Share the warmth

      - Focus on what matters

      - Understand who you are

      Home, according to Elder Marvin J. Ashton, should be the place in which a person can unburden his soul and find renewed strength to face the world, where there is comfort, joy, and understanding, where best friends live, and where people can learn to be their best selves.

      Speaking Saturday afternoon, Elder Ashton of the Council of the Twelve said almost everyone experiences the pangs of homesickness at some time in their lives.

      "There is a certain kind of yearning for home we should never want to lose," he continued. "Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a happy place in which to dwell, a place where we are loved and where we can love.

      "Home should be where life's greatest lessons are taught and learned. Home and family can be the center of one's earthly faith, where love and mutual responsibility are appropriately blended. Thinking of home with its pleasant and happy memories can make us stronger during our present and future days here upon the earth."

      Unfortunately, however, many people have never experienced home life that has been and is desirable, Elder Ashton remarked. "Our responsibilities are to share the warmth of our homes by being good friends and neighbors.

      "To know who we are is important, but to know where we are in relationship to our earthly home and heavenly home is essential if we are to receive all the blessings our Father in Heaven has for those who love Him and keep His commandments," he explained. "Our eternal home is our ultimate destination. A proper yearning for home can prevent our getting lost in detours or paths that lead us away.

      "The most attractive home that we will ever share will be that abode with our families with appropriate relationship to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ."

      Elder Ashton said he has come to see that being homesick isn't all bad. "It's natural to miss the people who are closest to you. It's normal to long to be where you feel secure, where those you love have your best interests at heart and are available. . . . There's no place on earth that can take the place of a home where love has been given and received."

      He said there are some who have no home to go to, but in another application there are those who have jeopardized the privilege of returning to their heavenly home.

      "If he could have his way, Satan would distract us from our heritage," Elder Ashton related. "He would have us become involved in a million and one things in this life . . . to keep us from concentrating on the things that are really important, particularly the relation that we are God's children. He would like us to forget about home and family values.

      "We need to focus and direct our attention on the things that really matter. And simply, what really matters is a personal testimony of Jesus Christ, an understanding of who we are and what we're doing here, and an absolute determination to return home."