Christmas Day 1974

The best part of our Christmas is making gifts for one another. This started last year and is now a tratdition. The talent in our family is unbelievable. The gifts were as follows: 

1. Kathy received special wooden spindles from John.
2. Eric received tooled leather book markers from Ricky
3. Mother received a special wooden and ceramic plaque from Jane which depicts special events in our lives.
4. Chris received a special patch quilt like skirt from Kathy.
5. John received and embroidered shirt from Mother
6. I received a special lamp shade from Eric which is half done--he was finishing it up last night and half of it fell apart. 
7. Carol received a candle from me containing shells from Hawaii.
8. Jane received a quilt from Chris.

We also made designs--individual ones--from each family member which will be transferred to special plates. I pray with all my heart that the Spirit we have enjoyed will continue. If we follow the council of the Prophet I know tha tit will. Jane read to us a speech given by Pres. Ezra Taft Benson and as a family we accept everting he says as absolute truth and will try to live the principles to the fullest. 

I also read to the family the message by our great prophet Spencer W. Kimball in the Janurary issue of the Ensign regarding "Home--The Place to Save Society."

What was read by Jane: (There is a physical copy in the actual journal.)

Ezra Taft Benson was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional address was given at Brigham Young University on 10 December 1974.

My beloved brothers and sisters, humbly and gratefully I stand before you this morning, humbled by your presence, grateful for the gospel that makes this great University possible. I hope I’ll be given the strength today to say what I know the Lord wants me to say.

As we enter this Christmas season, a season of getting and giving, I would like to talk to you about a few of the many gifts we have received from our Lord, Jesus Christ, and what we in turn might give to him.

Christ Gave Us His Life as a Model

First, he gave us the perfect model—himself—after which we are to pattern our lives. He said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Not only did he lay down before us the perfect example for earthly living, but for our sake he willingly gave us his life. He went through an agony both in body and spirit, of which we cannot comprehend, to bring to us the glorious blessing of the Atonement and the Resurrection (see D&C 19:15–19).

Some men are willing to die for their faith but will not fully live for it. Christ both lived and died for us. By walking in his steps and through his atonement we can gain the greatest gift of all—eternal life—which is that kind of life of the great Eternal One, our Father in heaven.

Christ asked the question as to what manner of men ought we to be. He answered by saying we ought to be even as he is (see 3 Nephi 27:27). That man is greatest and most blessed and joyful whose life most closely fits the pattern of the Christ. This has nothing to do with earthly wealth, power, or prestige. The only true test of greatness, blessedness, joyfulness is how close a life can come to being like the Master, Jesus Christ. He is the right way, the full truth, and the abundant life.

The constant and most recurring question in our minds, touching every thought and deed of our lives, should be “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). The answer to that question can come through the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost. Fortunate are those who so live that their beings are filled with both of them.

We have a work to do, to follow him.

Who does God’s work will get God’s pay,
However long may seem the day,
However weary be the way,
He does not pay as others pay,
In merely gold or raiments gay.
In only goods that will decay,
But His high wisdom knows a way,
And this is sure, let come what may,
Who does God’s work will get God’s pay.

I testify to you that his pay for his work is the best pay that you can get in this world or any other.

Christ Gave Us a Prophet

Secondly, in addition to Christ providing us the gift of his life as a model, he has provided us the gift of a prophet. Of all mortal men, we should keep our eyes most firmly fixed on the captain, the prophet, seer, and revelator, and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is the man who stands closest to the fountain of living waters. There are some heavenly instructions for us that we can only receive through the prophet. A good way to measure your standing with the Lord is to see how you feel about, and act upon, the inspired words of his earthly representative, the Prophet-President. The inspired words of the President are not to be trifled with. All men are entitled to inspiration, and various men are entitled to revelation for their particular assignments. But only one man stands as the Lord’s spokesman to the Church and the world, and he is the President of the Church. The words of all other men should be weighed against his inspired words.

Although his prophet is mortal, God will not let him lead his Church astray. God knows all things, the end from the beginning, and no man becomes President of the church of Jesus Christ by accident, nor remains there by chance, nor is called home by happenstance (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, ed. G. Homer Durham [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946], pp. 212–13).

The most important prophet, so far as we are concerned, is the one who is living in our day and age. This is the prophet who has today’s instructions from God to us. God’s revelation to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the ark. Every generation has the need of the ancient scripture, plus the current scripture from the living prophet. Therefore, the most crucial reading and pondering which you should do is the latest inspired words from the Lord’s mouthpiece. That is why it is essential that you have access to and carefully read his words in Church periodicals.

Yes, we thank thee, O God, for a prophet to guide us in these latter days.

Christ Gave Us His Church

Thirdly, in addition to the gifts of the life of Christ and his prophet is the gift of his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth” (D&C 1:30). There is no salvation nor exaltation for us outside of the Church. Through it we receive baptism, priesthood, celestial marriage, and other sealing powers. It is the organized means which God is using to establish and expand his work. We must work with it and in it, build it up and move it forward. We should be willing to give generously of our time, talents, and means for the Church. No matter what happens to the world, the Church will grow in strength and will be intact when the Lord comes again.

God has assured us that the Church will never again be taken from the earth because of apostasy. He has said that he is pleased with the Church, speaking collectively and not individually (D&C 1:30). This means that certain individuals within the Church may go astray and even fall away. This may happen even to a person in the Church who is in a position of some influence and authority. It has happened in the past. It will happen in the future. If our faith is in Jesus Christ and not in the arm of flesh, then we will know that we are members of the church of Jesus Christ and not the church of men.

If you see some individual in the Church doing things which disturb you, or you feel the Church is not doing things the way you think they could or should be done, the following principles might be helpful.

God has to work through mortals of varying degrees of spiritual progress. Sometimes he temporarily grants to men their unwise requests in order that they might learn from their own sad experiences. Some refer to this as the “Samuel principle.” The children of Israel wanted a king, like all the nations. The prophet Samuel was displeased and prayed to the Lord about it. The Lord responded by saying to Samuel, “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” The Lord told Samuel to warn the people of the consequences if they had a king. Samuel gave them the warning, but they still insisted on their king. So God gave them a king and let them suffer. They learned the hard way. God wanted it to be otherwise, but within certain bounds he grants unto men according to their desires. Bad experiences are an expensive school that only fools keep going to (see 1 Samuel 8).

Sometimes in our attempts to mimic the world, contrary to the prophet’s counsel, we run after the world’s false educational, political, musical, and dress ideas. New worldly standards take over, a gradual breakdown occurs, and finally, after much suffering, a humble people are ready to be taught once again a higher law.

Now, during all this gradual lowering of standards, the righteous should be living up to the highest personal standards they can—not forcing those standards on others but preparing for and awaiting a better day which surely must come. This leads me to another principle: that a leader cannot lead without followers. If better standards are to be observed, there must be a better people to do it.

The Book of Mormon talks about “clearing” away the branches

which bring forth bitter fruit, according to the strength of the good and the size thereof; and ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once, lest the roots thereof should be too strong for the graft, and the graft thereof shall perish. . . .

. . . wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that the root and the top may be equal in strength until the good shall overcome the bad. [Jacob 5:65, 66]

Only a Zion people can bring in a Zion society. And as the Zion people increase, so we will be able to incorporate more of the principles of Zion until we have a people prepared to receive the Lord.

This means that on this campus, in due time, there will be an increasing number of textbooks written by inspired men of the Church. There will be less and less a tendency to subscribe to the false teachings of men. There will be more and more a tendency first to lay the groundwork of the gospel truth in every subject and then, if necessary, to show where the world may fall short of that standard. In due time there will be increased teaching by the Spirit of God, but that can take place only if there is a decreased promotion of the precepts of men.

We seek that which is praiseworthy, lovely, virtuous, and of good report; and we salute Beethoven, Shakespeare, Rembrandt, and Michelangelo. In due time, we will also have more of our own giants—particularly great father-patriarchs and noble companions and mothers of men. There is certain music heard and art seen and clothes worn on this campus that must pass away—not because the styles change but because our standards will be improved.

When individual actions of some Church members disturb you, here’s another principle to consider. This is the principle of stewardship. As the kingdom grows larger, more and more responsibilities have to be delegated and stewardships handed out. Men respond in different degrees of valiancy to their stewardships. God is very patient and long-suffering as he waits for some of us to rise to our responsibilities. He usually gives a man a long enough rope and a long enough time either to pull himself up to the presence of God or to drop off somewhere below. But while God is patient, no puny arm of man in his stewardship can long impede or pervert the work of the Lord. The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind ever so finely.

Because God has given men their agency, there will always be those who will misuse it. The gospel net draws in the good and the bad, the best and the worst—the worst because the devil, before the final cleansing, puts some of his followers within the kingdom in order to try and destroy it. We have some of them within the kingdom today, and in due course their number shall be known. Time has a way of taking care of all things, of elevating the good and bringing down the bad. If we see things going on within the kingdom that disturb us, we might first resolve if the matter falls within our stewardship. We then might go to the person or people involved. If it is of such a nature that we think it should be called to the attention of higher authority, then we can, in a kindly and quiet manner, take the necessary steps at the proper level.

To publish differences we may think we have with the leaders of the Church, to create strife and division, is a sure road to apostasy. Our task is to stick with the kingdom, not to let anything or anybody disaffect or sour us toward that great gift which Christ has given us—his church.

The Church is true. Keep its laws; attend its meetings; sustain its leaders; accept its callings; get its recommend; enjoy its blessings.

Christ Gave Us the Scriptures

Fourthly, in addition to the gifts of the life of Christ, his prophet, and his church is the gift of scripture, particularly the Book of Mormon.

In his dedicatory prayer for the Washington Temple, President Kimball referred to the Book of Mormon, as did the Prophet Joseph, as the most correct book. The Prophet Joseph Smith also called it the keystone of our religion. He said that “a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (History of the Church, 4:461). That book was written for our day. Mormon, who compiled it, saw us in vision and was directed to put into the book those things God felt we would especially need in our time. There was inspiration in making the Book of Mormon a required religion class on this campus. The faculty and student body should know the Book of Mormon better than any other book. Not only should we know what history and faith-promoting stories it contains, but we should also understand its teachings. If we really did our homework and approached the Book of Mormon doctrinally, we could expose the errors and find the truths to combat many of the current false theories and philosophies of men, including socialism, humanism, organic evolution, and others.

I have noted within the Church the difference in discernment, in insight, in conviction, and in spirit between those who know and love the Book of Mormon and those who do not. That book is a great sifter.

Christ Gave Us the Constitution

Fifth, in addition to the gifts of the life of Christ, his prophet, his church, and the Book of Mormon is the gift of his Constitution. The Lord said, “I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up” (D&C 101:80). Among the opening words of his dedicatory prayer at the Washington Temple, President Kimball referred to our inspired Constitution.

The elders of this Church have a prophetic mission yet to perform so far as the Constitution is concerned. In a discourse on July 19, 1840, Joseph Smith said, “Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction” (M8d 155, Bx4, Joseph Smith, Church Historian’s Library).

Now, how are the elders going to prepare for that mission? How are they going to know what the Constitution is, so they will know when it is on the brink of ruin? In many of the law schools of today you will hear that the Constitution is whatever the Supreme Court says it is. Could it be that the Supreme Court, which President McKay said is leading this nation down the road to atheism, is the agency to tell us what this divine document is (David O. McKay, Church News, 22 June 1963; Jerreld Newquist, comp., Prophets, Principles, and National Survival, pp. 187–88)? Can we learn best how to preserve it by studying what it is at the hands of some of those who are seeking to destroy it?

But President McKay had a better approach when he encouraged us to support good and conscientious candidates who are truly dedicated to the Constitution in the tradition of our founding fathers. They are the ones the Lord referred to as wise men. It is to them, the Lord, and his prophets that we should go to determine what the Constitution is. There must have been a tradition of our founding fathers, or President McKay would not have referred to it. (One of the best books on this subject was written by Clarence Carson, entitled The American Tradition, distributed by The Foundation for Economic Education at Irvington-on-Hudson, New York. President J. Reuben Clark served on their board of trustees for some time. I now have the honor of so serving.) To the Lord, his prophets, and the founding fathers we must go to learn of this divine document so that our efforts will be to preserve and not to destroy the Constitution.

The Prophet Joseph Smith said in a great discourse in Nauvoo on February 7, 1844, “Were I the president of the United States . . . I would honor the old paths of the venerated fathers of freedom; I would walk in the tracks of the illustrious patriots who carried the ark of the Government upon their shoulders with an eye single to the glory of the people” (History of the Church, 6:208).

Said President George Albert Smith, “I am saying to you that to me the Constitution of the United States of America is just as much from my Heavenly Father as the Ten Commandments. When that is my feeling I am not going to go very far away from the Constitution and I am going to try to keep it where the Lord started it, and not let anti-Christ come into this country” (Conference Report, April 1948, p. 182).

And speaking of anti-Christ, I would like to tell you, if you want to get some idea of how we are flaunting the Constitution, see how the Constitution defines treason. Then observe what we are doing to build up the enemy in this totally anti-Christ conspiracy. If we continue on this tragic course of aid and trade to the enemy, then the Lord has warned us of the consequences which will follow in chapter eight of Ether in the Book of Mormon.

Thank God for the Constitution, which made it possible for the Lord to establish his church and base of operations here in the United States for these last days. And may God bless the elders of Israel so that when, as President John Taylor said, “the people shall have torn to shreds the Constitution of the United States the Elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of earth and proclaiming liberty” (Journal of Discourses, 21:8).

Now, Christ’s life, his prophet, his church, the Book of Mormon, the Constitution of the United Sates are but a few of the gifts of Christ to bless us, not only at this season, but also throughout our lives.

Our Gifts to Christ

And now, my friends—what can we possibly give to the Lord this Christmastime? In consideration of all that he has done and is doing for us, there is something that we might give him in return.

Christ’s great gift to us was his life and sacrifice—should that not then be our small gift to him—our lives and sacrifices, not only now, but in the future? A few years ago, my colleague, Elder Boyd Packer, said this:

I’m not ashamed to say that . . . I want to be good. And I’ve found in my life that it has been critically important that this was established between me and the Lord so that I knew that He knew which way I committed my agency. I went before Him and said, “I’m not neutral, and you can do with me what you want. If you need my vote, it’s there. I don’t care what you do with me, and you don’t have to take anything from me, because I give it to you—everything, all I own, all I am.” And that makes the difference. [Seminary and Institute conference, summer 1970]

Yes, men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life to God will find he has eternal life.

And now as to our sacrifice to him. Yes, sacrifice is the crowning test of the gospel. Men are tried and tested in this mortal probation to see if they will put first into their lives the things of the kingdom of God (see Matthew 6:33). To gain eternal life, they must be willing, if called upon, to sacrifice all things for the gospel. “If thou wilt be perfect,” Jesus said to the rich young man, “go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

Hearing this injunction, Peter said, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?”

To this query, our Lord replied, “Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matthew 19:16–29; see also D&C 132:55).

Joseph Smith said this about sacrifice:

For a man to lay down his all, his character and reputation, his honor and applause, his good name among men, his houses, his lands, his brothers and sisters, his wife and children, and even his life—counting all things but filth and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ—requires more than mere belief or supposition that he is doing the will of God; but actual knowledge, realizing that, when these sufferings are ended he will enter into eternal rest; and be a partaker of the glory of God. . . . A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for, from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things. It was through this sacrifice, and this only that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life. [Lectures on Faith, pp. 58–60]

Elder Bruce McConkie said, “Sacrifice pertains to mortality; in the eternal sense there is none. Sacrifice involves giving up the things of this world because of the promises of blessings to be gained in a better world. In the eternal perspective there is no sacrifice in giving up all things—even including the laying down of one’s life—if eternal life is gained through such a course” (Mormon Doctrine[Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966], p. 664; see also D&C 98:13–15).

But just as when one loses his life to God he really finds the abundant life; so also, when one sacrifices all to God, then God in return shares all that he has with him. Try as you may, you cannot put the Lord in your debt—for every time you try to do his will he simply pours out more blessings upon you. Sometimes the blessings may seem to you to be a little slow in coming; perhaps this tests your faith, but come they will and abundantly. And it has been said, “Cast your bread upon the waters and after a while it comes back toasted and buttered.”

Said President Brigham Young:

I have heard a great many tell about what they have suffered for Christ’s sake. I am happy to say I never had occasion to. I have enjoyed a great deal, but so far as suffering goes I have compared it a great many times, in my feelings and before congregations, to a man wearing an old, worn-out, tattered and dirty coat, and somebody comes along and gives him one that is new, whole and beautiful. This is the comparison I draw when I think of what I’ve suffered for the Gospel’s sake—I have thrown away an old coat and have put on a new one. [Discourses of Brigham Young, comp. John A. Widtsoe (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1973), p. 348]

The saints never suffer as the sinners do, President Young explained:

As to trials, why bless your hearts, the man or woman who enjoys the spirit of our religion has no trials; but the man or woman who tries to live according to the Gospel of the Son of God, and at the same time clings to the spirit of the world, has trials and sorrows acute and keen, and that, too, continually.

Cast off the yoke of the enemy, and put on the yoke of Christ, and you will say that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. This I know by experience. [Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 348]

Do you know one reason why righteous mothers love their children so much? It’s because they sacrifice so much for them. We love what we sacrifice for, and we sacrifice for what we love.

But when you give little you receive little. Said the poet:

I bargained with life for a penny
And life would pay no more;
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.

For life is a just employer,
It pays you what you ask;
But once you have set the wages, 
Why you must bear the task.

I work for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed;
That any wage I had asked of life, 
Life would have willingly paid.
[Jessie Belle Rittenhouse, “My Wage”]

Why don’t we go all the way with the Lord—not part way? Why don’t we sacrifice all of our sins—not some of them?

She was a young girl. She had sacrificed her worldly plans to spend long, tedious hours in work in order to provide for and raise her younger orphan brother. But now she lay on her bed, dying of a sickness. She called for her bishop, and as she talked to him in her last moments, he held her rough, hard, work-calloused hand in his. Then she asked the question “How will God know that I am his?”

Gently he raised her wrist and answered, “Show him your hands.”

Someday we may see that pair of hands that sacrificed so much for us. Are our hands clean, and do they show the signs of being in his service? Are our hearts pure and filled with his thoughts?

Each week we make a solemn covenant to be like him and take him for our leader, to always remember him in everything and keep all of his commandments. In return he promises to give us his Spirit.

A few years ago, we knew our Elder Brother and his and our Father in heaven well. We rejoiced at the upcoming opportunity for earthly life that could make it possible for us to have a fullness of joy as they had. We could hardly wait to demonstrate to our Father and our Brother, the Lord, how much we loved them and how we would be obedient to them in spite of the earthly opposition of the evil one. And now we’re here—our memories are veiled—and we’re showing God and ourselves what we can do. Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar his face is to us. And then, President Young said, we’re going to wonder why we were so stupid in the flesh.

God loves us, he’s watching us, he wants us to succeed, and we’ll know someday that he has not left one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us. If we only knew that there are heavenly hosts pulling for us—friends in heaven, whom we can’t remember now, who yearn for our victory. This is our day to show what we can do—what life and sacrifice we can daily, hourly, instantly bring to God. If we give our all, we will get his all from the greatest of all.

I close with this last true story, as it was given by Bob Richards in his book Life’s Higher Goals. It always touches my heart and it may touch yours. Lou Little tells this story about his greatest football team. They were on their way to the conference championship—one last game. He had a boy on his squad who had not quite been able to make the team for four straight years. Just before the game—three days before—Lou was given a telegram to give to this boy that informed him his only living relative had just died. The boy looked at the telegram and said, “Coach, I’ll be back for Saturday’s game.” The morning of the game he came up to his coach and said, “Lou, I want you to put me in this game. I know I haven’t made the first team yet, but let me in for this kickoff. I’ll prove to you that I’m worthy of it.” Well, Lou could see that the boy was emotionally upset, and he made all kinds of excuses, but finally he thought, “Well, he can’t do much harm on the kickoff, so I’ll put the boy in.”

The roar of the crowd followed the kickoff. The opposing quarterback took the ball on the goal line, moved up, and on the seven-yard line there was a tremendous tackle. The boy had dropped him in his tracks. On the next play Lou left him in. He made the next tackle; he was in on the next tackle; you couldn’t move him out of there. He made practically every tackle that day—terrific downfield blocking. He was the reason why Columbia won the championship. Afterwards, all the guys were pounding him on the back. When they were all done, Lou Little went up to the boy and said, “Son, I don’t understand it. Today you were an all-American. I’ve never seen you play like this in four straight years. What happened?”

And the boy looked up at his coach and said, “Coach, you knew my dad died, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I handed you the telegram.”

He said, “You knew he was blind, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I’ve seen you walk him around the campus many times.”

He said, “Coach, today is the first football game my dad ever saw me play.” It makes a difference, friends, when those unseen eyes are watching.

Give God your best, and his best will come back to you. May God be with you this season and always, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The talk Kirk read to the family: 

Home: The Place to Save Society

BY PRESIDENT SPENCER W. KIMBALL

From an address given at the Stockholm, Sweden. Area Conference, August 1974

Brothers and sisters and friends: These are turbulent times. The newspapers give front page coverage to ever-increasing acts of violence and magazines devote pages to the growing menace. Such stories are revolting in their worldliness and debauchery—reminding us that there shall be a day of reckoning, as the prophet said, “… If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind. …” (Mosiah 7:30.)

The prophet Nephi looked forward to these last days and made some remarkable predictions:

“For behold, at that day shall he [Satan] rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good,

“… And thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.” (2 Ne. 28:20–21.)

Then he warns, “… Wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! …” (2 Ne. 28:28.)

Can it be arrested? Can we turn the tide and bring back decency and order out of chaos?

The answer is yes—a positive, stentorian YES. But the solution is not easy. If it could be solved with money, people would tax themselves to curb it. If penal or correctional institutions would suffice, a great building program would be initiated. If additional social workers could prevail, universities would add courses in social work. If courts and judges, attorneys and policemen, prisons and penitentiaries could stop the onrush of delinquency, such institutions would be dotted over all the land. But such means only salve it over temporarily, effecting no permanent cure.

However, the Lord has given us a plan, within our capacity to follow, but ignored by the masses because it requires that sacrifice and dedication that men are reluctant to give.

The scriptures outline this effective program:

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” (Abr. 5:18.)

“… thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife; nor seek thy neighbor’s life.” (D&C 19:25.)

“… attend to all family duties.” (D&C 20:47.)

Bring up your children “… in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Eph. 6:4.)

In 1833 the Lord warned through his prophet, “And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers.” (D&C 93:39.)

And then he offered the solution, “But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth.” (D&C 93:40.)

The spirit of the times is worldliness. Hoodlumism is common. Supposedly good youth from recognized good families express their revolt in destructive acts. Many defy and resist the law-enforcing officers. Respect for authority, secular, religious, and political, seems to be at a low ebb. Immorality, drug addiction, and general moral and spiritual deterioration seem to be increasing, and the world is in turmoil. But in our time the Lord has offered his ageless program in new dress and it gives promise to return the world to sane living, to true family life, family interdependence. It is to return the father to his rightful place at the head of the family, to bring mother home from social life and employment, the children away from unlimited fun and frolic. The home teaching program with its crowning activity, the family home evening will neutralize the ill effects only if people will apply the remedy.

An early American prophet said, “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; … yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore, I make a record. …” (1 Ne. 1:1.)

This young historian, having been taught of his father, had a great desire to know the will of God, the purpose of life, and to persuade men to come to Christ.

He further declared, “… I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father. …” (1 Ne. 2:16.)

In the divine scheme, every soul has been given a father whose responsibility it is not only to sire and provide the necessities of life but also to train for mortality and life eternal.

Undoubtedly Sariah cooperated with Lehi, but it was the father who called his family together to teach them righteousness.

The teachings of the children by the fathers is basic from the beginning; the Lord ordained it so.

Though Enos had strayed for a time, the teachings of his father prevailed and he returned to worthiness.

Enos records:

“… I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me … in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it. …” (Enos 1:1.)

“And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.

“Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.” (Enos 1:2–3.)

It is apparent that Enos received his greatest inspiration and training from his own faithful father. And the teachings were frequent and powerful concerning eternal life.

He was deeply impressed, for he said these teachings from his own father sunk into his heart—so deep, so impressive, that now, when conviction of his errors pressed down upon him, he was ready to pay a heavy price forforgiveness.

The supplication of Enos is written with a pen of anguish on the paper of faith and with a willingness to totally prostrate himself that he might receive forgiveness. His words are mighty and definitive. He could have said merely, “I wanted information.” But he said, “… my soul hungered. …” He could have merely prayed unto the Lord as so many pray, but in his eagerness for forgiveness, he said, “… I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul. …” (Enos 1:4.)

How impressive his words! “Mighty prayer and supplication” is not the usual prayer. The Lord’s agonies in Gethsemane, so long, so earnest, were mighty prayers.

When he asked, “Lord, how is it done?” the answer came: “… Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. …” (Enos 1:7–8.) What faith! And what was the source of this great sureness except from home and parents?

Would that every child in the Church could bear the same testimony of his father as Enos did: “… I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints. …” (Enos 1:3.)

In the Lord’s program for families, the parents, and especially the father, will teach the children. And it is available to the people of the world regardless of the church to which they might belong. It provides a formal meeting and a planned program and consistent teaching of the gospel of Christ with participation in the reading of the scriptures and in the program by the children and parents. Each child has his own scriptures. The organizational teachings may complement the home teaching.

King Benjamin, from his elevated platform, appealed to the parents:

“And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin. …

“But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.” (Mosiah 4:14–15.)

Isaiah, too, pleads, commands, and promises: “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” (Isa. 54:13.)

In the command of Moses to the wanderers, certainly there were the elements of home teaching:

“And these words … shall be in thine heart:

“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” (Deut. 6:6–7.) Certainly here was family worship.

One of the most provocative and profound statements in holy writ is Paul’s instruction to husbands and wives concerning their duty to each other and to family. First he commands the women:

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands, as unto the Lord.

“For the husband is head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church: And he is the saviour of the body.

“Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” (Eph. 5:22–24.)

This is no idle jest, no facetious matter. Much is said in Paul’s words: “… as unto the Lord.”

A woman need have no fear of being imposed upon or of any dictatorial measures or of any improper demands when the husband is self-sacrificing and worthy. Certainly no intelligent woman would hesitate to give submission to her own truly righteous husband in everything. We are sometimes shocked to see the wife take over the leadership, naming the one to pray, the place to be, the things to do.

Husbands are commanded: “… love your wives, even as Christ also loveth the church, and gave himself for it.” (Eph. 5:25.)

Christ loved the church and its people so much that he voluntarily endured persecution for them, suffered humiliating indignities for them, stoically withstood pain and physical abuse for them, and finally gave his precious life for them.

When the husband is ready to treat his household in that manner, not only the wife but all the family will respond to his leadership.

Certainly if fathers are to be respected, they must merit respect—if they are to be loved, they must be consistent, lovable, understanding, and kind, and they must honor their priesthood.

President Stephen L Richards, formerly of the First Presidency, stated in a conference address, “They [the women of the Church] know that that priesthood has true virtue within it—the power to bless, the power to heal, the power to counsel, to make peace and harmony prevail.” (Stephen L Richards, Conference Report, April 1958, p. 95.)

What great incentives the mother has to honor and build up her worthy husband in the esteem of the offspring when she knows that this contributes to the well-adjusted lives of her children! And what a great incentive the father has for rising to his tallest stature to merit the love and respect of all members of his family!

And so we plead with the fathers to return to their little kingdoms and, with kindness, justice, and proper discipline, to inspire—and we appeal to mothers to help to create—that happy family relationship.

In the great home teaching program and family home evenings, the responsibilities lie first and properly on the head of the father. The wife will assist. What true father would shirk this great privilege? What father would shift the planning, organizing, and conducting of such family programs? What dutiful father would evade this teaching opportunity and responsibility?

Nephi credited his father with his training. The words Enos had heard his father often speak stirred him to a soul-hungering which brought him to his knees for an all-day, all-night communication with his Maker. Each of their fathers had fulfilled their responsibilities. But we also see where the scriptures condemn men and women when they fail to do their duty.

The Lord punished the temple worker, Eli, charging him with the serious sins of his sons.

And the Lord whispered through Samuel:

“… I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house. …

“Because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.” (1 Sam. 3:12–13.)

In modern times the Lord said:

“Now, I, the Lord, am not well pleased with the inhabitants of Zion, for there are idlers among them; and their children are also growing up in wickedness. …” (D&C 68:31.)

He counseled Frederick G. Williams:

“… you have continued under this condemnation. …

“You have not taught your children light and truth … and that wicked one hath power, as yet, over you, and this is the cause of your affliction.

“… if you will be delivered you shall set in order your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house.” (D&C 93:41–43.)

Turning to Sidney Rigdon, the Lord charges: “… in some things he hath not kept the commandments concerning his children; therefore, first set in order thy house.” (D&C 93:44.)

And then the Lord broadened his admonition to include all of us:

“What I say unto one I say unto all; pray always lest that wicked one have power in you, and remove you out of your place.” (D&C 93:49.)

How sad if the Lord should charge any of us parents with having failed to teach our children! Truly a tremendous responsibility falls upon a couple when they bring children into the world. They must provide not only food, clothing, and shelter, but also loving, kind discipline and teaching.

I wonder what this world could be like if every father and mother gathered their children around them at least once a week and explained the gospel and bore fervent testimonies to them.

Of course, there are a few disobedient souls regardless of training and teaching, but the great majority of children would respond to such parental guidance.

Had Israel’s fathers and mothers done their full duty to their children, would Palestinian forests have vanished, their hills been denuded? Would they have been slain by their enemies? Would their power have been broken, their heaven made as iron, their earth as brass? Would hunger have stalked the land? Would mothers have devoured their children? Would the people have again been taken in bondage?

Had every father in Babylon, assisted by the mother, taught and trained little ones in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, would that great city have been covered with sand and its corruption buried in the earth, its springs dried up, its temples toppled? Would drunken revelry have lulled them to an awareness of their danger? Would palms and willows have withered and would lands be dried and desolate? Would Babylon have become a hiss and a byword and would the wolf and the jackal, the owl and doleful creatures be its only inhabitants, and the shepherd and the Arabian avoid the haunted place?

Had every Roman father been teaching his sons righteousness instead of war, and every mother making a home for her children; had all parents assembled their children in their homes instead of the circuses and public baths; had they taught them chastity and honor and integrity and cleanness; would Rome still be a world power? Certainly it was not the barbarians from the north but the insidious moral termites within that destroyed the Roman world empire.

Had the parents of the world from Adam down carried on their home teaching, their home evenings, their home togetherness, and sweet family life as ordained by the Lord, would there have been a world deluge, a Tower of Babel, a Sodom and Gomorrah? Would the streets of Samaria ever have been plowed or the walls of Jerusalem leveled? Would there be Oriental and Occidental enemies today establishing military bases, accumulating ammunition, inventing missiles, preparing nuclear weapons? Would they be crouching like cats after mice, waiting for the rotting process to develop to the point of no return? Would increasing delinquency and rebellion cause them to wait while the progressing, softening illness would make that death inevitable?

In our own dispensation the Lord reiterated his basic command to those who brought children into the world:

“And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, … that teach them not … the sin be upon the heads of the parents.

“For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion. …” (D&C 68:25–26.)

“And they shall also teach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.” (D&C 68:28.)

Home life, home teaching, parental guidance is the remedy for all ailments, a cure for all diseases, a solution to all problems.

And in our lands, if the home teaching by local leaders, crowned by the home evenings with father and mother enthroned, were the rule in Zion, would not taverns be closed, gambling dens be boarded up, licentiousness near eliminated, hoodlumism terminated, jails reduced, and penitentiaries limited?

Would we not be safe to walk in dark places and eliminate locks from our doors and enforcement officers from our streets if men and women returned home?

Oh, my brothers and sisters, the sons and daughters of God, the members of Christ’s church, the people of all religious affiliations, the people of all nations, let us take this general panacea and heal our wounds and immunize our children against evil by the simple process of teaching and training them in the way of the Lord. Every father and mother in Zion, and every Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Mohammedan, and all other parents have the same responsibility: to teach their children to pray and walk uprightly before the Lord!

Today we have many mothers who leave their children to go to work in business, teaching, or other occupations. Some mothers are required to work away from home, but many do so through choice. Because they have hired a babysitter for their little ones, their consciences seem to have cleared. May I read a letter written by an employed babysitter to the mother who left her children voluntarily:

“Dear Mrs. __________,

“While you work outside your home, I have been caring for your two small children. They are sweet, but rather trying at times, displaying the same jealousies and hostilities found in most siblings.

“I am well paid, but this is just a job with me, and I cannot give your children the same affection I gave my own children when they were small. I am hired help—not their mother.

“Your children resent the fact that you leave them all day. They seem to sense that you are gone from them because you want to be, not because you have to be.

“It is obvious that your husband has provided you with all the material things your heart desires, but you prefer to ‘work’ because your ‘job’ offers more excitement than your role as a mother.

“One day you may become bored with the ‘business world’ and decide to return home and raise your children. And if you do, I hope it won’t be too late.”

(signed) “Substitute Mother”

The governor of a state with two million inhabitants recognized the activities of a minority who were members of the Church and practiced home evenings and taught their children, and sent to me in June a proclamation recognizing such a wholesome activity on the part of his tens of thousands and recommending to his hundreds of thousands the same consideration:

“Whereas, the family is the basic and indispensable institution of our society … and

“Whereas, we are observing in our nation a breaking up of family life at a rate unprecedented in history, with serious effects and repercussions in many segments of our society, particularly the welfare of children and the weakening of the single greatest strength of America; and

“Whereas, there is increasing concern among all thinking Americans over the dissolution of Family Life and the effects such destruction portends for our nation;

“Whereas, prominent religious leaders have said; ‘No Success Can Compensate For Failure In the Home’ and ‘The Most Important Work You Will Ever Do Is Within The Walls of Your Own Home;’

“Now, therefore, I, Jack Williams, Governor of Arizona, do hereby proclaim the week beginning Sunday, June 2, 1974, as

Family Week

and do call upon all serious and right-thinking Americans to reflect upon the meaning of Family Life to themselves, to their children, to their children’s children, and to our great nation. …”

Then, the mayor of one of our splendid California cities issued a proclamation calling upon all his people to observe the family evening.

Next we received from the Senate of the United States a proclamation from the 93rd Congress, commending the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for their spirit of pioneering, for their wholesome living, for their concern for their fellowmen, and for their many achievements.

These recognitions from government, state, and city leaders who were not members of the Church are most gratifying. They know what creates nations and governments. They know what destroys cities and states and governments. They know that the breaking up of the family is the beginning of the fall of the empire. They know well that the dishonesty, immorality, homes broken through divorce and infidelity, limited family size, and adult preoccupation with entertainment and sex presages a collapse of the government.

Will Durant, an eminent writer and student of civilization, has given us some things to think about. He speaks of the powerful army of Carthage, which contested for world dominion but how the wounds of indulgence weakened it to its permanent loss of power.

“We know little of their morals except from their enemies. Greek and Roman writers describe them as heavy eaters and drinkers, loving to gather in dinner clubs, and as loose in their sex relations as they were corrupt in their politics. The treacherous Romans employed fides Punica—Carthaginian faith—as a synonym for treachery. Polybius reported that ‘at Carthage nothing that results in profit is regarded as disgraceful.’ Plutarch denounced the Carthaginians as ‘harsh and gloomy, docile to their rulers, hard to their subjects, running to extremes of cowardice in fear and of savagery in anger, stubborn in decisions, austere, and unresponsive to amusement or the graces of life.’ …

“Hannibal’s troops felt entitled to indulge for a season the flesh that had borne so many hardships and wounds. They were never again the invincible soldiers who had through many campaigns been formed in their master’s Spartan image.” (Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, Caesar and Christ, pp. 41, 52.)

The story of the civilizations of the world is a continued story of the same weaknesses that leave a country helpless and disintegrated.

In our own time on both sides of the Atlantic and the Pacific and in the north and the south, we seem to be following the same trends. Our successes bring us to extravagances, to our seeking for high amusement. We control childbirth and reduce our families. We divorce and break up our homes. Many of our children become orphans in one way or another. We become irreligious and practice evil ways. We indulge in the bestial satisfactions. We crave social activities at the expense of our family life and, like the Carthaginians, we lose our sense of rightness, of goodness, of devotion.

It is easy to see the resemblance between our modern-day situation and that of ancient Rome. According to Will Durant, “Prostitution flourished. Homosexualism was stimulated by contact with Greece and Asia; many rich men paid a talent ($3,600) for a male favorite; Cato complained that a pretty boy cost more than a farm. But women did not yield the field to these Greek and Syrian invaders. They took eagerly to all those supports of beauty that wealth now put within their reach. Cosmetics became a necessity, and caustic soap imported from Gaul tinged graying hair into auburn locks.

“Women won the free administration of their dowries, divorced their husbands or occasionally poisoned them, and doubted the wisdom of bearing children in an age of urban congestion and imperialistic wars. Already by 160 Cato and Polybius had noted a decline of population and the inability of the state to raise such armies as had risen to meet Hannibal. The new generation, having inherited world mastery, had not time or inclination to defend it; that readiness for war which had characterized the Roman landowner disappeared now that ownership was being concentrated in a few families and a proletariat without stake in the country filled the slums of Rome. Men became brave by proxy; they crowded the amphitheater to see bloody games and hired gladiators to fight before them at their banquets.” (Durant, pp. 89–90.)

My brothers and sisters, I beg of you to study history—the history of the world. Look at Babylon in Assyria. Look at Jerusalem. Read about Sodom and Gomorrah. The story of Rome and its dissoluteness is in every library. Other cities likewise slipped from high plateaus to low marshes and defilement.

Rome gained the world and lost its soul. As Durant says, “Every new conquest made Rome richer, more rotten, more merciless. She had won every war but the class war. … Now through a hundred bitter years of revolution, Rome would pay the penalty of gaining the world.” (Durant, p. 108.)

His epilogue summarizes: “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of Rome’s decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars.” (Durant, p. 665.)

We have been concerned with the rapid rise of a public notion that families should be reduced. A congressman whom we know proposed a program of limiting the family to two children. Again, study the history of countries that have done this. It seems that imported laborers, slaves, uneducated criminals often take the place of the children who would have been under supervision and training.

Will Durant queries:

“What had caused this fall in population? Above all, family limitation. Practiced first by the educated classes, it had not seeped down to a proletariat named for its fertility; by A.D. 100 it had reached the agricultural classes. … Though branded as a crime, infanticide flourished as poverty grew. Sexual excesses may have reduced human fertility; the avoidance or deferment of marriage had a like effect, and the making of eunuchs increased as Oriental customs flowed in to the West. …

“The rapidly breeding Germans could not understand the classic culture, did not accept it, did not transmit it; the rapidly breeding Orientals were mostly of a mind to destroy that culture; the Romans, possessing it, sacrificed it to the comforts of sterility. Rome was conquered not by barbarian invasion from without, but by barbarian multiplication within.

“Moral decay contributed to the dissolution. … Men had now, in the middle and upper classes, the means to yield to temptation, and only expediency to restrain them. Urban congestion multiplied contacts and frustrated surveillance; immigration brought together a hundred cultures whose differences rubbed themselves out into indifference. Moral and esthetic standards were lowered by the magnetism of the mass; and sex ran riot in freedom while political liberty decayed.” (Durant, pp. 666–67.)

The real tragedy is the large number of innocent children who live with only one parent after a divorce or family breakup. In a city not far away from Salt Lake City, 38 percent of all the children under 18 are short of parents. Only one parent is their best record. When children drop to a one-parent basis, that is the announcement of the failing civilization, and it means social disorganization. One survey stated that 70 percent of male prisoners in the United States came from broken homes where they lived with only one parent.

My brothers and sisters, may I close with this vital message. The Lord knew what he was doing and was tragically sincere when he commanded:

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Until we subject our own desires and wants to a higher life, until we are willing to sacrifice, until we are willing to obey, there will be trouble and we shall pay dearly. We and our children stand in grave danger. May we return to the command of God to teach our children all righteousness.

We must remember: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Prov. 22:6.)

The command is simple and all inclusive: live the gospel of Christ in completeness. The promise is sure: peace and joy and accomplishment and happiness are the result.