Taught by their Mothers

Alma 56:47 (page 350): "Now they never had fought yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them."

In this verse, Helaman is informing Moroni about some of his soldiers known as the 2000 Stripling Warriors and their great faith in the Lord. As I have read and studied about the Stripling Warriors, I have often been amazed at their strength, courage, and faith in the Lord. I have been in awe that such characteristics have been fostered and built from the teachings and testimonies of their mothers. In this motto, I would like to focus on the great role and responsibility that parents have in raising their children. A task that has been given to parents since the beginning of time and has a great importance in these latter days.

As a mother of two very young children and a third on the way, I have worried, stressed, pondered, and prayed about what I can do to teach my children the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have found much comfort and encouragement as I have studied the scriptures and the teachings of latter day prophets and apostles. I continue to learn and have so much more yet to learn but I hope to share some of these things along with my testimony with hopes that the Spirit may touch and help others in seeing this divine role that has been given to us as stewards of the Lord's children here on earth.

In Proverbs 22:6 it states, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it." The Book of Mormon begins, "I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents..." I am eternally grateful for goodly parents who taught me in my youth the ways of the Lord through their shining examples. I owe so much of who I am today to my loving parents and I hope that I can do the same for my own children.

I have a great love of all scripture, but I especially hold the Book of Mormon dear to my heart. There are many great examples of goodly parents within its pages. Lehi, Alma, Helaman, and Mormon are just a few. Some of my favorite chapters and passages are the words of loving fathers bearing testimony to their children. In Helaman 5:12 (page 378), Helaman is teaching his two sons, Nephi and Lehi, before they leave to preach the gospel to others, "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." This is my favorite verse in the Book of Mormon and when I read it I can feel the love of this father. I feel the love he has for the gospel but especially the love he has for his two boys who are about to leave on a dangerous mission. As we read further we see how these two sons were able to perform miracles because of their great faith in the Lord. A faith that they had to gain for themselves but that was directed and aided by the love and testimony of a parent. Like Helaman, we can help our children build on such a foundation.

Today, we are blessed to have prophets and apostles on the earth who hold the Lord's authority and therefore can teach us His word. In The Family, A Proclamation To The World (you can read it here.) it states, "Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives-mothers and fathers-will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations." How do we accomplish such a daunting task in a world filled with great filth and wickedness? The Proclamation continues on saying, "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." I was amazed at how many talks during this last General Conference in April were about the important role parents have in teaching their children. There is so much wonderful information that I couldn't possibly share all of it here, but all of the talks can be accessed here. It is obvious that this is important to the Lord and therefore should be important to us.

In his General Conference address this past April, President Eyering said, "Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family. They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child's life to put feet firmly on the path home." I know that this is true. I know that now is the time for us to perform our labors (Alma 34:32 page 295). It won't be easy. It is a lifelong responsibility. It can, however, be done and be done well if we follow the promptings of the Spirit, pray with all energy of heart (Moroni 7:48 page 524) and teach by example. It is my hope and prayer that I can do this for my children and like the Stripling Warriors they may someday say, "We do not doubt our mother knew it" (Alma 56:48 page 351). This I share in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.