Family Home Evening

What is family?  How can family home evening bless me and my family?

                                                                               


       Family home evening is a night of the week set apart to be with your family.  Traditionally, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints set Monday night as the day to be with the family.  We do things such as:  Sing songs, say prayers, do fun activities, share a gospel message and eat some dessert.   The family is the best place to teach the Gospel.  Only at home in families can children learn the true nature of families as appointed by our father in heaven. 
                         

                                                                                       
                                                                                

      Families who set a night apart to be together, to talk and to teach, will grow closer together as a family and will receive blessings from the Lord.  Family contention will decrease as we spend this time together and get to know each other better.  We all can too easily get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life.  We fill our days with too many activities and spend too much time trying to provide for our families.  Sometimes in this hustle and bustle we are so busy that we don't have anytime to spend with the family we are supporting.  We need to slow down and focus on the things that matter most to us.

     I am so glad that we have been counseled to set apart this day to have family home evening.  I know that as we take this time to be together, happiness in our family life will increase and the Lord will bless our families with the things we need.

  

The peters

                                                          


      This is the Peters family, we have been teaching them for about 4 months now.  This is a picture of them and their family during there daughter Athena's birthday.  It was so great to see them all together.  The Peters are going to be getting baptized on March 6th.

    They have had an interesting journey thus far, she was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and he is a native american with a Christian backround.  When we first met them they were willing to learn but the thought of joining the church was not even in their mind.  As the weeks went by things started to happen that helped them build a testimony.  They still felt unsure and not ready, they could see themselves joining after months more of learning.  These past few weeks they have made great strides though, and feel 100% that the church is true, the seed grew within them to a point where they can taste of the fruit.

    I am so happy to see them at the point they are now, the spirit has filled there life.  They are going to be such great additions to the kingdom of God.  They are going to bless so many peoples lives.  I love the Peters family

Whatsoever ye shall seal on earth, shall be sealed in heaven

                                                                                                                              

      In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we put alot of emphasis on the family.  It is my goal in this post to give the reasons why this is. 

    We believe that family life here is an extension of what life was like in the Pre-earth life.  We believe before we lived in this life we lived as spirits, as a part of our Heavenly Fathers family.  In Hebrews it talks about this relationship, it says "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" (Heb 12:9).  and also in Romans 8:16 is says "...We are the children of God." 

    Our Heavenly Father created a plan for us where we could come to the earth, and gain experience.  He sent us here in family units so we could experience joy. Our purpose in this life is to find lasting joy, peace and happiness in families and to prepare to return to live with God.  When Jesus Christ was on the earth he gave unto his apostle Peter the keys to seal families together for time and all eternity. "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt 16:19)

    Through the Restoration of the Gospel on the earth, we have these powers on the earth again to seal families together for time and all eternity.  In our Holy Temples this great power is manifested and families are eternally sealed. 

     This knowledge that family life is perpetuated far beyond this life is why we put such a great emphasis on family life here.  We are all striving to help eachother live the gospel and prepare to live together with our Father in Heaven forever.  We have recieved lots of guidance in these latter-days about how we can accomplish this.  Just 15 years ago, prophets and apostles announced "The Family: A proclamation to the world" This gives us alot of great counsel about the roles of family members, the importance of marriage, and the blessings of righteous family life.

      A couple of weeks ago, The Quinones family pictured below, made another step towards this great goal of theres to be sealed as a family.  Katy and Marina were baptized, and in a year from now they are going to go to the temple and be sealed as a family.  I am so excited for them to accomplish this goal.
                                                   

     I know that families truly can be together forever, I know that this knowledge can strenghten families and bring them peace and joy in this life.