In honor of Father’s Day, President M. Russell Ballard encouraged his social media followers to take time from their busy schedules to remember what Heavenly Father has done for them.
“This Father’s Day, we should remember all our Father in Heaven has done for us, His children. We have desperate need to take time from our demanding routines of everyday life and observe God’s miracles taking place around us,” President Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, wrote in a social media post on Sunday, June 19.
Using a scenic video clip of misty tree-covered hills in his post, President Ballard pointed to nature as an example of God’s love.
“All the marvels of nature, for example, are glimpses of His divine power and expressions of His love,” President Ballard wrote. “He created the earth not just as a means to an end, but as a beautiful place for His children to learn and progress towards His loving embrace.”
Read 15 Father’s Day quotes from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Other Church leaders also posted on social media about fatherhood and honoring Heavenly Father on Father’s Day.
‘What gift will you give Him today?’
Earlier in the week, Sister Rebecca L. Craven, second counselor of the Young Women general presidency, posted a picture of her with her father. She acknowledged how difficult it can be to think of what to buy a dad for Father’s Day. She then invited her followers to "go in" on a Father’s Day present with her.
“What do you give to a man who has many things but still needs to feel loved? And then it hit me: The best gifts we could give to Dad would be us — our love and our time,” she wrote on June 12.
“But more importantly, we don’t have just one Dad. Take a moment and just look up. Sit in the silence and just feel. ... We are all sons and daughters of God — the ultimate Father. The one who gives us every good gift. So what if on the day we honor fathers we showered both fathers? By serving and loving here on earth, we could shower our Father in Heaven, THE Father, with gifts that He wants far more than new socks.”
She offered the question: “What gift will you give Him today? Are you in?”
'The noblest titled a man can be given'
Young Men General President Steven J. Lund shared a quote about fathers on June 18 from Elder Robert L. Backman, former Young Men general president and former General Authority Seventy. Elder Backman died on June 3 at the age of 100. President Lund attended his funeral.
“Father is the noblest title a man can be given. It is more than a biological role. It signifies a patriarch, a leader, an exemplar, a confidant, a teacher, a hero, a friend, and, ultimately, a perfect being,” Elder Backman said.
President Lund invited his followers to comment on why Elder Backman — a man called to lead deacons to prepare to be priests and elders — would focus on fatherhood.
“I’d love to hear your thoughts, but for me, as I prepare for honoring my own father on this special weekend, I wonder if President Backman’s vision was right," President Lund wrote. "We are not just preparing for missions and service, nor are we even preparing for kings and kingdoms. We are ultimately preparing for fatherhood, for that is who God is. He is our Father."
