In the past, Mormons have been known to have big families. I think the trend now isn’t so much 10-12 kids, but maybe more like 2-7. But regardless of how many kids you have, if you are Mormon, then you understand why families are so important.
Everyone loves their families. Well, most people do. We know that they are the people that we feel most comfortable around. They are the ones that we enjoy spending time with, and I think as you get older, you really learn to appreciate your family from your childhood even more. But, once we start our own families, we can truly understand what it means to love and be loved.
We believe that we have a Heavenly Family too. In fact, we believe that we are all brothers and sisters on this earth. That we all made the choice to come here for this earthly existence. But, we also believe that God put us in families to help us during this mortal life. We believe that one of the main reasons for this life is to have a family. That part of this time on this earth is to learn how to live within a family unit and all that involves. As we do this, it is only natural that we will love those that we sacrifice the most for, and spend the most time with, and feel the most love from. So, the death of a family member can feel like a tragedy beyond belief. And, while death is sad, and sometimes tragic, we believe that it is not the end.
Part of what we believe about families is that our earthly bonds can exist after this life. But, we believe that it is not necessarily automatic. Once again, we will go back to the same thing we discussed in my baptism article, which is, that you have to be bonded together by someone having the priesthood authority from God in order to have these relationships last beyond death. Take marriage for example. Many marriage ceremonies end with “until death do you part”. However, don’t we love our spouses more than that? Don’t we want to live with them forever? I do. But, we believe that saying the words forever don’t automatically make it so. That you have to be what we called, “sealed” together by someone with the proper authority for those bonds to truly last forever.
So, that is one of our goals. That is why we get married in temples. Because we believe that it is only there that we can be bound together for eternity. And, who doesn’t want that for their own family?
To see more articles in this series, check out the links below:
What I Believe- God and Jesus Christ
What I believe- The Bible and the Book of Mormon
What I Believe- Joseph Smith was a Prophet