reverence for sacred things

Brothers and sisters, we do not need to climb to the top of a mountain, like Moses did, to discover reverence for sacred things and convert our discipleship into a deeper level of spirituality and devotion. We can find it, for example, as we strive to protect our home environment from worldly influences. This can be accomplished by sincerely and fervently praying before our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ and seeking to better know our Savior through our diligent study of the word of God found in the scriptures and in the teachings of our prophets. Additionally, such spiritual transformation can come as we strive to honor the covenants we have made with the Lord by living in obedience to the commandments. These efforts can bring a quiet and certain stillness to our hearts. Focusing on such actions can surely help transform our homes into reverent places of spiritual refuge—personal sanctuaries of faith where the Spirit resides, much like the mountain experience of Moses.

Ulisses Soares

"Reverence for Sacred Things", General Conference April 2025

unless it quits trying

Love is the thing that changes hearts. It is the purest motive of all, and others can feel it. Let’s hold fast to these prophetic words offered 50 years ago: “No home is a failure unless it quits trying.” Surely, those who love the most and the longest win!

Tamara W. Runia

"Seeing God’s Family through the Overview Lens," General Conference October 2023

centers on family life

“The great plan of happiness” centers on family life. The husband is the head of the home and the wife the heart of the home. And marriage is an equal partnership. A Latter-day Saint man is a responsible family man, faithful in the gospel. He is a caring, devoted husband and father. He reveres womanhood. The wife sustains her husband. Both parents nurture the spiritual growth of their children. 

Boyd K. Packer, "Guided by the Holy Spirit." April 2011 General Conference

the laboratory of our lives

All of us remember the home of our childhood. Interestingly, our thoughts do not dwell on whether the house was large or small, the neighborhood fashionable or downtrodden. Rather, we delight in the experiences we shared as a family. The home is the laboratory of our lives, and what we learn there largely determines what we do when we leave there.

President Thomas S. Monson, “Hallmarks of a Happy Home,” Ensign Nov. 1988 as quoted in To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson by Heidi Swinton, Deseret Book. 2010.

security born of unquenchable faith

Security is not born of inexhaustible wealth, but of unquenchable faith. And generally that kind of faith is born and nurtured in the home and in childhood.




Spencer W. Kimball, “Family Prayer,” Prayer. Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, UT. 1978. P.86

I am sick of the roar of cities
And of faces cold and strange,
I know where there's warmth and welcome
And my yearning fancies range
Back to the dear old homestead,
With an aching sense of pain,
But there'll be joy in the coming
When I go home again.


Anonymous. Marion G. Romney: His Life and Faith by F. Burton Howard. Bookcraft. Salt Lake City. 1988. P.24

Homemaking is a word of disparagement in the eyes of some, and it should not be. But we may need to define it. Homemaking is not just baking bread or cleaning a house. Homemaking is to make the environment necessary to nurture our children toward eternal life, which is our responsibility as parents. And that homemaking is as much for fathers as it is for mothers.


Elder Oaks. Roundtable Discussion (Dallin H. Oaks, Jeffrey R. Holland, Julie B. Beck, Susan W. Tanner, Cheryl C. Lant) - Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Building Up a Righteous Posterity, February 9, 2008

I saw a wonderful mother in Mexico in a very humble home. She had a little courtyard outside her front door, and she had painted a garden on the wall. She didn't have any ground to grow a garden in. She had a wall, so she painted a garden, with flowers and trees and a fountain. She wanted to create a climate for growth for her family. What a beautiful thought she had to make a place to give her family that vision.


Sister Beck. Roundtable Discussion (Dallin H. Oaks, Jeffrey R. Holland, Julie B. Beck, Susan W. Tanner, Cheryl C. Lant) - Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Building Up a Righteous Posterity, February 9, 2008

All of us remember the home of our childhood. For most of us, our thoughts do not dwell on whether the house was large or small, the neighborhood fashionable or downtrodden. Rather, we delight in the experiences we shared as a family.


President Thomas S. Monson, "A Sanctuary from the World" - Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Building Up a Righteous Posterity February 9, 2008

At times we may become bored or irritated with home and family and familiar surroundings. Such may seem less than glamorous, with a sense of sameness, and other places may sometimes seem more exciting. But when we have sampled much and have wandered far and have seen how fleeting and sometimes superficial a lot of the world is, our gratitude grows for the privilege of being part of something we can count on—home and family and the loyalty of loved ones. We come to know what it means to be bound together by duty, by respect, by belonging. We learn that nothing can fully take the place of the blessed relationship of family life.


President Thomas S. Monson, "A Sanctuary from the World" - Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Building Up a Righteous Posterity February 9, 2008

I've always felt that the ultimate end of all of the activities and programs of the Church rests in a man and a woman and their family being happy at home.


President Boyd K. Packer, "The Proclamation on the Family" - Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Building Up a Righteous Posterity February 9, 2008

Our families need the peace of God in their lives, and if we can't or won't invite the Lord into our lives, then our families become a reflection of our own turmoil. Women are asked to be nurturers to their families, but we must also be firm; we must be the hard rock footings on which our homes can stand. Our families need us to speak peace to them, just as the Lord speaks peace to us. Our homes need to be places where our families and friends want to be, where all who enter our homes can draw strength and courage to face the challenges of living in an increasingly wicked world. Our children need to hear us 'talk of Christ, . . . rejoice in Christ, [and] preach of Christ' (2 Nephi 25:26) so that they may know to what source they can look for the peace that 'passeth all understanding' (Philippians 4:7).


Kathleen H. Hughes, "Remembering the Lord's Love," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 112

a spiritual feeling in their home

If we are practicing our faith and seeking the companionship of the Holy Spirit, his presence can be felt in our hearts and in our homes. A family having daily family prayers and seeking to keep the commandments of God and honor his name and speak lovingly to one another will have a spiritual feeling in their home that will be discernible to all who enter it.


Dallin H. Oaks, "Always Have His Spirit," Ensign, Nov. 1996, 60-61