Today we were able to listen to Elder Todd Christofferson, a member of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He, along with a couple other speakers, said a few things that I would like to repeat about the family.
The first speaker I'd like to mention is Elder Brent Nattress. He told a story about how his mother read from the scriptures every morning while he and his other siblings ate breakfast. Being a "smart adolescent" at the time, he didn't think he needed to listen to his mother's readings, and would instead read the back of the cereal box. One day he approached his mother and asked why she read every day. Furthermore, he explained to her that he didn't listen to her, and that it was just a waste of time. While many, including myself, would say the miracle of this story is that he lived to see the next day, what she said next is the real lesson. She said that in a conference many years prior, Elder Marion G. Romney promised that if those in attendance read the scriptures every day with their family, they would not lose a single child. She explained that she didn't want to lose one child, even her mouthy son that she was speaking to, and that is why she read to her children every morning.
After Elder Nattress spoke, Elder Christofferson finished off the meeting. He also quoted Elder Romney with a similar quote. He said that if as families we read the scriptures every day it will decrease the conflict in the home.
These two promises are something we all can have by obeying such a simple concept. We're not talking about hours of study every day, rather a few minutes with our family. This simple action will bring peace in our homes, strengthen every member of the home, and bless us more than any of us probably understand.
I want to mention one other important thing I learned from Elder Christofferson. He said he wasn't worried about those in attendance filling their lives with bad things. He said he was more worried about us filling our lives with good things. He went on to explain that there are a lot of good things out in the world. Things like football, dance lessons, hanging out with good friends, etc., but, do we do too many good things? He taught that the Savior should be the center of our lives; but, often when we are doing all these good things the Savior gets put aside. He said wouldn't it be great if we could peel life away and start over again with the Savior in the center?
How would that look like with the Savior in the center of our life? With the Savior as the center how would we act, look, talk, spend our time? He didn't say give up all those other good things; rather, to put the Savior in the center first, and then fill up the rest of our time with those good things again. We could still go see a game, take our family to the movie, go to the park, go to ballet, etc. But life would be so much fuller, so much more rewarding if kept the Savior centered in our life.
I challenge you and I over the next month to focus on reading scriptures as a family. This will help you peel back life and put Christ in the center again. Also, let us center our lives around Christ as we go about doing all our other good things of life.
Thanks, see you next week.
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