Monday, March 21, 2011

Anchoring our Families to the Rock of the Gospel

Good morning dear brothers and sisters. It is a wonderful privilege for me to be assigned here today in my home branch and to speak as a visiting high council. I bring to you the greetings and love from our District Presidency. We were given a special topic to share as a message with you today concerning the importance of family in the gospel.

Thus, I would like to start my talk with a little story about myself. I was born in a little fishing town in the Philippines. The town is surrounded with lots of lovely and beautiful beaches. Near the center of the town is a docking port where tons of raw sugars are being transported daily by trains to huge cargo vessels to be shipped across the world. My father worked in the dock as a conveyor operator. In quite times my little brother and I would go to the dock to visit our father to watch him work. We thought it was an interesting job that he’s doing. While waiting in the shed at the edge of the dock, our father would bring us a fishing line and some worms to entertain ourselves. My little brother loves fishing, while I just stay there sitting down watching the ships as they come and go.

As a child I wondered on so many things, like how could a ship that is built with tons of iron could stay afloat in the water. And also, one thing I’m really wondering even until now is on how a little anchor could keep hold a ship that is thousand times bigger and heavier than its size and weight.

When the typhoons come and strong winds blow, and the sea turns wild and the waves rough and rugged, tossing the ships to and fro, yet the ships in the port stays in its steady place. The little anchor that lies beneath the sea bed has faithfully done its job to keep hold of its giant master to stay in place. It’s incredible to think how a little tiny piece of iron could keep hold and pull a thing that is thousand times bigger and mightier than itself. I though, whoever had come up with that idea of the anchor has indeed a brilliant mind.

In our world today, families are facing tougher challenges of strong and steady winds. We need an anchor to keep us strong and steady amidst the storm. The Lord has counseled us that we must build our house upon a rock. That when the rain comes and the flood came, and the wind blew, and beat upon our house, and it fell not for it is founded upon a rock.

Modernism is becoming a trend with a danger of pulling our children away from the teachings of God. Gay marriage is already becoming legal in some churches. Pornography is just a finger tip away. The name of God is never mentioned in schools today. Children nowadays are becoming more unaware of the consequences of their actions. When I was a child, the only thing that keeps me away from making serious mistakes is my fear of God. I was taught early in life by my parents and in school that God is always watching over us and that He knows when we make mistake. Today teach that to the children and they think you must have gone somewhere else.

I am blessed with two wonderful boys who knows and fear God. Josh loves to listen to the stories of Jesus. At night before he goes to bed he would ask his mom to read him a bible story. Then he folds the tip of the next story page for tomorrow night’s reading.

Eszel wakes up at five in the morning to catch the first train to his 6:30 seminary class. He runs to church early on Sunday mornings to help prepare the sacrament. He plans to serve a mission when he turns eighteen. One time when my wife and I had a meeting with his teacher, his teacher told us that he is very much different from his classmates. He thought Eszel is very well behaved, respectful and haven’t heard him swear at all. Then his teacher interestingly asks us what our religion is. And we told him that we are Mormons. And now he knows that’s why.

I remembered a saying that goes like this, if you want to change the world, start it within yourself. If we want to start a strong family, we have to start it by building a strong foundation by making the right choices. Choosing the right person to marry, at the right time, and in the right place. In temple marriage Heavenly Father has promised that we and our children, and our children’s children, and their posterity will be blessed as long as they live and remain faithful in Christ. My wife and I have been through a lot of tough and difficult challenges in life, but the only hope and strength that keeps us strong amidst the eye of the storm is our hope and testimony of the promised blessing pronounced by the Lord to us at the holy altar of the temple of God. It is wonderful to know that we have a Father in Heaven who does love us and cares for us.

When I was a child I grew up in a different religion. In the evenings, at 6:00 sharp the church bells tolls and its time for our family to kneel down and pray together. While my father finds it impossible to join us because of his work shifts, my mom would faithfully gather us each evening to say our family prayer. From this constant practice of daily prayer I grew up with a strong testimony of God. I grew up knowing that He is there when I needed Him. I grew up knowing that I should not fear because God is always on my side. The habit of saying a prayer I learned from my mom has become my refuge in my very times of need. The answers to my prayers are the building blocks of my faith in God. I want to teach this principle to my children. And yes, oftentimes I saw them kneeling down by themselves privately whenever they need their Heavenly Father’s help.

Family is the essential unit of our society. In our church we knew that family is an eternal unit. We came from one God’s big own family. Before we came to earth we were organized as families and on the earth it’s our turn and duty with our family to help each other, to bring each other back to the glory of God. We become accountable to each other. We are our brother’s keeper. We cannot go back to face Heavenly Father someday and simply say, oh it was his own business.

As parents we were given the stewardship to raise, train, and to teach our children how to choose the right. As children to our parents, we are commanded by the Lord to keep heed to the counsels of our parents. If we do these faithfully, the strength of our foundation as a family unit becomes stronger. And when the winds come, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon our house, and it fell not, for it is built upon a rock.

I have a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel in our lives. When we choose the right, our lives straighten up and blessings flow.

I know that our family is a gift of God to us. Whether they are our parents, our brothers, our sisters, our aunties, our uncles, our grandparents, our cousins, wives, husbands, sons or daughters, they are all there given to us to help us grow as an eternal unit of society. We become one with God if we walk hand in hand, supporting each other in times of need. We should be willing to carry each others burden. And yes, we need to love each other despite of each others differences; we just need to be more forgiving, more understanding, and more faithful to each other.

I know that if we do these things, we will enjoy our life with our family. I know that God loves each one of us. He knows us by name. He has given us a prophet to guide us in these last days. He has called upon us leaders to sit down and counsel with us. I know that God lives. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.