In his concluding remarks at the 175th Annual General Conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley said it's his prayer that LDS parents "live worthily in every respect." Earlier in the conference, President Hinckley's first counselor, President Thomas S. Monson, reminded parents of their duty to hold family home evening and to be accessible to their children. Meanwhile, the First Presidency's third member, President James E. Faust, encouraged parents to make their homes "holy places" where the Spirit can dwell.

General conference has long been a forum for the Church's ranking authorities to offer sure-footed counsel to mothers and fathers raising children in a treacherous, slippery world.

Fifty years ago, one of President Hinckley's predecessors, President David O. McKay, focused much of his April 3, 1955, general conference address on the pivotal role of parents. President McKay's audience of mothers and fathers are now grandparents and great-grandparents. Yet his words echo the family counsel of Church leaders speaking today, a half-century later.

"The greatest trust that can come to a man and woman is the placing in their keeping the life of a little child," President McKay said in his opening comments. Note the timelessness of President McKay's counsel, who believed the happiest homes in the world should be found among Church members.

"Let us begin at once as parents to maintain the kind of influence or home atmosphere that will contribute to the normal moral development of the children, and eliminate from the home those elements which cause discord and strife."

President McKay pleaded with parents to avoid quarreling and raising their voices in front of their children. He also warned parents about contaminating their homes with vulgarity and profanity. "Parents are particularly untrue to their trust (when using) profane words in the home. Profanity is a national vice. Parents pollute their homes when they use it."

Honesty, added President McKay, is a mark of a strong home.

"Parents, of all people on earth, should be honest with their children. Keep your promises to them and speak the truth always. Children are more influenced by sermons you act than by the sermons you preach." — Jason Swensen