In the family proclamation, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declare, "We warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets."7 The Church is a small institution compared with the world at large. Nevertheless, the Latter-day Saints as a people should not underestimate the power of our example, nor our capacity to persuade public opinion, reverse negative trends, or invite seeking souls to enter the gate and walk the Lord's chosen way. We ought to give our best efforts, in cooperation with like-minded persons and institutions, to defend the family and raise a voice of warning and of invitation to the world. The Lord expects us to do this, and in doing so to ignore the mocking and scorn of those in the great and spacious building, where is housed the pride of the world.
Regardless of what the future may hold, God has ordained that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, the parents of the Church will be given power to help save their children from the darkness around them. As the hearts of fathers and mothers turn to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents, we eventually will witness the rise of a generation refined and prepared to meet the Savior at His coming. The triumph of God's kingdom in the latter days will be a triumph not only of the Church as an organization but of tens of thousands of individual families who by faith have overcome the world.
May we as members of the Church rise up and assume our divinely appointed role as a light to the nations. May we sacrifice and labor to rear a generation strong enough to resist the siren songs of popular culture, a generation filled with the Holy Ghost so that they may discern the difference between good and evil, between legitimate tolerance and moral surrender. May we arise in faith and in love so as to prepare the way for the great millennial reign of Christ, a day to come when in every village and city of the world, boys and girls will play in innocence, and every child of God know the peace of a happy home.
Successful families require that men and women make substantial and long-term sacrifices of their time, money, and personal fulfillment in order to dedicate their efforts to rearing the next generation.
God has given His children commandments, laws, and revelations that define the pathway leading back into His presence. His laws and commandments are intended to bless us, to uplift us, and to bring us joy.
Regardless of what the future may hold, God has ordained that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, the parents of the Church will be given power to help save their children from the darkness around them.
Photograph by April Newman
Left top: photograph by Matt Reier; left bottom: photograph by Ruth Sipus; photograph of Freiberg Germany Temple by Nicole Korb of Color-Dienst Korb; left bottom: photograph by Jan Friis, © Henrik Als; right: photograph by Matt Reier
Left top: photograph by John Luke; left bottom: photograph by © Jerry L. Garns; left bottom: photograph by John Luke; right: photograph by © Hyun-Gyu Lee
Photograph by Christina Smith
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World," Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2010, 129.
Susan B. Carter, et al., Historical Statistics of the United States, Millennial Edition, Vol. 1, 688–689.
16.9 divorces per 1,000 married women ages 15 and older in 2008. See W. Bradford Wilcox and Elizabeth Marquardt, eds., The State of Our Unions: Marriage in America, 2009, 75.
America's Family and Living Arrangements: 2009, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, March 2009. See Table UC1. This source estimates 6.6 million cohabitating couples.
Brady E. Hamilton, et al., "Births: Preliminary Data for 2008," National Vital Statistics Reports 58:16 (April 2010), 5.
James Lincoln Collier, The Rise of Selfishness in America, (1990), 246.
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World," 129.
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