Preparation Day

Tomorrow I get to speak in church, sing and give a lesson in YW.  BAM!  I've been preparing all week, but finally finished writing down my talk today.  I won't tell you what time.  But, since that's pretty much what I did today, I'm posting it.  I always try to be a lot more candid than reading my talk word for word, but the writing process forces me to organize my thoughts.  Hence--here is my talk.

BTW...Jonny and I also managed to squeeze in a date tonight.  I love going out with my mad.  He's having some anxiety about his big race this Monday.  Nightmares and all.  Nothing like a good date night to take it easy.  Plus, I made a good case to the movie manager about the sound bleed in our theater and scored some free tickets.  Love it when that happens.  Jonny was so proud of me.

Teaching Our Children to follow the

Teachings of the Prophet

Talk: May 19, 2013

        Good morning brothers and sisters.  I am grateful for the opportunity to speak today.  It was less than a year ago when I stood here, speaking into a congregation of unfamiliar faces, hoping that our time in the Boiling Springs Ward would be a positive experience for our family.  It has been all that, and more.  Much more.  In a short year, we have been so blessed to come to know so many of you.  I am humbled to call you brothers and sisters, for we have truly felt welcomed, loved and strengthened by this ward family.  Even though we knew Jonny’s training at Spartanburg Regional would only last one year, it is so difficult to let this year go.  Our family will always cherish the Boiling Springs ward.  Thank you.

            The bishop asked me to speak about following the teachings of the Prophet—more specifically, my assignment was to speak about teaching our children to follow the teachings of the Prophet.  Teaching my children is the most important mission of my life.  It is challenging, especially because we are born at a time in the world where, as is said in Ephesians 6:12, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness in this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Yes, the task is difficult, but as we contemplate the challenges around us, I hope that we can also realize the awesome rewards and joys that come from teaching our children to follow the teachings of the Prophet.

I want to address this subject from two perspectives: from that of a child and/or “young person;” and from that of a parent and/or “old person.”

First, through the eyes of a young person.  It may surprise many of the young people in the audience, but I still feel like a young person!  It wasn’t long ago that my hair was so long it brushed the back of my thighs.  My dad lovingly called me “blondie” and my mom constantly reminded me to tuck my hair into my shirt while practicing back-hand-springs or while going to the bathroom. 

Yes, I was young.  And I was blessed with good parents who taught me things of much greater import than when it would be wise to tuck my hair into my shirt.  They taught me to follow the prophet.

But, how?  I’ve contemplated this question—how did they do it—ever since I became a parent.  My parents are good people, but they weren’t perfect.  I was a good kid, and so were my five siblings, but we were even further from perfect.  Yet somehow my parents were able to inspire in their children a love for and desire to follow the prophet.  How?  As I search my young memories, there is one common theme: my parents were unwavering Witnesses of God and His latter-day prophets.

I remember:

·        Working with Dad in the summer, seeing him pray every morning, being curious about his conversations with God, hearing conference in the car, pondering in quiet and with the scriptures (the text of his scriptures getting bigger as he got older), and entertaining my questions.  Sometimes he would even come to me with questions about my opinion one way or another.  “Thanks for asking,” he would often say, and “what do you think?”  He loved the teachings of the prophets.  He studied them, searched them, and prayed about and for them.  He BORE WITNESS  through in his words and in his deeds.

·        My mom telling her story—again and again—to so many different audiences.  I know it by heart.  She told it to me—how the gospel changed her, how different her life was now, and how blessed she felt.  How the teachings changed her.  She BORE WITNESS with every opportunity she got of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how modern revelation through His prophets on earth changed the course of her life.

·        Going to a regional conference with my family when I was 12 or 13 years old.  Elder Monson was there.  At the end, I wanted to shake His hand.  I remember thinking that if I shook his hand, I would instantly know and feel that He was a man of God.  I asked my dad if I could shake His hand…he told me that I was asking the wrong person.  He pointed heavenward, so I asked God.  The feeling I got when I asked was divine.  My trusted me to ask God the most important questions.  They trusted the Lord would show me the answers to my questions.  They knew the Holy Ghost would BARE WITNESS of the truth.  He did and He does, again and again.

Again and again, my parents BORE WITNESS of the truthfulness of the gospel, and of their faith in the teachings of latter-day prophets.  Their efforts weren’t fancy or extremely creative.  We never went on big family trips to church history sights.  They never sent me or any of my siblings to EFY—in fact I didn’t even know what it was until I was a senior in high school.  They never had fancy conference packets or quiet activities prepared biannually to help us kids pay attention during conference sessions.  However, it was on, and we did our best to listen.  Sometimes our family succeeded in holding FHE…though mom always wished it happened more often.  As a teenager I remember having early morning scripture study with the family, and when I wasn’t fighting the urge to go back to sleep, or fighting my sisters for the seat next to the heater vent, I did learn to love the scriptures and the family conversations we engaged in. 

Mostly, my parent’s methods were simple, but their WITNESS was consistent.  They: 1. bore testimony often, in word and in deed; 2. They searched, pondered and prayed personally and with the family about modern revelations; and 3. They relied upon the Lord—always encouraging righteous questions, and never assuming to have all the answers.  They often deferring to His Spirit to teach their children what they really need to know.

THEY WERE WITNESSES.

In many ways, I am still young.  I have loved working with the youth in this ward and I hope that I always remain young at heart.  But, it only takes one word to help me remember that I am closer to being an “old person” than a “young person.”  This word is: “Momma!”

Now, from the perspective of a parent, I have a much greater appreciation for how my parents taught me to love and follow the teachings of the prophet: for their simple, consistent WITNESS, and the power of it.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks stated:

Witnesses and witnessing are vital in God’s plan for the salvation of His children. In the Godhead, the function of the Holy Ghost is to bear witness of the Father and the Son (see 2 Ne. 31:18). The Father has borne witness of the Son (see Matt. 3:17; Matt. 17:5; John 5:31–39), and the Son has borne witness of the Father (see John 17). The Lord has commanded His servants to testify of Him (see Isa. 43:10; Mosiah 18:9; D&C 84:62), and all of the prophets have borne witness of Jesus Christ (see Acts 10:43; Rev. 19:10). 

The scriptures state that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Cor. 13:1; D&C 6:28; see also Deut. 19:15). The most important ordinances of salvation—baptism, marriage, and other ordinances of the temple—are required to have witnesses (see D&C 127:6;D&C 128:3).

As parents, is it not our sacred responsibility to be a WITNESS--for our children--of the fullness of the gospel and the truths revealed by latter-day prophets?

It is difficult to do just as my parents did: to keep my methods simple and my WITNESS consistent.  Circumstances are never perfect.  There are so many needs pulling families in different directions.  Unique family circumstances may compound the difficulties of teaching children to love and follow the prophet.  There may be only one active parent in the home…or in many cases none.  There may be long-term illnesses and/or disabilities that uniquely challenge families.  There may be other issues at home or at church that threaten our strength and ability to teach our children.   

In this last general conference, Elder Holland said:

“Be kind regarding human frailty—your own as well as that of those who serve with you in a Church led by volunteer, mortal men and women. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all.¹⁰ Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving.

But God can feed thousands with a few fishes and a loaf of bread.  Can he not also feed each of us and our families with what we have to offer—if we just exercise our faith and go to work?

I find inspiration in the parenting examples found in the scriptures:

·        The Mothers of the Stripling warriors (many widowed because the men buried their swords  and did not take up arms when enemies came to slay them because of their faith)

·        Alma the Elder and the Younger (the son of a prophet who went abroad persecuting the church, working to undo what His father did…the unconditional love at work there)

·        Mormon and Moroni (the letters written back and forth between battles, testifying of the truthfulness of the gospel).

In each example, I find parents who were consistent WITNESSES of the gospel of Jesus Christ, teaching their children to love and follow the Prophet by:  1. Baring testimony often in word and in deed; 2. Searching, pondering and praying about revelation in their day; and 3. Relying upon the Lord and trusting His Spirit to truly work in the hearts of their children.

Bare testimony.  I pray that I can be a worthy WITNESS of Jesus Christ in and of the truths revealed by latter-day prophets.  I know that this is God’s restored Church on this Earth.  I know that we are guided by His prophet on the earth in these latter days…amen.