Lesson for March 9, 2014

Lesson for August 9, 2014 Our lesson today was about “Strengthening and Preserving the Family/Bringing up Children in Light and Truth.” It was taught by Maggie Kopp. Combining two different chapters today. There are some fun stories about Joseph F. Smith. He seemed like a strict person in public, but he liked to interact with his children and he could make good pies. He would spend all day making pies and his wife would make ice cream and they all had a great time. He said that the family is the most important organization in the world. Maggie passed out questions for small group discussion. She brought up what Chieko Okasaki said about not all families are alike and some have negative experiences. She asked the groups to identify the principle(s) in the quote and how does being in a family help us learn these principles. The gospel is family centered and it must be experienced in the family. It is the greatest place for us to experience gospel principles and it teaches us about how to treat our family and also gives us an idea about what our Heavenly Father is like. We can also develop desires to have better families. Family members are more loving to us when we are more loving to them. If you have a good relationship with your family, you develop a desire to be good and obey the commandments. Also, people do change over the years and hopefully they learn how they want to be from what they experienced in their families as children. We are part of our larger eternal family. Parents help us realize that because we are all on the same team, we need to serve each other and be each other’s cheerleaders. If someone in the family has a problem, everyone has a problem. Often if the parents keep the commandments and serve the Lord, sometimes wayward children will return to the fold, because the happiness draws them back. Every member of the family needs to work toward establishing the kind of family that is happy. We need to learn to resolve conflict in peaceful ways. Family reunions and family gatherings are important. Showing love toward each other and being accepting is a good way to solidify the family. The importance of family unity and spiritual solidarity is a foundation for the family that endures. Being involved in talents and family history and other unifying activities can create solidarity in the family. Although the chief responsibility for salvation lies with each individual, the family can help and be there through the trials. The next responsibility lies with the family to teach family members about eternal salvation. There are so many things we learn in our families, including how we learn and progress and how we come unto Christ. Families give us many opportunities to repent and forgive that we can internalize. It’s where we learn love, first and last. We can’t learn to love God without loving our families. We also learn service, because we’re always doing things for others in our families..