all else, to find the one with whom they can completely express their love. They want to have children—to be a family.

These compelling forces of nature should not be resisted, only approached cautiously, protecting those life-generating powers until promises have been made to one another, covenants with the Lord, and a legal ceremony performed, witnessed, and recorded."

Boyd K. Packer, The Father and the Family, April 1994

"As parenting declines, the need for policing increases. There will always be a shortage of police if there is a shortage of effective parents! Likewise, there will not be enough prisons if there are not enough good homes."

Neal A. Maxwell, Take Especial Care of Your Family, April 1994

"There are no perfect families, either in the world or in the Church, but there are many good families. My spiritual applause also goes to those heroic parents—left alone by death or divorce—who are righteously and “anxiously engaged” in nurturing and providing for their families, often against such heavy odds."

Neal A. Maxwell, Take Especial Care of Your Family, April 1994

Years ago the Church admonished all parents to hold weekly family home evenings. Today that admonition has been institutionalized in the homes of Church members. Monday night has been set aside as an evening for families to be together. No Church activities or social appointments should be sponsored on this night. We have been promised great blessings if our families would be faithful in this regard.

L. Tom Perry, Therfore I Was Taught, April 1994

 "We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children."

This proclamation was read by President Gordon B. Hinckley

 as part of his message at the General Relief Society Meeting

 held September 23, 1995, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Marriage is sanctified by family prayer morning and night and daily scripture study. Marriage is stabilized by careful financial planning, avoiding debt, and living within a budget with willing obedience to the Lord’s law of tithing. Marriage is energized by making prime time together. Marriage is protected by an absolute commitment to make it successful.

Remind each married bearer of the priesthood that his highest duty is to care for his wife. She enables him to qualify for his greatest blessings. And when the children leave the nest, a husband and his wife will have each other in what can be a wonderful and exciting phase of life together.

The Doctrinal Importance of Marriage and Children, Russell M. Nelson, World Wide Leadership Training