Sunday is Mother's day. (Here's your reminder to do something nice or get to the store before it gets too late. You're welcome.) In honor of this Sunday's holiday, I wanted to take some time to talk about a few different mothers, including my favorite mother in the whole world >> mine. (I know. So cliche and cheesy. But TRUE.)
First, let's talk about some mothers in the Book of Mormon. In the book of Alma, we learn about Helaman's 2000 Stripling Warriors. These were the sons of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, who had covenanted with God to never again take up their weapons of war unto the shedding of blood. When the Lamanites came to attack them, these men wanted to protect their families, but they did not want to break their covenant with God, so they weren't sure what to do. That's when their sons stepped up and said that because they had not made that covenant, they would fight to protect their families and their freedom. Helaman, the captain of the army, later talks about the courage of these young warriors.
"Never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites. ... They said unto me... behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall... Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it."
Alma 56:45-48
This is one of my hands-down-all-time-favorite stories in the Book of Mormon. I love it not only because of the courage that these young men show, but because of the love and trust that they have in their mothers. Think about it; "we do not doubt our mothers knew it." Do your children have that much confidence in the things that you teach them? Someone once told me that we cannot give anything to our children that we ourselves do not already have. This of course applies to food, shelter, etc. We have to physically obtain it before giving it to our children. The same goes with faith. If we do not have our foundation securely rooted in Christ, we cannot truly teach our children to do the same.
Next, I want to talk about my own mom. Like any mother-daughter relationship, it's had it's fair share of struggles. But in the end she has become someone who I'm proud to call one of my very best friends. I find myself becoming more like her every day and I can't think of anyone who I would rather become more like. (and I truly never thought I would say that.) If there's anything that I've learned from watching my mother as I've grown up, it's been that she does have not only a testimony, but a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. I remember walking into her room to find her praying or diligently studying her scriptures. She used every opportunity to teach me about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and helped me to gain that personal relationship for myself. I love my mom so much and am so grateful for all the many years that she spent teaching me what is right. I know that it is because of her that I am the person that I am today. It's because of the things that she taught me in my youth that I have grown to have the testimony that I do today. And I can say for myself that I do not doubt my mother knows it.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you so much.
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