Individual Worth & The Eternal Family

One thing I think is important before talking about Eternal Families is knowing who we are and knowing about our divine origins. 

Bishop H. Burke Peterson has said:

“One of the greatest challenges is to overcome the feeling that we are unimportant, that we are not special and unique. Do you think for a moment that Heavenly Father would have sent one of His children to this earth by accident, without the possibility of a significant work to perform? …"

**My favorite Disney movie is The Lion King and it has a lot of symbolism in it that parallels with the gospel. 

In the movie, after Simba's father is killed, he runs away and grows up away from home. After Simba's best friend from childhood, Nala, finds him while hunting for food, she insists that he has to come back home. Simba, however, tells her over and over again that he cannot come back. He still feels guilt for causing his father's death, a notion that his Uncle Scar put into his head when he was just a small cub.

It is after this event that one of the most influential parts of the movie takes place. Simba is all alone on the African plains and speaks out loud to his father,  “You said you’d always be there for me, but you’re not, and it’s my own fault.”  He hangs his head and is feeling hopeless. This is when Rafiki, the mandrill baboon, comes along. Simba asks, “Who are you?” To which Rafiki answers, “The question is, WHO are you?” And Simba says, “I thought I knew, but now I’m not so sure.” Rafiki tells Simba that he knows who Simba is, that he is Mufasa's son and that Mufasa is alive and that he knows where he is. Rafiki leads Simba to a small body of water, in which Simba peers over the edge, only to find that he sees a reflection of himself in the water. He sighs and says, “That’s not my father. It’s just my reflection.” Rafiki responds while pointing…”No….look harder….” Simba looks again. Rafiki says, “You see…he lives in YOU.” Then Simba has an experience where he sees his father… “Simba, you have forgotten me….” his father says. “No…how could I?” Simba responds. And then Mufasa says one of the most profound things in the entire movie… “You have forgotten who you are and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are MORE than what you have become. Remember who you are. You are my son. Remember who you are.”  And then he disappears…** Doesn't that sound like something our Father in Heaven might say to us? “You have forgotten who you are, and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself, You are MORE than what you have become. Remember who you are. You are my son, or you are my daughter. You are my child. Remember who you are.” Robert D. Hales said in his talk The Eternal Family, "From the earliest beginnings, God established the family and made it eternal. Adam and Eve were sealed in marriage for time and all eternity: “And thus all things were confirmed unto Adam, by an holy ordinance, and the Gospel preached, and a decree sent forth, that it should be in the world, until the end thereof; and thus it was” (Moses 5:59).  “And Adam knew his wife, and she bare unto him sons and daughters, and they began to multiply and to replenish the earth” (Moses 5:2). My favorite quote from Elder Hales' talk is,  "The eternal nature of our body and our spirit is a question often pondered by those who live in mortality. All people who will ever live on earth are members of a human family and are eternal children of God, our loving Heavenly Father. After birth and tasting of death in mortality, all will be resurrected because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God the Father. Depending on our individual obedience to the laws, ordinances, and commandments of God, each mortal can have the blessing of attaining eternal life; that is, returning to live in the presence of their Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, having eternal increase for all the eternities to come. Through making and keeping the sacred covenants found in the temple ordinances, individuals can return to the presence of God and will be reunited with their families eternally."'  My eternal family is so important to me. I am so grateful that my parents were worthy to marry in the temple, for time and all eternity, and that my sister and I were able to be born into that covenant. Taking this course has made me better appreciate my own family. I have loved learning about how to strengthen family relationships. I have also enjoyed learning techniques and gathering ideas that I can use in my own future family one day.