Area Leadership Message
The Family Is Central to God’s Plan
Our Eternal Journey and the Divine Design of Families
As eternal beings, we have always existed. In the wisdom of God, we have been sent to this life as part of a divine purpose: to continue progressing on our eternal journey.
In mortality, God has prepared a pathway for us to reach our highest potential. One of the most powerful tools He has provided for our growth is the family. Family life is a sacred setting where we can gain profound experiences, develop Christlike love, and prepare for eternal progression.
“The Lord has designated the family to be the basic unit of the Church and of society.” Families come in many forms: a husband and wife with children, a single parent with children, a couple without children, or even individuals living within extended family structures. Regardless of our personal circumstances, each of us is a part of God’s eternal family. We all belong to an earthly family, and we are all preparing to become eternal parents.
In families, we find some of life’s deepest joys and also its greatest challenges. Within the home, we experience love in its purest forms—support, encouragement, and deep connection. But it is also where we are most vulnerable to pain, disappointment, and conflict. Often, we feel hurt because we expect those closest to us to understand and love us best. And yet this environment is exactly where the most meaningful growth happens.
President Russell M. Nelson taught: “Pivotal to God’s plan is the family. In fact, a purpose of the plan is to exalt the family. The earth was created so that we as premortal spirit children of our Father in Heaven could come to earth and obtain physical bodies.”
Though every family situation is unique and may be imperfect—single parent, childless, blended, or large—the divine opportunity for growth remains the same. God’s blueprint for success is constant and eternal.
Teaching, Learning, and Eternal Purpose
The Lord revealed in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” that “happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Families are the setting where children are born and nurtured for their own eternal journey. Here they begin to learn language, develop talents, understand their divine nature, and form their first relationship with God and others.
The family proclamation also declares: “Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.”
God’s plan is for all His children to live with Him again and experience the kind of life He lives. Through the restored gospel, temples have been established across the world to provide sacred ordinances, including eternal marriage. These ordinances are performed by the power of the priesthood under the new and everlasting covenant and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. These blessings are available to both the living and the dead (see Doctrine and Covenants 132:15–18).
Unity, Love, and Enduring Success
Achieving the goal of eternal families requires unity, love, and mutual support. When family members work together through trials, they are more likely to succeed in fulfilling God’s plan.
Sister Jean B. Bingham, former Relief Society General President, speaking about Adam and Eve declared: “Because they understood that their earthly purpose and eternal goal were identical, they found satisfaction and success in learning to labor in love and righteousness together. ... In the process, Adam and Eve learned to appreciate their differing strengths and supported one another in their eternally significant work.”
Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles beautifully reminded us that “‘happy and forever’ are not the imaginary stuff of fairy tales. True, enduring joy and eternity with those we love are the very essence of God’s plan of happiness. His lovingly prepared way can make our eternal journey happy and forever. … Our relationships include love, sociality, and personality but often also friction, hurt, sometimes profound pain.”
A Divine Warning and Promise
In a world filled with shifting values and moral confusion, prophets have warned us of the need to protect and honor God’s plan for families. President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, quoted President Gordon B. Hinckley, who introduced “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” in 1995:
“With so much of sophistry that is passed off as truth, with so much deception concerning standards and values, with so much allurement and enticement to take on the slow stain of the world, we have felt to warn and forewarn. I testify that the proclamation on the family is a statement of eternal truth, the will of the Lord for His eternal life.”
President Oaks continued: “It has been the basis of Church teaching and practice for the last 22 years and will continue so for the future. Consider it as such, teach it, live by it, and you will be blessed as you press forward toward eternal life.”
I bear witness that God has divinely designed family life as a vital part of our growth and progression. It is through the family that we are best prepared to fulfill our eternal potential and return to our Heavenly Father.