Our Last Class For Now

Brothers and Sisters, my young friends. It has been a wonderful experience to be able to take this semester to share some things from my heart, that I hope you will take at least something with you. As we have reached the end, I welcome you to our last class for now of Family Relations 101 with Brother Alma. I hope to be able to share a few brief remarks on our subject today, but also end with thoughts on marriage and on the family.

There are some devastating things that can happen when we are not focusing on our marriages and families. There is a word that when we all hear it we tremble and shake as if we have been frightened out of our minds. That word is Divorce. Now, I don't bring this up to scare you, but I mention it because it is something that you are to protect your marriage from.

My mission president and his wife when they were married they agreed that one word from the dictionary and from their vocabulary would be taken away, and that word would be divorce. Now I know that some marriages end in divorce, but what I am suggesting is the attitude of what my mission president was trying to teach us. We have the power to prevent such things from happening. We believe that we don't have that kind of power sometimes but we do. A loving Heavenly Father has given us a divine gift that comes as part of our eternal experience, and that is agency. We have referred to this before about loving our choice. With this power to choose we have a key element to what we need to save our marriages and families.

As it has been taught in the past, sometimes a divorce is what was needed to occur. And from a divorce even though that is already a hard transition, can come the transition of remarriage, which can work out, or may not work out. These transitions can bring about happiness, and can also bring about sorrow. But it goes back to another choice, the power to choose to make things work. For things to work we need to put in the effort. It is not something that happens over night. I understand that those who go through a divorce that it is not overnight that one can heal, or those that remarry have it all figured out, there is still work to do.

Even in a working successful marriage there is work to be done. The Eternal Unit that you are as husband and wife, does not become perfected over night. Our marriages and families, right after God, should be the most important part of our lives. The structure that you will find yourself in whether you are married, divorced, or remarried, you will need to put in the work to make things flourish. Each different structure will have its ups and downs, but as we have mentioned before, when we have God involved in our families, we will always find the light and He will always guide us to the answers and help we seek.

I know that I probably have not done a tremendous job on helping you with your questions concerning divorce and remarriage. It is a delicate subject and needs to be talked about with great care. I have learned in this past week that many who end up in a divorce about two years later either one of the ex-spouses or both say that they could have and should have saved their marriages. Now that is a hard response especially when there are children involved. The biggest question would be with these individuals who responded this way, "well why didn't you work it out then?" There could be no easy answer.

Remember though that you have this awesome power of agency. And with this power you have responsibilities. My young friends do not let divorce trouble you. What you should focus on is to find ways so that doesn't happen to you. And if you have known someone who has been able to make it through that difficult situation, you can ask them how they have done that. If you come from a situation where parents have remarried, or you know of people that have remarried, and things are working out, with faith and sincerity ask them also how they have been able to do that. Always though listen to the Spirit. I suggest that to you because the Spirit of God will never lead you astray. And the Spirit will help you understand what you need to learn from what is being said.

Again do not let divorce trouble you. When you put in your effort, with love and humility, and with full commitment to work, you will be able to go through the challenging times and the amazing times. Becoming of one heart and of one mind is a process. Take care of your marriages and families. Remember, Eternity is a long time, but a Glorious time. For us to be happy for eternity, we need to choose to do our best, set our priorities, forgive, work, and love one another. Successful marriages focusing on these things will progress each passing day to their ultimate potential.

Until next time.