Family

Today I had the blessed opportunity to go up to Aspen Grove and sit in on a fireside in which President Thomas S. Monson spoke. It was in the outside amphitheater, with the view of mountains and trees on both sides. Simply beautiful. For part of the talk he spoke on his love of the book The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. He quoted Jacob Marley saying, "Business?! Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!" How right he was. I hope to live this truth throughout my life. People is what life is about. Family, friends, relationships is what life is about.

Three weeks ago I attended a day of the Howe family reunion in Fairview. I've been wanting to mention it in my blog since then, but I have been putting it off because I don't feel I have the words to describe how much it meant to me. There is a connection I feel with those people that I don't have with anyone else on the earth. There is so much power in family connections. I love them so dearly, and I am so grateful for them. I am so grateful for the example my aunts and uncles set for me. I watched them closely throughout the day, and I could feel the love they had for each other, especially during those moments when they worked together.

The night I attended the reunion was a Sunday, and we had a fireside on missionary work. Every one who had served a mission spoke about their mission--what they learned, what was hard, how they've been blessed by it. The Spirit in the room was extremely thick, and I don't think I'll ever forget that feeling. I watched the wives look at their husbands as they spoke about their missions, and I could see the love and admiration in their faces. To the world, there is nothing magnificent about these couples--they are just normal people getting older and less glamorous as they struggle to raise their kids. But in the light of the Spirit of that room, the beauty of their relationships shone. Still, as I think of their love for and commitment to each other, as I think of the lives of sacrifice they lead for their families and the gospel, I can think of nothing more beautiful.

When it was my grandma's turn to speak, she said what she says every time she has an opportunity to speak to her family--that every person in her family is her eternal, priceless gift. My grandma certainly has caught hold of the vision that Jacob Marley never did. She has made mankind her business throughout her entire life. She has left no doubt in my mind as to her love for me, as to how much she cherishes me. This is a gift that not every person has in life, and I am so, so grateful for it.

A week ago I attended another family reunion, one which was not my own. It was fascinating to observe them and sense that they felt the same love and connection to each other that I had felt with my Howe family. The power of family links was tangible to me then, even when they were not my own. This power is hard for me to describe, to put into words. But I know it is real, and I know it is the reason for which the earth was made (see D & C 138:47-48). I know that this power I felt is the result of covenants made in temples of the Lord, covenants which transcend any kind of beauty the world has to offer. These covenants are the most sublime force in the world, and I am so grateful that I was born into a family in which they were made. My family is the world to me, and I hope they know how much I adore them and how grateful I am for their love, support, examples, and friendship.