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Of all the conference talks that I have been able to listen to so far, this is the one that has stood out to me. I didn't get to watch them all the way through when they were live... hard to do with three babies running around... I have been playing catch up at nights, watching one or two after the little ones are in bed.
I love this one because it, of course, gives amazing insight into raising our babies in the light of the gospel.
First she shared a story about how a toddler, not even old enough to say his own name, when he saw a picture of Jesus, touched his face and said his name. My babies were the same way. They all reach for him. And Rocket, at the age of 11 months, would say Jesus every time we passed by the painting in our stairwell.
But as they get older it will be easy for them to get caught up in the world. And so it is our duty as mothers and fathers to keep them in that light.
Sister Lant gave three suggestions:
"First, we must learn how to love the Lord and our families. This takes time, experience, and faith. It requires selfless service. Then, as we are filled with the love of the Lord, we can love. He might weep over what we do, but He loves us and is always there to help us. That is how we must learn to love our children.
Second, we must become worthy examples. This is also a process. If we want our children to come to Christ so that they might see His face, it is important that we seek to see it as well. We have to know the way in order to show it to them. We must put our own lives in order so that the children can look to us and follow. We might ask: “What do my children see when they look at my face? Do they see the image of the Savior in my countenance because of how I live my life?”
Now remember, none of us will be the perfect example for our children, but we all can become worthy parents and leaders. Our striving to be worthy is an example in itself. We may feel as though we are failing at times, but we can keep on trying. With the Lord and through Him, we can be strengthened to be who we need to be. We can do what we need to do.
And third, we have the process of bringing our children to the Savior by teaching them the truths of the gospel from the scriptures and the prophets and by helping them to feel and recognize the Spirit. Even very young children can understand and accept things of an eternal nature. They love the scriptures, and they love the prophet. They intuitively want to be good. It is up to us to help them keep that connection to heaven open. It is up to us to protect them from influences that detract from the Spirit. We can find help and direction in the scriptures. Then we can teach our children to find their own answers there. We can teach our children correct principles and help them apply those principles to their lives. We can direct them toward the Spirit so that they can receive their own witness of the truths they are learning. We can help them find the joy of living the gospel. This will build a firm foundation of faith and obedience in their lives that will strengthen them."
#1 Love them
#2 Be an example
#3 Teach them
I love that having your own heart in the right place and being an example come before the focus on teaching them the doctrines of the gospel. Imagine the damage, if the first two principles were ignored... We cannot teach our children properly if we ourselves are becoming more like the Savior like we would like our children to be... In fact, they are more like the Savior being pure from birth, that if we start when they are young they are more sure to stay in the way.
But I like how she emphasized that is a process, both for them and for us and that we aren't perfect but that we can still be worthy of such a great task as to raise God's children. Remember, although we are no longer children, we will always be God's daughter or Son. He loves us perfectly and gave us the perfect example and through his scriptures, prophets and weekly church meetings we are being taught that we might also, see the face of our Savior one day. And that will be a precious day.
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