The Proclamation to the World: The Family-and Me

Many people have heard about the Proclamation to the World: The Family, but many people have never read it. There are so many glorious truths that come from this sacred proclamation. There are many things that our families and our souls can learn from our beloved prophets. I know that I have learned so many things, just from simply reading and learning and praying for myself.

I know that Jesus Christ died for me, and he died for you! I know that families are meant to be together for Time and All Eternity. We aren't supposed to last just until death, but beyond that so that we are able to spend time with one another in our next life. I know that through the priesthood, I can be blessed by my faithfulness. I know that families are a very sacred part of our Father in Heaven's plan for each of us. He means for each of us to have families.

I know that children are gifts from God. I know that they can bring some of the greatest joy into our lives and I know that we will be blessed for taking care of God's little ones. We have the opportunity to bring little ones in the world and to teach them, so that they can begin to choose between right and wrong.

If you have any questions about what I believe, please leave me a note. If there are questions about what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and what they believe, feel free to contact an official representative for the church by checking out mormon.org. Either way, I would love to make sure that your questions are answered. I hope you remember that our Father in Heaven loves you and so does our Savior. They want you to come to them, through prayer and through your faith in them.
Thank you all for reading! I love you all!!!

The Benefits and Challenges of Family Recreation

Family recreation and doing things together as a family is such an important part of keeping families together. Families can do things together, but is the whole family enjoying the activity? Sometimes, it's hard to find something that the whole family enjoys. Sometimes, not everyone is going to love the activity, but most of the time, they do enjoy being able to do something with the rest of their family.

My aunt Tisha and I. I went with her every year for Black Friday Shopping since she and my uncle got together. I was really sad that I missed going with them a year and a half ago. Tisha passed away last year on mother's day. I miss her so much!!!

Research has shown that family satisfaction with current levels of leisure involvement is a strong predictor of overall satisfaction with family life, even when accounting for income, marital status, age, and history of divorce. When we are doing things that include our whole family, we are more likely to stick together and push through hard times.

My younger brothers, my parents and I in front of the Idaho Falls Temple. This is the temple that my grandparents got married in. It was wonderful to see and learn more about the place where a part of our family history began.

Another set of research shows that direct positive relationships between family leisure involvement and levels of family functioning. Families who regularly engage in core leisure activities "depicted by common everyday, low-cost, relatively accessible, and often home-based activities that many families do frequently"(Zabriskie & McCormick 2003) such as playing board games or playing catch in the yard, have higher levels of family cohesiveness than those families who do not regularly engage in such activities. Families who participate in balanced leisure activities, "depicted through activities that are generally less common, less frequent, more out of the ordinary, and usually not home based thus providing novel experiences" (Zabriskie & McCormick 2003), such as going to disneyland or on a cruise, have been found to have higher levels of adaptability than families who do not engage in such activities.

On the farm. We were lighting fireworks off to celebrate birthdays and the Fourth of July.

Many family traditions and rituals, such as religious rituals, birthdays, or Christmas, may be labor-intensive for some members of the family. But even though such rituals may be challenging, none were noted for having negative influences. Familial benefits of religious rituals included strengthened relationships, more family togetherness and unity, increased communication, less contention, more kindness, and better parenting. the effort to create these experiences, although difficult, appears to hold meaningful rewards.

At my Uncle and Aunt's wedding. We had three generations here. It was so much fun to have my great-aunts there celebrating with the rest of us.

My family has had lots of different recreational activities that we do. We have my siblings over for dinner, we play lots of different games together, we work together to get things done, we go swimming together and go bowling with each other in the summer time, we sell firework and Christmas trees together, and lots of other things. Over the past few years, we have been getting closer and closer to each other. We no longer fight over the things that we want to do with one another, but instead we compromise between what is going to be the most available.

The day that my youngest brother came home from scout camp. My niece and nephew were so happy and excited to have their uncle Sam home with them.

I'm really grateful for the time that I have had with my family. The closeness that we now have, is something that I don't ever want to give up. It means so much to me to have a close relationship with my amazing family members. I think that as some of our family members have passed away, we will each start having a whole new relationship with those who are still here on this earth.

I think that some of the challenges for trying to plan a family activity is schedules. Whenever I have time to do something with my family members, they already have things planned. But every time they have time, I have homework that I am doing. It is often a challenge to find a good place in all of our busy schedules to have family time. I think that a lot of families get together when somebody is having a baby, when somebody is getting married, or when somebody has passed away. At least, this is the case with my family. It is a great blessing to be able to celebrate and enjoy eachother's company. 

P.S.
Here are a list of things that my family loves to do together, that you might like to try with yours:

• Bike rides
• Watching t.v.
• Going for walks
• Taking pictures
• Swimming
• Shopping
• Wrestling
• Lighting Fireworks
• Gardening
• Listen to music and go for long car rides
• Reading books
• Play any kind of ball
• Play card games

Religion's Role in Families

For centuries, God and religion have played an important role in the daily lives of individuals and families. In a religious community, we learn what it is like to have a family within a faith/religion. The dimension of a religious community encompasses and includes "support, involvement, and relationships grounded within a congregation." (Dollahite, Marks, & Goodman, 2004)

The Idaho Falls Idaho Temple

In a recent interview-based study, a remarried mother reflected: "I've been married before, and my first husband was not saved, and he wasn't interested in being saved. That goes way back to what the Lord said about being equally yoked. I was at the church, but there was not a lot of support there from him, because as a nonbeliever he thought I was giving to much time... We weren't serving together, we weren't going together, and we would always feel some type of rift."

Often times, when one person from a relationship is not interested in being a part of their significant other's faith/religion, there are fights, arguments, and disputes about going to any church. It is a great help when both parents are religious, but it can help even more when the religion is shared by both parents. "If a faith is shared, then children see that the parents are doing it (going to church)... But if a house has a parent that is not going, that causes the children to have a misunderstanding of what your are really supposed to do.

PRAYER
Over the past 15 years, prayer has received increased attention in connection with marriage. A study by M. H. Butler and colleagues produced several findings including: participants' statements of belief that prayer has enhanced experiences of emotional validation; promoted accountability toward deity; de-escalated negative interactions, contempt, hostility, and emotional reactivity; enhanced relationship behavior; facilitated partner empathy; increased self-change focus; encouraged reconciliation and problem-solving; and promoted a sense of guidance from God.

President Monson with his wife Frances and daughter Ann.

President Thomas S. Monon shared the following counsel that he and his sweet wife receive the day that they were sealed for time and all eternity: "May I offer you newlyweds a formula which will ensure that any disagreement you may have will last no longer than one day? Every night kneel by the side of your bed. One night, Brother Monson, you offer the prayer, aloud, on bended knee. The next night you, Sister Monson, offer the prayer, aloud, on bended knee. I can assure you that any misunderstanding that develops during the day will vanish as you pray. you simply can't pray together and retain any but the best of feelings toward one another."

Prayer in my life and the lives of my family members has been a big blessing. My younger brother, David, recently had an experience with prayer that made a life long impact on him. He was having a hard time knowing whether or not he was supposed to go on a mission for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). He had had a meeting with our stake president and came home to find himself alone and able to pray about what God wanted him to do. He got done praying and felt prompted to turn to Doctrine and Covenants 31:3, which says "Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation." He knew then, that God wanted him to serve a mission. Being obedient to the answer that was given to him, he started his mission papers and receive his mission call to the Ecuador Quito Mission, reporting to the Bogota Columbia Missionary Training Center on May 3. It was exactly what he needed and it was the answer that he was looking for. I am very excited that he is going on a mission, and I know that he will be such a blessing to the people that he will be serving, in the Lord's name.

My brother David

REPENTANCE & FORGIVENESS
Repentance and forgiveness is described as "two sides of the same coin", because these two sacred topics are often talked about together. A researcher shared that "Forgiveness does not occur in a relationship. It occurs within the forgiver." I believe that this is true. Often times, the other person may not even know that they did anything wrong, or they didn't do something that offended you. We often find something, usually little things, to hold grudges at people that we should be showing love and kindness to. Sometimes, people are rude and they mean to hurt you, but we need to forgive them. Sometimes it takes a long time to forgive people when they trespass against us, but we need to be quick to forgive because we never know when our last day will be.

We learn in Mark 11:25-26, "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
We have been commanded that we need to forgive. God can forgive anyone that he wants to, but we need to forgive often.

Since I was very little and in primary (the junior Sunday school in the LDS church) I have learned about what the steps of repentance are. These steps are very easy and can really help with anything that you need to change and repent of.

Steps for Repentance

1. Recognize the sin/mistake. We admit to ourselves that we have done something wrong.

2. Feel sorrow for the sin/mistake. Feeling sorrowful, we are humble and submissive before God, and we come to Him with a broken heart and contrite spirit.

3. Forsake the sin. We stop committing the sin and pledge to never do it again.

4. Confess. We should confess all our sins to the Lord. (For those who are LDS) In addition, we must confess serious sins that might affect our standing in the church to the proper ecclesiastical authority.

5. Make restitution. Insofar as possible, we make right any wrong that we have done.

Through both forgiveness and repentance, we are able to learn how to accept the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through accepting the Atonement, we are able to fully heal for ourselves and for others. Elder Richard G. Scott explained how faith in Christ brings about the ultimate healing:
"The beginning of healing requires childlike faith in the unalterable fact that our Father in Heaven loves you and has supplied a way to heal. His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, laid down His life to provide that healing. But there is no magic solution, no simple balm to provide healing, nor is there an easy path to the complete remedy. The cure requires profound faith in Jesus Christ and in his infinite capacity to heal."

I know that the role that religion has in lives can be life changing. I have seen how people have changed, how they have been able to find a change because of the things that they are able to learn. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that He died so that I would be able to live again. I know that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me very much, but that he also loves each of you very much also.

Blessings Come to Families who Work Together

Some of the most successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of work. Many families work together to keep things together, they work together to get things done. In Chapter 21, we learn "The reason family-centered work brings blessings and salvation is so obvious in common experience that it has become obscure: Family work provides endless opportunities to recognize and fill others' needs. It thus teaches us to love and serve one another, inviting us to be like Jesus Christ." When we are serving each other, we learn things about other people that we probably wouldn't have known. We can learn about what they have been up to, what their likes and dislikes are, and how we can provide more service to them.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell observed, "The divine attributes of love, mercy, patience submissiveness, meekness, purity... cannot be developed inn the abstract. These require the clinical experiences... Nor can these attributes be developed in a hurry." Through work, and serving our family members, we can become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Parents do not need to worry about having a perfect system for doing chores. Work that unifies hearts is "not after the manner of men." Individuals and families, with diligence and through inspiration, can discover better ways to solve their earthly challenges than anything a leader or so-called expert could impose. We can take ideas from other people, but we don't have to use their system, we need to find what is going to work for us as parents and what will work for our children.
Parents who are wanting their children to work, should seek an approach based on "attentive love". Parents may often find themselves easily convinced to fall back on child-rearing. Attentive love asks "What is the child telling me through this behavior?" and "How can I help my child so that he/she is pulled closer to the family, so that he/she is not pushed away?" Of course, in any household, loving feelings run up and down, but caring parents can strive to manifest love as the expected norm. Essayist Wendell Berry tells how daily habits of caring and serving eventually carry us beyond the difficulties of life into a manifestation of love. "Our marriages, kinships, friendships, neighborhoods, and all our forms and acts of homemaking are the rites by which we solemnize and enact our union with the universe... They give the word "love" its only chance to mean, for only they can give it a history, a community, and a place. Only in such ways can love becomes flesh and do its worldly work."

We sell Christmas trees every year from Black Friday to the 15th of December

All family members are able to assist in family work. Children can learn to take responsibility for their part in family work. The Lord teaches us that we have an obligation to see the needs of others and respond to them in loving ways. The Lord has high expectations, for He knows our capabilities. Likewise, parents should have high expectations for their children. We establish these expectaitons in caring ways, but children need to know their particiation in family work is not optional.

Mothers set the household tone for family work. "The problem is not so much the presence or absence of a 'work ethic' as [it is] the meaning of work and the ways it links, or fails to link, individuals to one another." Mothers do so much to get everything done that might need to be done plus so much more. I have seen my mom get so many things done in one day. She gets dishes done everyday, makes a meal for us most nights of the week, does laundry, watches my niece and nephews, gets bills paid, does all sorts of cleaning, but she also drives everyone around, picks me up from work, makes sure that we are still getting to all of our activities that have been scheduled and so much more.

Fathers set the example for any and all participation in household chores. When the father complains about having to help with things around the house, the children will also. But when he does it with a willing heart, the children will be more willing to help out with the chores. My dad is a really good example of this. He hasn't ever complained about helping my mom around the house, but he does say something when my brothers complain about having to help with a small chore. I love my dad and for the love that he has for helping my mom.
Being a part of a family, means that I still need to do my part-in and out of the house. I do a lot to help my parents out because they have already worked so hard to make me the person who I am today. I like to try to relieve some of their duties, so that they can find sometime for themselves.

The Sacredness of Parenthood-The Joys of Motherhood

"May each of us treasure this truth:... One cannot remember mother and forget God. Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one."

From the beginning of time, mothers have played an important role on how children are raised. In many different societies around the world, mothers have played the role of everything. She has been a teacher, the nurse, the caretaker, the one to discipline, the guidance counselor, and many more roles in our every day lives. Our moms often don't take times for themselves. They do more than anybody thinks. 

Who wants to work 24/7, 365 days a year, with no pay? Who wants this type of job. I don't know of anybody who truly thinks about all of the things that moms do, but moms work harder than any other worker that I know of. They help with homework and projects. They make sure that you get to your football practice or dance recital on time. Seeing how much work mothers have done for each of us is unbelievable. 

Recently, I was given the opportunity to be at the birth of my sweet nephew. I couldn't believe how hard it actually is to give birth to a child. You carry a child for 40 weeks and then the pain of having them can sometimes be so unbearable. Often times, you don't get much sleep in the hospital, causing sleep deprivation and then you go home and you have these little people who run all over you and they take over your bed and your food. The above video is a job interview which includes all of the qualifications of a mother.

Me, with my niece and new nephew

Now, I personally don't think that being a mother is actually that bad. Yes, it is a lot of work, but it is definitely worth it. Being a mom means that you get to watch little pieces of your heart walk and move and laugh outside of your body. You get to feel the love that the Savior and that our Father in heaven has for each of us, because you have this joyous job. Being a mom can be one of the most amazing jobs a woman can have.
Being able to watch these darling children grow up is a blessing! There is nothing like being able to teach children about the gospel and the blessings that can come from being faithful in the gospel. Teaching and helping with kids who are learning and wanting to know more is the most wonderful thing ever!
I have never felt like I am really good at anything. I have a really hard time thinking about being a mother to anyone because I am not married and I am 20 years old. I was recently called into be the activity day leader at church. I work with girls from the age of 8 until they turn 12. It wasn't until then, that I started to grow as a future mother. I have been learning just like they are learning. I have felt a new kind of love that I have never felt before and it is because of Christ's love and example for me, that I have started to learn to love these girls as my own. They have blessed my life and they continue to show me that they love me too.
Motherhood is such a beautiful thing and even though I don't have my own children yet, I know that someday I will. They will be sealed to me for time and all eternity, through the good things and the bad things. I am so grateful for all of the amazing mothers I have to look up to. I have my great-grandmothers, my grandmothers, my mom, my future mother-in-law, my sister, my sister-in-law, my cousins, my aunts, all of the leaders that I have ever had and all of the amazing women that I have in my life.

The Sacredness of Parenthood-Fatherhood

Becoming a parent can be a scary thing, but it can also be one of the most beautiful and joyful journeys that we can experience in life. I understand that becoming a father can be overwhelming. There are many people who have great relationships with their fathers, but there are also people who have no relationship or terrible relationships with their fathers.

My brother-in-law with my nephew and niece.

Fathers play an important part in a child's life. When you grow up without a father, you don't get taught a lot of important things about life. Often times you have more than one male role model, but often get mixed signals of how a man should act. Last semester, I took a survey about families and I asked how people's relationships were with their father. Many of the 155 people who participated said "Good" and "Great", but some people said "Not so great. We fought a lot while I was growing up." Some of the answers that I got that people elaborated on were some of the following: "Strained. We did not really connect."; "He was a good provider and role model. I knew he loved me but he was not overly affectionate."; "Good until he started drinking."; "Our relationship was full of respect, he listened to me and I listened to him... Or took his advice, I wasn't the perfect child... But when it mattered I listened and obeyed. He was the definite enforcer when we needed it."; "He was mostly absent. I could not count on him."
What can we learn from these peoples views on their relationships with their fathers? Not everyone is going to have the exact same type of relationship with their father. My relationship is going to be very different from my best friends relationship with her father, or even my siblings relationship with our father. In doing this survey, I learned a lot and I cried a lot. I'm really grateful for the eye opening results that I was able to get from my friends and my family members. I knew when I opened up the survey that I would be able to get information from people of all faiths and people with different backgrounds from myself.
As a member of the LDS faith, I have been taught that even when you do not have a father in your home, you always have a father of the area you live and you also have our Heavenly Father. A primary song Fathers, holds a very special place in my heart.

1.The father of our home
leads our family
With wisdom's light in all that's right;
My father's good to me.

2. The father of our ward
tends with loving care
Each member's needs with kindly deeds;
Our bishop's always there.

3. And now we'll sing great praise
and reverently recall
The Holy One who gave His Son,
The Father of us all.

Chorus
Fathers are so special
with a very special love.
They watch us and protect us.
They guide us and direct us
Back to our home above.

This song has brought me comfort at some of my darkest hours. Those moments when I was away from my dad, or when I didn't know my bishop very well, I always knew that I had my Father in Heaven right there beside me to guide me back in his love that he has for me. Knowing that no matter where I am headed, I am able to always have at least one father with me at all times, in all things, and in all places.

My dad and I facetiming!!

I want to share some examples of great fathers who have impacted my life so much. The first is my dad, Eugene. My dad is one of the most selfless people that I know. He cares about everyone so much and would do anything for anyone. He is somebody who is willing to do what the Lord needs him to do. He is hard working and provides for his family so that we can all be happy. He sacrifices a lot for the sake of his children and his grandchildren. He makes time for us and works with us with many things, helping us to understand what it is that we are doing. I was extremely blessed to be born into his family and have his as my father.

Two other examples of great fathers are my older brother and my brother-in-law. My older brother has one 9-month-old son. He has sacrificed a great deal and is ready to sacrifice anything to protect his family. He is such a great dad and loves to spend time with his little guy.
My brother-in-law is such a great dad and loves babies. His oldest just turned 3 and he has helped to show him how great it is to be a helper with his younger siblings and to his mom. His little girl is a little over a year old and she is a daddy's girl. She gets so excited when he comes home and she gets to see how a girl or a woman should be treated. His youngest is a week old. He just loves that baby up. He is very well taken care of. Josh has just been a blessing to our family.

My grandpa at Christmas time!

My grandfather, is my last example that I would like to share. My grandfather has been there to support each of us in everything we do. He was so excited when he learned that I would get to try skiing. He has encouraged each of us to do what makes us happy and to have fun with our choices that we are making. He wants us to have fun in life, but to learn to accept everything as a blessing. He has shared his great love of motorcycles and riding with each of us grandkids. He has shown that life can be fun, but that we need to remember who we are while we are living life to the fullest capacity and through our daily trials and hardships.
President Ezra Taft Benson taught that "God established that fathers are to preside in the home. Fathers are to provide love, teach and direct."
It has been suggested that "relationship work involves both the sense of feeling emotionally and physically connected with a son or daughter and the father's efforts to create and maintain healthy bonds between the child, himself, and others in the child's environment."
You never know what is going to happen with life. Life can be cut short and you can lose people. It is hard to lose somebody who you love and care for. It is even harder to lose a parent.