Lesson for September 18, 2016

Lesson for September 18, 2016 Today our lesson was given by Camille Maynard on “Preserve and Protect the Family,” chapter 17 in the Teachings of Howard W. Hunter. The Church has the responsibility and authority to preserve and protect the family. The authorities of the church can give us guidance for our goals for our family. The Proclamation on the Family is to the entire world, not just members of the Church. We should treat it as if it is for everyone in the world. The Lord was interested in the family when it instituted Family Home Evening and has been around for a long time, since the time of President Joseph F. Smith. Mondays were designated during the time of President McKay. The Proclamation says that it is the duty of a father and a mother to raise their family in the way of the Lord. For except the Lord build the house, it shall not stand. In seeking after the welfare of the members of the Church, families of all sorts are needful of having home teachers and other support from their congregations. Wherever we are in the world, we can have support from our ward congregations. Parents can be partners in the leadership of their homes to love and protect children. President Hunter talked to the men of the Church about what they should do: the family is ordained of God, the men should lead their families to church, improve the spiritual atmosphere of the home through personal scripture study, honoring their wives, accept their wives as their partners to make decisions. Most of us understand we need home evening or scripture study, but we need to be ready to teach our children to study and pray. We need to get our own spiritual state in order. We need to honor the priesthood and temple covenants, as well as honoring and reverencing motherhood. We should understand it is an honor to be a mother and an honor to be a father. We can help our men to take responsibility for family home evening or scripture study or family prayer. Sometimes our men don’t recognize that there are things they can do, we can remind them. It seems they don’t work that way. One thing we can do to be united, we can plan and talk about things before they happen, if we can. We can decide to have open communication. You can be united in how to come to a decision that works is modeling how to function as a couple for the children. Don’t talk about it in front of the kids, but do it in private. Our homes should be places of prayer, and love, and teaching the gospel. We should not just rely on schools, church, and others to give our children a foundation. President Hunter said that a home is strong and beautiful when we strive to live the gospel in our family circles. Children need to feel secure and safe in their homes, so integrity in the family is essential, as is showing love to each other. What we do in private will come out in public behavior. We can be more relaxed and comfortable if we are secure and not lash out at our family members if we respect them. We can do things together to build relationships through family home evening and build strength in the family. When we are not close to our family, we can use technology to connect, such as Skype or smart phones. Dinners with families is a way to be connected. Afterwards, then games can be played. We can change the focus of FHE from having to learn the gospel to connecting to each other with a touch of gospel lessons thrown in. We need to recognize what is needed for our family, or our spouses. Sometimes the gospel questions come up at random times, such as driving in the car, or after school. Keeping technology distractions away at a time when you can be all together is important. It shows that we place importance on our times together. Family scripture and family prayer are also important. Getting out the scripture packet of the scripture stories can help children relate to the stories and remember the points of the story. Sister Bush has each child be in charge of a day for family prayer and they each say some reason they are grateful for that person before the prayer. Prayers where we mention family members help our children and ourselves know we are prayed for. It helps if our children can hear us praying for them. President Hunter said our homes should be a holy place.