Recently I was driving my car as drops of rain from a
thunderstorm began to fall on the windshield.
On the side of the road, an electronic sign displayed a
timely warning: “Standing Water Ahead.” Now, the surface
on which I was driving appeared to be quite safe.
But this vital information enabled me to prepare for a
potential hazard I had not expected and
could not yet see.
As I continued toward my destination, I slowed down and
watched carefully for additional signs of danger.
Early warning signals are evident in many
aspects of our lives.
For example, a fever can be a first symptom
of sickness or disease.
Various financial and labor market indicators are used to
forecast future trends in local and national economies.
And depending upon the area of the world in which we live, we
may receive flood, avalanche, hurricane, tsunami, tornado,
or winter storm warnings.
We also are blessed by spiritual early warning
signals as a source of protection and
direction in our lives.
Recall how Noah was alerted by God of things not yet seen,
and he “prepared [the] ark to the saving of his house.”
Lehi was warned to leave Jerusalem and take his family
into the wilderness because the people to whom he had
declared repentance sought to kill him.
The Savior Himself was spared through an angelic warning:
“Behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream,
saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and
flee into Egypt,
and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod
will seek the young child to destroy him.”
Consider the language of the Lord in the revelation known
as the Word of Wisdom: “In consequence of evils and
designs which do and will exist in the hearts of
conspiring men in the last days,
I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this
word of wisdom by revelation.”
Brothers and sisters, spiritual warnings should lead
to increasingly vigilant watching.
You and I live in a day of warning.
And because we have been and will be warned, we need to be,
as the Apostle Paul admonished, “watching … with all
perseverance.”
I pray for the guidance of the Holy Ghost as I describe a
spiritual early warning system that can help parents in Zion
to be watchful and discerning concerning their children.
This early warning system applies to children of all
ages and contains three basic components:
one, reading and talking about the Book of
Mormon with your children;
two, bearing testimony of gospel truths spontaneously
with your children;
and three, inviting children as gospel learners to act and
not merely be acted upon.
Parents who do these things faithfully will be blessed to
recognize early signals of spiritual growth in or
challenges with their children and be prepared to
receive inspiration to strengthen
and help those children.
Component number one: reading and talking
about the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the Savior’s
gospel and is the only book the Lord Himself has testified
to be true.
Indeed, the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion.
The convincing and converting powers of the Book of Mormon
come from both a central focus upon the Lord Jesus Christ and
the inspired plainness and clarity of its teachings.
Nephi declared, “My soul delighteth in plainness unto
my people that they may learn.” The root word “plain”
in this verse does not refer to things that
are ordinary or simple.
Rather, it denotes instruction that is clear and easily
understood.
The Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on earth
because it centers upon the Truth—
even the Lord Jesus Christ—
and restores the plain and precious things that have been
taken away from the true gospel.
The unique combination of these two factors—
a focus on the Savior and the plainness of the teachings—
powerfully invites the confirming witness of the
third member of the Godhead, even the Holy Ghost.
Consequently, the Book of Mormon speaks to the spirit
and to the heart of the reader like no
other volume of scripture.
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that abiding by the
precepts found in the Book of Mormon would help us “get
nearer to God” than any other book.
Regular reading and talking about the Book of Mormon
invite the power to resist temptation and to produce
feelings of love within our families.
And discussions about the doctrines and principles in
the Book of Mormon provide opportunities for parents to
observe their children, to listen to them, to learn from
them, and to teach them.
Youth of all ages, even infants, can and do respond to
the distinctive spirit of the Book of Mormon.
Children may not understand all of the words and stories,
but they certainly can feel the “familiar spirit”
described by Isaiah.
And the questions a child asks, the observations a child
shares, and the discussions that occur provide crucial
early spiritual warning signals.
Importantly, such conversations can help parents
to discern what their children are learning, thinking, and
feeling about the truths contained in the sacred volume
of scripture, as well as the
difficulties they may be facing.
Component number two: bearing testimony spontaneously.
Testimony is personal knowledge based upon the
witness of the Holy Ghost that certain facts of eternal
significance are true.
The Holy Ghost is the messenger for the Father and
the Son and the teacher of and guide to all truth.
Thus, “by the power of the Holy Ghost [we] may know the truth
of all things.”
The knowledge and spiritual conviction we receive from the
Holy Ghost are the result of revelation.
Seeking for and obtaining these blessings require a
sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Christ.
A personal testimony also brings responsibility and
accountability.
Parents should be vigilant and spiritually attentive to
spontaneously occurring opportunities to bear
testimony to their children.
Such occasions need not be programmed,
scheduled, or scripted.
In fact, the less regimented such testimony sharing is, the
greater the likelihood for
edification and lasting impact.
For example, a naturally occurring family
conversation at dinner may be the perfect setting for a
parent to recount and testify of specific blessings he or
she received during the course of relatively routine
activities that day.
And a testimony need not always begin with the phrase
“I bear you my testimony.” Our witness can be declared as
simply as “I know I was blessed with inspiration at
work today,” or “The truth in this scripture always has been
a powerful source of direction for me.” Similar opportunities
to bear testimony also can arise while traveling together
in a car or in a bus or in a multitude of other settings.
The reactions of children to such impromptu testimony
bearing and their eagerness or reluctance to participate
are potent sources of spiritual
early warning signals.
A child’s expression about a lesson learned in family
scripture study or a candid statement of concern about a
gospel principle or practice can be most illuminating—can
help parents better understand a child’s
specific question or needs.
Such discussions, especially when parents are as eager to
listen intently as they are to talk, can foster a supportive
and secure environment in the home and encourage ongoing
communication about other difficult topics.
Component number three: inviting children to act.
In the grand division of all of God’s creations, there are
things to act and things to be acted upon.
As children of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed
with the gift of moral agency—
the capacity and power of independent action.
Endowed with agency, we are agents.
And we primarily are to act, and not merely be acted upon—
especially as we “seek learning … by study and also by faith.”
As gospel learners, we should be “doers of the word, and not
hearers only.”
Our hearts are opened to the influence of the Holy Ghost as
we properly exercise agency and act in accordance with
correct principles.
And we thereby invite His teaching and testifying power.
Parents have the sacred responsibility to help
children to act and to seek learning by faith.
And, brothers and sisters, a child is never too young to
take part in this pattern of learning.
Giving a man a fish feeds him for one meal.
Teaching a man to fish feeds him for a lifetime.
As parents and gospel instructors, you and I are not
in the business of distributing fish.
Rather, our work is to help our children learn “to fish” and
to become spiritually steadfast.
This vital objective is best accomplished as we encourage
our children to act in accordance with correct
principles—as we help them to learn by doing.
Such learning requires spiritual, mental, and
physical exertion and not just passive reception.
Inviting children as gospel learners to act and not merely
be acted upon builds on reading and talking about the
Book of Mormon and bearing testimony
spontaneously in the home.
Imagine, for example, a family home evening in which children
are invited and expected to come prepared to ask questions
about what they are reading and learning in the Book of
Mormon, or about an issue that recently was emphasized in a
gospel discussion or spontaneous
testimony in the home.
And imagine further that the children ask questions the
parents are not prepared adequately to answer.
Some parents might be somewhat apprehensive about such an
unstructured approach to home evening.
But the best family home evenings are not necessarily
the product of preprepared, purchased, or downloaded
packets of outlines and visual aids.
What a glorious opportunity for family members to search
the scriptures together and to be
tutored by the Holy Ghost.
“For the preacher was no better than the hearer,
neither was the teacher any better than the learner; …
and they did all labor, every man according to his
strength.”
Are you and I helping our children become agents who act
and seek learning by study and by faith, or have we trained
our children to wait to be taught and acted upon?
Are we as parents primarily giving our children the
equivalent of spiritual fish to eat, or are we consistently
helping them to act, to learn for themselves, and to stand
steadfast and immovable?
Are we helping our children become anxiously engaged in
asking, seeking, and knocking?
The spiritual understanding you and I have been blessed to
receive, and which has been confirmed as true in our
hearts, simply cannot be given to our children.
The tuition of diligence and of learning by study and also
by faith must be paid to obtain and
personally own such knowledge.
Only in this way can what is known in the mind also be
felt in the heart.
Only in this way can a child move beyond relying upon the
spiritual knowledge and experiences of parents and
adults and claim those blessings
for himself or herself.
Only in this way can our children be prepared
spiritually for the challenges of mortality.
I bear witness that parents who consistently read and talk
about the Book of Mormon with their children, who share
testimony spontaneously with their children, and who invite
children as gospel learners to act and not merely be acted
upon will be blessed with eyes that can see afar off
and with ears that can hear the sound of the trumpet.
The spiritual discernment and inspiration you will receive
from the combination of these three holy habits will enable
you to stand as watchmen on the tower for your families—
“watching … with all perseverance”—to the blessing of your
immediate family and your future posterity.
I so promise and testify, in the sacred name of the Lord
Jesus Christ,
amen.