Building Codes

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Ward Conference Talk
Families that Last
January 2003

Instructions of Men
We’ve all just finished passing through the Christmas season. Filled with presents and new gadgets. Did you take the time to read any of the instruction manuals that came with your new gadgets? They can be a real source of humor…

On a Sears hairdryer it said – “Do not use while sleeping”
On a bag of Fritos – “You could be a winner. No purchase necessary. Details inside”
On a bar of Dial Soap – “Use like regular soap”
On an American Airlines packet of nuts – “Instructions: Open Packet. Eat nuts”
On a child’s superman costume – “Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly”
On a blanket from Taiwan a tag said, “Not to be used as protection from a tornado”
On a New Zealand Insect Spray – “This product not tested on animals”

Think about this as we speak this morning. What kind of instructions and guidelines do we get from man?

“Endure through the Millennium”
In February 1853, five and a half years after the first Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and other brethren held a groundbreaking ceremony to begin construction of the Salt Lake Temple. Two months later they held another ceremony to lay the cornerstones of the temple. On this day President Young told the members of the Church that he saw a vision of the temple every time he looked at the place where it would be built.

President Young drew an outline of the temple as he saw it in his vision, and architect Truman O. Angell made detailed plans of how the temple should be built. President Young sent Brother Angell to England to study the magnificent buildings there so that he would know how to make the temple beautiful and strong. Brother Brigham ensured that the foundation stones be 8 feet deep. When President Young was asked – “Why are you requiring that the foundation stones be so large?” He said wanted to see the temple built so strong that “it will endure through the Millennium” (quoted in Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Every Stone a Sermon, p. 21).

Have you ever wondered when that will be? How long does the temple need to stand, if it is going to stand through the millennium?

How about our families? Are we building our families to endure? Are we building our families so that they are strong enough to last through the millennium?

Ever wondered what that kind of family would be like?

It took Brigham Young so long to build his temple – 40 years – that he died before it was completed. But I did a session in the SLC temple last month, and his temple is still beautiful and standing strong. Will our families be as strong over 100 years after we leave the earth?

Construction analogy
The lord uses construction and building in many of his analogies and parables. Perhaps it’s because he was a carpenter by trade. The metaphor I think of most is the one where he said,
“Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a crock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

We live in a time of beautiful construction. Buildings that can generally weather earthquakes, hurricane force winds, storms of incredible power. Why? Because today’s engineers are required to build with building codes. There are rules and guidelines for the kind of shingles to use, the kind of construction techniques, the kind of materials, the kind of license required. There are codes for everything. It is painful to build. It is costly. It takes time. But when it is complete the building is strong and can endure.

And yet with all our understanding of the importance of building codes, it seems that most of the world have abandoned any effort to build families with guidelines, standards, eternal principles – or in other words – eternal family building codes.

And yet these codes have been revealed. Why would we ever ignore the building codes for building an eternal life, when these codes have been revealed. We can either choose to build our homes and our families upon the revealed codes that will strengthen them and help them endure not only through the millennium, but through eternity. Or we can be like the foolish man, who chose to build his house using compromised materials, on a weak foundation. Trying to build it fast and cheap.

Fast Good or Cheap
At work we used to have a saying that everyone snickered at, “You can have it good, fast, or cheap” pick any two. The point is, that you can have the project good and fast – but it will cost you a fortune. You can have it good and cheap, but it will take forever. You can have it fast and cheap, but it won’t be very good.

When we go to build an eternal family it is critical that we not compromise on the ‘good’. And when building families, ‘good’ may take time. And it may cost us a lot of growth and pain and sacrifice. There is no way to build a fast and cheap family and have it last.

President Kimball said “…The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.”

So what must we do if we want to preserve our families in the midst of the gathering evil around us? What must we do if we want to have families that will last into the millennium?

We must build them according to the building codes which the Lord has given us. It may be difficult. It may take time. It may cost us some of our personal time or some of our personal ambitions, but in the long run – nothing else really matters.

Dad’s sacrifice for us
My dad was one of my great heros. He was an engineer by trade. But shortly after he graduated from college, he was promoted from position to position – up the corporate ladder as it were. We moved to Kansas, we then moved to Houston. With each promotion and each move, work seemed to require more of his time. He wasn’t able to spend as much time with us (his 7 children) and he wasn’t able to spend much time serving in the church. Finally he reached a point of realization. He had to make a choice. He started turning down promotions and opportunities for growth within his company so he could be home more often. He started jumping at opportunities to be at the home office on weekends so he could take on more church callings.

As a kid, I didn’t know much about his sacrifices or his choices. I was pretty out of it. But I remember as a senior in college when I was home and Mom was looking at some corporate literature that had come in the mail. She smiled when she saw the name of the senior vice president of the company. It was a guy who my dad had worked with for years. Dad was on the inside track from this man. But when Dad started turning down opportunities, this man had moved up and moved up all the way to the top.

At first, I was shocked – My dad could have been the Sr Vice President of his company? Why didn’t he keep driving? Why didn’t he keep trying to be the senior VP? But then it occurred to me what the implications would have been to our family had he not been there through our growing up years. All those family vacations would have been without him. All those FHE would have been w/o him. Where would my values have developed? How would I have known what was important and what was not important.

Dad built his house on the building codes of the gospel – not on the building codes of the world. And our family has been the beneficiaries ever since.

So what are the building codes?
Yesterday we had a first of a kind “Priesthood leadership meeting”.

Family and the role of Fatherhood was mentioned in every talk. The prophet is committed to strengthening Fathers and families this year.

Elder Eyring talked about the “Standards of the Lord” and what the Lord expects us to build our lives around. The standards are documented for us to read, study, and ponder.

The scriptures.
The Temple recommend interview
The proclamation to the family.
The ;for the strength; pamphlet


If you need copies of any of these documents – talk to your home teacher. If you haven’t seen your home teacher for awhile, talk to your auxiliary leader or priesthood quorum leader. You can get most of these at the church distribution center for no cost as well.

Elder Eyeing has said that for us to endure the “perilous times” that President Kimball mentioned, we must

1. Learn what the standards are
2. Have a testimony that standards will bring joy into your life
3. Have a deep desire to live the standards of the Lord in your life
4. Believe that if we don’t live the standards of the Lord, we will reap misery

We learn what the standards are in Family Home Evening. In Family Discussions around the dinner table. As we have family counsels to talk about our family guidelines and goals. We learn about them as we attend church and read the documents

I pray that each of us will take time in our family home evenings, in our sacrament meetings, in our individual time, to study these standards of the lord – these building codes for building strong families – and incorporate them into our lives.

We then need to study the long term impacts that these standards of the lord have in people’s lives. We must want those long term impacts in our lives.

For it is truly only the things we desire that we will gain.

In the days of Captain Moroni – the peace and the freedom of the people was at risk. Captain Moroni wrote the title of Liberty upon his rent garments, raised them upon a pole so that all who saw it would gather and stand up for righteousness. In todays’ world, we also stand in jeopardy. If we are to win the fight, we must hold our standards high. We must honor the documents that the Lord has given us. And as we hold the standards high, Elder Eyring tells us that others will come to join us.

I know the Lord loves us. He has given us the freedom to build whatever kind of life we choose. He has done the redemptive work to create an eternal foundation upon which we can all build. He has given us sound principles to build our families with.

I pray that we’ll have the wisdom to build upon them.

Amen