Back in March, I was asked to give a talk in church. The topic was up to me. After bantering around several choices I kept coming back to one: FAMILY, more particularly the Family Proclamation. The following is part of what I said:

In 2007 40% of all babies born in the US were born to unwed mothers.

The number of people cohabitating in the US increased by 90% between 1990 and 2007.

50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce.

Throughout the world countries such as Sweden, Nepal, Norway, Belgium, South Africa, Spain and others have legalized same-sex marriage. In the US every action to redefine marriage has occurred after 1995.

Why is this so significant?

This year marks the 15th anniversary of when President Gordon B. Hinckley introduced a document with which we are all now very familiar: “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Before reading the proclamation in the General Relief Society meeting in October 1995 Pres. Hinckley said,

“I need not remind you that the world we are in is a world of turmoil, of shifting values. Shrill voices call out for one thing or another in betrayal of time-tested standards of behavior. The moral moorings of our society have been badly shaken. So many of the youth of the world, and likewise so many of their elders, listen only to the seductive voice of self-gratification. How bitter are the fruits of casting aside standards of virtue.

With so much of sophistry that is passed off as truth, with so much of deception concerning standards and values, with so much of allurement and enticement to take on the slow stain of the world, we have felt to warn and forewarn. In furtherance of this we of the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles now issue a proclamation to the Church and to the world as a declaration and reaffirmation of standards, doctrines, and practices relative to the family which the prophets, seers, and revelators of this church have repeatedly stated throughout its history.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “Stand Strong against the Wiles of the World,” Ensign, Nov 1995, 98)

We have the Proclamation. We know it is a warning. Through hindsight we can already see the attacks being made on the family in the last 15 years. Many LDS families have the Family Proclamation framed nicely, hanging on the wall in their homes. We have one hanging in our living room. This is all well and good but, when was the last time you read the Proclamation? Have you really studied the truths it espouses? Are you teaching those basic truths to your children?

Last fall Sister Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society President, gave a talk to Seminary and Institute teachers. Before becoming president she served in the General Young Women’s presidency. Sister Beck noted that in her travels throughout the world and meeting with young people she’d ask them: Why does the First Presidency care so much about the youth of the Church, and why do they invest so much in them? Their responses varied from “We need training so we can stay strong” to “We are the future leaders of the church” to “Education is the key to success.” Very rarely did she hear, “So I will someday be a better father, or a better mother, or a better family leader.”

This to me was very interesting. When you ask a young child what they want to be when they grow up usually the answer is a mom or a dad. Then as they get older their answers change. Could it be that Satan very subtly begins to attack the family by taking that desire to be a mother or father and replacing it with other desires? While there is nothing wrong with children or young adults having ambitions or dreams for a profession it IS wrong when those ambitions replace the desire to become a parent. Sister Beck went on to say, “This generation will be called upon to defend the doctrine of the family as never before in the history of the world. If they don’t know it, they can’t defend it.” (Julie B. Beck, “Teaching the Doctrine of the Family,” Seminaries and Institutes of Religion Satellite Broadcast • August 4, 2009)

It is vitally important that we teach our sons and especially our daughters about the theology of the family. Sister Julie B. Beck has stated, “A lot of the anti-family messages that you are hearing are targeting young women. Satan knows that he will never have a body; he will never have a family. He will target those young women who create the bodies for the future generations and who should teach the families.” When I was in Young Women the YW theme didn’t contain the words “strengthen home and family” in it. It was added several years ago so the end of the theme now says, “We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values, we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.”

It is interesting to note that the Proclamation is not just for the church. It is for the world. But it wasn’t read in General Conference to the general membership of the church. It was read first to the women of the church. Why is that? The proclamation itself says, “Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.” We cannot shirk our responsibilities of motherhood. Nearly three fourths of mothers are in the workforce. In a recent survey one-third of working mothers admitted to spending less than three hours per day with their children. That is astounding to me, those mothers have only three hours to combat all the world is teaching their children the other hours of the day! As mothers we are on the frontlines. What can we do to protect our children, our families from falling into Satan’s tangled web?

President Hinckley also prefaced reading the Proclamation by saying,

“To you wives and mothers who work to maintain stable homes where there is an environment of love and respect and appreciation I say, the Lord bless you. Regardless of your circumstances, walk with faith. Rear your children in light and truth. Teach them to pray while they are young. Read to them from the scriptures even though they may not understand all that you read. Teach them to pay their tithes and offerings on the first money they ever receive. Let this practice become a habit in their lives. Teach your sons to honor womanhood. Teach your daughters to walk in virtue. Accept responsibility in the Church, and trust in the Lord to make you equal to any call you may receive. Your example will set a pattern for your children. Reach out in love to those in distress and need. . . Encourage your children to read more and watch television less. . . Seek to establish an environment conducive to study in the home. It is the home which produces the nursery stock of new generations. I hope that you mothers will realize that when all is said and done, you have no more compelling responsibility, nor any laden with greater rewards, than the nurture you give your children in an environment of security, peace, companionship, love, and motivation to grow and do well.” (emphasis added)

We can never talk about the gospel too much! Elder Neal A. Maxwell stated “The ways of the world receive constant reinforcement—should not the ways of heaven?” (Not My Will, But Thine, p. 133–34) As a homeschooling mother I have the added benefit of being able to utilize this wonderful document, The Family Proclamation, in our every day scholarly studies.

President Spencer W. Kimball gave this prophetic statement, “Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.


“… There are those who would define the family in such a nontraditional way that they would define it out of existence. …” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1980, 3–4; or Ensign, Nov. 1980, 4).

We are here already, a mere thirty years after this statement was given. We have seen the adversary step up his attacks on the family in the fifteen years since the Proclamation was first read. What do the next fifteen to thirty years have in store? Let us do what we can now to teach our children the glorious truths found in the Proclamation. We need to teach them so they cannot misunderstand.

The family is ordained of God.”

After giving that talk we have made changes in our own family. We are memorizing the proclamation together.  We discuss a line of the proclamation as part of our devotionals each morning. We have had such good discussions! Most of the time we take several days to discuss just one line or portion of a sentence. As a result our family has drawn closer together. The Proclamation has become very real as we have applied it specifically to us.

Write a post telling how you have shared The Family: A Proclamation to the World. It doesn’t have to be a grand extravagant affair. In fact, in my experience, it is the simple acts of bearing testimony that have the greatest impact.

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The artplak is 15×18 in size. Your finished photo family tree in the template of your choice is printed on fine watercolor art paper and professionally mounted to a beveled wood plak with black edges. It comes with a slot on the back so it is ready to hang on your wall with just two small nails. ($128 value!) Larger sizes are also available in artplak or canvas. Geneartogy doesn’t do the genealogy research or finding of the photos for people- you would have to have that done already. They just help make it all look beautiful and presentable in the form of art. Do you know someone who would love to get this as a gift? {{me, me, me!}}

Leave comments to be eligible to win these party favors this week.

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