This time he played a beautiful melody. The sound was lovely and refreshing. The Dad turned and faced us and said, “Harmony is a group of notes working together. It is the music of a life perfectly adjusted to all ends. It s the result of the rhythmic response of outer life to an inner sense of serenity. The harmony within in will be reflected in the harmony without. It creates a beautiful sound.” We all agreed. He challenged us to make our home a house of harmony—working together, avoiding contention, and creating beautiful music. Think about the role you play in your family. Do you cause contention or harmony in your home? Obey family rules and curfews. Obedience may seem restricting at times, but it can actually build your parents’ trust in you and help your family and your life function more smoothly. Respond with respect. Be polite in conversations with parents and siblings. Even if one feels that one is right, decide to disagree without being disagreeable. Honor your parents through love and obedience. When family members are treated with respect, they will listen more willingly to you. Go the extra mile. Everyone loves to have some unexpected help. You could do the dishes when it is not your turn, volunteer to run an errand, help someone with homework, and do your chores cheerfully. Even simple acts of service can make a big difference. We all need love. No marriage or family can live without love. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7

In countless writings the prophets of the Lord have been trying to teach us that throughout time and eternity, the most important organization is the family. “Adam and Eve brought forth family of all Earth,” reports 2 Nephi. Even if school, church, and extracurricular activities keep you busy, make every effort to be home at mealtime. When families eat together, it gives them a chance to converse, laugh, and build relationships. Besides, it is more fun than eating alone! Talk often. Parents and family members want to know what is happening in your life. Make it a habit to tell them about your day. Share your success and sorrows, and listen to theirs. Even though the pressure of having to express softer feelings or having to be vulnerable is far from appealing for most people, open communication develops trust and friendship. Defensiveness may just seem to be a refusal to take responsibility for engaging in something essential to healthy relationships. Therefore, make a conscious decision to be optimistic, and your influence will be far-reaching. Think happy thoughts, and place good music around the house. Help find solutions to family problem and concerns. The family may not sound like a Kenny G song yet, but you can still help create a beautiful melody. Eternal families are made up of individuals. We must do our part to build a happy home. It is essential to establish patterns of righteousness in our lives. And be an example for the believers of God. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7

 The Lord is depending on us to assist in the exaltation of our eternal family. God in Heaven organized his church here on the Earth as a means of teaching families how to be eternally happy. We know that none of us can receive the fulfillment of true happiness except as a member of an eternal family unit. We also know, or we should know, that the success we experience in our homes as families is going to have a most significant effect on the eternal happiness of each of us. Happiness in the life hereafter is geared to our learning and living celestial laws while we are here on Earth. This being so, then our great need is to establish in our homes an atmosphere that will encourage the learning and living of the teaching Savior. We must cultivate and make central the qualities that make relationships possible like vulnerability, emotional openness and integrity; and the coexisting and the qualities of relating will allow an internal aliveness no matter where we are. When the body performs all its functions in ease, when the mind thinks clear and straight, when the soul is attuned to God, then only do we find the exquisite harmony of life. The Destroyer knows that he can cause unhappiness in our homes if he can bring about disunity, discontent, disharmony, and a host of other spiritual illnesses. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7

By his insidious process, the Destroyer has gained no small measure of success in his plan to lead astray the children of our Father in Heaven. For instance, he knows that if he can cause parents to quarrel with each other, their children may well follow the example. Sickness is a discord indicating that the instrument of bodily joy is out of tune and harsh. Infirmary will make the whole World a dissonance. Therefore, health—the harmony of the body—must be reestablished, and this possible only through an understanding of the ways of God. The Destroyer knows that his greatest effort to block the work of the Lord must be in the home. Unfortunately, it is here where he enjoys his great success, first by destroying family relationships and then by destroying the family unit. He is using many devious means to accomplish his purpose. Many are the homes that do not recognize his ofttimes silent encroachment into their happiness and security. One of the Destroyers most effective tools is at work among us today—it is a destructive force towards ending all happiness, peace, contentment, family solidarity. Families are stumbling and falling because of its hobbling and crippling effect. This tool of the destroyer is called contention. Contention is to argues, bring discord, strife, dispute, and quarreling. However, do what it takes to step into a different kind of humanity, in which strength and drive beneficially coexist with transparent, vulnerability, and emotional literacy. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7

 Think health, and the very idea will penetrate the human system. Command the under-mind to destroy the discords in the physical self, and to sound only the chords of vibrant health and joy. Be a master of the wonderous organ of your being, with its various stops and keys and so play upon the strings that you will evoke the song of songs—the harmony of Joy, Life, Love and Wisdom. A family holds its place only by the realization of ideals. The people who attain moral influence have done so only through lofty ideals, made manifest. “And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrines, as there have hitherto been. For verily, verily I say unto you, one that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the Destroyer, who is the father of contention, and one stirreth up the hearts of people to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of people with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that contention should be done away with,” reports 3 Nephi 11.28-30. We have to teach our children love, truth, and soberness. The home should be the great workshop of the Lord. Here is where children must be taught to walk in ways of light, honesty, fully conscious, sober, and be loving and protective. A family must learn to pray together and read the scriptures together. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7

The ways of the Lord are simple. Simple experience with our people develop unbreakable bonds that will endure forever. It might be something as simple as smiling more in your house. What would you think of speaking more cheerfully? Trying more often to say please and thank you? What would you think of finding an opportunity for one sincere compliment for each family member each day, and then watching them respond. See how you can uplift your entire family. People will learn to be happy and more pleasant. Homes will be cheery. Happiness is best achieved through living an ethical life. A good life is a happy life. Good relations and taking responsibility not only make a happy life possible; they are happiness itself. No one can be happy all the time. However, we can approach happiness with a good family, a good friend, and a good government, good enough possession, and adequate health. Happiness is supposed to be the overall assessment of our life, not the episodic moments. Loving the right things and loving them the right way is the key. Ethical relationships make it more likely than not that we will look back on our lives and will be able to say we have lived a good life. We must find joy in existence, the delight in the privilege for simply being alive. A grateful heart is beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is the foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7

Love can be defined as an essential element of a person’s experience, which can include affection, attraction, self-sacrifice, and a sense of connection to nature, other living things, other humans, and ultimately to God. A true sense of love is essential in the process of self-identification. Love has many components. We need to connect to others and our surroundings to be able to grow and experience life to its fullest. However, in order to have a feeling of love and connection, we peace. Peace is achieved when an individual’s different elements are in harmony with each other, and when one can master one’s own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors and has found a way of balancing them. It occurs when the person feels and accepts one’s identity and then moves beyond it. The source of love is deep in us and we can help other realize a lot of happiness. One word, one thought, one action can reduce another person’s suffering and bring that person joy. There is something about love that always wins love. When love puts on its golden armor, it helps us live for some purpose in the World. Act your part well. Fill up the measure of your duty to others. Conduct yourself so that you are a scene of beauty and a home of life to the soul of the Lord. Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters.  #RandolphHarris 7 of 7