It is frightening to speak to this group, especially about child rearing. I’m sure many of you could give the same or a better talk. They say you don’t know what kind of parent you are until you see how the grand kids turn out. Then you can tell if the things you taught your children have sunk in enough for them to pass them onto their own children. I'm not a grandmother yet, so the jury is still out.

I’ve always felt that being a mother, especially a full-time mother, was in a way making a social statement, a statement about faith in the future and the importance and power of the individual soul. While I was having my children I met many people who thought the world was so dangerous a place it was irresponsible to bring children here. They were often intrigued by the gospel concept that there was a finite number of spirits ready to come down to earth, and our goal was to nurture as many of them as possible, as opposed to allowing any particular child to be sent into an environment of want or neglect or abuse.

Well, if we are going to go to all that trouble to bring children here, what is it that we should do with them? On my mission we would encourage people to study, pray, and attend church. I have found this was good advise for my own life as well as for teaching my children.

Studying the scriptures with children is very fun. They project parts of their own lives into the stories. We found out that Laman and Lemuel don't brush their teeth, don’t eat their broccoli, and don’t take baths. And of course an angel told them, “We don’t hit.”

Scriptures help children think through life choices and their consequences. Like Daniel, they can decide to eat good food, take good care of their bodies and to pray. From Joseph they learn to do their best in any instance and to leave fast when they are in a dangerous situation. From Nephi they learn faith, obedience, and enduring to the end.

There are other advantages to studying with your children. The Holy Ghost bears witness of the truth, and reading and hearing the truth of the scriptures invites the Spirit into our homes and our hearts. Having a habit of studying and reading worthy topics together gives families a chance to talk and share experiences and feelings, and creates a bond within the family. It involves spending lots of quality time together, sensitivity, teaching in the teachable moments, and it encourages trust and confidence.

We all know how important prayer is. We are counseled to pray individually and with our families. I recall the story told by Pres. Thomas S. Monson about his young family praying for ward members, including one Helen Lister. A child prayed, “Bless Sister Lister, and Henny Penny, and Turkey Lurkey.” They laughed, but Sister Lister got well. God hears the prayers of little ones.

Our family usually drives older cars that don’t always work as well as we’d like them to. Once I was driving to pick up the older kids from school. My toddler was strapped into the back seat. All of a sudden the car just stopped and I couldn’t get it going again. My little one offered a simple prayer and the car started. We got the other kids home OK.

From the time I brought my first child home from the hospital I have daily pleaded with the Lord to watch over and protect my children. I can see the hand of the Lord in their growth and in our being guided in raising them. We have lived and traveled in times and places that involve risk and uncertainty. I know the Lord has watched over us. I remember when the Gulf war was just building up. We had been evacuated and were in the States, but Gary had to go back to his job, which at that time was in Saudi Arabia. He gave us all blessings before he left, and they were blessings of comfort for us, but also for him. I was of course worried for his safety, and in the blessing he gave me he told me not to be concerned. He said, “angels will be on my right hand and on my left hand and before me and behind me, bearing me up.” He was watched over then, as he and we all have been since that time.

There is also another special kind of prayer. We make a point to attend the temple when we are in the States, because of course it is not available here. Praying for my children in the temple has given me great strength and insight and the personal revelation promised to parents and stewards of these special spirits. I learn as much of the temple as I can, so when I can’t get to the temple myself I often think of it in my mind and telephone a temple to put our family’s names on the prayer roll. This yields great strength to my children. I have a testimony of the strength from even this kind of temple worship. My children know when I have phoned a temple recently, and when it has been a while.

Lastly, it is important to attend church. As much as we have moved around, six wards in 18 years of marriage, the church has provided important stability in the midst of upheaval. The church has been my oasis in the desert, whether I am in California, New York, Texas, or in the Middle East. Here we find friends with similar goals and values and we find continuity.

The social reasons for attending church are important, but they would not be so imperative in and of themselves. Just as a single coal loses heat and stops burning when it’s pulled out of a fire, we can lose our strength and lose our way when we neglect church attendance. Other people’s testimony can bolster our own when we may be flagging, and focusing study and work on a purpose, like a church lesson or activity, puts us in a position spiritually to receive the revelation we need for ourselves. Church attendance also keeps us in touch with the counsel of the prophet and others having the Lord’s authority, making sure we stay on the strait and narrow.

Sometimes I have felt hesitant to attend yet another new ward, or I was so sick I could barely get out of bed, or I had hurt feelings, or I thought it was a bother to make the sacrifice to get to church. These are the times that come under the heading, “enduring to the end.” I just have to go anyway. We have felt the gap in our lives when we miss a week due to the differences in the sabbath day here and in other parts of the world. We have decided we need to attend church and keep the Sabbath wherever we are, even on vacation.

Just remember. If I am less active for five years, I can choose to come back to church when I am ready after those five years. But my children may be missing out on vital training and growth experiences they need, and it will be harder for them to come back when I do.

I have an ancestor who crossed the plains. He served three missions for the church, learned five Native American languages, and baptized 2,000. And, human beings having the frailties they do, when I read his life story I found myself saying several times, “I wonder why he put that in? That is not faith promoting!” People had been less than wise or honorable with him, and he could have become bitter and less active in the church because of it. But I found he did not. And he had children, grand children, and so forth, who were and are active, contributing, faithful members of the Church - bishops, stake presidents, general authorities, Relief Society presidents, primary teachers - hundreds of people with strong testimonies. I am so grateful he was able to rise above the “natural man.” He and his wife said the dearest wish of their hearts was to see their children stay close to to the Gospel. And their children did stay true, in large part because their parents did.

I pray that we can help our children also stay close, and thus understand and receive the blessings of the Atonement, as we study, pray, and attend church. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen