The Family

Testimony of family
 I had a strange dream last night (Saturday night). 


A "worldly" young man married the girl he got pregnant then he starts to feel the need to become a father and husband in the true sense of the words. 
We were standing in a group of people and he asked if there was anyone who could help him come to know the truth and if Jesus could really help him. 


I stepped up in front of this young man (maybe 19) and I was wearing glasses and I took them off so I could look him in the eye with nothing in between our eyes.
I told him that yes, through the atonement of Jesus Christ he could be healed and made whole. 


I also told him if he accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ he could be taught what it meant and learn how to be a husband and a father. 


He had tears in his eyes and I saw the hope that he had and that he believed what I had told him. He felt he could move past the pain he was currently experiencing in his life. 


I felt the spirit as I told him those things. I also told him that I could get him in contact with missionaries who could teach him more and he accepted. 




 
This experience of sharing my testimony in my dream has deepened my testimony of family. For me the concept of family is just as natural as the air I breathe. I don't have to think much about if air exists or why it exists or why it is important to me. The same with family. 




The thought that there are those that don't understand and value family is one that I haven't given much thought to. But I've realized that is why so many people can be promiscuous and adulterous because they don't really know of and understand the doctrine of the family. 


If people really understood the importance of the family they would be doing anything and everything they could to protect their future or current family. Their decisions would be in line with "will this help or harm my family?" 


 I also felt the reality of the atonement as I testified to that man and saw in his eyes the hope and the change that was already starting to take place in his heart and in his desires to change and become better. It was no longer important to him to follow after his own lusts, he was ready to learn how to become the father of his home. 


 There is so much confusion that exists in the world and there are many people who need their hearts healed by the love and atonement of the Savior. And then they need to learn the doctrine of the family so they can experience the joy that comes from living after the manner that God intended us to live. 


 Definitely The Family: A Proclamation To The World is a timely document that those who are seeking to understand can read and study and use as a pattern to learn what family is. 


 Yesterday afternoon In conference Elder Scott talked about dreams and that we can be taught through them and I have just experienced that and it really is a powerful way to learn. But I don't know if I would have paid too much attention to my dream once I woke up, except that I remembered that Elder Scott mentioned the need to ponder on the dream and write down what thoughts came.
 


I almost didn't do this because I didn't want to get up and find something to write on. Thankfully my iPad was right next to my bed and I realized I could type it into the notepad.




As an additional note, there were many talks in conference about the family. In particular there was one on Sunday afternoon by M. Russell Ballard,  that listed the benefits of strong families and how they are necessary for society to prosper.