The article was titled Teaching True Doctrine by President Henry B. Eyring, and it was essentially a repeat of the talk he gave ten years ago during the April 1999 General Conference - The Power of Teaching Doctrine. That particular General Conference was only the second one held since my EFY 1998 experience the previous August, and I hung on every word with the sincerity and real intent of a new convert (something that I've sadly struggled to maintain during subsequent sessions of General Conference). I was a month away from high school graduation with college and a mission still to come, yet the Spirit impressed me powerfully to never forget these words directed to parents:
We have the greatest opportunity with the young. The best time to teach is early, while children are still immune to the temptations of their mortal enemy and long before the words of truth may be harder for them to hear in the noise of their personal struggles.
A wise parent would never miss a chance to gather children together to learn of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Such moments are so rare in comparison with the efforts of the enemy. For every hour the power of doctrine is introduced into a child’s life, there may be hundreds of hours of messages and images denying or ignoring the saving truths.
The question should not be whether we are too tired to prepare to teach doctrine or whether it would be better to draw a child closer by just having fun or whether the child is beginning to think that we preach too much. The question must be, “With so little time and so few opportunities, what words of doctrine from me will fortify them against the attacks on their faith which are sure to come?” The words you speak today may be the ones they remember. And today will soon be gone.
Next month will mark my fourth year as a parent, and it's so obvious to me now why these words needed to be impressed on my heart a decade ago. These truths are so vitally important for every follower of the Savior who desires to raise spiritually strong children in today's wicked and perverse world. A similar message stirred my soul during the April 2006 Priesthood Session. Again, this was only the second General Conference held since a major event had taken place in my life - Gwen's birth and my introduction to parenthood. I must have been listening closely on that occassion as well when these profound words were delivered by Elder Ronald A. Rasband:Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, however, provides us with a somber warning, speaking of the youth:
"Many of them are remarkable in their spiritual maturity and in their faith. But even the best of them are sorely tested. And the testing will become more severe."
This warning that "the testing will become more severe" gets my attention. Our rising generation is worthy of our best efforts to support and strengthen them in their journey to adulthood. ...
We must continue to teach and fortify fathers and mothers in their divinely declared roles with their children in the home. We must ask ourselves constantly if that extra sporting event, that extra activity or errand outside of the home is more important than families being together at home. ...
When I was first called to the Seventy some years ago, we were assigned to move to Solihull, England, to serve in the Area Presidency. Sister Rasband and I took our two youngest children with us on this assignment. Our daughter was a young single adult and our son a 17-year-old who liked American-style football and played it very well. We were very concerned about them. No friends, no extended family, and no American football! I wondered, "Would this exciting new experience prove to be a serious trial for our family?"
The answer came in an early assignment I received. I had been asked to speak to the missionaries at the Missionary Training Center in Preston, England. I called President White of the center and was pleased to hear that he knew of my family situation. He suggested we include our children on our visit to Preston. Once we were there, he even invited our daughter and son to speak to the missionaries! What a thrill for them to be and feel included and share their testimonies of the Lord's work!
When finished and after tender good-byes to those missionaries, we visited the beautiful Preston England Temple, which was close to the Missionary Training Center. As we walked near the front door, there stood President and Sister Swanney, the temple president and matron. They greeted us and welcomed us into the temple with, "Elder Rasband, how would you and your family like to perform baptisms for the dead?" What a wonderful idea! We looked at each other and gratefully accepted. After performing the ordinances and while my son and I were still in the font with tears of joy in our eyes, he put his hand on my shoulder and asked, "Dad, why haven't we ever done this before?"
I thought of all the football games, all the movies we had attended together, all of the good times we had shared—certainly happy memories and traditions that are so important to build.
However, I realized we had an opportunity to add more meaningful spiritual experiences with our children like what we had experienced in Preston that day. Thanks to those caring and observant priesthood leaders, I knew then that our family was going to do fine in Europe.
Now back to my home teaching visit this past Sunday. After I shared President Eyring's inspired words and also mentioned briefly Elder Rasband's experience, I asked my assigned family how they've been able to share meaningful spiritual experiences with their children. The mother related a tender experience that she had with her oldest daughter. On the day of her daughter's twelfth birthday, this mother took her out of school and drove her to the Mesa Arizona Temple. They spent the morning doing baptisms for many deceased relatives whose names they had worked hard to find during the months leading up to this special day. This mother described the beautiful spirit that was felt on that occassion. After leaving the temple, they stopped to eat lunch somewhere. This wise and inspired mother took that opportunity to discuss what they had each felt inside the temple, the importance of that sacred place, and the personal choices and decisions that would help her daughter to remain clean and worthy to enter again and receive future temple blessings. With tears coming down, this mother finished by saying, "I remember when I turned twelve my mother took me to the store to buy make-up for the first time - which was fine and fun. But just think about the difference between those two experiences. Think of how meaningful and lasting one is compared to the other."
I was really touched by this experience and greatly struck by the beautiful simplicity of the idea. It made me realize that spiritual experiences like this are abundant and are just waiting to take place between parents and children. Discovering them simply requires a little creative effort and inspired thinking and planning on the part of understandably busy, stressed, and tired parents. My heart tells me, though, that the payoff is well worth any effort and sacrifice. I think Liz and I will definitely borrow this temple idea when Gwen turns twelve. And I'm hoping that when the day arrives, it will be at least the hundredth spiritual experience we've helped to create for her rather than the first.
