Dating & Eternal Marriage

Right marriage begins with right dating.

—Elder Spencer W. Kimball

The Lord has given us standards for dating so we can have greater happiness protection and success.  Standards are rules or guidelines given to help us measure our conduct. Why has the Lord given standards? He wants all his children to return to live with him one day. However, he knows that only those who are worthy will be able to live with him. Standards will help us know how well we are in preparing to live with our Father in Heaven again.

For the Strength of Youth teaches: “Choose to date only those who have high moral standards and in whose company you can maintain your standards. … Always be kind and respectful when you ask for a date or when you accept or decline one.”

What does he/she inspire in you … ?

“Remember that a young man and a young woman on a date are responsible to protect each other’s honor and virtue.” As you go on dates, make sure to do nothing of which you would ever be ashamed. As President Thomas S. Monson taught, “In dating, treat your date with respect, and expect your date to show that same respect for you.”

Proper dating is a part of the preparation for a temple marriage. Marriage is ordained of God, and is a sacred ceremony, and should receive the highest preparation and importance before they enter upon a contract that involves either happiness or misery for the rest of their lives.

The purpose of eternal marriage is to bear children and rear a family with whom we will be able to gain exaltation. Joseph Smith taught, “Except a man and his wife enter into an everlasting covenant and be married for eternity, … they will not have any children after the resurrection”

President Lorenzo Snow taught: “When two Latter-day Saints are united together in marriage, promises are made to them concerning their offspring that reach from eternity to eternity. They are promised that they shall have the power and the right to govern and control and administer salvation and exaltation and glory to their offspring, worlds without end."

What a great promise! If we are sealed for eternity and continue to live worthily, we will be families forever!!

The temple should be always in our sight, and we should strive to behave in a way that will get us in there sealed with our eternal companion forever. 

Gender Roles

"Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."

—The Family: A Proclamation to the World

A gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences and humanities that refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex. 

The Lord told Moses that after the creation of Adam, “I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten, that it was not good that the man should be alone; wherefore, I will make an help meet for him” (Moses 3:18). Then Eve was created, and Adam and Eve became husband and wife. This is the Lord’s way; it is His perfect order.

Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president: “A plan of happiness given to us by our Father in Heaven has a part for His daughters. We have the female half to take care of, and if we don’t do our part, no one else is going to do it for us. The half of our Father’s plan that creates life, that nurtures souls, that promotes growth, that influences everything else was given to us. We can’t delegate it. We can’t pass it off to anyone. It’s ours. We can refuse it, we can deny it, but it’s still our part, and we’re accountable for it. There will come a day when we will all remember what we knew before we were born. We will remember that we fought in a great conflict for this privilege. How do we meet this responsibility? We daily put our energies into the work that is uniquely ours to do.

"The title father is sacred and eternal. It is significant that of all the titles of respect and honor and admiration that are given to Deity, he has asked us to address him as Father."

—Father, Consider Your Ways

We were all given a sacred body and we should preserve it, take care of it and fulfill the promises and covenant we made with God with it. He gave us a body so that we could bring more souls to this earth, to be able to control and dominate it in a way we are worshiping Him and He will bless us forever.

Roles in the Family

We discussed this week in class the Diversity in Families. Cultures, traditions, roles, race; are what make families different. However, in the end all families love each other in their own way.

The “Proclamation to the Family” talks about the roles male and female fulfill in a family. It might not be the same as the world says, but this is what God has said and we should be obedient. Paragraph 2: “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose

Because of this, all families have different goals, values and traditions in which they develop and learn how to interact with each other and others. For example, it is common in Mormon society that the mother is the one who raises the kids, feeds them, takes them to school, etc. This is what the First Presidency has always encouraged us, women, to do. This is also mentioned in the “Proclamation to the Family:” Paragraph 7: “…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 adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.”

But in the world, families usually function totally different than in our society. I have been raised surrounded by non-members and the way the parents raise their kids, and fulfill their roles in their family is different. It is common that both of the parents work to keep having the economic status they have. The grandmother and/or the nanny are raising children. The outcomes between my siblings and me comparing to those kids were distinct. In my family there was more unity and confidence that is what our authorities challenge us always to have. On the hand, those kids were practically alone, independent and self-reliant. They did whatever they wanted, because their parents weren’t there to control them. Later, this lead to several consequences like alcohol, drugs and unwanted pregnancies.

I know that if we follow all the advices we had been given, we will be choosing the right. For some women it is hard to stay at home, but this is what we have come to earth. Being always there for our husbands and kids and if we do this, all our family and we will be eternally blessed.

Family unity is essential to fulfill the Plan of Salvation, and I know that if we follow all the advices we had been given, we will be choosing the right. For some women it is hard to stay at home, but this is what we have come to earth. Being always there for our husbands and kids and if we do this, all our family and we will be eternally blessed.

This video is so special and we should strive to do as they had said. Roles are important in a family and as longs as we fulfill our divine role our family will be safe. 

Love in the Family

In last week’s discussion, we talked about our own perceptions of family and how was our family like. Families are all different. They all have different rules that make them get along, they have different goals, and also each member of the family has a different role. In my family, my dad is the one who works to support financially our family. My mom stays at home and veils for us and raises the children. My sisters and me we just live. I go to college here and my sisters are still finishing school in Peru.  I personally love the relationship I have with my mom and my dad and I hope that someday I could have the same kind of relationship with my daughters. We all get along pretty well and when talking about family mapping, there is a just clear boundary between me and my sisters and my parents. I think that is a good thing and that we should all strive to be like that someday. What I think that makes us be like this is because we always put others first and then we think about ourselves.

Love is the principle that rules our house and family. If we don’t love each other, how could we be like Jesus? Jesus is the perfect example my parents had always taught us to be like. In D&C 124: 87 “Therefore, let my servant William put his trust in me, and cease to fear concerning his family, because of the sickness of the land. If ye love me, keep my commandments; and the sickness of the land shall redound to your glory.” Love in a family implies also living and keeping the commandments. When they all do it, they are highly and entirely blessed for it. Because we are all different, certain commandments may be harder to follow for one, and others to others. In a family, we should always support each other. If we see someone is having a hard time following Jesus, let us be the ones who bring them back to Christ. Let's all love one another!