Hi there everyone, hope that your week has been an eye opening one as mine has been this past week. As I have been reflection over different things that we have been learning in class and I am not going to lie I have been surprised by some of the things we have been taught. For example did you know that the fact that the world is going to be over populated any time soon is a false idea and that in reality, if the world doesn’t start making some changes then the world’s population will actually start decreasing at an increasingly faster way. Let me explain by giving an example. Look at a set of family the decides “let’s only have one child” then that child grows up and only has one child and well many of us live in a generation were we know our grandparents so let’s go one step further and say that grandchild only has one child too. If you were to map this out and look at it you have for every couple one less person. Why is that you might ask? Well if there is a mother and a father and you have a girl then she only replaced the mother not the father. Reverse that with a boy and you only get a father and not a mother. So looking at our example we see that by each of these couples only having one child we have lost in the first only one child but in the second generation because we already lost one and are losing another one we actually jump to four and by the time we get to the grandchild’s generation we have lost about 21 people because of that.. now that might not seem like a lot but that is one family and for the world that is about average fertility rate or rate of women having children during their lifespans. Now not to worry everyone but after a discussion board we had I would encourage all those capable people to have and raise or influence those raising children to ponder on this thought that President Young and President Kimball said;

“There are multitudes of pure and holy spirits waiting to take tabernacles, now what is our duty?—To prepare tabernacles for them; to take a course that will not tend to drive those spirits into the families of the wicked, where they will be trained in wickedness, debauchery, and every species of crime. It is the duty of every righteous man and woman to prepare tabernacles for all the spirits they can.”

- President Brigham Young

"You did not come on earth just to “eat, drink and be merry.” You came knowing full well your responsibilities. You came to get for yourself a mortal body that could become perfected, immortalized, and you understood that you were to act in partnership with God in providing bodies for other spirits equally anxious to come to the earth for righteous purposes. And so you will not postpone parenthood. There will be rationalists who will name to you numerous reasons for postponement. Of course, it will be harder to get your college degrees or your financial start with a family, but strength like yours will be undaunted in the face of difficult obstacles.

“Have your family as the Lord intended. Of course it is expensive, but you will find a way, and besides, it is often those children who grow up with responsibility and hardships who carry on the world’s work. And, John and Mary, do not limit your family as the world does. I am wondering now where I might have been had my parents decided arbitrarily that one or two children would be enough, or that three or four would be all they could support, or that even five would be the limit; for I was the sixth of eleven children. Don’t think you will love the later ones less or have few material things for them. Perhaps like Jacob, you might love the eleventh one most. Young people, have your family, love them, sacrifice for them, teach them righteousness, and you will be blessed and happy all the days of your eternal lives.“

- President Spencer W. Kimball

For all those who know that people are born into families that seem to hold them back or limit their abilities then I encourage you to ponder on these words and see what the Lord would have you do. It might be have more children, it might be to encourage others to have families, it might be to stand up for those who want to have many children, or it might be some other way. I Only pray that each of us will continue to stand and help our spirit brothers and sisters find homes of refuge from the world to gain their strength before they go back to the world. Even if they are not yours 24/7 maybe only a few minutes a week, from one that has had that happen trust me you make a difference a very sacred and real difference.