“Family life is the best method for achieving happiness in this world, and it is a clear pattern given to us from the Lord about what is to be in the next world.”
Family
LDS Quotes on Family
“In family relationships, love is really spelled “TIME.” Taking time for each other is the key for harmony at home. We talk with, rather than about, each other.”
| "Of the Things that Matter Most"
“Divorce can never really be final. How can mothers and fathers really divorce themselves from their own flesh and blood children, or from the memories of days and years of shared experiences which have become part of their very lives.”
| Marriage and Divorce
“Marriage should not be treated as a contract entered by pleasure from both partners that can be easily broken if it “ doesn’t work out” without even regarding the children. Children need families with a mother and a father with a strong conviction to the gospel.”
| Protect the Children, Conference October 2012
“Parents, treat your children aright; train them up in the fear of the Lord; they are of more importance to you than many things that you give your attention to.”
“If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. you shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don’t expose it to the elements. You don’t make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by.”
So how do we nourish relationships? The same way we nourish faith and character—with great diligence and patience! If we have nourished family relationships, when hard things happen—and they will—we will withstand the hard times and can continue enjoying the fruits that loving family relationships produce.
| “This Is My Day of Opportunity”
“What is the central characteristic of those having only five loaves and two fishes? What makes it possible, under the Master’s touch, for them to serve, lift, and bless so that they touch for good the lives of hundreds, even thousands? After a lifetime of dealing in the affairs of men and women, I believe it is the ability to overcome personal ego and pride – both are enemies to the full enjoyment of the Spirit of God and walking humbly before him. The ego interferes with husbands and wives asking each other for forgiveness. It prevents the enjoyment of the full sweetness of a higher love. The ego often prevents parents and children from fully understanding each other. The ego enlarges our feelings of self-importance and worth. It blinds us to reality. Pride keeps us from confessing our sins and shortcomings to the Lord and working out our repentance.”
| Ensign, May 1994, p. 6
For me, the old saying “The family that prays together stays together” could be expanded to “The family that prays together is together, even when they are far apart.”
| A Home Where the Spirit of the Lord Dwells
Hannah of the Old Testament demonstrated the power of grief to motivate in positive ways. For years Hannah was unable to have children, a condition that caused her deep heartache. As her grief overwhelmed her, she knelt near the temple and prayed fervently for a child. She explained to the priest Eli that she was “of a sorrowful spirit” and that she was praying “out of the abundance of [her] complaint and grief” (1 Samuel 1:15–16). In time, the Lord answered her prayer by giving her a son, Samuel, who became a great prophet and leader.
Hannah’s grief over her childlessness led her to pray, which in turn led to an answer to her prayer. If Hannah had not felt grief, she might not have offered that important prayer.