Family. Meant to be a unit into eternity. One church manual said, “Only in and through the family unit can we obtain eternal life” (Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual Religion 231 and 232, 1986, p. 78). First Presidency member James Faust explained to a general conference audience, “The Savior’s supernal gift to mankind gave us the opportunity for eternal life, but eternal life without our loved ones would be bleak” (“Eternity Lies before Us,” Ensign (Conference Edition), May 1997, p. 19). Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland said, “I don’t know how to speak about heaven in the traditional, lovely, paradisiacal, beauty that we speak of heaven – I wouldn’t know how to speak of heaven without my wife, my children. It would, it would not be heaven for me” ( Introductory DVD shown at various LDS temple public viewings or open house).“To live forever as a family, though, takes participation by all family members, as ElRay L. Christiansen. Assistant to the Twelve, told a general conference audience, “But an eternal relationship of families does not come about automatically, as some suppose. It must not only be planned for; it must be earned. We must realize that only when we have lived in complete harmony with all the laws and ordinances of the priesthood, including those received in holy temples, should we expect to find ourselves prepared to dwell in what I sometimes refer to as the ‘kingdom of families’—the celestial world” (“Three Important Questions,” Ensign (Conference Edition), May 1974, p. 25).

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