“Lesson 28 Class Preparation Material: Feeling Hope for Building an Eternal Family,” The Eternal Family Teacher Material (2022)
“Lesson 28 Class Preparation Material,” The Eternal Family Teacher Material
Lesson 28 Class Preparation Material
Feeling Hope for Building an Eternal Family
Think about what you have learned and experienced in your study of the eternal family during this course. How have these teachings influenced your testimony, desires, and actions? As you study this final lesson, consider what the Lord might want you to do so you can live with greater hope as you strive to build and strengthen your own eternal family.
Section 1
Why can I have hope for building an eternal family?
President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency taught that we can have hope for building a loving eternal family:
All of us hope for the joy of living in loving families. For some of us, it is a feeling we have not experienced—a feeling we know is possible but have not yet realized. We may have seen it in the lives of others. For others of us, family love has seemed more real and precious when death has separated us from a child, a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, or a loving and beloved grandparent. …
… If we are blessed to find the restored gospel, we can choose to make and keep the covenants with God that qualify us for eternal life. As we endure in that faithfulness, the Holy Ghost will confirm our hope and confidence that we are on the path to eternal life, to live in families forever in the celestial kingdom. (“The Hope of Eternal Family Love,” Ensign, Aug. 2016, 4)
Our faith in our Heavenly Father’s plan and in His Son, Jesus Christ, can give us hope that we can build an eternal family. The Lord wants to help us, and through His power we can overcome challenges. In the New Testament we read of how Elisabeth became pregnant well beyond childbearing years and Mary, a virgin, became the mother of the Son of God. Each of these women faced different circumstances, but they both understood that “with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).
Record Your Thoughts
Identify an example from the scriptures or your own family experience of how the Lord helps those who trust in Him and seek His help. Take a few minutes to record your responses to the following questions in a notebook or note-taking app:
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What truths about the Lord might the individual (or individuals) in this account counsel you to remember?
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What might the individual (or individuals) counsel you to do in your efforts to build an eternal family?
Section 2
How can I have hope for building an eternal family if I don’t come from a family that is strong in following the Savior?
Some young adults have not experienced or witnessed righteous family patterns in their families. Some have watched their parents’ marriages end in divorce. Those who have experienced these or other difficult circumstances may wonder if they really can build an eternal family.
Elder Yoon Hwan Choi of the Seventy taught about the difference our choices can make for our eternal family:
All of us are in the middle of an eternal family. Our role can be a turning point at which significant changes can occur in positive or negative ways. …
… There are generations before us and after us depending on us to follow Christ so that we can be an eternal family of God. (“Don’t Look Around, Look Up!,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 91, 92)
The prophet Abraham is a powerful example of how we can choose to be a positive “turning point” for our own family. Some of Abraham’s family, including his own father, had turned away from the commandments of the Lord. They chose instead to worship false gods. (See Abraham 1:5–6.)
Study in Preparation for Class
Read Abraham 1:2, and look for what Abraham desired and chose despite his circumstances.
When wicked priests attempted to sacrifice Abraham to their false gods, the Lord miraculously saved Abraham. Later, He led Abraham and some of his extended family to another land. While they were there, the Lord promised Abraham important blessings, including the blessing of an eternal family. (See Abraham 1:7–18; 2:3–4, 8–11.)
Like Abraham, we can seek after the blessings of an eternal family and receive the Lord’s help in building one, whatever our family’s circumstances have previously been.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testified:
To children whose family situation is troubled, we say, you yourself are no less for that. Challenges are at times an indication of the Lord’s trust in you. He can help you, directly and through others, to deal with what you face. You can become the generation, perhaps the first in your family, where the divine patterns that God has ordained for families truly take shape and bless all the generations after you. (“Fathers,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 96)
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared his own experience with choosing to build an eternal family. Read the statement below or listen to it, beginning at time code 25:47 and ending at 28:15.
With the help of the Lord, you can create an eternal family, even if you did not come from the kind of Latter-day Saint home that sometimes is featured on the covers of the [Church] magazines. Please always remember: it begins with you!
The very fact that I had not experienced righteous family patterns in my boyhood home created in me a strong desire to work diligently with Susan to make sure such patterns were always a part of the home we created together. As we counseled with one another and pleaded for help in our prayers, we were inspired and blessed to help our children learn the principles of the Savior’s restored gospel. We certainly were not perfect parents, but we received the spiritual gifts we needed and found “help … beyond [our] own” [“Lord, I Would Follow Thee,” Hymns, no. 220].
You and I are not trapped in our past experiences. We are not wholly and totally victims of our present circumstances or captives of our environment. The Holy Ghost will teach us all things that we should do, including patterns of family righteousness in which we have not previously participated. It begins with you! And with the Lord’s help, you can do it.
Some of you have had your hearts broken by family members or respected leaders who have not honored sacred marriage covenants. You may ask yourself, “If my parents or other couples I have known were sealed in the temple and their marriages did not succeed, what hope can I have that my marriage will last forever?”
To you who have experienced the heartache of a divorce in your family or felt the agony of violated trust, please remember it begins again with you! One link in the chain of your generations may have been broken, but the other righteous links and what remains of the chain are nonetheless eternally important. You can add strength to your chain and perhaps even help to restore the broken links. That work will be accomplished one by one. (“A Welding Link” [worldwide devotional for young adults, Sept. 10, 2017], broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org)
Ponder in Preparation for Class
Think about your future (or current) children. What righteous family patterns might they want you to start or continue? Are there any patterns of unrighteous behavior they would want you to discontinue? How can the Lord help you as you do so?
Section 3
What have you learned and experienced in your study of the eternal family?
As you approach the end of this course, consider what you have learned about the importance of the family in our Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation and in your own life.
Regarding the importance of families, President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
Brothers and sisters, the most important cause of our lifetime is our families. If we will devote ourselves to this cause, we will improve every other aspect of our lives and will become, as a people and as a church, an example and a beacon for all peoples of the earth. (“That the Lost May Be Found,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 98)
Ponder in Preparation for Class
Look back through the titles of the lessons in this course. As you do, reflect on the following questions:
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How has this course influenced your understanding and testimony of the Lord’s teachings on marriage and the family?
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What has been one of your most significant takeaways from this course?
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What have you learned about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ throughout this course? How has your relationship with Them been strengthened?