The Rising Generation August 31, 2014 (Anne's Talk)
Kids say the darndest things! Now you have to be seriously old the remember
that TV program and Art Linkletter. But
that is the theme for my assigned topic Our Rising Generation. By Elder Rasband
I’ve learned so much from the simple things that fly out of
children’s mouths. Sometimes I learn
some things I need to change, some times its affirmation when I’m a little
down. Most of the time, it teaches me
something really important I need right now.
I’ve been privilege for the last few years to work in
Primary. You learn all kinds of things
about other families from the kids things say.
Here are two I’d like to share
1. You are free to choose but you are not free from the
consequences of your choices
2. After 3 weeks on
Adam and Eve, one of the students said, “So its really a good thing that Adam
and Eve ate the fruit” Yes!
I’ve learned a lot and had a lot of encouragement from our
children, too. And had the situation
lightened up
One day as I headed down the hall, I could smell the
desitin. As I came into the room, the
two year old was laying on the bed, almost naked, covered from head to toe in
Desitin. I was ready to kill him and he
looked up and said Mommy, I just wanted to be a cloud
One day at soccer pictures, one of the photographers headed
towards. Is that your kid? Oh know what did he do? I just wanted to meet the perfect mom. My mom’s perfect
One day I failed to do my duty. I came in and a son said, mom I had an
orthodontist appointment, Oh I’m so
sorry, we’ll reschedule. Mom—I rode my
bike. Kids can take of themselves if we
let them
One day, we were discussing taking care of old people,
nursing homes, etc. The women in my mother’s
family have memory issues in old age. I
was fussing about it. One of my kids
said, “Don’t worry mom, I’ll take care
of you?” and she does, all the time.
I got a note from our other daughter, she now a young mother—You
know we think our moms sit around all day thinking up chores waiting for you to
come home from school to make us do their work.
In the note she said, I never
knew, I just never knew. Thank you for your
life.
Missionary sons have taught me some things
One son had a broken foot,
I called the missionary president when I got his letter about it. He said, go ahead and call. Who is this,
Mom, you can’t call me. You
can’t do anything for me. I’m in God’s
hands—he’ll take care of me. Click I can’t tell you how many times I have heard
those words in my head. I’m in God’s
hands, he’ll take care of me.
We had another son write,
I want to work hard with everything I have . When this life is over I want to be able to
sit down with Samuel Smith and Wilford Woodruff and Ammon and any other of the
missionaries and share stories and not be embarrassed by my service.
Sitting around the table after school there was a discussion
about girls participating in boy’s contact sports. Oh they get what they deserve, they signed on for it. They can always quit. The discussion concluded with this wisdom—“Its
not appropriate contact for a holder of the Aaronic priesthood.
Early morning seminar—the child was late, yet again. I raged into the room, clicked on the light
and was intending to grab his foot and drag him to the floor. He was kneeling by his bed, starting his day
with a kind, patient, loving Heavenly Father
So, what about these kids we are surrounded with
Elder Rasband reminds us that we are also surrounded by
temples. We are covenant people. We go to temples, and we try to encourage our
children to do the same. Temples have
become a symbol of our faith in Christ
The B of M Mosiah tells us there was a great conference and
they pitched their tents, towards the temple to hear the words of the King
Benjamin, the prophet. It was a wonderful
time. The speech is full of good
counsel:
1.
When ye are in the service of your fellow
beings, ye are only in the service of your God
2.
Keep the commandments so you can prosper by his
blessings
3.
Become as a child, submissive, meek, humble,
patient, full of love, willing to submit
4.
Oh remember remember that these things are true
But Mosiah tells us in a few chapters that the rising
generation had not understood the words and as they grew, they did not believe
in the traditions. What happened?
I had the privilege of knowing LaVern Parmley. She was General Primary President for almost
30 years She taught all over the world.
She was released and called to
teach 12 new moms in our Mother Education class. She
taught
Great ideals and principles
do not live from generation to generation just because they are right; they
continue from generation to generation only when they are built into the hearts
of the children as they grow up. We are
not teaching the gospel to children, we are teaching children to live the
gospel
We are teaching more by what do than by what we say. That should change the way we are
teaching. What do our kids see us
do? Hear us say? Again:
We are not teaching the gospel to children, we are teaching children to
live the gospel.
We took 3 granddaughters to General Conference? After one of the sessions, there was some
repartee and some complaining going one.
One of the girls said—Did anybody listen the talks we just heard? This is exactly what He was talking about for
crying out loud Stop!
We can’t always take our children to see real General
Conference But we can do things to make that weekend with the modern prophets
important and very special—more than just printing games to keep kids quiet—but
maybe darkening the windows and wearing good clothes and turning off phones and
rescheduling Saturdays Whatever, to make it special. A weekend with the prophets!
Elder Rasband shared a story of taking his kids to an
assignment in a stake near the Preston England
Temple. After the meeting, they
were walking around the grounds. The
temple president met them and invited them in to do baptisms for the dead. As he held his son in the font, they had an
incredible spiritual experience, feeling the spirit and serving together. The son asked when they left, Can we do this again? There had been plenty of vacations and
football games and stuff, but this was their first time together at the temple.
We have a temple-- bring your children as soon as they turn
12
One day as I came up front in the middle of the week. There stood a young bishop with a very young
son. And me, Why aren’t you in school???
Today’s my 12 birthday and my dad took me out of class to do baptism. How important is the temple now to this young
man? How important is it to his father?
One day, I was headed to the laundry past a line of kids
picking up their baptismal suits. An
anxious young boy was introduced, this is my first time. Is their special instruction for Me? Yes there is!
You will be well taken care of in the temple. And there is special instruction. It comes from our Heavenly Father.
Find ways to have special experiences with the children in
your life. Find ways to remind them of
Heavenly Fathers love and concern for them.
The first thing Heavenly Father said to Joseph Smith in that
grove of trees was Joseph! He knew his
name. He cared about him. And he cares about all the children.
The world is a crazy place.
We need to be able stand on our own two feet. Heavenly Father will always be there. He will help us take care of ourselves, if we
learn to trust him. And have faith
him. He is really there for me. We need to teach that to our children by the
way we live our lives. If we can teach
by our own lives, maybe our kids will have the confidence they need to make it
this world.
Sometimes, most of the time, we learn so much for our
children
Missionary Work
One of our families had the idea to invite an older neighbor
to church. So they had him to
dinner. The mom was speaking that week
and that started a conversation about the gospel. The 5 year old whispered in the guest’s
ear. He kind of laughed. Oh no—what did he say? Do you have any Sunday Clothes? You should come to church with us
tomorrow— Adults, waiting for the right
moment and searching for the right works.
Well
He came, and he stayed for 3 hours. Walking out to the car after the meeting, the
five year again asked the right question—so, are you coming with us next week?
Love—simple love for the old man who lives next door. And the simple faith and honesty of a
child. No fear, just caring.
In the home of one of our children is plaque, among other
things it says, we make mistakes, we say I’m sorry, we give second
chances. We love each other. Sometimes we are the hardest on those we
should care the most about.
In the home of one of our other families, around the corner
where casual visitors wouldn’t see it, is their FHE bulletin board. It has a scripture and some of the things
they are working on that week. Art
Work and a kind of mission
statement. It says Brashers use nice works,
they are polite. They are kind. Brashers do hard things.
I had to think about that one hard things.
This new assignment we volunteered for qualifies for that
one. Its a good thing—but its hard. There are lots of reasons for us not to go. At least 28 really good ones. But those are also a part of the reasons we
are going. To be an example for them.
So why are we going?
Aren’t their enough service opportunities around here?
One of the main reasons, I am going again is because every
time I prayerfully listen to General Conference and they talk about missionary
service specifically senior missionaries the Spirit says to me—You know, he’s
talking to you.
Not this year, not now.
I even considered not watching conference—but that’s not going to
happen. I even considered not
approaching General Conference with preparation and prayer, but that seems
counter productive. The other
consideration is that my companion gets the same promptings.
In another home, there is a statement posted on the door
they use to go outside to face the world.
It says: The most important thing you can do today is to bring someone a little
closer to Christ.
The thing I’ve learned about that is as you try to bring
others closer, you find that you are also closer to Christ.
Larry and I have been so blessed in our life here on this
earth. There needs to be pay back. If we can go to Finland and encourage and
support and love Young Adults and old adults far away from home for 18
months. We can do that. If we can help them to know that we love
them, maybe they will be able to transfer that love and support to Our Savior’s
love for them.
Pres Uchtdorf that said, Love is the motivating factor in
this world. Everything we do is for
love, of something. Everything our
Heavenly Father did for us: our spirits, our bodies, this earth, this gospel, sacrificing
his only begotten son-- is motivated by his love for us.
This is my work and my glory to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man.
We were given this specific assignment to serve a mission in
Finland, by inspiration from our Savior.
Bishop Cardinet is the right man to be bishop of this ward at this
time. President Perez is the right man
to be our stake president, because God
said so.
President Monsen is God’s mouthpiece on our earth
today. He loves us and cares about us. He gives us God’s counsel.
Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appear to
him and gave him an assignment. And They
helped me to accomplish that assignment;
To restore the gospel of Jesus Christ to this earth again. To translate the ancient record, restore
Priesthood authority and reorganize Christ’s church on the earth again.
Jesus is the Christ.
He lived, and taught and willing sacrificed himself for me. He is My Savior and your Savior . He is the only begotten of our Heavenly
Father.
Its true, its all true.
Heavenly Father cares about me and you. He wants us to be happy here and for
eternity. He loves me and he loves
you. He loves all his children, no matter
where and when they live, not matter whatever they have done. He loves us all.
Of this I bear testimony
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