My Testimony of Families

I was asked by the Relief Society to comment on this month's Visiting Teaching message for their newsletter. I thought I would post it in hopes that it gives peace to others facing struggles with their families.

Being a mother is the most difficult job on the earth. It is also the most rewarding job on the earth. And I know that as we come closer to the Second Coming, mothering is going to become even harder. The great thing about this hard job is that Heavenly Father has given us easy guidelines to help us be successful. I have reared five children and now have almost eleven grandchildren. It hasn’t been easy. If you have lived in the ward long enough, you will know there were some scary times for me as a mother. But I have been very blessed to have my wandering children wander back home before I anticipated that they might return. I take no credit for their return but I do feel strongly that we were blessed as a family because we made the choice to incorporate the following in our routine -- We read as a family each morning from the Book of Mormon and followed up with a family prayer. We knelt in prayer as a family at the end of each day. We held Family Home Evening. We served together. We worked together. We played together. We went to church together. The key word is “together.” The willingness level often left something to be desired, but we were together as a family.

There were times that I wondered if my children would return but I knew that I would be blessed through my desire to be obedient. I clung to this doctrine taught by Joseph Smith “....the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold onto the with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God” (CR, 4-29, p.110).

Serving as a Sealing Room Host in the Draper Temple this past month reinforced my love for Heavenly Father’s divine plan for families. Now I look forward to supporting my children in their role as parents. I anticipate they will have some tough times but I know they will be blessed if they make the choice to follow Heavenly Father’s guidelines. I am grateful for the Atonement. I am grateful our Savior makes up the difference after all we can do. I have seen His hand in my life and in the lives of my children. I am grateful to be a wife, a mother, and a grandmother!