It may be hard to believe that our imperfect families can be happy together forever, but if we are able to forgive, we will see blessings.
PHOTO BY BILLY FREEMAN
Families can be hard to live with. Whether it’s trying to understand someone we don’t get along with or talking to family members who are not in the Church, everyone faces difficulties within their families. How can we have a ‘happily ever after’ if part of the Gospel is living eternally with your potentially challenging family?
In his talk “Happy and Forever”, Elder Gerrit W. Gong gives us some solutions to this question. First, he mentions family history work. Giving our family members the opportunity to receive the Gospel and repent of their sins can help us “make and deepen transforming covenants, over time receiving the blessings promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Elder Gong continues, “God’s work and glory include bringing to pass happy and forever.”
He also talks about forgiveness. While there may be times when we are willing to forgive and times when we are not, Elder Gong gives us this advice: “Heaven can give us strength and wisdom beyond our own to know when to hold on and how to let go.” There are many family situations that hold us back from fully accepting the Gospel, but if we come unto Christ, we can let go of the anger and contention we may feel toward one another.
Elder Gong states, “Happy and forever do not mean that every relationship will be happy and forever.” However, doing the Lord’s work, forgiving each other, and learning to lean on the Savior can help us to be happy and free from our mental and physical challenges. He finishes, “May we draw closer to our Savior in the holy house of the Lord, and may He draw us closer to God and each other as we knit our hearts together in Christ-given compassion, truth, and mercy in all our generations—in time and eternity, happy and forever.”
Discover more about how to achieve your happily ever after by reading Elder Gerrit W. Gong’s talk “Happy and Forever.”
Source: www.churchofjesuschrist.org
—Alohilani Jacob, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY LEAH KELLEY
Find more insights
Read more about the blessings of doing family history in Emma Franklin’s “The Healing Power of Family History”.
Learn how to strengthen your family by reading “Improving Your Family by Improving Yourself” by Nicole Meyers.