The Nobility of Gender Difference...

Photo: Lydia Stewart

If you try to teach young people that there are no essential differences between men and women, that brings chaos into the whole social fabric.  You take away the nobility, and the beauty, and the dignity of gender differences, and then try to get men and women to be good men and women... it won't happen.

-John Eldredge, Absent

Virtuous and Lovely Examples

We must model that which is virtuous and lovely by our personal media choices. We must take care that the media we invite into our homes does not dull the sensitivity to the Spirit, harm relationships with our family and friends, or reveal personal priorities that are inconsistent with gospel principles. By example we can help our children understand that spending long periods of time using the Internet, social media, and cell phones; playing video games; or watching television keeps us from productive activities and valuable interactions with others.

-Mary N. Cook, 1^st Counselor in the General Young Women’s Presidency

I Am Rich…

"I am not heartsick because I am rich and they are poor."
"We're not rich, Papa. We're..."
"Yes we are boy. We have one another to tend to, and this land to tend. And one day we'll own it outright. We have Solomon here to wind up a capstan and help us haul our burdens. (...) We have Daisy's hot milk. We got rain to wash up with, to get the grime off us. We can look at sundown and see it all, so that it wets the eye and hastens the heart. We hear all the music that's in the wind, so much music that it itches my feet to start tapping. Just like a fiddle."

-Robert Newton Peck, “A Day No Pigs Would Die”

The Devil Will Not Triumph...

The devil will not triumph. Even now he must operate within the bounds set by the Lord. He cannot take away any blessing that has been earned. He cannot alter character that has been woven from righteous decisions. He has no power to destroy the eternal bonds forged in a holy temple between a husband, wife, and children. He cannot quench true faith. He cannot take away your testimony. Yes, these things can be lost by succumbing to his temptations. But he has no power in and of himself to destroy them.

-Elder Richard G. Scott

A Divine Work of Art

Photo: Ben Romney, Europe

"We are not, metaphorically but in very truth, a Divine work of art, something that God is making, and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has a certain character."

-C. S. Lewis, "The Problem of Pain"

The Value of Family Work

"People who see the value of family work only in terms of the economic value of processes that yield measurable products--washed dishes, baked bread, swept floors, clothed children--miss what some call the "invisible household production" that occurs at the same time, but which is, in fact, more important to family-building and character development than the economic products. Here lies the real power of family work--its potential to transform lives, to forge strong families, to build strong communities. It is the power to quietly, effectively urge hearts and minds toward a oneness known only in Zion."
"FAMILY WORK" By Kathleen Slaugh Bahr and Cheri A. Loveless