The Family: A Proclamation to the World - Post #2

10 Steps to Happiness

Post #2

I would like to break the points from my last post down and discuss how they can help with family happiness.

1. A key for us is in this sentence: “Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

President Eyring said, “What could make it more likely that people in a family would love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and obey the law? It is not simply teaching them the gospel. It is in their hearing the word of God and then trying it in faith. If they do, their natures will be changed in a way that produces the happiness we seek.”

A great way that the church has provided families to hear the word of God is a semi-annual General Conference. Have you ever tried to wrangle seven children into the living room on a Saturday to watch conference? I have. It doesn’t work. I tried those cute printable handouts that kids can fill out with coloring pages and matching games, I tried yelling, I tried whining, I even tried duct taping them to the floor, okay, I didn’t really try that. One year I finally remembered that I have boys, so I decided to appeal to their adventure side and told them we were going to try General Conference King Benjamin style, with an added feast. We built a tent using blankets and our couches. Then I baked and baked and baked and we had snacks in our tent while listening to the speakers. Our kids get to eat as many snacks as they want as long as they are in the living room listening quietly. This will be our fifth year watching conference King Benjamin style! It is a fun tradition that the kids make sure we carry on every year.

Another way for families to hear the word of God is in daily scripture study. The church has produced scriptures for kids that have fun pictures. They break it down into small lessons for young families. Older kids love to take their turns reading from the scriptures. That’s actually how my younger brothers learned to read!

Kids, make sure you are helping your family remember to read scriptures every night, and don’t forget to read them on your own as well. This will help your testimony grow.