Come, Follow Me
Why is family important?

Why is family important?

Prepare Yourself Spiritually

The family is ordained of God and is central to His plan for the eternal destiny of His children. This divine plan makes it possible for individuals to return to His presence and for families to be united eternally.

Resources to Help You Prepare

These resources are to help you prepare for the “Learn together” section of the meeting.

Questions to Ponder before You Teach

Why do you think families are central to Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation? How have you come to know the importance of the family?

What messages are the young men receiving from the world that contradict what the prophets have said about the importance of the family? How can you help the young men understand the eternal significance of the family?

What can the young men do to prepare to learn? For example, they could read a talk, watch a video, or study a scripture related to this doctrine.

Teaching in the Savior’s Way

The Savior invited His disciples to testify, and as they did, the Spirit touched their hearts. As you teach the young men about why the family is important, invite them to share their testimonies of the importance of the family in God’s plan of salvation.

Meeting Outline

1. Counsel Together and Share Experiences

Led by a member of the quorum presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

Lead a discussion about items such as the following:

  • Our quorum: Who is missing today? What visits do we need to make? Who should we invite to an upcoming activity? Who needs our help and prayers?

  • Our duties: What assignments do we need to make? What assignments have we fulfilled? How have we invited others to come unto Christ, and how can we invite others now?

  • Our lives: Remind the quorum of the discussion from the last meeting. What experiences have we had with applying what we learned? What experiences have we had in the past few weeks that strengthened our testimonies of the gospel?

If possible, discuss these items beforehand in a quorum presidency meeting.

2. Learn Together

Led by a leader or teacher or a member of the quorum; approximately 25–35 minutes

After studying the above resources and following the inspiration of the Spirit, you may select one or more of the activities below to help quorum members understand the doctrine.

  • Invite the young men to list on the board several ideas that challenge Heavenly Father’s view of the family and are common in the world today. Then ask them to search in President Dallin H. Oaks’s talk “The Plan and the Proclamation” for some doctrinal statements from “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Section IV of President Oaks’s talk contains some examples of such statements. How could these statements help us respond to the ideas we listed on the board? What will we do to accept President Oaks’s challenge to teach the proclamation and live by it? As part of this discussion, you could show the video “Proclamation.”

  • Invite the young men to read Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s talk “Why Marriage, Why Family,” looking for answers to the question “Why are families important?” Invite the quorum members to share what they find. What can they do to show that they understand how important families are? How will their understanding of the importance of families affect the way they treat their family members?

  • Divide the quorum into four groups. Have each group study one of the sections of Carole M. Stephens’s talk “The Family Is of God” (each section begins with a bolded truth about the family). Ask each group to prepare to teach the other groups what they learn from their section. How can they teach and exemplify these truths in their families and communities?

  • Show one of the videos suggested in this outline, and ask the young men to listen for reasons Heavenly Father has given us families. Ask the young men how they would respond to someone who says something like, “I don’t see why I should get married” or “I don’t think I want to have children when I get older.” What would they say to a friend whose family situation is not ideal right now? (See “Family,” For the Strength of Youth, 14–15.)

  • Assign each young man one of the scriptures in this outline. Ask the quorum members to search “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” and look for a passage that relates to their scripture. Invite each young man to share his scripture and the part of the proclamation it relates to. Ask the young men to share any experiences they have had that illustrate the importance of families. As part of this discussion, you could show the video “Proclamation.”

3. Plan to Act

Led by a member of the quorum presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

  • Ask the young men to discuss any feelings or impressions they had during the meeting. What was meaningful to them? Is there something they can do personally or as a quorum to apply what they have learned?

  • Give the young men a few minutes to record what they will do in the coming weeks to act on their impressions. Invite them to share their ideas.

  • Remind the young men that they will have the opportunity to share their experiences at the beginning of the next meeting.

Related Youth Activities

Plan a Mutual activity that will help the young men apply what they learned in this lesson.