Testimonies of the Family

In the last general conference Elder Bednar spoke about some of the final teachings of the apostles who have recently passed away.  In particular he quoted from President Packer’s and Elder Perry’s final talks in the April 2015 general conference.  What struck me was that both of these final witnesses focused on the family. Elder Perry said, “Let me close by bearing witness (and my nine decades on this earth fully qualify me to say this) that the older I get, the more I realize that family is the center of life and is the key to eternal happiness.”  Similarly, Elder Bednar quoted President Packer who said that the purpose “of all activity in the Church is to see that a man and a woman with their children are happy at home, sealed together for time and for all eternity” (see here).  That was a quote that President Packer repeated many times in general conference and it is fitting that it would be a part of his final witness.  For these two beloved apostles the message they wanted to leave was that the family is indeed central to the Creator’s plan. 

                Elder Bednar also quoted Elder Hales in his talk, and I think it likewise was a testimony of the importance of the family.  He told Elder Bednar, “When you cannot do what you have always done, then you only do what matters most.”  What matters most, as Elder Perry and President Packer taught, certainly includes the family.  Christ taught that we should “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt” (Matt. 6:20).  Part of that “treasure” certainly must include our family, for that will endure far beyond our earthly possessions.  As the psalmist said, “Children are an heritage of the Lord….  Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them” (Psalms 127:30).  Those are “arrows” that will never rush or corrupt.      

                I think one of the indirect lessons of the four gospels is that we should have the strongest love for those of our family.  We see this in the many people that Jesus healed who were brought to Him by their family.  Jairus “fell down at Jesus’ feet, and besought him that he would come into his house: For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying” (Luke 8:41-42).  Jairus had such great love for his daughter that he was ready to do anything for her to be healed.  We see a similar love for a child in the man who brought his son to Jesus and who was “lunatic, and sore vexed; for he ofttimes he falleth into the fire, of oft into the water” (Matt. 17:15).  This man was willing to do just about anything for his little boy, and he pled with Jesus for help for his son.  Another account showing the love of a parent for a child comes in the story of the widow of Nain.  This woman’s son had died and she was mourning his loss when Jesus came saying, “Weep not” and he raised the son from the dead (Luke 7:13). In the story of Lazarus we likewise have an account of the great love two sisters had for their brother, and Christ subsequently raised him from the dead.  All of these stories show that it ultimately it is family that is most important and that they are those for whom our love and devotion should be the greatest.