Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16, 2011. Our visiting Authorities are Elder Hallstrom a member of the Presidency of the Seventy and Elder Garns an Area Seventy.
"ONE VOICE"
Concerning conference, President Thomas S. Monson has said: “Those who will address us have sought heaven’s help and direction as they have prepared their messages. They have been impressed concerning that which they will share with us. . . . Our Heavenly Father loves each of us and is mindful of our needs” (“Welcome to Conference,” Ensign, May 2009, 6).
LOS ANGELES, California 13 August 2010 For decades visitors to the Los Angeles Temple have learned about the Mormon faith through a series of displays and exhibits. The center has now been updated with a full renovation two years in the making. The renovation of the Los Angeles Temple Visitors’ Center brings together bright, vibrant colors appropriate for the Southern California location, with the latest technology in interactive multimedia.
The center was expanded by about 20 percent to 12,817 square feet. The renovation includes a 180-seat theater, complete with a multipurpose space for films, cultural performances and traveling exhibits.
“Several new exhibits highlight simple principles and doctrines in practical ways for us to follow Jesus Christ,” said Mark Lusvardi, director of Church exhibits. “The key component with all our visitors’ centers is the focus on the Savior.”
A new entrance to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Visitors’ Center in Los Angeles has an all-glass front highlighting the centerpiece, an 11-foot Christus marble statue.
The center, which reopened to the public on 7 August, is located on Santa Monica Boulevard adjacent to the Los Angeles Temple.
“A spectacular new exhibit entitled Savior of the World takes visitors to an Old World setting as unique 3D-like images transport them to the Holy Land,” said Lusvardi. “Visitors will see where Jesus walked, what He taught and who He was.”
Adults can hear messages about the sacred nature of families while children draw digital pictures of their favorite family moments. This unique digital drawing area, designed exclusively for children, is a new visitors’ center feature. Children’s drawings can be emailed so they are available when they arrive home.
Outside, a new garden area features cleaned and restored statues depicting the family. The surrounding grounds are filled with palm trees and foliage native to Southern California. While much is new, much has been preserved, including the outdoor statue garden.
“The missionaries are really the number one exhibit,” said Lusvardi, “their smiles, their warmth and spirit.”
The visitors’ center includes a history of the Los Angeles Temple, including previously unseen video, interviews from President David O. McKay and a “testimonial from the first June bride,” as well as artifacts from the 1956 dedication.
There are 23 individual visitors’ centers nationwide, including many in close proximity to historic Church sites.
Our Responsibility to Nurture the Rising GenerationWithout nurturing, our rising generation could be in danger of becoming like the one described in Mosiah 26. Many youth didn't believe the traditions of their fathers and became a separate people as to their faith, remaining so ever after. Our rising generation could likewise be led away if they don't understand their part in Heavenly Father's plan.
So what is it that will keep the rising generation safe? In the Church, we teach saving principles, and those principles are family principles, the principles that will help the rising generation to form a family, teach that family, and prepare that family for ordinances and covenants—and then the next generation will teach the next and so on.
As parents, leaders, and Church members, we are preparing this generation for the blessings of Abraham, for the temple. We have the responsibility to be very clear on key points of doctrine found in the proclamation on the family. Motherhood and fatherhood are eternal roles and responsibilities. Each of us carries the responsibility for either the male or the female half of the plan.
We can teach this doctrine in any setting. We must speak respectfully of marriage and family. And from our example, the rising generation can gain great hope and understanding—not just from the words we speak but from the way we feel and emanate the spirit of family.
Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president.
From Our History
Addressing the sisters at the general Relief Society meeting on September 23, 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley said: "The world we are in is a world of turmoil, of shifting values. Shrill voices call out for one thing or another in betrayal of time-tested standards of behavior."1 President Hinckley then went on to introduce to the sisters, the Church, and ultimately people everywhere "The Family: A Proclamation to the World."
In subsequent years this prophetic document has been translated into many languages and distributed to world leaders. It asks citizens and government leaders "to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society."2
The proclamation has become the foundation for Latter-day Saint beliefs about the family, a statement to which we can hold fast and know that by living its precepts, we are strengthening our families and homes.
What Can I Do?
For more information, go to www.reliefsociety.lds.org.
Our Responsibility to Be Worthy of Temple Worship"What can the women of the Church do to claim the blessings of the temple?
"Through His prophets, the Lord invites those who have not yet received the blessings of the temple to do whatever may be necessary to qualify to receive them. He invites those who have already received these blessings to return as often as possible to enjoy again the experience, to increase their vision and understanding of His eternal plan.
"Let us be worthy to have a current temple recommend. Let us go to the temple to seal our families eternally. Let us return to the temple as often as our circumstances will permit. Let us give our kindred dead the opportunity to receive the ordinances of exaltation. Let us enjoy the spiritual strength and the revelation we receive as we attend the temple regularly. Let us be faithful and make and keep temple covenants to receive the full blessings of the Atonement."1
Silvia H. Allred, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency.
From the Scriptures
Strengthening Families and Homes
Strengthening at Every Opportunity
"Each of us is in a different family situation. Some families have a mother and father with children at home. Some couples no longer have children at home. Many members of the Church are single, and some are single parents. Others are widows or widowers living alone.
"No matter what our family looks like, each of us can work to strengthen our own families or help in strengthening others.
"[Once] I stayed in the home of my niece and her family. That evening before the children went to bed, we had a short family home evening and a scripture story. Their father told about the family of Lehi and how he taught his children that they must hold fast to the iron rod, which is the word of God. Holding fast to the iron rod would keep them safe and lead them to joy and happiness. If they should let go of the iron rod, there was danger of drowning in the river of dirty water.
"To demonstrate this to the children, their mother became the 'iron rod' that they must cling to, and their father played the role of the devil, trying to pull the children away from safety and happiness. The children loved the story and learned how important it is to hold fast to the iron rod. After the scripture story it was time for family prayer. . . .
"Scriptures, family home evening, and family prayer will strengthen families. We need to take every opportunity to strengthen families and support one another to stay on the right path."1
Barbara Thompson, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency.
From the Scriptures
Genesis 18:19; Mosiah 4:15; D&C 93:40; Moses 6:55–58
From Our History
From the beginning Relief Society has had a charge to strengthen families and homes. The Prophet Joseph taught sisters at an early Relief Society meeting, "When you go home, never give a cross or unkind word to your husbands, but let kindness, charity and love crown your works henceforward."2
In 1914 President Joseph F. Smith told Relief Society sisters, "Wherever there is ignorance or at least a lack of understanding in regard to the family, . . . there this organization exists or is near at hand, and by the natural endowments and inspiration that belongs to the organization they are prepared and ready to impart instruction with reference to those important duties."3
What Can We Do?
For more information, go to www.reliefsociety.lds.org.
Renewing Covenants through the Sacrament
"Since that upper room experience on the eve of Gethsemane and Golgotha, children of the promise have been under covenant to remember Christ's sacrifice in this newer, higher, more holy and personal way."1
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
We Renew Our Baptismal Covenants through the Sacrament
"When we are baptized, we take upon ourselves the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Taking upon us His name is one of the most significant experiences we have in life. . . .
"Each week in sacrament meeting we promise to remember the atoning sacrifice of our Savior as we renew our baptismal covenant. We promise to do as the Savior did—to be obedient to the Father and always keep His commandments. The blessing we receive in return is to always have His Spirit to be with us."2
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
"I was with an eight-year-old girl on the day of her baptism. At the end of the day she said with all confidence, 'I have been baptized for a whole day, and I haven't sinned once!' But her perfect day did not last forever, and I am sure she is learning by now, like we all learn, that as hard as we try, we do not always avoid every bad situation, every wrong choice. . . .
" . . . It is not possible to make real change all by ourselves. Our own willpower and our own good intentions are not enough. When we make mistakes or choose poorly, we must have the help of our Savior to get back on track. We partake of the sacrament week after week to show our faith in His power to change us. We confess our sins and promise to forsake them."3
Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president.
