The Family: A Proclamation to the World

This is a special document. A lot of people still believe in the traditional family. This is an important paper to me and I know that true and that if we follow it's teachings, we can be blessed. I know that family is important and that we are "[called]...to...strengthen the family [because it's] the fundamental unit of society."1 The family is a super important unit in this world and it's up to us to protect it.

The Family

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A Proclamation to the World

The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped 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.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

This proclamation was read by President Gordon B. Hinckley as part of his message at the General Relief Society Meeting held September 23, 1995, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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1 The Family: A Proclamation to the World

My Apologetic Paper

So, I literally just finished up a school program called Classical Conversations and I had to write an apologetic paper for the final day.
(For anyone who doesn't know what an apologetic paper is, I didn't know before, is a paper that defends a topic, usually a religious topic.)

This is my paper:

In John Blanchard's book ”Ultimate Questions" it says that, "From [the Fall in the Garden of Eden and] then on, like pollution at the source of a river, the poison of sin has flowed to all Adam’s descendants, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned."¹ This basically says that we are all inherently sinful.  There's a lot of people on earth. According to that statement from Ultimate Questions, all of us are inherently sinful. But a lot of people lead pretty good lives. And that brings us to a question: Should people be able to lead good lives if they're inherently sinful? I think that yes, people should lead good lives. Now some people believe that we should not be able to lead good lives because we are inherently sinful. But, like I said, I think otherwise. For one thing, Heavenly Father loves us. Second, because of His love, God wants us all to succeed; and lastly, I believe that none of us are inherently sinful.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son."¹ He loves us infinitely. "[Our] Heavenly Father loves [us]-each of [us]. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God's love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there."² His love is everlasting and eternal. And it's for every single person who has lived, is living or will live. 

"For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."³ This is what Heavenly Father wants for us. He wants us to be able to live forever with Him. He loves us more than we could ever know and because of that everlasting love, He wants every single one of His children to succeed in life, temporally and spiritually. "Our Heavenly Father wishes to bless His children... He understands each of their needs, their pains, and their hopes."⁴

"We are, [Joseph Smith] declared, eternally existent, inherently innocent, boundlessly free and infinitely perfectible."⁵ I do not believe that man is inherently sinful. I believe that we are "punished for [our] own sins, and not for Adam's transgression."⁶ Because of this, we are not inherently sinful. I believe that we are innocent when we come to earth. We do not, however, stay innocent, since nobody is perfect. We are all guilty for our own sins; if a parent received a ticket for speeding, their child is not guilty as well; only the parent. I do not believe that our Heavenly Father sent us to this earth as sinners. He sent us here in an innocent state. Adam transgressed in the Garden of Eden but that remains Adam's transgression, not ours. "Some acts, like, murder are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating without a [driver's] license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall, was not a sin-inherently wrong-but a transgression-wrong because it was formally prohibited."⁷ This is another reason why man is not inherently sinful, Adam and Eve transgressed but did not sin. “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God.”⁸ "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy."⁹ This means that because of the Fall, man came to be and because of that we can have joy through our righteous choices and actions. And vise versa, we will feel sorrow and sadness through our unrighteous actions, not through Adam's.

Heavenly Father loves us. He wants us to succeed, temporally and spiritually. I believe that I did not inherit Adam's sin when he partook of the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil. Because of those things, I can lead a good life. Heavenly Father loves everyone. He wants everyone to succeed. Nobody is accountable for Adam's transgression. With this knowledge in hand, I firmly believe that everyone and anyone should lead good lives.

Bibliography

[1] Ultimate Questions. John Blanchard. 1987.

[2] John 3:16

[3] "We Never Walk Alone." President Thomas S. Monson. October 2013 General Conference.

[4] Moses 1:39

[5] "Is This Not The Fast I Have Chosen?" President Henry B. Eyring. April 2015 General Conference.

[6] "'Lightning Out of Heaven': Joseph Smith and the Forging of Community." Terry Givens. Nov 29th 2005. BYU Speeches.

[7] Second Article of Faith

[8] "The Great Plan of Happiness" Dallin H. Oaks. Oct 1993 General Conference. lds.org.

[9] D&C 93:38

[10] 2 Nephi 2:25

What do YOU stand for?

"Stand ye in holy places and be not moved."1 

How many times a day do you stand up? Any idea? Yes? No? 

Well, standing is pretty important. And not just because you need to stretch. Standing up for righteous causes is also pretty important.

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him. We will “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9) as we strive to live the Young Women values, which are:

Faith • Divine Nature • Individual Worth • Knowledge • Choice and Accountability • Good Works • Integrity • and Virtue

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.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (we're sometimes referred to as Mormons) and being a young woman, I say the above theme almost every week.
This is one of the things I stand for. This is something that I really believe in and I want to live by.

So, what do you stand for?

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1 D&C 87:8

The Armor of God

In the Bible in the book of Ephesians, chapter 6, we can learn about the Armor of God. The Armor of God is important, especially in this day and age; there are so many temptations out there. How are we to withstand the fiery darts of the adversary? With the Armor of God securely on and with our Sword of the Spirit drawn and ready to fight.

The Sword of the Spirit is the word of God. So when we read the scriptures and study them and ponder about what we read, we are sharpening our sword.

Lions girt with Truth.

Anciently, girding the loins had to do with mobility and readiness—tying up loose pieces of clothing so that it was easier to run. Having feet shod means they’re protected and you’re ready to move.
Sometimes you need to run into a battle—to defend and show kindness to those being bullied, to stand up for truth and virtue in the face of mocking and scorn. And sometimes your best option is the “Joseph in Egypt” defense—run away (see Genesis 39:12). In either case, be ready.1

Someone said something along the lines of, "Well, it's a belt...you don't want you pants falling down as you're running into battle." And it's true!

Shoes are a good thing to have on when you're running and playing a sport. Just the same way, having our Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel is a good idea when going into battle.

We practice using our Shield of Faith as we diligently and consistently exercise our faith. We do this by praying, studying and pondering the scriptures, standing up for truth, the list goes on.

Breastplate of Righteousness. This very handy piece of armor protects your lungs, heart, stomachache, etc. You can probably see why this article of equipment is pretty important.

When biking, a helmet is always a safe companion. In the same way, as we go into battle our Helmet of Salvation can diffidently come in handy.

In a world where a battle continually rages, I hope that we all alert and have our armor on securely and firmly.

You never know when and how the adversary attack.

Are YOU ready?

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For further reading and studying, I would really suggest these two articles which you can find on lds.org and lds.org/youth. Also some of the information I got was from Get Ready for Battle.

Warrior in You
(This one is about how you can be a warrior and stand for what is right)

Get Ready for Battle
(This is about the Armor of God and what each piece represents)

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1 "Get Ready for Battle." David A. Edwards. lds.org/youth

Easter

Easter is just around the corner. But what is Easter? Is Easter about the Easter Bunny, the egg hunts, the candy?
No. It's all about Him. It's about Christ. About what He did for us. His Atonement.


Christ atoned for our sins. He suffered for all our sins. But the Atonement isn't just for our sins; it's also there to help us with anything we need help with. It's there to help us progress.
In Gethsemane, on the cross and in between, Christ felt all the pain, loneliness, hurt, sorrow, everything that we can feel here on earth. He knows what it's like to feel alone, He even knows what it's like crush your fingers in a door.
Even when it feels like no one knows what you're going through, He does.

He has felt every pain we can feel here on earth. He suffered for us. He died that we might live again.
And because He did what He did, sacrificed Himself, lived, taught, everything, because of Him we have so much to be grateful for.

And what's cool is this: He lives! He really does. And because He lives, He is with us always. Wherever we are, whoever we are. He is there.

My thoughts on Disney's Cinderella (2015 live-action movie)

SPOILER ALERT

...You have been warned...
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So, I saw Disney's live-action Cinderella and I was, to tell the truth, a little surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I'm not much of a princess girl but I really enjoyed Cinderella. I liked the feeling and spirit that accompanied the film.

1) "Have courage and be kind"
This was kind of the motto of the whole movie; it was repeated many times. It's first told to Ella (Cinderella) by her mother. Ella ends up telling this to Kit who tells it to his dad. That's something I like, Ella is inspired by her mom, Ella inspires Kit and Kit inspires his dad. It's also interesting to look for whether Ella keeps this advice throughout the movie.

2) "I forgive you"
Personally, if I'd been treated like a piece of dirt but still expected to do everything by stuck-up, snobby people, I don't think I'd be very fast in forgiving them. But Ella, in the end forgives her step-mother. That's pretty amazing.

3) "Just because it's what's done, doesn't mean it's what should be done"
I love this!! This is another thing that Ella says that inspires Kit. I really like this because in the world, there are so many things that can keep us from doing what's right. Peer pressure is, I think, the big thing. That and "what will so-and-so" think of me if I do this?"

And that's what I thought was cool about Cinderella.

Ben Carson

I recently watched Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story and I really liked it. You have to be able to be okay seeing blood because there are some operation scenes but it's really very good.

Ben Carson is an African American man who grew up not very well off. But one day his mom set down some rules. She said that instead of watching TV all the time he and his brother could watch two shows a week and in their spare time they'd read two books from the library and write a report. His mom had been working for a man who was well off and she asked him once if he'd read all the books in his personal library and the man said yes. And Ben's mom realized that successful people read books. And I would add, good, meaningful books (that doesn't mean that's all they read). And lo and behold, Ben's grades went from the bottom of the ditch to the top in the class.
Later he was accepted into the John Hopkins Hospital and began an amazing career there. He preformed numerous surgeries and was able to save lives.

I think Ben Carson is a highly inspirational and very driven person who defied the odds in a time when African Americans were not really considered "real" Americans, so to speak.
Ben Carson stood up and stood out. He did things other people wouldn't. 

Interviewer: You have confidence. That is good for a neurosurgeon. But tell me something, why did you decide to become a brain doctor?

Ben Carson: The brain…its a miracle. Do you believe in miracles. Not a lot of doctors do. There isn’t a lot of faith among physicians. We study reports, it’s all very tangible. But the fact is there are so many things we just can’t explain. I believed we are all capable of performing miracles, up here (points to head). We are blessed with astonishing gifts and skills. Look at Handel. I mean, how can he come up with The Messiah in only 3 weeks. (pointing to head again) This is the key. The source of inspiration for unbelievable accomplishments.

~ Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story