Families

I've been reading in Ether for the past couple of weeks.  I've read it through multiple times and have to admit, most of the time it is not my favorite book.  Once you're done with the cool Brother of Jared story, there is a lot about wars and destruction which is, quite frankly, a little gruesome.  This time though, I discovered something that I'd never thought of before now.

Starting in chapter seven and going through the rest of the book there is story after story of the people dividing and one half taking over, then the other half rebelling and taking over.  It's a common story and theme throughout history.  What I hadn't picked up on before was who was doing the conquering and rebelling.  The majority of the time, it was a brother, son, uncle, or nephew of the king who lead the rebellion against that king.  Unlike countless stories in antiquity, such as the conquests of Alexander the Great, the destruction of this people did not come from some outside, foreign nation.  The destruction came from the dissolution of family ties.

Since 1997 when the First Presidency came out with "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", the Church has been continuously placing emphasis on the importance of keeping the family together.  Soon after that, the line "strengthen home and family" was added to the young women theme as a blessing that comes from cultivating the values outlined in the theme. Despite the fact that I have heard time and time again the importance of keeping the family unit together, I don't think I understood it until now.

My family has recently revived a tradition we had with my dad and his brothers in an attempt to keep our family together. Under the motto: "They Did Not Doubt", we have instituted a monthly family home evening with all of our extended family.

I was called at the beginning of the semester to be co-coordinator of the Family Home Evening groups in my ward here in Provo. As I have become more and more involved with it and gained more of a testimony of FHE I feel I have come to a greater understanding of the importance of families.

The combination of all of these things right now has also provided me with inspiration that I had been long in seeking. Now I think I can see how I can prevent the dissolution of not just my own family, but many others and thus, help prevent the horrific events that occurred in Ether. Finally, I have a plan. And I can hardly wait to get started on it.