The prophets have told us that we are in the midst of a storm, and we need continually
to fortify our homes and families and defend them against it.
The storm of which they speak is a downpour of evils, which cause such things as broken
families, brutality, and abuse.
We need to constantly guard against immorality, pornography, and sexual permissiveness that
would destroy the purity of the family members, young and old.
The storm is very real and very threatening.
One has but to read the headlines of our newspapers and magazines to become frighteningly aware
of the crumbling, destructive influences which surround us.
The world would have us tolerate and even accept such evils into our homes, but we must
protect them and make them secure.
If we could only go home and lock these evils out by closing and bolting the windows and
locking the doors of our homes securely, it would be a simple matter.
However, such security would be ineffective against the evils of which we speak.
We find these evil forces invading our homes everywhere, and their exposure seems almost
constant.
We track them into our home from school, from the playground, from the theater, the office,
and the marketplace.
They can come by means of the radio and television.
There are but few places we can go in our everyday world where we can escape them.
The key is what we do in our families, in our homes.
In them, we must be constantly alert and destroy the evil as we would the germs and filth of
disease.
We need to escape those deadly thrusts of the evil one and keep our homes and family
free and solidly fortified against all destructive influences so rampant around us.
And we must have the help of the very founder and organizer of this family plan, the Creator
Himself.
We must protect our family members from the worldliness and destructive thoughts, thus
quenching the embers of wickedness before they become destructive flames.
There is only one sure way, and that is through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and being
obedient to His profound and inspired teachings.
We must teach our children and ourselves to follow the Savior, and in so doing build solid
security against the storm.
Shortly we must be made to realize that the purchase price of a family hearth, free of
such evil influences, is the keeping of the commandments of God.
One principle of the gospel that all young people of the Church should understand is
this.
God, our Heavenly Father, governs His children by law.
He has instituted laws for our perfection, and if we obey His laws, we receive blessings
pertaining to those laws.
If we do not obey, we receive the consequences.
God, our Heavenly Father, governs our children by law, and if we obey His laws, we receive
blessings pertaining to those laws.
God, our Heavenly Father, governs our children by law.
the