Holidaze

Hello, everyone!

First off, I must say that I actually have my phone with me this time as I do E-mails, so I can share with you pictures that I have taken over the course of the week! Most are of the lights at Temple Square, though also included is a picture from right before the concert with the Bells at Temple Square mentioned in my last E-mail! I hope you enjoy them! (What, Elder Petersen?? No pictures of the Thanksgiving Dinner??)

Now, as I had predicted, nothing has changed for me at transfers. I am still in the same zone, on the same P-Day, living in the same apartment, and even with the same companion! If Elder Cole does not get emergency transferred from me halfway through the transfer as was Elder Black, he will be my longest companion in the mission! There will not be enough time left after this transfer for someone else to beat the record! Unless, of course, I get assigned to a companion who I have had before.

It does amaze me that I have been in the zone for 17 months now, and am currently going on my 18th. I think I have set the official record for the person who has been in the zone the longest, including back when the zone was still "Data Security". Elder Luebke was recently transferred out, making it so that the person who has been there for the second longest got here back in January - about a half year since I had first joined the zone, having been there for as long as I have been a district leader. In other words, I am an old man. I honestly would not mind a transfer out at this point - though I have been in the zone for quite some time, I would like to have some time to experience a change of scenery before I begin packing up my bags for the trip home. I do not hate the zone yet, and at this rate, I probably never will get to that point, even if I do stay in the zone for the rest of my mission; all I am saying is that it would be nice to be able to see something new.

So, I am sure that you all are wondering how the beginning of the holiday season turned out for me. Well, in short, it was a nice little break! As I believe I had already mentioned before, the library was closed down on Thursday and Friday; some of the mission did have to serve on Friday, as certain parts of the library functioned when they turned the lights on at Temple Square, but most of us had the entirety of the two days off. Therefore, there were a couple of scheduled activities especially for the young elders. I will talk more about this later in the E-mail. (spoiler alert: we watched two different football movies)

Anyway, I may have told you all that I would be preparing a dessert for the Thanksgiving dinner; well, before the dinner, we got a message saying that the only two different types of food needed for the dinner were pies and dinner rolls (everything else was either provided by the senior missionaries, or catered by a restaurant in the city). As I was a bit sick and tired of making pies, I decided I would try making some rolls for the occasion. However, this day, the young elders were asked to help set up for the dinner a couple hours before, and this went for a bit longer than I had anticipated; as a result, I had no time to actually make the dinner rolls, and that did not fall through. Oh well; perhaps I will choose a recipe that takes a little bit less time in the future. The dinner itself was great! There is nothing quite like a nice hearty Thanksgiving feast! After this, we were given some more time to ourselves after which the mission had put on a movie for us. Now, I am pretty at least one of the assistants to the president is a bit of a sports nut, or at least the mission wanted to motivate the mission as if we were out on the field; whatever the reason, the movie of the night was a sports movie, "Rudy". Now, I am not a sports fan, but sports movies are alright; I also feel that there are generally pretty good messages behind them.

The next day, of course, was Black Friday. You can probably guess how much I participated in that (not at all). Much of the day was open, so in addition to hanging out with some of the other missionaries, I also took some much-needed time for scripture study and apartment cleaning. I have learned that the hardest part of cleaning up an apartment is working up the motivation to actually get up and do it; once this is done, the cleaning itself is actually not that bad, and it is easy to keep going on to the next task - in fact, I sometimes even enjoy it to an extent. As some of you may know quite well, this was also the day the Church officially turned the lights on at Temple Square. I was of course present for this, but I did not stay long - I have never seen so many people here at Temple Square at any other time of the year, and it is a difficult crowd to navigate. Besides, I have learned that there will come plenty of other opportunities to enjoy the lights when less people are around - I do pass through the place quite often, after all. Soon after this one, another movie was put on for the young elders - yes, it was another sports movie, "Remember the Titans". And, of course, after this day, it was right back to work for those of us whose P-Days are not on Saturday. Quite the holiday, wouldn't you say! As nice as the holidays are, they do tend to get a little bit boring - there is only so much cleaning, studying, and going to someone else's place that can be done. So, though the holiday was nice, it is nice to be back in the swing of things. (Whew, this E-mail has a lot of white text!)

Now, today, I was going to have to help out with moving the zone back in to the JSMB; however, yesterday, I had gotten messages from both our supervisor and our zone leader, saying that the move had to be postponed until they can get more work done in preparing to receive us. Therefore, my P-Day is currently totally open, which is nice. Of course, finding an hour in a P-Day to go help out with such a project is definitely doable; however, it is also nice to not have to try and do that. It will, however, be quite nice to be able to move over to the JSMB, and see the sun for the first time in over a year.

And so, this has been about the whole of my week. It has been a nice little holiday, though keeping busy has also been nice. I look forward to seeing what the next week has in store for me, and writing back to you all about it. Have a good one!


From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: This week, I have in a sense failed in my P-Day shopping. This is because I did not make any plans for what exactly I was going to buy to sustain myself for the week (I didn't have a whole ton of money to do this with anyway, but that is besides the point). As I had failed to write out a menu plan, and then a shopping list, I was as a traveler without a road map in the grocery store - lost, not sure quite where to go or what to buy. Sure, there were a couple of things in my head which I had wanted to eat, but I didn't have any surety of what I would need to prepare them. Now, when I do take the time to plan something like this out, I have a nice little meal plan for the week, and I walk into the grocery store with a nice little shopping list - it saves me time and money, and I can feel confident that I will have all that I need to sustain myself throughout the week. Such is the importance of planning and goal setting. In the latter-days, we have been admonished by prophets, seers, and revelators to make planning and goal-setting a priority. "...if ye are prepared ye shall not fear." (D&C 38:30). What is the difference between goal-setting and planning? I guess that a simpler form of this question would be, what is the difference between a goal and a plan? A goal is, put simply, where you want to end up; a plan is your road map on how to get there. Therefore, before making a plan, one should have a goal. My goal for weeks where I actually plan out my diet is the meal-plan - what I plan on eating for the week. My plan is the shopping list which I take into the store with me - that is, the list of ingredients which I would need to be able to accomplish my task of creating the meals set forth in the meal plan. And what is the reward for such planning? I know what it is I am going to eat, and it will generally taste pretty good! Goal setting and planning, though it may seem like a burden at first, actually makes life easier for those who are proficient at it, for they know where they are going, and it will take them less time and effort for them to get there for they do not wander lost. So, my challenge for this week is to begin setting some good, worthwhile goals for yourself. Make them goals about how to better yourself and/or your situation. Once you have your goals down, write out a plan for how you are going to accomplish your goals. Once this is done, put forth the effort to follow through with the plan - all the effort put into making a goal and a plan is utterly wasted if the plan is never followed through with. All this is the key to change and improvement, and getting to where you dream that you will one day be. (

Drawing a blank

Hey, everyone! (No, the subject was not a pun, I really couldn't think of anything to write there)

So, the week has started out alright. On that note, it also had ended alright. There is also quite a bit which happened in the week, so I shall just get right into it.First off, I should note that, once again, transfers are today (yes, it was a short transfer). Moving notices have already gone out, and no one in my district has received one. I am currently relieved, but a little bit suspicious - this wouldn't be the first time that a moving notice had not gotten sent out to a missionary who needed one. I will just assume that things will be alright though. My having not received a moving notice informs me that, for myself, not a whole ton will change in this transfer. This will mean another month in the zone (what else is new?), as well as the same companion; perhaps the district will also remain intact, including the P-Days. But, we will see. There is also talk that a missionary who had previously gone home was going to make a comeback this month; this was verified by President Fenn in our week's leadership meeting, but he did not say who. I guess that we will have to wait and see what transfers brings then. I also ought to note that this will seemingly be my third month with Elder Cole, which if it goes uninterrupted as my companionship with Elder Black did, will give him the record of having had to put up with me being my companion for the longest amount of time of anyone who has been my companion. Of course, for someone who has never held on to a companion for a full three months, that is not saying a whole ton for him, but he still gets the distinction.

Speaking of Elder Cole, his dad had sent him over a whole bunch of pecans, because those are quite expensive here in Utah. So, my companion and I agreed that I needed to make a pecan pie for the occasion; therefore, I did just that! Baking has been a nice thing for me when there is not much else to do; though the prep can be a bit lengthy at times, I make sure to get other important things done when I can, including scripture study. Having a phone has also allowed me to listen to General Conference talks and other materials from the Gospel Library app while doing such preparing. I feel that every person needs some level of food-preparation ability past using a microwave to reheat food. Whenever possible, I like to make from scratch some nice things for me and my companion - and not even just dessert-type things! Last Saturday, I had made a nice lasagna for the two of us - we are still working on the leftovers, which for a missionary is awesome! That said, there are other important things to balance it all out with, especially as a missionary. I have been trying to keep things under control in that regard, and I think I am doing well. (Unfortunately, Mom, I cannot send you the pie that I had made for Pie Night - it's already partially eaten anyway.)

So, last Saturday is probably the most notable happening of the week. Now, as most of our Saturday evenings are very much open, we often keep an eye out for things for us to do on such days - after all, it is either this or hours of sitting bored in a lonely apartment. This week, however, we had heard of a Christmas concert being put on by the Bells on Temple Square, the Tabernacle Choir's handbell choir. Though the tickets were already "sold" out (the tickets for such performances are free, but they are still required for admission), there was a standby line for us to wait in. When we had gotten to the standby line about an hour before admission, it was completely empty. We didn't stay there long either - a gentleman who we assume had family who were not able to make the performance came up and gave us some of the tickets which he had. So, we were able to go in, and enjoy a nice concert at this evening! It's amazing what music can be made by no more than a set of handbells! Of course, for a few songs they did have a couple other instruments to fill out the song a little more completely, but the sound was still very much handbell-based - and it was awesome! Such concerts are definitely worth the time and effort required to gain admission! Though I did have to leave a bit early to make it back to the apartments in time, the performance as a whole was astounding! (Don't worry, baking has not completely phased out my love of music!)

The very next day, I had quite the task ahead of me. Now, to give a little context to the situation, there are many senior missionaries on this mission. For many, this is not their first assignment to serve. Many have served missions previously. Some have previously served as bishops and in other leadership positions. And, last Sunday, it was my job to give a lesson in our priesthood meeting, and teach them something new. But, luckily for me, it isn't quite my job to teach, is it. It is the Holy Spirit which teaches a lesson in such circumstances - and boy did I need it! Ironically, that is kind of what the lesson was about - more specifically, it was on receiving revelation. Do not worry, however, that I had done what some have done, and wait until the last minute until preparing the lesson, or - heaven forbid - do nothing to prepare and spend an hour winging it. I have learned the hard way that "winging it" does not work when giving a spiritual lesson (see D&C 9:7-8); therefore, I had spent some time doing work to prepare myself both intellectually and spiritually for the lesson, and I think that things have turned out quite well. I will share more of what I had learned in my challenge.

Now, earlier this week the zone leadership did have a special meeting, mostly about the logistics required for us all to make the move over to the JSMB. Despite a little complication, which involved President Fenn not liking that what was going to be our seating layout involved cubicle walls which were too long for us to be able to see our companion's screens (this has now been fixed), the appointed date for us to make the move is still exactly one week from today (which, if today remains my P-Day after transfers, will make this a bit inconvenient, but I'll work that out when the time comes). The meeting was a pretty good one, as we not only covered this subject quite well, but we also had discussed some other issues going on in the zone, and were able to get quite a few things somewhat resolved; all in all, I feel that was a productive meeting. Once it was over, we were shown where the team was to be moved in this building. It is not too far away from where the young elders were stationed previous to October 2017, when we were moved over to the family history library in the first place. It is a very large improvement from our current location. First off, we actually get to see sunlight again! And not only that - the temple is right outside the window for us! The new design will have more adequate space for us to hang up our coats as well. We will also be right next to the mission office, making trips over there much more convenient. As you can probably now tell, I am excited to be able to make this move!

You are probably all wondering what will be happening for the Thanksgiving holiday. Of course, we will have to have special plans ready for us all, as the Church campus will be closing down for this holiday. I don't think that all of the plans are out quite yet, but currently, there is a Thanksgiving dinner being planned for the mission. There will be quite a few people providing food - it has even been said that President Fenn will be catering the event! That said, it was recently brought up that there ought to be more young elders bringing food to such events. Many elders have seen events like this as "free food", which isn't too far from the truth, but they do not often bring with them their own dishes for others to enjoy. Now, I am one of the people who does like bringing with me food (and I am sure that others enjoy it when I do so as well, on account of the dishes I bring ending up empty by the end of the night), so I will definitely make sure to bring with me a dish of some sort this time as well.

So, yeah, it was quite a big week for me. I am happy to have been able to take part in all of these things. Sorry if this E-mail is longer tan you had expected, and it had made you late for something important; perhaps I will apologize in person when I return home from the mission. Anyway, I will send another message next week. Thanks so much for the continued support!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: So, as mentioned earlier, I did give a Priesthood lesson earlier this week, which topic was on revelation. Now, though the lesson was given in the context of missionary work, everyone - not just ordained servants of the Lord - needs to be capable of receiving personal revelation, as we were taught in this day and age that "In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost" (President Nelson, "Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives", 2018). Though the lesson was not based off of President Nelson's April 2018 Conference address, I did take a couple of principles from it, including a few patterns which were set forth in this talk. It is important to note that, to know how to receive revelation, it is important to know more about the Holy Ghost, as it is by Him that we receive revelation given to us from our Heavenly Father. Though many have been baptized, and thus promised the gift of the Holy Ghost, not all who are baptized enjoy such a glorious gift - this is because to be able to experience this blessing, we first must live worthily of it (see D&C 130:20-21). Then, and only then, will we be able to have the constant guiding influence of a member of the Godhead. However, simply because we will have the gift of the Holy Ghost does not mean that there is nothing more required to do to receive revelation. This is where principles taught in President Nelson's April 2018 address come in; he had taught us - and note each of the individual requirements - that "Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and regular time committed to temple and family history work." Such a recipe is the formula to follow if we want to optimize ourselves for receiving revelation. Once this is done, then we must ask for that which we most desire wisdom about. We must ask in fervent, heartfelt, purposeful prayer. Once this is done, we are to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. And then, as He speaks to us, we must write our impressions as we receive them. This will be how God gives us instruction and knowledge. Once we then have this knowledge, it is our responsibility to act upon the knowledge we have received, for it does us no good to go through all the effort of receiving revelation, then doing nothing about it, for knowledge is no good until it is acted upon (see James 2:17). "As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation.”" So, please make it a point to receive personal revelation for that which you desire the most. Make the necessary changes in your life, if necessary, to be more worthy to receive revelation, then go through the process. Once you have done so, please act, that your faith may not be dead. This is how to have the Holy Ghost guiding your life; this is how to receive the knowledge which you desire most, including a testimony of the Restoration. I promise that it is worth it - when you receive that revelation, then "it [will be] most sweet, above all that [you] ever before tasted" (1 Nephi 8:11).

Wow, short transfer!

 

Hey, everyone!

Well, first off, I feel I ought to explain the subject line of this E-mail. This is being a very short transfer, in both the sense that the mission feels that it is going by very fast now, and the fact that this transfer is actually a week short. In fact, we got our latest batch of new young elders yesterday! There were only to in this group, which is alright. The mission is already quite full - in fact, I don't even think the apartments rented by the mission have room for any more - so we ought not to expect any more groups of 12 missionaries - at least for the time being. That being said, we will not be getting any new young elders at all next month. The mission had decided that having new missionaries come on right before Christmas makes for a really hard time for missionaries to adjust to this new lifestyle; therefore, we will hold off until January. 

Now that that's out of the way... the week has been pretty good. I have been getting along well with my companion, and I have been doing the zone work pretty well. The move over to the JSMB has, as of yet, not happened, though other missionaries in the zone have been moving from the FHL to the JSMB this last week though - in fact, I had assigned one of the districts in the zone to help them out with moving this stuff over. So, I think that the talk about us moving to the JSMB has progressed beyond simply being a rumor which may or may not happen, and instead is a thing which the zone will need to actively prepare for. So, that will probably be the focus of my next week - to get missionaries in the zone ready to make the move, so that when they finally announce that we will be packing up our computers to make the move, we will already be prepared, and this will not take any more time or trouble than it needs to. (Amazing how well I finally realize what needs to be done in the zone while I write these E-mails!)

The mission had recently done a service project at the Church's humanitarian center here in SLC, which i got to be a part of. Unfortunately, there was no tour to introduce us to the Church's welfare program; then again, most of the mission had already taken the tour anyway the first time we had come over there. We had done the same thing which we did last time, specifically assembling hygiene kits to send out to people who need them. Such service is a nice little break from what we usually do as a mission. This outreach program has been quite helpful with getting missionaries to be "anxiously engaged in a good cause" (D&C 58:27), though there are not always service projects to be done; we do sometimes have night zones where everyone still shows up. But, it has done much good for the mission, to be able to serve like this.

To the end of being engaged in a good cause as such, I did make a point to attend the temple last Saturday. I had cooked up a soup which took a bit longer than expected, so we got to the temple a little later than expected. We had planned on doing baptisms and confirmations, but by the time we had arrived at the temple, the baptistry was already filled with a youth group; the wait was simply too long for us to be able to do this, and make it  back to the apartment in time for check-ins. So, we instead went to do initiatories. I had expected them to inform us that they were about to close down (which they were), but they did let us in. Me and my companion did end up being the last group of the night; after we had left, they had begun closing things down there. But, it was definitely worth attending! Also, on my way out, I did get to see Brother Cornia from my home ward! It is a small world after all, isn't it!

The mission had itself a Hail and Farewell potluck-style dinner to celebrate new and departing missionaries yesterday. I, of course, was excited for this - in essence, it means that I get free food! Of course, there is also the possibility of contributing some food, so I made a lemon meringue pie; I had cut it into sixteen smaller slices, but it still did not last long! As nice as the dinner was, I had a sudden realization that this is either my second to last or third to last such dinner (depending on how transfers work out for me)! Of course, I do still have a few months, but they are truly running out for me! Soon enough, I will be returning back home. But, I do still have some time left to do some good things out here.

In fact, I had though some about my going home soon. Of course, the goal here is to not get into a mindset that, because I won't be spending longer here, I no longer have to take the work seriously (in other words, getting "trunky"). I have seen it happen to other missionaries, and it isn't a pretty picture to see. Therefore, I had considered acting as though I still have ten months to go after my mission's official ending date. Then I figured that, if I do that, I will keep procrastinating things I need to do until ten months after my mission's end date. So, instead, I must accept that I am going home soon, and do what I can to make sure that, instead of fizzling out at the end of the mission, I can go out in a blaze of glory. So, in other words, rather than thinking that there are only three months left to go, I should realize that my time is running out, and I need to make the most of my last three months, and finish strong! And there is my spiel on that subject.

So, there's my week for you. I hope you all enjoy reading about my life out here, and I hope that you all have a great week!

From,

Elder Bryce Petersen

Challenge: Today, I would like to begin my challenge with a question: what does the word "church" mean to you? This question has been somewhat addressed recently in changes to Church structure, including and especially the adjustment to the Church schedule and the issuing of the "Come, Follow Me" resource. The Church, in short, has been giving the members more responsibility, rather than simply "doing and thinking what others are doing and thinking" (Take the Holy Spirit as Your Guide, Elder Larry Y. Wilson, April 2018). I will admit, that there was a time in my life where my religion, though it had some effect on how I lived my life, mostly just determined which Church I attended on Sundays. Such was the flaw of the Zoramites spoken of in the Book of Mormon. They only worshiped with as little effort as possible, "[offering] up these same prayers", and after their Sunday meetings, "[returning] to their homes, never speaking of their God again until they had assembled themselves together again" (see Alma 31:20-23). In short, they were only publicly religious. This may work to gain us acceptance in public groups of friends who share the same faith; however, only having this much devotion will profit us nothing, and "[we] have [our] reward" (in this context, see Matthew 6 for more examples of what it means to be "publicly religious"). So, my challenge this week is to find ways to show your religion outside of your Sunday meetings. List ways you can make yourself "an example of the believers" (1 Timothy 4:12). Keep a prayer in your heart as you do this, as the Lord will help those who ask (see D&C 4:7). Once you have found these ways, act upon what you have found. Find ways to serve those around you; don't wait for them to present themselves to you on a silver platter! I testify that this will open the windows of Heaven, pouring out the blessings of dedicated discipleship upon us, and we will find that, in financial terms, we will have a great return on our investment.

Halloween gumbo!

Hey, everyone!

Well, another month has gone by and another transfer has happened. As I had guessed, I was not affected by the transfer at all, and neither was Elder Cole - the only change which happened was that Elder Rasmussen has left the companionship, which is kind of what we had expected would happen anyway. He is still in the district, as a companion with Elder Bassett, who is also relatively new to the mission (he came at the same time as Elder Bastian). Aside from that, nothing has changed for me - I am still in the same zone (unsurprising, I know), on the same P-Day, and with the same companion. So, no excitement there.

Interesting happenings are now beginning to go down at zone this month, however. There is a lot of talk about getting us young elders moved back in to the JSMB, and we believe this will be sometime this month, if not sometime within the next couple of weeks. This will be quite nice - we had spent an entire year doing our work from the basement floors of the family history library; it will be refreshing to be able to see the sun during our zone work again. it also will be nice to see the salt lake temple right outside the window where we work! So, in anticipation of this move, we have all been packing some of the things at our desks up, as well as cleaning up our workstations in preparation for the big move. If we are lucky, it will be staff who will be doing all the heavy lifting with the computers. I also hope that what happens last time this happened will not happen this time as well, where things are still not quite ready for us when we move, and so we have some period of inactivity before we can move in. But, then again, the JSMB is better-equipped for this type of work than the family history library is; after all, it is where we used to work. Therefore, I am not overly worried about problems coming from the move.

As you can imagine, the mission did have a special event when Halloween came around, because the rest of Church campus closed down early that day for obvious reasons. Specifically, the mission was called in together to enjoy the movie "Coco" together! There was, however, one complication which came with this; my companion was ill when Halloween arrived, and so we were not able to watch the movie together with the rest of the mission; instead, we had stayed at the apartment so that he could rest up. This was alright with me - I had already watched the movie with the mission at another time. Besides, I had already purchased the ingredients required for a gumbo recipe in a recipe book of mine, and so I figured that this would be one of the only days of the week where I would have time to make such a dish, so I did try that with the time we had spent at home. Of course, cooking a soup recipe such as this did leave some relatively idle time where I could study the Gospel, which was great. Such is one of the reasons why I like such recipes - though they take quite a bit of time to prepare, much of the time is hands-off, requiring only occasional attention, giving me open windows to do other things that I enjoy. Still, this recipe did take much more time and than I had previously anticipated, and it ended up going almost into the evening. However, the end result was well worth the effort!

Now, for some reason, there have not been a whole ton of events for the mission announced in the upcoming weeks. The only such event was a fireside which took place yesterday, presented by President Fenn. Essentially, he taught us the doctrine of repentance. He mentioned that, if we were teaching missionaries, we would be teaching that doctrine every day, and we were a bit disadvantaged as we did not have such intimate daily experience with it. And so, he gave a great message about it, in the which much was learned. There is one interesting thing which I will mention about such a meeting: I don't know if President Fenn uses notes in giving such a presentation, but he surely never writes out what he is going to say when giving such a presentation. The difference was made apparent when he had brought with him a written version of a certain story relating to this topic. Now, the story was well-written and well-presented, but such a presentation simply did not feel quite as natural - at least with him - as one given from at least just notes. I guess that goes to show the importance of having a balanced amount of structure to any sort of plan, whether it be a daily schedule or a fireside. Neither too little nor too much is appropriate in any such situation. Of course, there are opportunities in which such structured planning is helpful, and in some cases even necessary. I guess that is part of the reason why it is important to know the time and place for such happenings.

So, as for anything else, not much is happening at the moment. But, it was a good week, I feel, though there are many area in which I could improve. But, I will keep trying my best. Thanks again for all the support. I will message you all again next week. Have a good one!


From,

Elder Bryce Petersen


Challenge: We all have many goals in life. We all want to see ourselves make something out of our lives, and go on to do great things. These goals may range from the relatively simple, such as going to school and getting a job; others are more elaborate, such as becoming a millionaire. Now, such goals may be achieved in life, and others may not be. However, in reviewing a list of goals, what would your number-one goal in life be? Now, aside from righteous gospel living (to which this goal is not unrelated), I feel that the most important goal in life would have to be to raise a righteous family in a home filled with love; though "salvation [may be] an individual matter," President Nelson has taught that "exaltation is a family matter" (Salvation and Exaltation, April 2008). Such is the reason behind the issuing of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." In this world, however, God's ordained pattern for the family is under greater attack than any ever before issued. Why is this? There is no greater foundation for the life of any member of society, young or old, than that of a loving, righteous family; when children are brought into the world by a father and a mother who will love them and teach them righteous principles, then they will start life with a proper knowledge of good and evil. When the Gospel is taught in the home (which, with last conference's announcement on home study and learning, has been reemphasized), a child can learn the commandments of God, including instructions regarding certain subjects which, when taught by the world, often bring with them an unrighteous bias (for example, it is better for a child to learn about alcohol from parents living the Word of Wisdom than from a flashy Super Bowl commercial trying to sell it). Of course, the responsibility of maintaining a righteous, peaceful family does not fall into the hands of the parents alone, for they can only influence their children as much as the children will allow them to. Children must also make sure that they learn to get along with their siblings, as this will be a much easier lesson to learn than in the future, with coworkers, roommates, missionary companions, and most especially a future spouse. So, my challenge this week is to make steps to do what you can to improve your family situation. If gospel learning is not happening, please begin as soon as possible. If relationships need to be mended, please stop procrastinating, and take the first step. The family is how we will gain exaltation, for it is the best way to learn the doctrines of eternity; a strong family built upon Christ, the Son of God, will not fall (see Helaman 5:12).