What is Family Home Evening

Leaders of The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-Day Saints have instructed members to set aside Monday night as "family home evening." This is a time for families to study the gospel together and to do other activities that strengthen the family spiritually, create family memories, and increase unity and love. To learn more visit this website.

Why Family Home Evening

"I wonder if having unplanned and infrequent family home evenings will be enough to fortify ourselves and our children with sufficient moral strength to meet the complexities of our day. Infrequent family scripture study may be inadequate to arm ourselves and our children with the virtue necessary to withstand the moral decay of the environment in which we live. Where in the world will we learn chastity, integrity, honesty, and basic human decency if not at home? These values will, of course, be reinforced at church, but teaching them in family home evening can be particularly consistent and effective. To combat the world's evil influences, we need the strength that comes from family home evening."

James E. Faust, “Enriching Our Lives through Family Home Evening,” Ensign, Jun 2003, 2–6

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Funeral

It may have been a couple of weeks since my last post... but, we have had Family Home Evening. First, we had a funeral to attend during one week. This was heartbreaking as it was an 11 year old girl who was a cousin, by marriage, as well as a good friend of my daughter. As was pointed out during the funeral, it is easier to accept, even if we do not like it, the death of those who are sick or elderly. It is much harder to accept, or even understand, the death of a child. As a latter-day saint, though, we have a much greater understanding of the purpose of this life which explains why bad things happen to good people. There is an understanding that the fullness of the gospel provides as a strength to carry us through these tragedies. I couldn't imagine the extra burden of grief that I would carry should I be without these understandings and the testimony of the truth of the gospel.

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