The Sacred Mother

Recently I was chatting with a neighbor who dropped by to introduce herself. She is a young mother, like me, and had an adorable 15-month old baby girl. Our children played for a while, during which time my new friend and I got acquainted. As my new friend and her daughter got ready to leave, I mentioned to my new friend that I would really like to get to know more of the moms in the ward. She mentioned to me that she had been trying to get a play group together with the other moms, but she had realized that most of the moms with similar aged children were all working mothers. We both exchanged comments about how odd that seemed to us, since we live in a neighborhood of mostly established families – not families with husbands going to school or unemployed, but regular, mostly-well-employed, regular size families. In fact, my new friend had mentioned that her husband was currently in school, and yet she stayed home.

Later I mentioned this fact to my husband – that so many LDS mothers in our ward were working mothers. Most of whom work full time. My husband said something that hit me in the gut – “You and your friend are a rare find these days.” Really? In a neighborhood where our ward is less than a square mile, we are one of probably a hand full of stay-at-home moms?

I understand that there are good reasons for mothers joining the workforce, but I have a hard time believing that every one of these mothers has a good reason.

I have been reading the book American Grace (which I highly recommend) and was appalled to see that during the 1980s, religious women (read the book to find this specific definition of “religious” – but I think the definition is fitting) moved into the workplace at the same rate as secular women. At the turn of the century, religious women were working mothers at a higher rate than secular women had been working mothers at the beginning of the 1980s. This shocked me. I thought for sure as religious women, we would be more likely to hold staunchly to our beliefs that the mother is vital in the home. The most depressing statistic I found was how fast the idea became “old” (even among religious women) that mothers in the workplace had no negative effect on children. What a horrible untruth! As I said earlier, I know that there are good reasons for mothers to need to be in the work place, however I do not think, even under the best of circumstances and the most righteous of decisions, children are not affected negatively by their mothers being in the workplace. It is always ideal for mothers to be home with their children. In my opinion, the times when it is the least bad for the children is when the mothers readily and heart-breakingly admit that it would be better for their children if they were able to stay home with the children. When mothers start feeding themselves lies about their responsibility and sacred calling as mothers, they become disillusioned and are less likely to make (if able) the sacrifices necessary to stay at home with their children.

In one of the articles I have been reading, the author tells a story of a woman who was a working mother, and when working mothers were attacked in conversation, “she spoke up defensively, citing her need for intellectual stimulation, association with other educated adults, and the daily reassurance and satisfaction of a job well done.” This is exactly what I was talking about – none of these reasons are even close to good ones why a mother should be working outside the home – especially not full time. This mother goes on to talk about how she eventually realized the importance of her staying at home with her children, and stayed at home with her children.

My husband and I have discussed this at length, and I have constantly gone back and forth and back and forth between working and staying at home. I am gaining a testimony of the importance of my constant presence at home with my children. We have decided that unless we are unable to provide basic necessities for our family (very  basic – for example, bread, milk, fruits and vegetables – not steaks and hamburgers and dinners out and fancy meals) I will stay at home with the children. I will probably continue to tutor math occasionally, and I teach a few piano lessons in my home, but neither of these endeavors takes me away from my children – the math tutoring I do in the evenings after they are asleep, and the piano teaching I do in a group lesson which involves my children anyway. We will drastically cut our lifestyle before we send mother (me) back to work. Unfortunately, in society today – even among faithful Latter Day Saints – people are not willing to give up lifestyle choices simply to preserve the most sacred duty of their mother. If we are to raise up a family to the Lord, we know that we must do everything in our power to keep me at home, in the home.

Which brings me to my final point – that mothers who are in the home should learn to enjoy the sanctity of their job – and should learn to feel as if they have “intellectual stimulation, association with other educated adults, and the daily reassurance and satisfaction of a job well done.” If we as mothers are educated, and spend time with other mothers, we will be able to associate with other educated adults. Even if they are not formally educated, most mothers have the education of life. Mothers who read are even more educated, and most mothers I have met are avid readers. Caring for my children is the most intellectually stimulating (and emotionally exhausting) job I have ever done. I am constantly on my toes, constantly analyzing situations and circumstances to create a loving, spiritual atmosphere in our home. And trust me, I use every ounce of my college degree (in Math!) to be a mother.

It is interesting that most of the talks I read this weekend about motherhood were from the 1980s. Motherhood was under such attack back then, but really nothing has changed much. Motherhood is still under attack, and now it is under attack even among the ranks of otherwise faithful Latter Day Saints.

The most uplifting talk for me to read was this talk about spending quality and quantity time with your children. Perhaps one of my favorite quotes from this talk is this:

“These are quantity-time lessons that nobody can teach a child as well as a full-time mother. Seeing his mother do these things is much more significant to him than seeing a babysitter do exactly the same things.”

This article has helped me realize that just by being home with my children I am being a better mother than if I had chosen to be in the work place. I have been making myself crazy in the past few years because I feel pressure for every waking moment with my children to be “quality” time with them – but how blessed am I! Because I have so much quantity time with my children, really I do not need to spend every waking moment in quality time. There can (and should) be moments of quality time with each child each day, but I do not need to feel guilty for washing the dishes and doing the chores when my children are awake because they are learning from watching me (and at times helping me with these various household activities).

“As I am going about routine activities, my preschoolers, little as they are, are learning that a neat house does not appear by waving a wand. They are learning that playthings have a place where they belong and that among mommy’s priorities are things like cushions on the couch and not on the floor, and dirty clothes put in the laundry basket and not dumped where they were taken off. Apparently these are not easy lessons to learn, judging by the daily necessity to teach them all over again. But I am convinced that the baby trotting after me as I vacuum is gradually developing a preference for cleanliness.…

Quantity time is really the child’s glimpse into the life of his parent as a person, the person who existed before the child himself was born, and who will continue to grow and develop after the child has moved into independence.”

I really recommend this article as a good read to any mother, especially mothers who stay home with their children.

I have a testimony that it is more important for children to be raised at home with their mother than it is for them to have anything else other than maybe food, shelter, and clothing – but only the MOST basic of these things. If your family can fit in a $150,000 home, then mother needing to work to pay for a $300,000 mortgage is not the “necessities” of life. Mother needing to work to pay for rent or mortgage in a home barely big enough to house the family, that is a necessity. If your family can eat beans and rice and other cheap foods, then mother needing to work so that the family can go out to eat is not the necessities of life. I urge anyone who is thinking about sending mother to work look first at where they can cut expenses, where they can cut back, where they can move, what they can sell, etc before they make such a serious decision. I urge those mothers who do work to do the same – look at your budget, curb your spending, cut as many costs as possible. Get rid of cable television, stop eating out, stop buying new expensive clothes. Bring mother home. It is sickening to think that people would trade mother at home for anything other than the very basic necessities of life.

There is no other job as vital to life and spiritual survival than that of being at home.

What have you studied to help you make this decision? Have there been times in your life where you had to work in order for there to be a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and food in your bellies? Have you worked when you didn’t really need to? Do you trade mother at home for the “comforts” of life? Or do you value to the sanctity of mother and sacrifice some worldly comforts for the immense blessing of having mother in the home?

Talks I studied:
Working Double Time: The Working Mother’s Dilemma by Jan Underwood Pinborough
A View of the Eighties: What It Means to Be a Latter-day Saint Woman Today by Mary Alice Campbell
Mom – At Home by Derin Head Rodriguez
Giving Children Quantity and Quality Time by Beppie Harrison
Mothers Who Know by Julie B. Beck
To the Mothers in Zion by President Ezra Taft Benson

Study Together

My husband and I like to study gospel topics together, but we’re not always good at it, and we don’t always study the same material at the same time, so our discussions don’t always have the breadth and depth they could have. So we have come up with a new system. For our date nights, we already have a good system in place – we rotate weeks for the date planning. One week, he picks the date, finds a sitter, and makes all the plans, and the next week it’s my turn. So we decided that we’d do the same thing for our gospel study together, and the person not planning the date would pick the topic for gospel study.

We don’t have a lot of time during the week to study together, since my husband leaves for work early and by the evening we’re just about able to have family scriptures and family prayer and then hit the sack, so we have decided that Sunday afternoons when the kids are napping would be the ideal time for us to have a really in depth gospel discussion. During the week, we study individually (I have more time during the morning and afternoon to study, and my husband has more time in the evenings). We email our finds (articles, talks, scripture references) to each other so that individually we can be studying the same things. Then when we get together on Sunday, we can have an intelligent discussion about the things we have studied.

This week is the first week we’ll actually do it, and since this Sunday is Easter Sunday we decided to pick the topic of Easter.

How do you study with your spouse? Do you do some kind of companionship study? Do you both have the same amount of time to study?

The Best Night of the Week

Over at Women in the Scriptures, Heather has been running  a series about what Family Home Evening looks like in different families. She has had guest posts from several different ladies, and I have really enjoyed reading them. As a conclusion to her series, she has invited her readers to write about family home evening in their home, and link up on her blog.

Family Home Evening for us is a time for us to be together, sing (we are a very musical family) and talk about the gospel. Our oldest just started Primary this year, so we’ve been trying to rehash some of the things he is learning there.

Structure. Our Family Home Evening is on Monday nights, usually after dinner. Our Papai welcomes everybody to Family Home Evening “Bem vindo ao Noite de Familiar.” This is when you’ll notice that there is something different about our Family Home Evening. We have FHE in Portuguese. Papai speaks Portuguese in our home, and our kids speak Portuguese, and we attend a Portuguese speaking ward. We even sing the Primary songs in Portuguese. If I teach the lesson, I usually teach in English, since my Portuguese isn’t great – but sometimes I’ll try to say phrases or words in Portuguese.

Papai welcomes us to family home evening, then we sing an opening song (usually from the Primary song book, and usually the song that we are learning that month in Primary – I happen to be the Primary pianist, so I always know what’s going on in Primary). Then we have an opening prayer. Then either Papai or myself give the lesson. So far Papai and I have just switched off giving (really simple) lessons. They are either from the Nursery Manual, or the Sharing Time Outline. A lot of times we will try to do the same lesson that was taught the day before in Primary, just to solidify the doctrine and concepts for our oldest. Other times, we’ll just talk about something that we think is important. Before General Conference, we talked about how the Prophets speak for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Then we played the Prophet Matching Game (see picture above) and now our oldest knows a lot of the apostles and prophets when he sees them. I think knowing their names made General Conference a lot more meaningful for him, because he already knew them.

After the lesson, we sometimes have an activity, usually it is coloring something, or sometimes it will be playing a game, or playing with toys. Then we have scriptures and family prayer, and then it is off to bed for our little ones.

Tonight for FHE we are actually making a Family Home Evening chart (since our oldest is 4 and we hope to be adding to our family soon through adopting teens, we figured it is about time we have one). So basically our whole FHE is going to change, but not the important things.

 

Our youngest is just two, and she doesn’t sit still for really anything. Our oldest is four and he is actually very respectful and even adds to the conversation. Some days are better than others, but we try to always have Family Home Evening, even if it’s only two minutes long!

What does Family Home Evening look like in YOUR home? Go over to Heather’s blog and link up!

How Great Shall Be Your Joy

Last night I had a dream about a friend of mine who was recently baptized into another church. In the dream, he came to me and was very concerned that he was missing something. He kept telling me “But what if I am missing something?”

He is missing something, and I need to have the courage to show him what he is missing.

So this morning I went to LDS.org and chose “Study by Topic” and clicked on Missionary Work. Listed among the extra resources was an article by President Monson from back in the 90s. He told a story about sitting next to a woman on a plan, and that eventually he “mustered up [his] courage” to talk to her about the Church. If President Monson, who has been an apostle since he was 36, and has been the President of the Church for the last several years, once upon a time had to muster up courage to talk to people about the gospel, I suddenly don’t feel quite as bad for needing to do the same!

I love the scripture above from Doctrine & Covenants section 18. It has long been one of my favorites. For a long time I felt bad that I didn’t serve a mission, but as I have grown in motherhood, I realize that mothering is one of the most divine missions. I have the opportunity to bring souls into this world and bring them unto Christ. Children are born innocent, but they are not born with all of the saving ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As they grow, they need to be prepared to learn about the gospel, gain their own testimony, and receive those ordinances – and that is my job, as their mother. I am comforted that the Lord sees my work of raising and nuturing my own children as significant.

However, that does not mean that I get to rest from the labors of sharing the gospel with others. Paul taught us that we should “be … an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” And Elder Stapley (a Latter-Day Apostle) quoted Paul, who said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation.” To which Elder Stapley added, “If we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, then we should not be ashamed to live it. And if we are not ashamed to live it, then we should not be ashamed to share it.”

And the Lord himself has said, “But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths … because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them.” So I do have a responsibility to share the gospel with everyone, really. And especially with those who seek it. I know that I can find those who seek the gospel by praying for guidance from the Lord through His Holy Spirit. He will guide me to those who are seeking the truth, and I believe He does just that.

“And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”
Doctrine & Covenants 84:88

I know that the Lord will help me share His gospel. Why wouldn’t He? He has said, “For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it” (emphasis added). I know that this is true. I think that many people who would find converts to their church are not being completely deceptive – they truly believe that the members of their congregations and churches are saved. I think that many join other Churches because it feels better than nothing, but that righteous seekers of truth will indeed feel the truthfulness of the fullness of Christ’s gospel when they find it – and it is our job to bring it to them, or bring them to the gospel.

How do you share the gospel? Are you an “example of the believers”? Do you open your mouth? Are you ashamed of the gospel of Christ? Or do you share your testimony freely with those around you?

Church Handbook 2: Introduction

If you haven’t had a chance to look over the new Handbook of Instruction, it is readily available online here, and I think it is important that all of us as members of the Church (regardless of our callings) study its contents.

The introduction states that the purpose of the handbook is to help leaders understand their duties in the Church, but I think that as members of the Church we can also learn our duties as members by studying this handbook, not to mention prepare ourselves for opportunities to serve, since the handbook describes the responsibilities for every calling in a ward or branch.

The introduction quotes Doctrine & Covenants 107:99 “Let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence.” This is the opening line of the handbook, and I think it is very appropriate. By learning our duty, we can act in all diligence.

I also reviewed Elder Dallin H. Oak’s talk at the worldwide leadership training broadcast (find it here). He suggests that we read the first three chapters of the Handbook – Chapter 1: Families and the Church in God’s Plan, Chapter 2: Priesthood Principles, and Chapter 3: Leadership in the Church of Jesus Christ. Elder Oaks states, "They are doctrinally based on the scriptures. They are extremely important.” Of the rest of the handbook, Elder Oaks reminds us that “handbooks do not have the same standing as the scriptures” but quotes President Thomas S. Monson who teaches us that “There is safety in the handbooks.”

I am looking forward to studying the Handbook in more depth this year. Hopefully my study will  lead me to other topics that I can study as well. I am also going to start reading Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage (again) and include that as part of my study, along with a more thorough study of the scriptures.

I may even start taking the Women in the Scriptures challenge… we’ll see.

What things do you include in your scripture study? Do you simply read and study as you go, or do you pick out a specific topic? Or try to find an answer to a specific question that you have?

Further Light and Knowledge

These are the things that I would like to study more because of what I heard at General Conference. I’m writing them down here, because this is most likely where I will write about the things I study:

Study the direction to “be ye an example of the believers.”

Study covenants, covenant making and keeping, and Jesus Christ and covenants.

Learn more about the law of consecration, the United Order, and the Church welfare program.

Study the word “saint” and the history of the name of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Study about love and charity.

What I am Going to Do

These are the things that I decided to do while listening to General Conference. Goals I have made, new habits I want to form, areas of my life that I want to perfect.

- Wear our Sunday best on the Sabbath day to make sure we are acting in a manner acceptable to the Lord on His day. (this made me think of an article I read over at one my my favorite blogs)
-We need to be more purposeful, deliberate, and particular about the things we do on the Sabbath day.
-We need to sit down and decide what WE believe about and do on the Sabbath.
-We should be more like little children.
-Study covenant making/keeping.
-Give more to the poor and needy through the Church welfare program.
-spend less than we earn so that we can serve others
-SEARCH OUT THE POOR! and needy
-Meet both the temporal and spiritual needs of those we serve.
-I will respond promptly to the whisperings of the Spirit
-TALK about the gospel and gospel truths ALL THE TIME!
-Be the answer to someone’s prayer.
-Remember when it feels like I can’t cope with my trials, the means that Heavenly Father has something for me to learn and grow in that area.
-follow welfare principles more perfectly – be more thrifty, spend MUCH less than we make.
-do my visiting teaching!
-be less judgmental of the poor and needy. Give to the poor and needy regardless of why they are poor or needy.
-work harder to sustain our family so that we can help provide for others.
-give all that we have to those who need it more than we do.
-take care of those in need and listen to the promptings of the Spirit so that we can be the answer to the prayers of others
-keep on keeping on
-attend the temple more often
-when I am facing trials and tribulation, I will think about the covenants I have made in the temple.
-be more willing to give and not think of myself
-seek to serve others; pray for opportunities to ease the burdens of others.
-be willing to accept and conform to divine correction.
-do not resist or resent chastening. Look at it as an opportunity to repent and put on the divine nature.
-pray for Heavenly Father’s love inspired correction.
-be more prompt in praying our tithing.
-I will do more and be more like the Savior Jesus Christ
-ask the child what they learned from the misbehavior
-pray for Christ-like attributes for myself and for my children.
-I will refer to the Church by it’s full name all the time and will refer to myself and members of the Church as Latter Day Saints.
-I will BECOME a Saint – live worth of being referred to as a Latter Day Saint.
-consecrate my life to fulfill my callings and to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
-have faith and stamina like President Monson
-lighten the load of our prophet President Monson and help bear his burden.

The Instruction I heard at General Conference

These are the things that I heard at General Conference. Like I said, sometimes they are not the same as what the speakers actually said, but they are what I heard through the Spirit of the Lord.

Why do we worship on Sunday? Our attitudes and actions follow our dress. If we dress in our Sunday best on the Sabbath day, we will be on our Sunday best behavior.

Let us act on the Sabbath in a manner that would call down the blessings of heaven.

Children are the greatest example.

When little children come to us, they are thirsty for the gospel, eager to learn, and willing to be righteous.

Children are untarnished by the world.

“Behold your little ones.”

Followers of Christ are loving. Followers of Christ make and keep covenants. Following Christ may mean forsaking many things of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ made covenants with Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ needed baptism because He needed to make covenants with Heavenly Father that he would always remember Him and follow Him.

The power of our covenants is greater than any worldly trial or temptation.

Pain brings you an opportunity to ponder. Pain is everywhere in this mortal experience – sometimes it is simply because this is a temporal experience, sometimes because of the actions of others, sometimes because of our own actions.

There is relief for ANY and ALL pain – through Jesus Christ our Savior from our Father in Heaven.

Jesus Christ suffered ALL things so that He could understand us.

He could have known how to succor us by Revelation, but He chose to suffer all things so that He could understand us.

The United order = the Church’s welfare program.

When we work together, we build spiritual bonds.

Don’t miss out on collecting the little flecks because you are waiting for large nuggets.

The Spirit speaks to us in diverse ways.

God does notice us, and is mindful of us, but it is often through other people that He meets our needs.

The Lord sometimes reveals things to us that are for us only, but He entrusts us with a testimony of truth that we are to share with those around us.

The most effective way to share the gospel is through example.

“Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.”

This earth life is the perfect setting to experience and pass trials. Sometimes it seems that our trials are focused on the part of our lives in which we have the least ability to cope.

Being good is not enough. We want to be like the Savior.

It is our job as ward members to seek out those in our ward who are poor and needy.

Men and women work in a joint effort to serve the poor and needy.

The widow’s mite.

No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelation.

Light from a light switch vs. light from a sunrise. The sunrise pattern of revelation is more common in our lives.

As we honor our covenants and keep the commandments, we will gain confidence in the presence of the Lord.

The temple should fill us with the Spirit and with the covenants we have made there.

As we remember the covenants we have made in the temple, we will be better able to withstand the trials of this life.

A good marriage makes good children.

Heavenly Father is a God of high expectations. “Be ye therefore perfect.”

Divine chastening, repentance, and redirect our course. Divine chastening should give us cause to rejoice because it means we are worth correcting. The experience of chastening gives us more opportunity to help us put on the divine nature.

Parents and can must chasten their children.

Doctrine & Covenants – “when moved upon by the Holy Ghost”

One who does not chasten when he is in a position to do so is thinking only of himself.

Will a man rob God? In tithes and offerings.

The Lord’s richest blessings are spiritual – family, friends, and the gospel.

To be or not to be? What manner of me ought ye to be? Even as I am. To do without being is hypocrisy, to be without doing is void. Faith without works is dead.

Being is more important than doing. You can’t put a check mark on the “being.”

The name of the Church was not chosen by man, but was given by God. We are not “Mormons” – we are “Latter Day Saints”

The way is narrow and the path is laid strait.

God not only lives but HE SPEAKS!

General Conference is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

The summit of gospel discipleship is be ye therefore perfect.

One way or another, the Lord will have His voice heard.

How I Learn from General Conference

What a wonderful conference! I really enjoy listening to the conference talks, and this weekend was no different. In fact, there are some talks that I am anxious to listen to again, and read as soon as the transcripts are available (which will be next Tuesday, according to LDS.org). I definitely can’t wait that long to listen to my absolute favorite talk, which ironically did not come from one of the apostles. It was a talk  by Elder Lynn G. Robbins of one of the quorums of the seventy, and it was perfect. If you missed it, I encourage you to listen to it. You can find it here.

I make three “lists” as I listen to or watch General Conference. They aren’t really separate lists, I just write things down in a little notebook. But I have developed little symbols to help me remember what goes on which list. The first symbol I have is a star. I draw a star when I am writing down the instruction I hear from the brethren. This is usually word for word what they say, although I have been known to write something down, and later when I listen, I can’t find that snippet of information anywhere. Usually, that means I was listening to the Spirit speak to me at that moment. The other symbol I have is an arrow. I draw an arrow when I am writing down what action I am going to take because of what I heard. The third list are things I usually write up in the heading of the note pages – and they are usually topics that I would like to study further in my own personal study.

I will post my three lists here in this order:

- the instruction I heard
- what I am going to do about it
- topics for further study

The Priesthood of Aaron

(find the talk here)

I am a woman, and so I will not hold the Priesthood of Aaron (or the Melchizedek Priesthood) but as a woman, I am charged with a great responsibility to prepare my sons to receive the Priesthood of Aaron, and then the Melchizedek Priesthood, and to prepare my daughters to honor the Priesthood and prepare to receive the blessings of those same Priesthoods.

In his talk, Elder L. Tom Perry gave this charge to parents:

Parents of these magnificent young men and women, we charge you with the sacred responsibility of teaching your children the doctrines of the holy priesthood. Your children must learn at an early age of the blessing of having the Lord’s eternal priesthood and what they must do individually to qualify for these blessings.

Whenever I hear or read talks that teach about preparing for the Priesthood, I am reminded of my responsibility to teach my children. I learned at a very young age the importance of the Priesthood. My father was an example of a worthy Priesthood holder, and my mother was always supportive of the Priesthood in our home. I had two older brothers who I watched receive both the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood, as well as advance in most offices of the Priesthood.

This legacy of Priesthood preparation is one that I am anxious to pass on to my children. We are teaching them about the Priesthood when we give and receive Priesthood blessings, when we learn about prophets, and when we learn about the offices of the Priesthood.

Elder Perry listed four lessons that youth should learn to prepare them for the Priesthood. They were “to keep [their bodies] healthy and clean, develop [their minds] and become wise, be strong and resist temptation in a world filled with it, and trust in the Lord, especially when [they] need His protection.”

Elder Perry taught his grandson these lessons through the scripture studies and taught him that the scripture stories will always be exciting and will never get old. Thankfully, my husband has this same attitude, and enjoys telling our children stories of men and women from the scriptures who have great courage and are valiant in their faith. To my husband, the stories of the scriptures are exciting and relevant. Hopefully he can help our children develop the same love of the scriptures, so that they can learn together of the importance of the Priesthood.

How do you teach your children about the importance of the Priesthood? Do you teach your children through example? How do you teach your children to stay clean and prepare for the blessings of the Priesthood?