THE FAMILY is ordained of God.

Marriage between man and woman is essential

to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony,
and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete
fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon
the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are estab-
lished and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, re-
spect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine
design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are
responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.
Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred
responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal
partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adap-
tation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

My assignment for today’s talk was to look over the family proclamation and speak
about the divine role of motherhood. As I have tried to learn from this sacred docu-
ment in preparation for this talk, I thought of a few virtues of motherhood and
womanhood listed in this passage:

Strong Women:
- valiant in Gospel
- leaders in family, both in nurturing children and laboring with husbands
- build successful marriages and families by adhering to principles of the Gospel,
work, and wholesome activities

In my own family tree, one of our greatest examples of being valiant in the Gospel
is my great-great-great grandmother Annie Stewart Brighton
- painting in our home, only family member to my knowledge with a painting
- left Scotland mid-1850’s age 14 because believed in the Gospel
- hard journey every step - ran out of food on the boat, many died - made it to
America, worked two years saving pennies before able to continue journey, then
crossed plains in a handcart, 1400 miles on foot, as a single sister.
- married in Utah at the age of 18. Husband then called by prophet to leave settled
lands and start a new city 90 miles north which they eventually named Smithfield
Utah.
- oxen sick along the way, slept first winter in the wagon box, food supplies that
were supposed to be delivered never came so ate only sugar beets all that first win-
ter long.
I think my triple-great grandmother was an incredibly strong woman. Because of
her love for the Gospel and her desire to follow the Savior, she was willing to leave
the comfortable beautiful green of Scotland for a terribly hard life in the wilder-
ness. She seems to have become terribly depressed and lonely along her journey, so
much so that when her husband proposed marriage to her, she replied, “Well, I
couldn’t be worse off, so I might as well.” But she stuck to the plan because of her
testimony. She was a strong woman and eventually a strong mother, raising ten
children of her own and caring for seven more. She said later that she had a baby
on her hip continuously for more than twenty years. Her testimony was unbreak-
able, she was an exemplary model of the family proclamation principles I men-
tioned earlier, and she is a great example to my family.

I tried to read many talks on motherhood in preparation for this speaking invita-
tion. One talk that influenced me was by Elder Russell Nelson in 1999, entitled
“Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women.” This was given at a priesthood conference so
it is addressed to men. Here are a few quotes:

-The family is the most important unit of society and of the Church. The family is
ordained of God. It is central to His plan for the eternal destiny of His children.
“God has established families to bring happiness to his children, to allow them to
learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and to prepare them for eternal
life.”
Some advice for husbands and fathers:
-As fathers we should have love unbounded for the mothers of our children. We
should accord to them the gratitude, respect, and praise that they deserve. Hus-
bands, to keep alive the spirit of romance in your marriage, be considerate and kind
in the tender intimacies of your married life. Let your thoughts and actions inspire
confidence and trust. Let your words be wholesome and your time together be up-
lifting. Let nothing in life take priority over your wife—neither work, recreation,
nor hobby. (optional)An ideal marriage is a true partnership between two imper-
fect people, each striving to complement the other, to keep the commandments, and
to do the will of the Lord.
To the young men, he said:
-You young men need to know that you can hardly achieve your highest potential
without the influence of good women, particularly your mother and, in a few years,
a good wife. Learn now to show respect and gratitude. Remember that your mother
is your mother. She should not need to issue orders. Her wish, her hope, her hint
should provide direction that you would honor. Thank her and express your love
for her.
Finally some specific advice I liked:
-You fathers can help with the dishes, care for a crying baby, and change a diaper.
And perhaps some Sunday you could get the children ready for Church, and your
wife could sit in the car and honk.

We have had the opportunity in our ward to discuss the divine role of womanhood
and motherhood recently in Elders Quorum and Relief Society. In Elders Quorum
we talked about women’s innate talents for loving and serving. Elder Eyring ex-
plained in the talk we studied:
“While I do not know all the Lord’s reasons for giving primary responsibility for
nurturing in the family to faithful sisters, I believe it has to do with your capac-
ity to love. It takes great love to feel the needs of someone else more than
your own. That is the pure love of Christ for the person you nurture.

As daughters of God, you have an innate and great capacity to sense the
needs of others and to love. That, in turn, makes you more susceptible to the
whisperings of the Spirit. The Spirit can then guide what you think, what you
say, and what you do to nurture people so the Lord may pour knowledge,
truth, and courage upon them.”

I took away from that Elders Quorum lesson two things:

#1. I need to support my sweet wife better in her desires to love and serve others. It
is a talent that she has been given along with many faithful women in the church,
and I should encourage her more in her great efforts.
#2. All talents can be improved and increased, and spiritual gifts are given to those
who pray in faith. So if some of us men are not as full of charity and service as the
women in our lives, maybe we can do like the scriptures teach and “pray to the Fa-
ther with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath
bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ.” This can help
us be more equal partners to our “better halves.”

***(skip if pressed for time)

Elder Todd Christofferson in 2013 taught about the moral goodness of women:
“A woman’s moral influence is nowhere more powerfully felt or more beneficially
employed than in the home. There is no better setting for rearing the rising genera-
tion than the traditional family, where a father and a mother work in harmony to
provide for, teach, and nurture their children. Where this ideal does not exist, peo-
ple strive to duplicate its benefits as best they can in their particular circumstances.
In all events, a mother can exert an influence unequaled by any other person in any
other relationship. By the power of her example and teaching, her sons learn to re-
spect womanhood and to incorporate discipline and high moral standards in their
own lives. Her daughters learn to cultivate their own virtue and to stand up for
what is right, again and again, however unpopular. A mother’s love and high ex-
pectations lead her children to act responsibly without excuses, to be serious about
education and personal development, and to make ongoing contributions to the
well-being of all around them. (probably skip) Elder Neal A. Maxwell once asked:
“When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of
gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great armistices made by military
men or the peacemaking of women in homes and in neighborhoods? Will what hap-
pened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in
congresses?”
From these teachings we are reminded that the influences of home life can be more
powerful to our children than any other external influences. I pray that when we
think about Brother Christofferson’s teachings, we can resolve to make our homes
places of love and foundations of Gospel testimony for ourselves and for our chil-
dren.

I have been blessed with the examples of many great women in my life. I think of
my own mother who raised six children essentially by herself as my father worked
to switch careers over a period of 8 or 10 years. Sometimes he did not even live
with us because of work obligations, and when he did he was gone most of the
time at school and work. There was very little money and and we kids who were
old enough learned to support ourselves to try and relieve the strain on our parents.
We may have driven my mother a tiny bit crazy during this time but we all made it
through mostly unscathed. and I admire her drive and resilience born from her love
for us.

I have watched my own wife raise our young family with me often absent. Back in
Minnesota during my physician training I would get 48 hours to be home after the
birth of a child, and then it would be back to work with me and good luck to my
sweet wife. During some work assignments I would work long hours 6 and a half
days out of seven, and would get to see the kids only on Sunday evenings. Those
were long weeks. Meanwhile, Laura plugged along and kept the kids happy and
served in her church callings without a complaint. There were many times where
she planned an evening temple date for both of us and drove the car up to St. Paul
so that I could sleep on the way there and on the way back. Nowadays I am still
gone many times I wish I wasn’t, but I’m glad to be home more now than I was
then, and I’m grateful for a great wife who fills our home with love and with
Gospel teaching, and like President Nelson has said, “loves me not only for what I
am but for what I may become, even when I am not at my best.”
As I close I want to make one more reminder of the divine importance of marriage
and families in a world that sometimes sets aside their importance. Sister Bonnie
Oscarson said in 2015:
“We are taught in the scriptures, “Nevertheless neither is the man without the
woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.” For anyone to attain the
fulness of priesthood blessings, there must be a husband and a wife sealed in the
house of the Lord, working together in righteousness and remaining faithful to
their covenants. This is the Lord’s plan for His children. and no amount of public
discourse or criticism will change what the Lord has declared. We need to continue
to model righteous marriages, seek for that blessing in our lives, and have faith if it
is slow in coming. Let us be defenders of marriage as the Lord has ordained it
while continuing to show love and compassion for those with differing views.”

President Nelson again -We who bear the holy priesthood have a sacred duty to
honor our sisters. We respect sisters—not only in our immediate families but all the
wonderful sisters in our lives. As daughters of God, their potential is divine. With-
out them, eternal life would be impossible. Our high regard for them should spring
from our love of God and from an awareness of their lofty purpose in His great
eternal plan.

As we honor women on this special day, may we remember that a virtuous

woman’s price is far above rubies and that without men and women working to-
gether on the Savior’s gospel path, exaltation would be impossible. May we all
work to defend the family; seek for the blessings of eternal marriage; and honor,
encourage and support the women in our lives by loving them and fulfilling our
own responsibilities as equal partners; this is my prayer in the name of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, amen.

*13 MINUTES*
During my professional career as a doctor of medicine, I was occasionally asked
why I chose to do that difficult work. I responded with my opinion that the highest
and noblest work in this life is that of a mother. Since that option was not available
to me, I thought that caring for the sick might come close. I tried to care for my pa-
tients as compassionately and competently as Mother cared for me.
Many years ago the First Presidency issued a statement that has had a profound
and lasting influence upon me. “Motherhood,” they wrote, “is near to divinity. It is
the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its
holy calling and service next to the angels.”
Because mothers are essential to God’s great plan of happiness, their sacred work
is opposed by Satan, who would destroy the family and demean the worth of
women.

Hence, I warn against pornography. It is degrading of women. It is evil. It is infec-

tious, destructive, and addictive. The body has means by which it can cleanse itself
from harmful effects of contaminated food or drink. But it cannot vomit back the
poison of pornography. Once recorded, it always remains subject to recall, flashing
its perverted images across your mind, with power to draw you away from the
wholesome things in life. Avoid it like the plague!

Parents have the primary responsibility for the welfare of their children.8 The
Church does not replace that parental responsibility. Ideally, the Latter-day Saint
family is presided over by a worthy man who holds the priesthood. This patriarchal
authority has been honored among the people of God in all dispensations. It is of
divine origin, and that union, if sealed by proper authority, will continue through-
out eternity. He who is the Father of us all and the source of this authority de-
mands that governance in the home be in love and righteousness.9

-“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave him-
self for it.”10 With that kind of love, brethren, we will be better husbands and fa-
thers, more loving and spiritual leaders. Happiness at home is most likely to be
achieved when practices there are founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ.11
Ours is the responsibility to ensure that we have family prayer, scripture study, and
family home evening. Ours is the responsibility to prepare our children to receive
the ordinances of salvation and exaltation and the blessings promised to tithe pay-
ers. Ours is the privilege to bestow priesthood blessings of healing, comfort, and
direction.
The home is the great laboratory of love. There the raw chemicals of selfishness
and greed are melded in the crucible of cooperation to yield compassionate con-
cern and love one for another.12
Honor the special sisters in your lives, brethren. Express your love to your wife, to
your mother, and to the sisters. Praise them for their forbearance with you even
when you are not at your best. Thank the Lord for these sisters who—like our
Heavenly Father—love us not only for what we are but for what we may become.