Women in the Scriptures Strengthened their Families
(If they feel comfortable doing so, have the women dress up as their part to make it more fun for the children)
EVE
ESTER
MARY, mother of Jesus
SARIAH
MOTHER OF A STRIPLING WARRIOR
LUCY MACK SMITH, mother of Joseph Smith
NARRATOR: We are here tonight to discuss the Proclamation to the World as seen through the eyes of these women from the scriptures.
With us this evening we have Eve and Ester from the Old Testament, Mary, the mother of Jesus, from the New Testament, Sariah and a mother of a stripling warrior from the Book of Mormon, and Lucy Mack Smith from more recent church history.
Let's review the modern day Proclamation to the World and see how these faithful scripture womenincorporated it into their own families.
"The Family, a Proclamation to the World" is fairly new; it was introduced to the church only 14 years ago in 1995. Are these new commandments for us to live?
EVE: The commandments of God are eternal. While the Proclamation to the World might be new, the principles it contains are without beginning and end and are an essential part of the gospel on this earth. These principles were taught to me and my family, have been taught through the ages, and are still in force at this time.
NARRATOR: If these principles are already found in the scriptures, why did the first presidency issue this proclamation to the world?
STRIPLINGWARRIOR MOTHER: I never had a copy of the scriptures in my home. Many people today might have scriptures, but do not know what is in them. The family in this day is under attack, in a very real way. Just like my people, the people of Ammon, were attacked by the Lamanites with their weapons, evil people in the world today are attacking the Heavenly Father's pattern for a family. Prophets are commanded to warn the people. I think that the Proclamation was issued at this time to emphasize the importance of the family, to defend it, and to warn those who continue to attack the family about the judgments of God.
NARRATOR: Let's read through the Proclamation and see if we can find examples of how these principles have been lived through the ages. I will read paragraphs from the proclamation and we will hear responses from these righteous women.
"We, the first presidency and council of the twelve apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God."
EVE: Adam and I were married by the Lord in the Garden of Eden. I think that it sets the standard and example of how important marriage is to Heavenly Father. It was an essential covenant from the beginning of the world, and it is necessary for our eternal progression.
NARRATOR: "That the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of his children."
SARIAH: When my husband was commanded to flee into the wilderness, he was not commanded to go alone, but he was commanded to take his family with him. Heavenly Father didn't say to take his friends or his church group, just his family. After we had escaped from Jerusalem, God commanded my sons to go back and get Ishmael's family so that they could have good wives and could have families of their own. There are only two things God sent us back to Jerusalem for, the scriptures and families. I think that shows how important the family is to Heavenly Father.
NARRATOR: "All human beings -male and female- are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and as such each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."
EVE: When first placed on this earth, I was given the name of 'Eve' which means 'mother of all living'. This was before I had any children. Heavenly Father knew me before I came to earth and gave me a special mission to perform as the first mother here.
ESTER: My cousin Mordecai felt that I had a divinely appointed mission to save my people. When I was scared about approaching the king, he gave me counselby saying that it could be possible that, to save my people at that time, might be exactly what Heavenly Father sent me to earth to accomplish. Knowing that Heavenly Father had a plan for me gave me the courage to do the things I had to do.
MARY: My divine destiny was known in the premortal world. The prophet Nephi had a vision 600 years before the birth of Jesus. He saw me and knew I was to be the mother of the Savior.
NARRATOR: "In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life."
MARY: That paragraph in the proclamation explains our whole purpose for being here on this earth. In the premortal world we all lived with our Father in Heaven who loves us. Before he sent us here, he wanted to make sure there was a way we could return to Him. The mission of Jesus Christ as our Savior in the Plan of Salvation makes it possible for us to come to earth to receive a body, be tested, and gain experiences that will help us progress eternally.
NARRATOR: The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.
LUCY: We had a happy family life at home. One of our sons, Alvin, died as a young man. The temple ordinances, restored by my son Joseph, enable our family to be sealed together forever. I was not able to attend the temple in my lifetime, but throughvicarious work for the dead, I was able to receive the sacred ordinances that will help me progress eternally and bind our family together. I am grateful that this knowledge is again on the earth.
STRIPLING WARRIOR MOTHER: When we accepted the gospel, we repented of our sins, and as a covenant with Heavenly Father buried our weapons of war. When the Lamanites came upon us, we dared not take up our swords again, but would rather die than break our covenant with Heavenly Father.
NARRATOR: "The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the scared powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife."
EVE: The first thing Heavenly Father commanded Adam and I to do is to have children. If we had not had children then Heavenly Father's plan for his spirit children to come to earth would have ended. Even though there are millions of people on the earth now, Heavenly Father has never revoked this commandment to have children. Sometimes living in a family can seem hard, hard enough that there are some people who say it is not worth getting married, or that children are too much trouble. My own family life did not always go smoothly. Heavenly Father knows that learning and growing in a family can make us the happiest and so has given us this commandment.
NARRATOR:"We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan."
STRIPLINGWARRIOR MOTHER: Before we were taught the gospel, my people were fierce and warlike. After being taught by Ammon and his brothers, we had such strong testimonies of the gospel that we could not bear the thought of killing another person and we buried our swords. Later, when the Lamanites came to attack us, we would not fight back, but instead,some of our people, more than 1,000 of them, were killed rather than harming another person. This respect for life proved to be a very effective missionary tool and many people were converted to the gospel through our faith. In fact, more people were converted than had been killed.
ESTER:I knew it was wrong when some evil individuals in my day planned to kill otherpeople just because they were Jews. I knew I had to save them. I risked my life to ask the king to change the law so that many innocent people would not be killed.
Today, sometimes innocent people are still killed. This includes babies who have not yet been born. Although there are some laws to protect them, some people sill think abortion is OK. The proclamation reaffirms the commandment that God gave to Moses, "Thou shalt not kill".
NARRATOR: "Husband and wife have asolemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. "Children are an heritage of the Lord"" (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve oneanother, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives - mother and fathers - will be held accountable before God of the discharge of these obligations."
SARIAH: When we left Jerusalem, we knew we would have to take care of our family in the desert, sowe took the things we would need like tents, food, and animals, and bows and arrows to obtain food with. This provided for our physical needs.
After our sons brought the brass plates from Jerusalem, Lehi read to them from the scriptures so they would also be spiritually fed.
When my son Nephi was confronted with killing Laban, he knew it was against the law to kill another man. He knew it was against the commandments as well. He hesitated, and it was only through the promptings and confirmation of the spirit that he dared to break the law.
LUCY: I worked hard to take care of my children. We did not have the money to buy everything we needed, so I spent my life working, sewing, and preserving food so that my family would be taken care of.
We taught Christian principles in our home. My son Joseph was taught to respect the laws of the land. Even though he was imprisoned unlawfully several times, rather than retaliate he tried to work things out in the courts of justice.
Joseph loved and served all those around him. He certainly deserved his well known name of 'Brother Joseph'.
MARY: We tried to take good care of Jesus. When Jesus was 12 years old we went to Jerusalem for the feast. On the way home we noticed Jesus was not with our group. When we couldn't find him, we left the group and turned back to Jerusalem to look for him.
The scriptures say that Jesus "grew and waxed strong in the spirit." They also say that he "increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man."
NARRATOR: The Family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.
MARY: Even though Jesus was the Son of God, Heavenly Father knew that Jesus would need an earthly father as well. Though I was a select woman, I could not raise Jesus alone. Joseph was a good man who Heavenly Father appointed to be the earthly father of Jesus. Joseph and I were married before Jesus was born. Heavenly Father knows that it is important for children to have both a father and a mother as part of their family.
NARRATOR: "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ."
LUCY:Ours was a religious home. Though we did not have the truth of the restored gospel, we lived a Christian life style, went to church, prayed, and read the Bible together. Religion was important to me, so I chose to join the PresbyterianChurch, but after my son Joseph organized the true church on the earth we joinedwith the Latter-Day Saints.
NARRATOR: "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."
ESTER: I encouraged all that were in my house to fast and pray with me. It was through living these principles that I was able to save my people from destruction.
LUCY: This paragraph contains principles important to my family. In our family all these things were not only taught, and practiced as well. If Joseph had not been taught faith and prayer, he would not have received the first vision. I had a great love and compassion for my son Joseph. I respected what he said and believed him.
When Martin Harris lost the translated pages, Joseph had to exercise both forgiveness for Brother Harris and repentance on his own part.
It seemed that most of our life was centered around work, work just to provide the daily needs for our family. Still, we enjoyed life; my sons took pleasure in a good wrestling match.
SARIAH: Once my sons had returned from Jerusalem and I had repented of my complaining, I exclaimed that I knew that we could do all things which the Lord had commanded us. My children had learned faith from my example, for when Nephi was faced with the challenge of getting the plates from Laban, he used my exact same words to reassure his brothers.
Once in the wilderness, we had to work together to survive. The women in our group worked so hard they became strong like the men, and were able to endure the trials of bearing children and wandering in the desert.
When it came time to cross the sea, Heavenly Father knew Nephi needed help to build the ship. Through Nephi, Heavenly Father demonstrated his power. Laman and Lemuel temporarily repented,and Nephi once again forgave them for what they had done to him. They all worked together to build a ship according the Heavenly Father's instructions.
NARRATOR: By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.
LUCY: Even though my son Joseph was a prophet, he respected his father's place in the family. AWhen Joseph needed an operation on his leg, he trusted that his father and asked that he be stay with him and help him through the ordeal.
After his visit from the angel Moroni, Joseph went to his father to tell him about it and ask for guidance. When Joseph needed an operation on his leg, he trusted that his father and asked that he be stay with him and help him through the ordeal.
MARY: My husband Joseph was the head of our family. Even though I was the mother of the Son of God, Joseph was the one divinely appointed to preside and protect our family. After Jesus was born, Joseph, not myself, was the one who received the revelation that our family should take the baby and go to Egypt. Otherwise, Jesus could have been killed by Herod.
The scriptures say that as a young child Jesus knew he was the Son of God, that he was 'subject unto them' meaning he obeyed Joseph and Mary.
SARIAH: It was hard for us to leave our nice home in Jerusalem and all our friends there. Yet I knew my husband was the one to preside over our family so wefollowed his counsel as a righteous priesthood holder and went with him.
When Lehi asked our sons to get the plates from Laban, they took so long to get back that I was worried that something had happened to them. I began to complain to Lehi that he had made a terrible mistake taking our family into the wilderness. When my sons finally returned I knew my husband Lehi was truly commanded by Heavenly Father to take our family into the wilderness, and although it was still hard, (I had two more sons in the wilderness) I never complained against his leadership again.
NARRATOR: Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.
STRIPLING WARRIOR MOTHER:When Heleman organized his army of stripling warriors, he was amazed that even at their young age they had great courage. They told him they had great faith because of their mothers. We had been converted by Ammon and never wavered from the truth. Our sons grew up with this knowledge and developed great courage through our faith.
NARRATOR:"In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstance may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed."