Lauding the home as a place of love and strength, Elder Rex D. Pinegar urged members of the Church Saturday morning to dedicate themselves to gospel principles that ensure preservation of the family.

"Our Heavenly Father has organized us into families for the purpose of helping us successfully meet the trials and challenges of life," said Elder Pinegar of the Presidency of the Seventy. "Our family is our safety place, our support network, our. . . salvation."Elder Pinegar quoted President Joseph F. Smith as saying that genuine happiness is impossible without the home, and that there is no greater service "than that which converts the home into a divine institution which promotes and preserves family life."

When Hurricane Hugo passed over Charleston, S.C., he related, friends of his witnessed much damage to their home, but expressed gratitude to the Lord for sparing their lives.

"I didn't know then if we would have a house to return to," said Elder Pinegar, quoting his friend, Alvie Evans, "but I knew we would always have a home, because our family was intact and secure."

Today, said Elder Pinegar, evil forces are challenging the home as never before.

"In homes where high ideals and gospel values are maintained, it is parents, not teachers, who lay the foundation of character and faith in the hearts of their children," he said. "If the training a child should receive in the home is neglected, the Church nor the school can compensate for the loss."

Elder Pinegar related a recent experience in which all of his children were present for a family gathering. Though there was some chaos, still the evening together created wonderful memories for all.

The children wrote to thank Elder Pinegar and his wife, Bonnie, for the fun gathering, he said, and one daughter wrote them a poem:

"If you could see my house of dreams/No palace would it be/But just where I feel happiest/You are that home to me," Elder Pinegar read, his voice filled with emotion.

"Within that `wonderful chaos' of our family, all is obviously not perfect," he said. "However, individual burdens and concerns may be lightened by the power of a family united in mutual love and support. . . ."

He related the experience of a stake president whose house went up in flames one day, yet saw such a tragedy as an occasion to teach his children that "the right kind of treasures can nevertheless be permanent."

"The right kind of treasures are our families and those divine attributes and qualities of character that are taught and learned in gospel-centered homes," Elder Pinegar said.