Strengthening Our Family: Family Home Evening Sacrament Talk

I was asked to talk in sacrament meeting today on Strengthening the family.  I really had a hard time figuring out what I needed to say.  I started my talk several times and then just didn't like the direction.  I even had it half way written and the computer unexpectedly shut off causing me to lose it all.

I don't know if the Lord was telling me that I was on the wrong track or not.  I never did feel comfortable with any of it and the actual talk delivery was horrid.  But at least it's over and here is what I came up with....

We are blessed to live in the last days….a time of great joy and great trials….

Satan is attacking the family from every side.  As Latter day saints, we are blessed to have prophets that can see and recognize the fight against us.

President Boyd K. Packer told this story:

The back windows of our home overlook a small flower garden and the woods which border a small stream. One wall of the house borders on the garden and is thickly covered with English ivy. Most years this ivy has been the nesting place for house finches. The nests in the vines are safe from foxes and raccoons and cats that are about.

One day there was a great commotion in the ivy. Desperate cries of distress came as 8 or 10 finches from the surrounding woods came to join in this cry of alarm. I soon saw the source of the commotion. A snake had slid partway down out of the ivy and hung in front of the window just long enough for me to pull it out. The middle part of the snake’s body had two bulges—clear evidence convicting it of taking two fledglings from the nest. Not in the 50 years we had lived in our home had we seen anything like that. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience—or so we thought.

A few days later there was another commotion, this time in the vines covering our dog run. We heard the same cries of alarm, the gathering of the neighborhood finches. We knew what the predator was. A grandson climbed onto the run and pulled out another snake that was still holding on tightly to the mother bird it had caught in the nest and killed.

I said to myself, “What is going on? Is the Garden of Eden being invaded again?”

There came into my mind the warnings spoken by the prophets. We will not always be safe from the adversary’s influence, even within our own homes. We need to protect our nestlings.

We live in a very dangerous world that threatens those things that are most spiritual. The family, the fundamental organization in time and eternity, is under attack from forces seen and unseen. The adversary is about. His objective is to cause injury. If he can weaken and destroy the family, he will have succeeded.  (Boyd K. Packer)

Elder M. Russell Ballard continued this by saying:

Let me say again that the family is the main target of evil’s attack and must therefore be the main point of our protection and defense. As I said once before, when you stop and think about it from a diabolically tactical point of view, fighting the family makes sense to Satan. When he wants to disrupt the work of the Lord, he doesn’t poison the world’s peanut butter supply, thus bringing the Church’s missionary system to its collective knees. He doesn’t send a plague of laryngitis to afflict the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He doesn’t legislate against green Jell-O and casseroles. When evil wants to strike out and disrupt the essence of God’s work, it attacks the family. ("Let Our Voices Be Heard," Ensign, November 2003, p.16)

We have been told in “The family: a proclamation to the world” that the family is central to

the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. 

So what can we do as parents, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, and grandparents do to help our families win this war?

I can tell you it is the “Primary answers”; you know the ones that you learned at a young age…scripture study, prayer, going to church…  If you think about it, those are the answers to all of life’s problems.  I could just quote President Kimball and say “DO IT”, be done with my talk and sit down and we would all be good.

For The basic key to strengthening our families in a world of trial and sin is to have the Spirit of the Lord come into our homes.

Many years ago, the prophets of The church were inspired to introduce a program that will help our families by providing a way for us to bring the spirit and these Primary Answers into our homes each week….Family Home Evening.

President Hinckley stated that “if every family in the world practiced  ...Family Home Evening…you’d see a very great difference in the solidarity of the families of the world.”  (interview, Boston Globe)

Elder Bednar continued by saying…

"Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But...our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results." (Elder Bednar,Ensign Nov. 2009)

Through his prophets, the Lord has told us that"... Like iron links in a chain, this practice will bind a family together, in love, pride, tradition, strength, and loyalty."  (President Bensen)

I know in our home, we have an on-again/off-again relationship with family home evening.  It is hard with so many of us going so many different ways each week to gather together and to put the time and effort into the lesson and activities.

So, in a time of increasingly busy schedules, how can we have regular and successful Family Home Evenings?

One key answer to that question is preparation. Using a Family Home Evening Outline is a great way to easily and quickly plan Family Home Evening. Giving each family member a Family Home Evening assignment will also help by delegating responsibilities and to encourage participation of all family members, including during the lesson.

Since I HATE to give lessons or talks, I am often surprised how eager my children are, especially Josh and Zach to give the lesson and be involved in the activities.  Even our young children can participate by helping hold up pictures, describing or pointing to things in pictures, and repeating a phrase or two about the topic being taught.

It is important for us to remember that the home is the place to teach our children the “vision of eternity” and “how to help them follow the road signs in order to reach their (eternal) destiny.”

“We must understand that each of our children come with varying gifts and talents.  Some seem to be given gifts of faith at birth.  Others struggle with every decision they make. “As parents we must constantly find the quiet moments during Family Home evening to teach them and bear our testimonies in a way that will help our children fight the battles in their lives.

I imagine it was during times like these that Alma from the Book of Mormon taught his son the gospel, so that years later when alma the younger was “racked with torment…and harrowed up by the memory of his many sins, he remembered hearing his father teach about the coming of Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world (Alma 36:17).  His father’s words years earlier were remembered when he was struggling and led to his conversion.

Our lessons do not have to be elaborate General conference talks…they can be simple 5 minute lessons on the important things our families need to hear.  The important thing is for our families to HEAR it and to hear it with the spirit of the Lord in our home.

The best way to have a successful Family Home Evening is to just have it. The purpose of Family Home Evening is to be (and learn) together as a family and all you have to do to achieve that goal is to simply hold Family Home Evening. 

The more regularly you bring your family together for Family Home Evening, the more accustomed they will come to being together, participating in Family Home Evening, and being united as a family. 

I know our Family Home evenings are often a bit loud with laughter filling far too much of the evening.  But that’s our family.  I am blessed to have children that like being together (most of the time).  We have our moments like most families do.  There is too much yelling at times.  Too many doors slammed.  We are not perfect.  But we keep trying.

And as we have more and more “On-times” with our Family Home evening efforts, I find that we have fewer arguments, more joy and laughter, and more happy times in our home.  This encourages me on those days when I don’t want to put the time into preparation to keep plugging away.

The first presidency has said…“In our Home Evenings, we can fill our souls with the things of God, thus leaving no room for evil to find a place in our hearts or minds.” (The First Presidency, Family Home Evening [manual, 1972], 4).

In 1915 the First Presidency of the Church gave us this promise: “If the Saints obey this counsel [to hold family home evening], we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influences and temptations which beset them” (“Home Evening,” Improvement Era, June 1915, 734).

I know that there is nothing more that I want for my children than to gain strong testimonies, go on honorable missions, and marry happily in the temple.  The lord has promised that Family Home evening is a way to strengthen our families from the war Satan is waging against us and to obtain those goals for our family.  By doing this every week, I can help my kids grow towards the happiness of eternal families and we can have “no empty chairs at our eternal table.”