The family is the only possible base upon which a responsible society builds for the future and maintains values cherished in the present, said President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency.

President Monson, a member of the National Executive Board of Boy Scouts of America, addressed some 600 BSA council leaders from throughout the United States who met in Cincinnati for biennial meetings on May 15.In his address, President Monson referred to the devastation of recent riots in Los Angeles and other American cities. He noted that columnists and newscasters cite many explanations for the disaster in Los Angeles, including poverty, unemployment, discrimination and illiteracy. However, he observed, all who have assessed the situation unite in a declaration that the breakdown of the family is one of the root causes behind the debacle.

"All of us are acutely aware of the devastation of divorce and other negative influences in our society that stalk the traditional families in America," President Monson said.

"Throughout our country, we have been screaming ever louder for more and more of the things we cannot take with us, and paying less and less attention to the real sources of the very happiness we seek. We have been measuring our fellow men more by balance sheets and less by moral standards. We have developed frightening physical power and have fallen into pathetic spiritual weakness. We have become so concerned over the growth of our earning capacity that we have neglected the growth of our character.

"And our boys have been watching and learning by such an example. Perhaps this is indicative of the days in which we are living: days of compromise and diluting of principles; days when sin is labeled as error, when immorality is relative and when materialism emphasizes the value of expediency and the shirking of responsibility. Well might a boy cry out in confusion in the words of Philip of old: `How can I [find my wayT, except some man should guide me?' " (Acts 8:31.)

President Monson asked: "Is there a solution to this dilemma? Can the erosion of the family be checked? Can the children be rescued?" He noted there is, unfortunately, no quick fix or simple solution to provide comfort. However, he continued, the program of Scouting, with its inspired oath and law, can make a difference.

He quoted President Ezra Taft Benson: "I would to God that every boy of Boy Scout age in America could have the benefits and the blessings of the great Boy Scout program. It is truly a noble program; it is a builder of character, not only in the boys, but also in the men who provide the leadership. I have often said that Scouting is essentially a spiritual program, a builder of men. It is established, as is our government and its Constitution, upon a deeply spiritual foundation."

President Monson said a well-trained Scout is a mirror image to his family of all that is good and decent, a source of justifiable pride to his parents, and a model for his brothers and sisters to follow.

It is the mission of the Boy Scouts of America, President Monson said, to serve others by helping to instill values in young people and in other ways to prepare them to make ethical choices over their lifetime in achieving their full potential.

He called attention to the Scout Oath: "On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight."

He then cited the Scout Law: "A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent."

When that blueprint overlays and undergirds the members of the American family, hope will conquer despair, and faith will triumph over doubt, President Monson asserted.

"Such values, when learned and lived in our families, will be as welcome as rain to parched soil. Love will be engendered, loyalty to one's best self enhanced and those virtues of character, integrity and goodness fostered.

"The family holds its pre-eminent place in our way of life because it is the only possible base upon which a society of responsible human beings has ever found it practicable to build for the future and maintain the values they cherish in the present."

He noted that when adults remember their childhood homes, their thoughts don't dwell on whether the houses were large or small, the neighborhoods fashionable or downtrodden. "Rather, we delight in the experiences we shared as a family," President Monson reflected. "The home is the laboratory of our lives, and what we learn there largely determines what we do when we leave there."

President Monson suggested that every Scout and Scouter strive to establish in his family and in the families of others what he called "hallmarks of a happy home":

- Kneel down to pray. "One personnel officer, assigned to handle petty grievances, concluded an unusually hectic day by placing facetiously a small sign on his desk for those with unsolved problems to read. Its message: `Have you tried prayer?' What that director did not know . . . was that he was providing counsel and direction that would solve more problems, alleviate more suffering, prevent more transgression and bring about greater peace and contentment in the human soul than could be obtained in any other way.

"A prominent American judge was asked what we, as citizens of the countries of the world, could do to reduce crime and disobedience to law and bring peace and contentment into our lives and into our nations. He thoughtfully replied: `I would suggest a return to the old-fashioned practice of family prayer.' "

- Step up to serve. "Service is part and parcel of that stirring word in the Scout Oath - namely, duty. Stepping up to serve is duty in action."

"The Confederate General Robert E. Lee declared: `Duty is the sublimest word in the English language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.'. . .

"Recently, in a book I have been reading concerning the history of the Jewish nation, I read of the bravery exemplified by Boy Scouts in the land of Denmark during the darkness of World War II. When the Jewish population of Denmark was threatened with extinction and were to be deported from their native land and forced into slave labor, concentration camps and even ovens of death, it was the Scouts who ventured forth, took these Jewish citizens by the hand and led them to the wharf where ships took them, in the darkness of night, across the channel to friendly Sweden. I wonder how many men, women and children owe their very lives today to these Scouts - Scouts who stepped up to serve even at the peril of their own lives."

- Reach out to rescue. "Some years ago, a Scouting skill saved a life in my own family. My nephew's son, 11-year-old Craig Dearden, successfully completed his requirements for Scouting's swimming award. . . .

Little did those attending the Court of Honor realize the life or death impact of that award. Later that evening it was Craig who spotted a dark object at the end of the swimming pool. It was Craig who, without fear, plunged into the pool to investigate and brought to the surface his own little brother. Tiny Scott was so still, so blue, so lifeless. Recalling the life-saving procedures he had learned and practiced, Craig and others responded in the true tradition of Scouting. Suddenly there was a cry, breathing, movement, life. Is Scouting relevant? Ask a mother, a father, a family who know a Scouting skill saved a son. Scouting had reached out to rescue.

"While we may not have the opportunity to physically rescue someone from drowning, there are many young men who are drowning in a sea of sin and poverty - young men we can rescue through Scouting. Ours is the privilege to reach out and lift them to higher ground, that they may have a new vision of their future possibilities."

Concluding his address, President Monson cited Matt. 6:19-21: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Scouting, said President Monson, is such a treasure.