Teach the Little Children

In today's world we are bombarded with filth, evil and anti-Christ messages.  As I reflect on life when I was young compared to now the deterioration in morals has been overwhelming.  How I worry about the atmosphere that our grandchildren will be raised in.  If the situation of the world continues its downward trend it is going to be an incredibly wicked era for them.  No wonder we are admonished time and again to teach our children while they are small.  The very young now are going to be the generation who will need to be strong to prepare the world for the Second Coming.  It seems to me that these little children crave spiritual nourishment.  They have an innate desire to increase their knowledge for righteous things.  In the past week I have experienced the joy of watching our grandchildren being taught by parents who care.

While I was in Oklahoma I listened intently as Carrie put the kids to bed she would tell them marvelous stories from the Book of Mormon.  She would question them on what they learned the night before and they could recall it.  They loved listening to her tell these stories.

When I returned from vacation I was fortunate enough to tend Tyler and Carly's little girls.  Lucy can sing every single word of "I Am A Child of God" without help.  At times when we weren't having her sing to show off I would still hear her singing the words quietly to herself.  There is no greater message about her true parentage that could be instilled in her.

Last night Amy and Luke and their children were eating dinner with us.  Blake said that she wanted to bless the food.  Her next remark was; "I won't pray all night."  I glanced at Amy to see the meaning of this and Amy mentioned they had been learning about Enos from the Book of Mormon and how he had prayed all night.  Obviously Blake had remembered the details of this wonderful story and was reassuring us that she would give a short prayer not an all night prayer.

These children are all under the age of 5.  Macey, Lucy and Blake are 3.  How wonderful that they have parents who realize the importance of teaching children while they are little.  We can't afford to wait until they are older.  They need to be strengthened now while young so they can be strong to overcome temptations when they are older.  We need this chosen generation to be taught so that they live up to the expectations that Heavenly Father has for them.  They have certainly been saved 'for such a time as this'.