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| Poster for the Everett Stake Focus 2014 |
My new calling in church is going full force now. I recently leapt over my first hurdle, testing my new wobbly legs in a Stake leadership position. The Stake Presidency recommended that I develop a focus for the Stake Primary for next year.
I agonized over what this Stake focus should be. I felt very strongly that it should be coming from the Lord, and not from me, so I sought for inspiration and guidance through much prayer and pleading. It was hard work. I learned a lot from the process. I learned that directives which come to us from our leaders are not merely a whim, or an idea that they just decide on one day. They come from hours of study, prayer, meditation, fasting, and temple service.
Heavenly Father answered my prayers. It became very clear what the Stake Primary's focus should be, and it did not come from me.
The general Primary
theme for 2014, as issued by the General Primary Presidency of the church, is Families are Forever. Throughout
the year the children will be learning about what families are, why we are part of families,
and how we can make them become eternal families.
They will
also learn about “The Family: a Proclamation to the World.”
How can we best teach our children
about eternal families? As I attended the
Relief Society General Broadcast, I was struck with how many talks were focused on covenants. They seemed to be
talking specifically to me, and I felt impressed that it was something that the
Lord wanted us to focus on this next year. Then as I was watching General
Conference there were a few talks which reaffirmed what I had been feeling
before, answering my prayer in an even more expanded way.
But what do covenants have to do with the theme Families are Forever?
Simply put, eternal
families are families that make and keep covenants.
We
cannot be an eternal family unless we have made and honored our covenants on
earth.
What
is a covenant?
"Elder Jeffery R. Holland explained that 'a covenant is a binding spiritual contract, a solemn promise to God our Father that we will live and think and act in a certain way--the way of His Son, the Lord, Jesus Christ. In return, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost promise us the full splendor of eternal life.' In that binding contract, the Lord sets the terms and we agree to keep them. Making and keeping our covenants is an expression of our commitment to become like the Savior. The ideal is to strive for the attitude best expressed in a few phrases of a favorite hymn: 'I'll go where you want me to go...I'll say what you want me to say...I'll be what you want me to be.'"
A
friend told me recently that keeping the commandments and honoring our covenants
is like following a pattern. It is the
pattern of God. If we want to be like
Him and live in His presence, we will follow the pattern which He has set. This pattern is eternal, never changing. It is up to us to mold ourselves to fit it.
We
know that we need to honor our covenants in order to attain eternal life. But why
do we need covenants? It’s more than
just fulfilling an obligation.
In her talk “DoWe Know What We Have?” Carole M. Stephens (1st Counselor Relief Society General
Presidency) said: "These priesthood ordinances and covenants provide access to the fullness of the blessings promised to us by God, which are made possible by the Savior's Atonement. They arm sons and daughters of God with power, God's power, and provide us with the opportunity to receive eternal life--to return to God's presence and live with Him in His eternal family."
Sister Stephens then went on to explain how she visited four women in Honduras during a recent trip, who each had different struggles in their home. She continued:
"When I met these faithful women in Honduras, I could see that they were striving to keep their families active in the gospel. They expressed gratitude for covenant-keeping ward members who tenderly watch over them and help support their temporal and spiritual needs. However, each of these sisters had needs that had not been fully met. When we left each home, we counseled together about how to help these families receive the ordinances they needed to progress on the covenant path and strengthen their homes....There exists today a great need for men and women to cultivate respect for each other as sons and daughters of God and reverence for our Father in Heaven and His priesthood--His power and authority. He has a plan for us, and when we exercise our faith and trust in His plan, our reverence for Him and for His priesthood power and authority will strengthen."
Are
there families close to you who could use the added strength of making and
keeping covenants?
How can a child make a
difference in their family’s strength? I believe very strongly that a child can make all the difference.
Imagine
what can happen to a family if a child approaches their parents, saying, “Let’s have Family Home Evening,
let's pray together, let's study the scriptures.”
Imagine
what can happen to a family if a child applies principles of repentance and
forgiveness, compassion and love? There will be increased peace in the home, the Spirit will be present, and it will become easier for everyone to keep the covenants which they have already made.
Rosemary Wixom (Primary General President) said this: “It
is a gift to be able to teach the children. They are pure, and their minds are
open. As Primary leaders, it is as if we are writing on blank pages. We are
also protecting the faith that is innate in every child. In a Primary board
meeting, Michael Wilcox put it this way: ‘Our job is to keep the world from
taking out of a child what is already there.’”
As a Stake Primary, we
want to help the families in our Stake become a stronger, covenant-keeping
people, so the Stake focus for 2014 is: Preparing families to make and keep covenants.
Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of:
faith
prayer
repentance
forgiveness
respect
love
compassion
work
wholesome recreational activities
In order to help the families in
our Stake prepare to make and keep covenants, we would like to focus on the
nine principles listed in the proclamation.
As a Stake Primary Presidency, we are inviting the wards to teach the children in their Primary basic ways that they
can help strengthen their families by applying the principles listed in the
Proclamation.
We recommend that they discuss these principles with their primary children and brainstorm ideas of how they can implement each of them into
their own family life. Everything which is learned in Primary should also be supported and implemented in the home. I am encouraging all families to learn how to apply the principles listed in the Proclamation, as a way to strengthen their family unit. As we strengthen our own families, we will be better prepared to reach out to those around us who are struggling and help lift them up.
I have a testimony of the importance of the family. My own family is more precious and dear to me than anything else on this earth. It breaks my heart when I see those that I love struggling with personal issues, leading them on paths away from the safety and strength that covenants can provide. I know that through our Father in Heaven's infinite love for us, He gave us the ultimate sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son, enabling us all to have access to the sublime blessing of exaltation, and living once again in His presence. It is through this miraculous blessing that we are able to create an eternal family, one that is sealed together for time and all eternity, bound forever in our eternal relationships, even after the temporary separation of death.
