Annette's Lesson was on "The Proclamation to the World." We watched and listened to President Hinckley read it aloud from a previous General Conference address. The proclamation was issued 20 years ago this month. Little did we know at that time, how important that document would become.
"I believe this is the best season for women in all the history of the world. In opportunities for education, for the training of your hands and minds, there has never before been a time when doors were so widely open to you as they are today.
But neither has there been a time at least in recent history, when you have been confronted with more challenging problems. I need not remind you that the world we are in is a world of turmoil, or 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." (President Hinckley, "Stand Strong against the Wiles of the World.")
Why is Satan trying so hard to break up the family?
- So that we don't feel connected to anyone in this world. So we feel lost and alone.
- There is strength in numbers. When you have just one toothpick, it is very easy to break, but bundle many together and it becomes impossible to break.
After we watched the video clip of President Hinckley reading the Proclamation, we talked about what things stuck out to us as we heard it read from the prophet's mouth.
- Families are Eternal
- We need to be defenders of the family
- The Proclamation is a standard that we all need to live for and strive for regardless of what our current standards are. Satan would have us believe that because of individual circumstances, the traditional family is not possible for us.
- The disintegration of the family will bring about the calamities foretold by the ancient prophets.
There are 3 main principles taught in the Proclamation.
- Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God.
- The Divine Roles of Mothers and Fathers
- Sanctity of the Home
We talked about how to make our homes more sacred.
- Communicate
- Speak softly
- Provide a good Environment
- Spend individual time with our children
- pray daily with our children
- read scriptures together
- build family traditions
"You are the guardians of the hearth. You are the bearers of the children. You are they who nurture them and establish within them the habits of their lives. No other work reaches so close to divinity as does the nurturing of the sons and daughters of God." (President Hinckley, "Stand Strong against the Wiles of the World.)
