Oct 22nd to Oct 28th

Another fun week with family visiting. Matthew's family left on Monday, Bryan's left on Wednesday, and Greg's family arrived Thursday and left this Monday. It is great to have family come and visit but it is hard to say goodbye to each one. It is great that our family loves us enough to come and visit. I have heard from some Senior couples that they wish their family would come.

Exciting week in the Karen Group. We had a baptism of Sister Naw Htoo who was baptized on Saturday morning and confirmed a member of the Church on Sunday. She has such a sweet spirit and she was really excited. The Karen Group is growing slowly. When you think that they receive a testimony without having the Book of Mormon translated in their language the Holy Ghost must be working overtime here.

Teaching  Doctrine of the Family

By Julie B. Beck

Relief Society General President

From a broadcast address given to seminary and institute of religion teachers on August 4, 2009.

"This generation will be called upon to defend the doctrine of the family as never before. If they don’t know the doctrine, they can’t defend it.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a theology of the family that is based on the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement. The Creation of the earth provided a place where families could live. God created a man and a woman who were the two essential halves of a family. It was part of Heavenly Father’s plan that Adam and Eve be sealed and form an eternal family.

In addition to understanding the theology of the family, we all need to understand the threats to the family. If we don’t, we can’t prepare for the battle. Evidence is all around us that the family is becoming less important. Marriage rates are declining, the age of marriage is rising, and divorce rates are rising. Out-of-wedlock births are growing. Abortion is rising and becoming increasingly legal. We see lower birth rates. We see unequal relationships between men and women, and we see cultures that still practice abuse within family relationships. Many times a career gains importance over the family.

What is it we hope this rising generation will understand and do because of what we teach them? The answers to that question as well as the key elements of the doctrine of the family are found in the family proclamation. President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) said that the proclamation was “a declaration and reaffirmation of standards, doctrines, and practices” that this Church has always had.

Parents, teachers, and leaders: live in your homes, in your families, in your marriages so that youth will develop hope for eternal life from watching you. Live and teach with so much clarity that what you teach will cut through all the noise youth are hearing and so that it will pierce their hearts and touch them.

Live in your home so that you’re brilliant in the basics, so that you’re intentional about your roles and responsibilities in the family. Think in terms of precision not perfection. If you have your goals and you are precise in how you go about them in your homes, youth will learn from you. They will learn that you pray, study the scriptures together, have family home evening, make a priority of mealtimes, and speak respectfully of your marriage partner. Then from your example the rising generation will gain great hope. "

This Doctrine is so important we ask all to study it.

Things to do with  “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”

Hang a copy of the proclamation in your home or classroom.
Encourage youth to keep a copy of the proclamation in their scriptures.
Link key statements in the proclamation to lessons taught from the scriptures.
Study and refer to the proclamation in family home evening.

We love our family so much and know how important the Family is to each of our eternal lives