Good morning brothers and sisters. My name is Sierra Smith. I recently moved into the ward a few months ago. I’m originally from Jacksonville, FL but have lived out here in Vegas for two years next month.
About a month and a half ago I found out I was pregnant. It was the most thrilling yet nerve wrecking news. My husband, Brandon and I just got married this past April. We wanted to wait 6 months to a year before trying to start a family; but, through much revelation we were told to start now. Trusting in God’s plan versus ours, we started trying. A couple days before Father’s Day I told Brandon.
My whole life I’ve dreamt of starting a big family. When I was in elementary school I was talking about wanting 12 kids. My teacher asked if I was Mormon. I asked how she knew. She went on to say because all Mormon families are so big. That has always stuck with me. Though I may not want a dozen kids running and screaming around the house, I still want a largefamily. I am the oldest of 5. I have a biological brother who is 2 years younger than me, then 3 siblings that were adopted from Russia along with a sister in Heaven who was a stillborn. Many LDS families are not 5+ kids anymore; but, it still seems to be a stereotype for LDS families to be huge. The more I grew up in the church the more I understood the importance of families in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Families started before this life on Earth. Before we came to earth we lived with God who is our Heavenly Father and the literal Father of our Spirits. We also have a Heavenly Mother who with God raised and taught our Spirits in Heaven. Right there is the perfect example of the importance of marriage. Pope Francis once stated, “He [God] made men and women for happiness, to share their journey with someone who compliments them, to live the wondrous experience of love: to love and to be loved, and to see their love bear fruit in children.” God’s plan is not only called the Plan of Salvation, but the plan of Happiness. Families may be stressful and make you want to pull your hair out; but, they lead to pure happiness.
The second line of the Primary Song, “The Family Is of God” states, “He sent each one of us to earth through birth, to live and learn here in families.”
There are many reasons why birth is so important. One it gives us bodies to our Spirits. Growing up we have someone we look up to. Whether it’s our mom or dad, aunt or uncle or someone else in our life. In the pre-earth life we looked up to our Heavenly Parents. We wanted to be just like them! They had bodies and were perfect. As they lived their own kind of lives before becoming our Heavenly Parents they had a lot to teach us; but, they could only give us so much in that pre-earth life. For those of you who are parents, you know how much you want to give your children everything you have and more. Their happiness is everything to you. In fact, it kept you up many if not most nights being there for them. In order to receive even a portion of what our Heavenly Parents had we needed to come down here to earth. We needed a period of mortality which through birth gave us our bodies to our Spirits and proceeded to give us earthly experiences to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize[our] divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.”(Stephens, Carole. (2015, April).
The Family is of God. Retrieved from
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2015/04/the-family-is-of-god?lang=eng) To me, that gives me a vision of the importance of creating a family. There are many Spirits waiting to be born to receive the promises and blessings of this life. The body, the experiences, the spiritual and temporal growth and more! Who am I to say no to allowing these Spirits an earthly family? In fact, we were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth! In the
Family a Proclamation to the world we are told that, “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.”
Everyone’s situations are different. There are those who cannot have children, or never have the opportunity or chance to marry. Luckily for those who do want a family but are unable to naturally bear children, or decide they want to go another route, they have the beautiful opportunity to adopt both young and older children. Family is so important in God’s eyes that He has given us a way to not only be with one another in this life, but for eternity through the Temple. There, we are sealed for all of time and eternity with our dear family no matter if they were born into the family or adopted in. It starts in a marriage sealing and leads on to our children, then grandchildren, then great grandchildren and more. It is then our privilege and responsibility to raise these children in the Gospel guiding them to Christ and having Him as their foundation.
In this day and age, it’s getting more and more difficult to raise a righteous family. Between the difficulty in explaining the need for marriage and the necessity of marriage being between a man and woman. Then, we need to help them understand the importance of loving without judging. How it’s important to live the standards of Christ and help others around us see the light without putting others down. Love is such an important factor in the Gospel, in our families and in our everyday lives. I look back on the mothers in the scriptures and think of the 2,000 stripling warriors. Their mothers taught them so well that their faith was incredibly strong that they were able to go forth into battle with no fear knowing that God was on their side. In the end, not one of them died and they were able to protect their families from the war at hand. If we are able to raise our children with such faith and strength in the Lord our God, imagine what they will be able to accomplish. The hearts they’ll be able to change. The anti-Lehi-Nephi’s conversion unto God were so strong that they laid down their lives to stand up for their beliefs; which, in the end brought many more souls unto Christ.
As
The Family, A Proclamation to the World states that as parents we, “…
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.”
After this life we are promised that we will see and be with our families again. I will see my sister who died at birth again and all those who I have cared for who have passed on. My grandmas, grandpa, and yes my fur babies as well. I cannot express how excited I am that our family is starting. I know that despite the financial or living situation we are currently in, because we are following the commandment of God in raising a family in righteousness and faith we will be blessed. Raising a family is hard work, but if done with faith and with our Heavenly Father’s help, it will be worth it.
I am very grateful for the family that raised me. My parents who taught me the way of Christ. They gave me the opportunity to gain a testimony of the Gospel for myself. They had me read the Book of Mormon and pray about the Gospel to know if it was the right decision for me before I got baptized. They taught me to love everyone, even those who hurt me. They taught me how to forgive and repent. They taught me the importance of the plan of salvation and how big a role the atonement plays in our lives. Because of them I grew up into the faithful woman that I am and knew what to look for in my eternal mate. I was able to find someone who was also raised by faithful and righteous parents who taught him theimportance of the Gospel. Now being sealed to him in the San Diego Temple I am able to bear children in the covenant of the Lord and raise them together in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Though we will make many mistakes, with God on our side we’ll be able to raise them with love and a sturdy foundation in Christ. I just hope I can even be close to being like my parents. I am more grateful to them than they’ll ever know.
I know families to be of God and I am grateful for the Gospel to help us in our everyday lives. I know that as we raise our families in Christ, that pure happiness will be in our hearts and homes and we will be with our families for eternity.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
