The Raising Family Podcast

In this episode, host Brent Andrewsen sits down with renowned gospel scholar Jared Halverson for a rich and timely discussion on Paragraph 3 of The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Together, they unpack profound truths about eternal identity, divine roles, and the sacred nature of gender as essential characteristics of premortal, mortal, and eternal life.This thoughtful conversation explores:[04:12] The doctrine of divine parentage and what it means to be a child of God[12:35] The eternal significance of gender and its divine origin[23:18] How these truths offer clarity and compassion in today's complex cultural landscape[32:50] Insights into how understanding our eternal identity can shape our discipleship and relationshipsWhether you're studying The Family Proclamation for the first time or looking to deepen your understanding of its doctrinal foundations, this episode offers both depth and pastoral insight.To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Our guest in this episode is Jenet Erickson, a Fellow at the Wheatley Institute and Associate Professor of Religious Education at BYU whose research has specialized in maternal and child wellbeing.  Join us as we discuss the different, yet sacred roles of both mothers and fathers.  Jenet shares how children develop emotionally and physically by bonding with both a mother and father as well as the areas of identity that are developed by each parent. (10:59).  She describes how facing the challenges we all face as imperfect individuals raised in imperfect families can help us respond, help and heal not only our hearts, but others' as well (20:35).  Jenet goes on to explore how the “resilience” of children can be a strength to their own development, but also a detriment if it is used as an excuse to deny the struggles they are experiencing (26:06).  She also explains how the best way for all of us to find joy and happiness in life is by encouraging the development of strong relationships within our families and our society (35:36).To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Benjamin Pacini, host of the podcast, “Radical Civility,” is currently a faculty member at BYU-Idaho in Elementary Education and pursuing an EDD from BYU.  His experience as both educator and student has given him a unique perspective on how our culture seems to view and express “truth”. Benjamin explores how truth remains constant across cultural borders and historical periods (4:14) and how we can manage to stand for truth and still be compassionate to those who disagree (8:46). He goes on to explain how truth, by definition, cannot be individualized, but that we should have the humility and gratitude to be corrected by truth (17:54).  As we strive to teach our youth, Benjamin discusses the benefit of not only teaching them what to believe, but also what not to believe (27:35).To read more of Benjamin's work, visit https://publicsquaremag.org/author/bpacini/This episode is also paired with our 2021 Research Release and can be viewed at https://thefamilyproclamation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Family-Proclamation-Report-Fall-2021.pdfTo learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Christopher Cunningham is the managing editor for Public Square Magazine, a faith and research based online editorial discussing various issues of the day. He joins us to discuss his most recent article, “When Therapy Subverts Change.”In this episode, Christopher and our host, Brent Andrewsen, discuss a potential communication disconnect between therapists and clients (5:57),  how therapy can be compatible with faith (16:45), and how repentance is a crucial element for true change and lasting happiness (28:31).  To read Christophers article, please go to https://publicsquaremag.org/faith/gospel-fare/when-therapy-subverts-change/To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Sharing our testimony can sometimes be a little intimidating, but does it really need to be? In this episode we sit down with Mimi Bascom, a Latter-Day Saint Content Creator who has partnered with us for the knew #HowIKnow campaign.  This campaign follows the “Stories of How I Know” lesson on thefamilyproclamation.org website and is designed to help each of us identify and share our own testimonies.Join us as we discover what motivates Mimi to share her faith (4:57) and how she deals with both positive and negative feedback from her followers (8:09).  Mimi then shares her passion for the #HowIKnow campaign  (12:47) and expresses  just how beneficial writing down our own testimonies can be (17:18).   To participate in the “Stories of How I Know” lesson, go to https://thefamilyproclamation.org/lessons/stories-of-how-i-know/To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Social media is a large part of our world and, for better or worse, our main source of information.  Our guest, Priscilla Davis started her Instagram account, SheSharesGoodness, to encourage anyone struggling with depression or anxiety and to help bring more light and truth to the world.She begins by discussing her own battle with depression and how she found help through therapy and understanding her relationship with the Savior (5:06).  Priscilla shares her experience with a pilot program from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called “Finding Strength in the Lord: Emotional Resilience for Self Reliance” (13:16).  Putting your ideas and thoughts on social media can often times be met with some backlash and hostility.  Priscilla speaks about her experiences with backlash and how we all can be resilient online (25:34).  She goes on to discuss how she gains comfort and confidence from leaning on the words of our prophets and apostles (32:04)To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Elder Neil L. Andersen once said that “spiritually defining memories from our book of life are like luminous stones that help brighten the road ahead.” How do spiritually defining memories act like luminous stones and what can we do to make sure we have them in times of need? Professional storyteller Teresa Clark joins the podcast today to discuss stories and why they matter. Clark gives some background about how she came to the storytelling profession (1:15) before discussing the “Stories of How I Know” lesson outline found on thefamilyproclamation.org (4:40). Stories can effect our lives in a broad sense by keeping our families together (7:30) but also on a deep personal level by helping us during hard times. Clark shares a personal story about how her childhood journal entries “reconverted herself” (11:50).Tune in for some advice on how to write or improve the writing of your personal stories (17:43) and what to do when you feel like you don't have anything special to write down (21:00). Clark finishes by telling a story of “how she knows” (31:40).

Jeff Bennion is a real estate and property manager, a part time marriage and family therapist, and one of the co-founders of North Star International. In this second part of Jeff's two-part episode, he clarifies that not subscribing to a gay label does not and should not mean going “back in the closet” (3:30). He talks about the three aspects of the gay label (4:55), what they mean, and why they make it difficult to remain “all in” to the gospel. Jeff shares his thoughts on dealing with unanswered questions (23:48), his testimony (24:50), and taking inspiration from Mormon to find hope in today's world (30:16).“We have enough to get us back to Heavenly Father and Jesus. We know enough to get us there. Sometimes our focus on what we don't know can distract us from what we do know…. What we've been given [on earth] through the Lord's prophets and apostles and scriptures are the covenants and laws that will get us back into those loving arms we were once in.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Jeff Bennion is a real estate and property manager, a part time marriage and family therapist, and one of the co-founders of North Star International. North Star is a faith-affirming resource for Latter-day Saints addressing sexual orientation and gender identity, and who desire to live in harmony with the doctrines and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.In the first half of this episode, Jeff and host Brent Andrewsen discuss basic concepts of identity and self-awareness before Jeff expands on what can happen when we over-identify with our feelings (6:19). Many times, especially in the case of depression and anxiety, making our trial our identity can make the problem worse instead of better. Jeff discusses how we see this today and how we can fix it (18:00), the sacrifices we need to make to discover our identity (21:37), and how this applies to members of the church in an LGBTQ+ community (29:35).To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Dennis Schleicher is the author of “Is He Nuts?: Why a Gay Man Would Become a Member of the Church of Jesus”.  He joins the podcast to share his conversion story (1:14) and what drew him to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (4:23). Though being a gay member of The Church can be a painful journey, Dennis shares how his membership brings him joy through family history work (12:15) and having the spirit in his life (24:55). In response to the question “why do you stay?” (42:03), Dennis quotes 2 Nephi 2 and testifies that God will consecrate our afflictions for our good. Tune in to this episode for even more discussion on paragraph 3 of The Family Proclamation.To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Many families have trouble addressing the topics of gender and identity. This episode is a recording of a speech given by Carol Rice (one of the contributors of thefamilyproclomation.org) about how to address these topics and how to combat the enticing narratives of the world. The speech begins at 2:13, where Carol reminds us that even though we may have the same vocabulary as the world, we are operating with different dictionaries for words like “love” and “accept.” She demonstrates that the stories we tell ourselves are powerful (5:30) before diving into three separate misleading narratives we may be telling ourselves about the topics of gender and identity. The first narrative (9:58) explores thoughts like “If I don't accept then I must hate” and “all I can do is be loving.” Carol suggests a new way to write that story which says “I can be loving, because I can discern the difference between divine love and counterfeit love.” The second narrative (21:48) Carol explores is “It's not my place to judge.” She reminds us that Heavenly Father showed us the right way to make judgments in Moroni 7. The third story we tell ourselves (27:30) is similar to the first: “I need to affirm and support other's decisions.” During this section she invites a previous podcast guest, Blake Fisher, to share his thoughts about descriptive labels vs. prescriptive labels. Carol concludes (40:27) by sharing some thoughts about healing and reminding us that we all fit into Christ's story.To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

The Family Proclamation “calls upon responsible citizens… everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family.” Andrew Young joins the podcast to share his experience as a DreamWorks animator and how he was forced to decide between answering the call to strengthen the family or keep his job.Andrew begins by explaining what social engineering is (6:14). He gives some background on his career and then tells the story of his time at DreamWorks, starting with when he got his job (12:10) and began working on Mr. Peabody and Sherman (17:59). When Andrew discovered the actual motivations for making the movie (19:14) he decided to leave the company (26:44) which resulted in him learning how deliberately movie studios work against family and religious groups (29:52).He goes into more detail about how animation studios create their villains (31:01) and now we have power over the content being produced (36:31). “You will perpetuate what you consume and pay for.”Andrew gives advice on how to seek good media and correct false messages from the bad media (53:20).If you want to see more research about the family as the building block of society, please visit https://thefamilyproclamation.org/paragraph-9/.

Blake Fisher is an Inclusion Advisor at BYU with the Office of Student Success. Helping students navigate being in the LGBTQ community while at BYU has given him a unique perspective on labels and how to identify when labels are helping us or hurting us. This episode is paired with the lesson ‘Identity and Labels: Part One' on thefamilyproclamation.org. Blake elaborates on his job at BYU (3:10) why people feel the need to label themselves even though it can be stressful (6:30) and the difference between prescriptive and descriptive labels (10:15). In the tension of navigating same-sex attraction we can find the Savior (12:40) and learn how to sit with others in their own tensions rather than trying to solve their problems. Host David Steele describes an identity activity from the new curriculum (16:35) and talks with Blake about finding what is beautiful and strong in others (26:50) and how Blake finds ways to strengthen his relationship with Christ (29:09).“If someone says, ‘historically I've always kept to myself and I like to recharge on my own,' they would describe their past pattern as being an introvert. If they used that label prescriptively it would be, ‘because I'm an introvert I can't get this job or I can't go to this party….' Then the label introvert dictates the choices they make in the future rather than describing their past pattern… I try to help [people] see that there are some advantages to using a word descriptively but there are some limitations that creep in when that word starts becoming a prescriptive path.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Nathan and Jelaire Richardson are some of the creators of the new curriculum on thefamilyproclamation.org. This curriculum is designed to be a resource for parents and church teachers who need extra tools when approaching difficult topics such as Identity, Gender, and Truth. The Richardsons discuss why this curriculum might be helpful for your family (3:42), how they created the curriculum and chose the topics (7:31), and how it might supplement official church curriculum (14:30). “We make kids take a semester long course in  drivers ed before we give them a drivers license, but we send them off into the dating works with a ‘good luck!' … We have to give the spirit raw materials to work with so He can pull out the right words in the right teaching moments.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

When Michelle Pollard moved from Australia to the US a few months ahead of her husband Steve, they had no idea that a pandemic was about to change a planned few months away into nearly a year and a half of separation. Michelle and Steve look back on that time and discuss what it was like for Michelle to raise their two teenage sons without Steve, and what it was like for Steve to be the sole grandparent back in Australia. On this episode about roles in the family, we also learn lessons about trials of faith—and that the right road is sometimes the hardest. Michelle and Steve tell their story (4:15) and give advice to couples who are separated (6:43). After discussing what they learned about themselves and each other (23:00), they talk about the potential we can discover within ourselves when under heavy burdens (29:50).“When you fall off a cliff, the Lord will either catch you or teach you to fly.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Danny Frost, a Family Life professor at BYU, offers a unique perspective on Paragraph 8 of the Family Proclamation by applying his background in philosophy and politics. Paragraph 8 warns us that the disintegration of chastity and family will bring calamities on our societies and nations. Danny discusses current views of sexuality (5:10), the recent movements on sexual consent (7:32), and what our children are learning about sexuality (14:30). “Our culture provides us with a way of looking out at the world… Kids get this from lots of different directions. On TV there's a glamorization of a hedonistic and rebellious lifestyle. Specifically with respect to sex, while there is an emphasis on consent and some information about safe sex, there's a strong emphasis on ‘you do you' and ‘whatever feels good to you.' That's a recipe for confusion and heartache in many ways.”Danny also explores hard questions such as: Is there a way back from the decay of chastity in our current society? (20:15)  How do we teach our children to be compassionate with people who live differently than we do without normalizing that behavior? (37:20) Do we vote for policies that encourage agency or for policies that reflect our moral beliefs? (43:26)“The best we can do is try to see and follow the truth--live the truth as best we can. Perhaps we won't influence very many people… perhaps none. But it's still the case that living the truth is the best thing we can do. History has ups and downs--there have been dark times in the past and there will be dark times in the future. But the call that God extends to us always is to live the truth in all circumstances.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

When Lauren Colemere  became a single mother she realized she wanted to make a course correction for her life and the life of her daughter. That course correction pointed them towards the temple, and on today's episode Lauren shares her journey there and what the temple endowment means to her. We invite listeners to learn from the amazing response of her family and ward when learning of Lauren's pregnancy (18:55) and the few things that helped prepare her to have a better temple experience (13:12). Lauren is now working to have her daughter sealed to her (24:25) and shares how life is different since receiving the endowment (26:08).To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

In this follow-up episode, Collette Blackwelder shares the story of her husband's kidney transplant and the sacred moments they shared with the family of the donor. His miraculous story teaches us to live a full life in return for the great gifts we've been given. To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Collette Blackwelder became a first time mom at the age of 50 after a miraculous adoption. On this episode she shared her thoughts on infertility and how one can still be a parent though they may not have children of their own (12:35). She gives advice to those who are struggling on their own journey (18:30) and the story of their adoption (23:00). “Everyone has unrealized dreams. But God knows them, and because of the atonement we can choose to be okay.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

As a hospice nurse of 25 years, LeAnn Jackson has witnessed many sacred moments at the bedside of those passing from this life (10:02). These experiences have built a deep understanding of the sanctity of death, as well as a respect for "the greatest generation that's ever lived."LeAnn graciously shares her personal experience with the passing of her dad and how she came to hospice work (12:37), how Covid influenced the nursing center which she now directs (20:50) and how to hold onto patience with older family members (25:15). "Never correct, redirect."To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

The Family Proclamation teaches that each soul has a divine nature and destiny. Jeff Carney works to uncover those divine natures in others by teaching Stephen Covey's “7 Habits” to prison inmates. On this episode, Jeff shares what it was like going into a prison for the first time (4:50), His testimony of each person's worth (16:00), and how we can avoid the victim mindset to more fully uncover our potential (22:28).Jeff teaches that finding your life purpose is more an act of discovery than of creation (33:54). “Seeing yourself as God sees you, as Heavenly Mother sees [you] changes everything. …They see us for who we truly are and who we can become.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Logan Wilkes remembers what it was like to be a 30 year-old, unmarried “menace to society” and shares what NOT to say to those in the dating phase. “Too often we want to preach at people the importance of marriage and the importance of [parenthood], when it's their individual journey we should be focused on.” (22:25)Logan relates the good (and bad!) advice he received on dating and marriage, tips for YSA bishoprics (14:17), how to be an involved dad (25:15), and how to avoid the trap of “I'll just get married and everything will be better” (31:40).“In the church we often use fear and obligation as a teaching tactic… but we need to tap into the ‘why' and not just [the obligation]… We get so fixated on ‘at 8 I get baptized, at 12 I get the priesthood, at 19 I go on a mission, at 22 I get married. We're so fixated on a certain path. I don't think Heavenly Father cares about ages, I just think he cares that we do it.” (16:21)To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

What is your divine purpose on earth? Olivia Jewell, creator of the 21 Day Family Connection experiment, joins the podcast to discuss how she found her own divine purpose and how the Family Connection experiment began. Like many others, Olivia was brought down by the Covid-19 pandemic and found herself feeling disconnected and depressed. One night she felt prompted to do three things: Complete Sister Nelson's 21 day family history challenge, invite her friends to do it as well, and then measure the psychological benefits from participating in the challenge. Less than two weeks later, Connections-Experiment.com was launched.  To Olivia and her team's astonishment, over 5500 people participated in the initial launch. (8:30) Tune in to hear more about the experiment, and how Olivia found the courage to follow through on those late night promptings even when she faced obstacles. To those who are searching for their own divine mission on earth, Olivia says “Desire to build the kingdom of God, and He'll give you opportunities.” (27:30)To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

What's the impact of what we call ourselves - and allow others to name us as well? Listen in to our guest Cameron Maddox as he explains how he thinks everyone is trying to put a label onto someone else ... whether it's true or not (20:30). We discuss how our perspective can change based on these labels and if they can pull us away from our main identity (21:20). Should we challenge popular labels, is there any point in trying (23:45)?"Is our heavenly parentage our first and most profound identity? Here on earth, we identify ourselves in many different ways, including our place of birth, our nationality, and our language. Some even identify themselves by their occupation or their hobby. These earthly identities are not wrong unless they supersede or interfere with our eternal identity—that of being a son or a daughter of God. … In today's world, no matter where we live and no matter what our circumstances are, it is essential that our preeminent identity is as a child of God."Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, “I Am a Child of God,” General Conference, April 2016."I'm no psychologist but I know that if you're called a loser every day of your life by the ones that you love, who knows really what that has done deep down?"  Cameron Maddox (12:55)To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

We often gloss over the words “solemnly proclaim” in the opening paragraph of the Family Proclamation. Loren Marks, a BYU professor in the School of Family Life, joins the podcast to discuss the gravity of those words and how they should affect the way we view this special document. “Whether you're in ancient Israel or in the early Christian church or today, the role of prophets has not been to offer guidelines. We have other folks who do that. [Prophet's] sacred mission, by their own report, is to deliver messages with life and death importance... [The proclamation] is far more than a set of guidelines and good ideas... it is a document that is centered on commandments and covenants.”Marks also discusses maintaining family relationships with Christlike love (23:02) and what it means to have reverence for God and the family (30:15).“For many of our wisest cultural critics... the primary concern is not that we no longer view anything as sacred or of worth, but that we get passionately religious about things that have no life and little to no ultimate meaning. I think the aim and the hope is that we honor what is truly sacred and holy as being sacred and holy. I think what these 15 wise prophets are claiming in the proclamation is that God our Creator, marriage between a a man and woman, and family relationships are on the short list of what we should hold most sacred and dear and reverent.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

The Family Proclamation tells us that parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness. But with the world pulling us in so many directions, it can be easy to let that sacred duty slip down our priority list. Amanda Davis, mother and family advocate at the United Nations, joins the podcast to discuss the forces at play against the family and how to be more intentional with our parenting“There are no perfect parents and no easy answers, but there are principles of truth that we can rely on.”—Elder Larry R. Lawrence, “Courageous Parenting”During Amanda's time at the UN, her eyes were opened to the calculated efforts that are being made to undermine the family and the roles of fathers and mothers. Deciding that she couldn't let her children go into the world unprepared, she and her husband made a few drastic changes to the way they parented. Tune in to hear some of Amanda's suggestions on how to be an intentional parent (12:50), discussion on the sacrifices parents make (28:00), and how to begin down the path of intentional parenting (39:04).“I like to think I'm a strong mom--but I'm not strong enough to combat everything for them. They have to be armed and able to do this on their own and rely on the one source that can always help them and guide them.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

What is the family's role in education? Glynis Neves, parent and educator since 1992, joins hosts David and Linda to answer this question. They discuss how parents might be unintentionally hindering their children's progress at school (10:43), how to overcome the education gap created by Covid-19 (20:47), and how education has changed in the last 30 years (30:45). Glynis believes that there is no “one size fits all” in education (15:57), and one of the best things a parent can do is to be proactive in finding a teacher that's the right fit for their child. Once they do that, step back and let the teacher teach. “If your child fails an assignment, that's okay. Failing right now is the best learning experience for a child. But if a parent doesn't ever let their child experience that failure, they never learn how to deal with it and progress onward.”As we help children move forward from the time lost during the pandemic, we need to understand the difference between sympathy and empathy (26:30). “Listen to your child. When they come home from school and they are frustrated, listen. Be empathetic, not sympathetic. After the empathy comes the hard work. If nothing else, this year has taught us that parents are that missing piece in the educational equation. Unless the parents are at home reinforcing that these are good skills to have, that child is not going to care.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

The Family Proclamation warns that the disintegration of the family will bring calamities upon individuals, communities, and nations. Brent Andrewsen, lawyer and Chairman of the Board at Kirton McKonkie, joins the podcast again to discuss this warning and how The Equality Act may affect the family (8:57). Brent proposes that the law is a teacher for the people living it (16:30), and hosts David and Linda join in to discuss why we can still have hope and control in our families regardless of where we live or the calamities that may come (22:00). “The law is a teacher. I think the unintended consequence of pushing these laws is that we teach there are no differences between men and women. (16:30) We all know stealing is bad—it's the rule and the law. If we pass laws that don't promote the family as the central unit of society, that's what we're teaching, and we'll start seeing things fall apart.” (18:10)“Calamities can come upon nations or individuals, but the reverse is also true. The country you live in or the community you live in doesn't have to perfectly subscribe to these ideals for you to have an excellent family life. Sure it may be harder, but I think blessings can come upon individuals and communities as much as the calamities... there is a lot of hope, and there are things we can do to make sure our families are strong.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

The call for unity from leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been heard with increasing frequency and urgency. In this episode, hosts David and Linda discuss the recent political discord and contention they've seen in their own social circles (3:15), the question “what do we unite around?" (4:16), and how lessons on unity are best taught in the home. They brainstorm ways to love those who think differently from us (8:26), before coming to the conclusion that kindness alone will fall short in our efforts to unify. Our love for others must be coupled with the first great commandment — to love God."Some, in their efforts to love others, feel it necessary to abandon the teachings and commandments of God or to advocate for a change of His doctrine. But to love God is to accept His teachings, commandments, and doctrine… Please guard against this increasingly popular and potentially spiritually fatal deception by remembering that sometimes the best way to love your neighbor is actually to advocate and stand for the teachings of the Master.”  Scott D. WhitingTo learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Angela Fallentine, co-founder of TheFamilyProclamation.org, discusses her time advocating for the family at the United Nations (3:55), annotating the family proclamation and creating the website (6:53), her experiences with infertility (9:50), and choosing to not take that on as part of her identity. “So many times when we're feeling a hole in our hearts, especially with infertility, we try to fill it with the world and it doesn't fit. We try to fill it with feminism, post-modern relativism, secular ideologies, activism... it's never sustainable and it's never full empowerment. He is the only one who can fill those holes.” (16:42) Angela has found that connecting your pain to your identity is disempowering. "I know it may seem so ironic ... defending the very thing (family/children) most say I lack, ... the thing that by all means causes pain. And yet, my answer to that is, it's eternal truth and eternal truth doesn't change because of our circumstances. Truth is truth ... it doesn't change the doctrine and it doesn't change the beauty of eternal families." (10:50)Tune in for more ideas on what we can do to build bridges in the church, even when we don't come from the ideal family. “It's surely easier to say it's the church that should change... but minimizing or silencing the most crucial part of Heavenly Father's plan, which is to be a mother or father in an eternal family, isn't how Heavenly Father would want us to work out our personal trials. And so we can't minimize [these] things, we need to magnify them. We need more defenders, more people who love fatherhood and motherhood and the family.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Does wholesome recreation actually lead to greater happiness in family life? Dr. Brian Hill, professor of Experience Design at Brigham Young University, discusses the science behind successful family traditions and rituals and why they are essential for strong families. Though the holidays will look different this year, consistent and meaningful traditions are still one of our greatest tools in uniting families.Tune in to learn about the core and balance model of family recreation (3:20), the elements of a good tradition (8:02), and how God has set a divine example of family rituals (19:42). Strong family traditions and rituals help kids to feel safe, connected, and give us a sense of identity.“As you think about the way that God teaches His children, you can see that He uses family rituals often… If God uses rituals to be closer to us, He must be anxious to get these outcomes in His eternal family.”To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Is the family proclamation canonized, or is it subject to change? Brent Andrewsen, lawyer and Chairman of the Board at Kirton McKonkie, shares his memories of the Family Proclamation announcement (3:40), how it is still relevant today (8:30), and discusses the legal and historical background of the proclamation (11:30). “I would encourage anybody to go back and watch the video of President Hinckley introducing [the proclamation]... and then take the challenge he issues at the end to carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully consider [it]. And I promise anyone who does that will feel the truth of it, and have their own revelation as to what's in that proclamation.” (28:25)To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Hosts David Steele and Linda Hill introduce themselves and talk about their "why" behind the podcast and what it means to them to promote the family.Linda (0:50) is a mother, grandmother, and master up-cycler. David (3:10) grew up on a farm, was a member of BYU's Vocal Point, and has been married for two years. Though they each have busy lives and responsibilities, they both believe that promoting the family is worth a sacrifice of their time and efforts (5:10)."There's no such thing as a perfect family. But there are perfect principles, and doctrine and truths that can help anyone at any stage of life."To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org

Truths about the family are often weaponized and used to fight rather than invite. Carol Rice, co-creator of TheFamilyProclamation.org, introduces the website and discusses her hopes that it will equip people with the tools to build families without debating the truths found within the proclamation.Tune in to hear why there's "no other site like this in the world" (3:06), how this project began (4:36), and how this website can be used as a tool to help people create, strengthen, and heal families (11:20)"Most of the time when we try to defend the family, we are labeled as 'haters.' I felt there had to be another way to go about it. I didn't want to use the truths I knew about the family to fight, I wanted to use them to invite."To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org