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7/29/2019 2012 03 04 Be a Defender of the Family Eng
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Did you know that you can help change the world
during your teenage years? You have the power
within you to stand up or eternal truths that are
being attacked in one o Satans biggest battles. How
can you do it? You can make a huge dierence by beinga deender o the amily and letting those around you
know that the amily is ordained o God. It is the most
important unit in time and in eternity (Administering the
Church [2010], 2).
Because o the importance o the amily to the eternal
plan o happiness, Satan makes a major eort to destroy
the sanctity o the amily, demean the importance o the
role o men and women, encourage moral uncleanliness
and violations o the sacred law o chastity, and to dis-
courage parents rom placing the bearing and rearing ochildren as one o their highest priorities (Elder Robert D.
Hales o the Quorum o the Twelve Apostles, The Eternal
Family,Ensign, Nov. 1996, 65).
You can help counter the destructive orces o Satan
by standing up or the amily through your actions and in
your conversations at home, in the community, and even
online. Here are several ways you can deend the amily
every day.
By Brittany Beattie
Church Magazines
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1. Put amily time frst.With so
many sporting events, parties, schoolunctions, and other activities in your
schedule, its easy to say, Ill spend
time with my amily laterwhen
things slow down. But youll soon
nd that lie will never slow down,
so its important to give high priority
to amily activities now. Dont under-
estimate the way you can deend the
amily unit just by participating in
youramily unit.For example, be on the ront row
at your brothers music recital. Read
the amily newsletter your mother
wrote. Be excited about the amily
home evening lesson your sister
planned. Listen to and use kind
words with your amily members. See
how close you grow as you support
one another in your interests.
The First Presidency has taught:We counsel parents and children to
give highest priority to amily prayer,
amily home evening, gospel study
and instruction, and wholesome
amily activities. However worthy and
appropriate other demands or activi-
ties may be, they must not be permit-
ted to displace the divinely-appointed
duties that only parents and ami-
lies can adequately perorm (FirstPresidency letter, Feb. 11, 1999).
2. Strengthen your amily members.
Look or ways to make lie easier or
your siblings and parents. Find some-
thing they need help with and do it,
such as giving a hug to a brother who
had a hard day at school or helping
your sister when its her turn to do
the dishes. When you support oneanother in your needs, your amily
will grow stronger as one. Remember
that amily happiness is a team eort.
Elder Robert D. Hales said we
need to understand that we are each
an important and integral part o a
amily and the highest blessings can
be received only within an eternal
amily. . . . Being one in a amily
carries a great responsibility o caring,loving, liting, and strengthening each
member o the amily so that all can
righteously endure to the end in mor-
tality and dwell together throughout
eternity. . . . The eternal nature o an
individual becomes the eternal nature
o the amily (The Eternal Family,
Ensign, Nov. 1996, 65).
KEY DOCTRINESABOUT THE FAMILY
Be prepared to deend thetruth about eternal amilies by
knowing and living the important
doctrines taught in The Family: A
Proclamation to the World (Ensign,
Nov. 1995, 102):
Marriage between a man and
woman is ordained o God and
essential to His plan.
The family is ordained of God
and central to His plan or His
children.
Families can be eternal through
temple ordinances and covenants.
God has commanded husbands
and wives to have children.
Powers of procreation are to be
reserved or marriage.
Children are entitled to birth
within the bonds o matrimony.
Family life is happiest when
founded upon Christs teachings.
Fathers are to preside, provide,
and protect.*
Mothers are primarily responsible
or the nurture o their children.*
Fathers and mothers are to help
one another as equal partners.
We will be accountable before
God or how we ulfll our amilyresponsibilities.
The disintegration of the family
will bring calamity to individuals,
communities, and nations.
* Disability, death, or other circum-stances may necessitate individualadaptation.
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3. Be an example o good amily
lie. Let your riends know about
successes your amily shares. You
could talk with them about something
un your amily did together over
the weekend. Tell them about your
brothers winning goal or your sisters
high score on the test you helped
her study or. Dont say anything bad
about your parents or siblings, but
ocus just on the good things your
amily doesin both ace-to-ace and
online conversations.
Do your part to make your home
a holy place where others can eel the
Spirit (see D&C 88:119) and where
they can see what Gods plan oramilies is all about. Consider inviting
riends over when your amily spends
time together so they can see the joy
o amily riendships.
4. Stand up or the amily in your
conversations. When conversations
come up in school, work, and other
activitiesor even in text messages,
e-mails, social networking sites, oronline articleswhere truths about
the amily are attacked, have the
courage to deend the doctrines
about Heavenly Fathers plan or
amilies (see the sidebar on page 7
or key teachings rom The Family:
A Proclamation to the World). The
world continues to attack these eter-
nal doctrines, and its up to you to be
a voice o truth. The Spirit will help
you know what to say.
5. Beware o how the media defnes
amilies. Much in the media today
does not support Gods denition
o marriage and amilies. It might
endorse or gloriy alternatives to
wholesome amily lie that are con-
trary to Gods plan. The counsel in
For the Strength of Youth can applyto teachings about the amily: Satan
uses media to deceive you by mak-
ing what is wrong and evil look
normal, humorous, or exciting. He
tries to mislead you into thinking that
breaking Gods commandments is
acceptable and has no negative con-
sequences or you or others. . . . Have
the courage to walk out o a movie,
change your music, or turn o a com-puter, television, or mobile device i
what you see or hear drives away the
Spirit ([2011], 11).
HELP
FROM THE
POWERS
OF HEAVEN
As we read
what the
proclamation
tells us about
the amily, we
can expectin
act, we must expectimpressions
to come to our minds as to what
we are to do. And we can be
confdent it is possible or us to do
according to those impressions. . . .
. . . We can start now topromote those measures designed
to maintain and strengthen the
amily [The Family: A Proclamation
to the World, Ensign, Nov. 1995,
102]. I pray that we will. I pray
that you will ask, Father, how can I
prepare? Tell [Him] how much you
want what He desires to give you.
You will receive impressions, and i
you act on them, I promise you the
help o the powers o heaven.President Henry B. Eyring, First
Counselor in the First Presidency, The
Family, Ensign, Feb. 1998, 10, 18.
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When you choose media that
support the principles o an eternal
amily, it will be easier to strengthen
the amily and also prepare or a
uture temple marriage.
6. Do temple work. Many o your
ancestors have not received the
essential ordinances that seal them
together as amilies. Remember that
deending the amily isnt just about
the amilies on the earth today, but
its also about allamilies. With
new.familysearch.org, its easy to pre-
pare names or temple work to help
deceased amily members receive the
sealing ordinances. (You can watchvideo tutorials about FamilySearch at
lds.org/fhy or talk with the amily his-
tory specialist in your ward or stake.)
7. Develop habits today that you
want in your uture amily. Even i
you dont come rom a strong am-
ily, you can makeyouruture amily
strong as you prepare or and wor-
thily marry in the temple and seek toraise a righteous amily o your own.
Think about the types o things you
want to do in your uture amily, and
start those habits today. For example,
even i your amily doesnt have daily
scripture study, you can study the
scriptures on your own each day. By
orming that habit now, it will be easy
to hold amily scripture study when
you get married.You can also deend the amily
by deciding now that when you are
older you will marry in the temple
and then strive to have children and
raise them in righteousness. We have
been counseled: All members, even
i they . . . are without amily in the
Church, should strive or the ideal o
living in an eternal amily. This means
preparing to become worthy spouses
and loving athers or mothers
(Administering the Church, 4).Sister Julie B. Beck, Relie Society
general president, has said to the
young members o the Church, This
generation will be called upon to
deend the doctrine o the amily as
never beore (Teaching the Doctrine
o the Family,Ensign, March 2011,
17). When you do this and live as
a deender o the amily, you can
change your uture and your amilysuture and also be a part o a gener-
ation that can change the uture o
the world as you protect the amily
together. Even i you dont see imme-
diate results, your actions will be
an infuence or good in supporting
Heavenly Fathers plan or eternal
amilies. NE
ITS YOURTURN
How will you prepare to
be a family defender? Consider
writing some goals in your journal and
then jotting down your experiences as
you work on those goals.
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