The Airplane Cord

President Ward related the following story in Sunday Morning Stake Conference held at the Richardson Stake Center on 10/18/2015:

When he was a kid, President Ward flew a model airplane with his family. The model airplane had a cord attached to it which held the controls for the airplane. President Ward was flying the airplane when the cord came loose and the airplane started diving toward him. He ran to get away from the airplane but it kept chasing him across the field. President Ward smiled as he recounted his older family member laughing and retelling this story "until the day he died."

The cord which controlled the airplane can be likened until the following practices in our lives:

1) Family Home Evening Young couples should start their weekly Family Home Evening practice as soon as they are married. Don't wait until kids come around to establish good habits. Also, kids can help remind parents of FHE.

2) Family Prayer We were told specifically not to go to bed without Family Prayer. There is often one person in the family who pushes family prayer more than others and President Ward offered encouragement to that person to keep it up. Another reason why nightly Family Prayer is so important is because "It is the solution to anger."

3) Reading Scriptures President Ward referenced the following talk by Richard G. Scott about scriptures being "packets of light." Here is the link to that conference talk from October 2011. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/the-power-of-scripture?lang=eng

4) Attend Church/Keep the Sabbath Day Holy We have been recently warned by the First Presidency about the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. Here are some striking things that President Ward said about church attendance: "Don't find a reason to miss church. It's just too easy." "Not attending church is a chink in the your marital armor."

5) Fulfill Your Callings Callings help us to grow, change and learn to serve. We shouldn't turn down callings because we're just not up for it now. When you commit to an activity, do not skip it. The most pointed remark was when he said, "If you don't do your calling, who will?"

6) Attend the Temple Often Marriages are weakened when couples do not attend the temple. If you don't regularly hear your covenants repeated, how do you expect to keep them?

Other specific words of warning and counsel from President Ward: Do NOT contact old boyfriends or girlfriends on social media. There is no good reason for this.

Challenges for the future: For all members twelve years old and up President Ward issued a challenge to prepare one name for the temple between now and the end of the year. He also reminded us of his previous challenge to read Preach My Gospel.

-Rachel Roark