The above scripture from 2 Nephi 28:24 surely applies to our day. As the family is literally being attacked on all fronts, the basic unit of our society is being torn apart.
Members of the church in California are being taxed with a great mission to urge the passing of an amendment to their constitution that would defend marriage as being between a man and a woman. As my daughter is raising her family there, I am greatly concerned about the future of marriage and the family in this state.
The plague of pornography is keeping young men from marrying. I sat holding a weeping young friend of mine as she told me her boyfriend had just confessed that he couldn't take her to the temple because of his addiction. A stake president of a young married stake at BYU reported to me that the number one problem he faced was the addiction of married young men to pornography. The hearts of their wives were being broken daily and new marriages were being destroyed.
Modern fiction, film and TV represent the family in contorted, perverted ways. Living together out of wedlock is the norm. A top selling book I recently read (and believe me I didn't see this coming) portrayed a woman who fell in love with a transvestite and preferred him in his female personality because she could talk to him better that way!
Those of us who write “clean, family supportive fiction” are put in a small section in the back of the bookstore, titled “Inspirational.” At least someone realizes what we write is inspirational, but when we are pigeonholed there, we only get to “preach to the choir.”
How Can We Get our Message Across?
It is my true belief that those of us who were born and received the Gospel at this time in this dispensation were all given a mission to help prepare the earth for the Second Coming. These missions grow increasingly urgent.
We have seen a Mormon presidential candidate mocked and scorned because he was “too clean,” because he had no vices. One woman interviewed for TV, said, “How can you trust a man like that?” Romney also touched some invisible button that resulted in the venting of vitriolic anti-Mormonism. Every lie Satan could muster about our “cult” was aired on prime time news.
Clearly, we have a lot of work to do concerning our image and what we stand for. It is time for each of us to prayerfully, humbly approach the Lord and ask him to reveal to us what we can do in this battle against Satan to tear our society apart. We cannot afford to be at ease in Zion . This will take many of us out of our comfort zone.
I would much rather write articles and books that don't contain sex, violence, or bad language for Meridian and Deseret Book, than to try to write for non LDS consumption. But I know that I must at least try to get a pro-family message across. It is like pushing a huge rock up a hill to go against the liberal New York publishing establishment. However, this is where I have to draw on the enabling power of the atonement. The Lord wants his message out there. There are plenty of people who are not members of the Church who want to hear about intact, happy families. So I have to believe, have faith, and rely on the Lord to make up my lack. This means I must refine my talents, seek opportunities to share them, and step up to the bat when they come. I am basically shy, but I must be assertive about my beliefs and speak up when I have the chance.
All of us have talents and abilities. First, we must secure our homes against the evil that would destroy them. We must arm each child with the skills, faith, and desire to fight as the sons of Helaman. Then we must reach out in our communities with our given gifts to make our voices heard.
There has been much said in this American election about “change.” The enthusiasm for candidate Sarah Pallin is a huge indicator that people love a “hockey mom” who chose to give birth to a Down's Syndrome child. She represents the average, normal woman in America and she is unafraid of projecting that image. She has used it to her advantage. There is almost a collective sigh of relief among the majority of us who have been lampooned and under-represented for our beliefs.
Pure Religion
Most of us will not run for office, but we can consult God and our hearts to know how we can best serve. We need to hold one another up. Every single family has its challenges. How can we serve the widow? How can we educate the illiterate? How can we extend ourselves to those who carry so many worldly burdens that they can scarcely make it through a day?
First, we must strengthen our own individual relationship with our Savior, feel His grace and love. When we are full of His grace, we will be magnified. We will not be full of fear, but of “love and a sound mind,” as Paul says. We must remember the account in Elijah when the chariots of fire were seen. Legions of spirits are on our side. There are more with us than against us. We can be anxiously engaged without being anxious.
When we feel the power of the Savior within us, we want to serve. We want to go forth and feed the needy, serve the poor in spirit, “lift up the hands the hang down.” We want to magnify our talents and use them to serve the Lord in this day when we are doing battle against the adversary. My son actively uses the war chapters in the Book of Mormon as a blueprint for how to fight Satan and have success in preserving the Saints and converting the honest in heart.
If you have been blessed with a good education, how can you best use that education to change the lives of others for the better? How can you use it to bring souls to Christ? If you have been blessed materially, how can you use your wealth to lift others up? What about talent and imagination? Can you use these to put the church in a favorable spotlight? Look at little David Archuleta and the great exposure he gave the Church on American Idol! And then, of course, everyone knows Stephanie Meyer, a Mormon homemaker who blew Harry Potter off the number one spot on the New York Times best seller list, resulting in an in depth interview in Newsweek about her beliefs.
We all have a void within us that can only be filled by the unconditional love of the Savior for us and ours for others. When we are stretching ourselves, striving to push against stereotypes and the agents of Satan, we will not fall victim to the “pride cycle,” but will be filled with the enabling power of the atonement. We will realize our dependence on the Savior, and He will be ever present in our lives.
