Part of a Family

You may be single, but you still have a family.

The Lord Sent Each of Us to a Family

“At times when one speaks of home and family, some who are single, widowed, a single parent, or a grandparent might be tempted to feel these teachings don’t apply to them. But may I remind all that when the Lord sent us here for our individual growth, he sent us to live with and be nurtured spiritually and temporally by a family. The Lord organized the whole earth this way. There is no other way to enter mortality. … It doesn’t matter if your parents or spouse or brothers or sisters are members, nonmembers, living, or dead, they are still your family. And if you are righteous and faithful to the end, no matter what your present status, you ultimately will be blessed as part of a family unit.”
Elder Gene R. Cook of the Seventy, “Home and Family: A Divine Eternal Pattern,” Ensign, May 1984, 31; emphasis in original.

More on this topic: See Deena King, “The Proclamation on the Family: For Every One of Us,”Ensign, Dec. 2000, 20–21; Kandy Martin, “Are You a Mommy?”Ensign, July 1999, 28–29; Gene R. Cook, “Home and Family: A Divine Eternal Pattern,”Ensign, May 1984, 30–31.
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Illustrated by Greg Newbold