A Forever Family

Being so far away from family makes you think about a few things.


                              How grateful you are that your mother taught you how to do laundry
 How much you really did appreciate the younger brothers waking you up in the morning
                                               How badly you wish you could share your sister's clothes
                                                         How much you enjoyed eating lunch with your dad


But above all, it makes me think about what matters most in my life. That no matter where I go, no matter what I do, no matter who I choose to be, my family will be there in every milestone. That's what they do as family. They support. They love. They teach. I look back on the learning experiences I had as a child, as a teenager, and how much easier it would have been if I had just listened. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who gave me my family to be there no matter what. He knew I would make mistakes. He knew I would need direction. He placed me in the best possible position to grow and learn and prepare to live with Him again. That is the position of my family. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that I can be with them for time and all eternity.

No matter what may happen here on earth, because of the covenants my family has made by the power of the priesthood and sacred acts in the Temple, they will never leave me. I know that this power is real and has been brought to the earth by a loving Father in Heaven through a prophet of God. Without that power I would be lost- without any rhyme or reason. It is in my home and with my family that I have learned what it means to be a disciple of Christ. It is there that I have learned that I am a daughter of God. With Jesus Christ the very center of our home, my family was different. He is a silent listener at every meal, in every conversation, in every interaction. He alone has shaped my family into the blessing it is today. In an article titled The Family: A Proclamation to the World, put forth by the First Presidency of the Church of  Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we are taught that "In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally."

                     There is no greater joy I have found than that surrounding my family.
               They are my world and I count my blessings every day for the knowledge
                                                  that they are also my eternity.