|
“Be
careful of the broad way that leads to destruction; follow the straight and
narrow path of proclamation on the family,” said Elder Harvey
Gardner, an emeritus Area Authority Seventy for the LDS Church.
During
his devotional address Tuesday at BYU-Idaho Elder Gardner used the Church’s
proclamation on the family as the basis for his talk, saying that by living
according to its principles, it would lead one to great happiness.
Reading
through the proclamation, he emphasized a section where it said, “The
divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated
beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples
make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for
families to be united eternally.”
He
added, “I would be totally miserable if I thought that I could not
hug and kiss my mother again or to have a great big bear hug from my
father.”
Elder
Gardner said raising a family
is a wonderful reward. He added that people have a responsibility to enjoy
life, referring to something Church President Gordon B. Hinckley once said:
“I plead with you to be happy in your work. Wear a smile on your
face, and have a song in your heart. Rejoice in your privilege to serve.”
He
said, “Be loyal to those who compensate you and expect results from
you. You need employment to care for your children. That’s why you’re
here at school, to get a good job to raise a good family. Like my wife, all
she wanted was a nice home filled with good kids and grand kids. That’s
the divine plan of happiness.”
He
encouraged students going out into the world from BYU-Idaho to “take
the family proclamation by example and by doctrine. Teach the great
doctrine of the plan of happiness.”
“It’s
fun to raise a family,” he continued. “The family is ordained
of God. It’s the greatest joy that will come to you in life and it’s
the most challenging thing you will ever do.”
He
finished by challenging the students to memorize the proclamation and write
to him to tell him of their experience.
“Doctrine
will change behavior must faster than just trying to change behavior . . .
And it does, it changes you inside. . . . Get in those scriptures, learn
the doctrine.”
Elder
Gardner grew up in Lakeside, Ariz., and later served four years in the Navy
during the Korean War. He worked for nine years on the Glen Canyon Dam and
power plant before starting his own business, Page Steel Company, in Page,
Ariz. He has served as mission president in New Zealand and as an Area
Authority Seventy from 1997 to 2001.
Devotionals
are broadcast live on KBYI 100.5 FM Tuesdays at 2 p.m. and are rebroadcast Tuesdays and Sundays at 9 p.m. Next week’s devotional speaker
is Susan W. Tanner, the LDS Church’s
Young Women general president.
|