"The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally."
-The Family: A Proclamation to the World
Our Heavenly Father has prepared a plan and a way for us to return to live with Him. He has given us temples here on Earth, where we can make covenants, and where we can be sealed together as families for all eternity. Our families should be our most important relationships. We should love them, and teach them the gospel. We should do everything in our power to help them stay on the path back to our Heavenly Father.
We can teach our children to be like Christ. We can teach them to love and serve those around them. We can teach them how to be kind to those are them. We can teach them about God, the Plan of Salvation, the Atonement, and other gospel principles. When they are old enough, we can encourage them to make their own covenants, by being baptized.
When our children are old enough, we can encourage them to receive a temple recommend of their own. We can teach them the importance of temple work, and the blessings that it will bring to those that have passed away. We can support them by teaching them to index, do family history, and by taking them to the temple to serve and do baptisms for the dead. My boys currently have a goal to visit as many different temples as they can. My son that is 15, has been able to visit 7 different temples, while my 12 year old has visited 4. This has been a fun goal for our family. We plan to visit Cedar City, and San Diego on our family vacation next week.
We can encourage an interest in going to the temple by taking our children to visit different temples, and participating in open houses when we get the chance. We can also teach our children the importance of attending the temple by setting an example with our own temple attendance.
We can also teach our children the importance of the sealing ordinance, and encourage them to choose to be married in the temple. Because we all have agency, many of Heavenly Father's children will choose different paths than those that lead to the temple and exaltation. We are taught that through the sealing ordinances of the temple, those who stray will not be lost.
President Joseph Fielding Smith said:
"Being heirs [to the kingdom, through the sealing ordinance] they have claims upon the blessings of the gospel beyond what those not so born are entitled to receive. They may receive a greater guidance, a greater protection, a greater inspiration from the Spirit of the Lord; and then there is no power that can take them away from their parents....Those born under the covenant, throughout all eternity, are the children of their parents. Nothing except the unpardonable sin, or sin unto death, can break this tie."
We are given more counsel by President James E. Faust when he said:
"Perhaps in this life we are not given to fully understand how enduring the sealing cords of righteous parents are to their children. It may very well be that there are more helpful sources at work than we know. I believe there is a strong familial pull as the influence of beloved ancestors continues with us from the other side of the veil...To those broken-hearted parents who have been righteous, diligent, and prayerful in the teaching of their disobedient children, we say to you, the Good Shepherd is watching over them. God knows and understands your deep sorrow. There is hope."
We must do all that we can to teach our children the gospel. However, when those children use there agency, even in ways that we don't agree with, we must do everything we can to show them that we still love them. We can also continue to guide them, counsel them, and be examples of love and righteousness to them. They are still our children, no matter their decisions. We must make sure that they know that they are still loved. If we stay faithful to our covenants, we will be helped in our efforts.
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