I am the second counselor in the Primary (the childrens organization in my church) presidency where I live. All four of us where asked to speak in sacrament this Sunday on "Heavenly Fathers Children" I typed that topic into LDS.org and then went through the talks that came up until I found one that I wanted to use. It was a First Presidency Message by President Thomas S. Monson writte for the Liahona magazine entitled "Precious Children - A Gift From God"In a First Presidency message entitled "Precious children, a gift from God" President Monson said "It is our solemn duty, our precious privilege—even our sacred opportunity—to welcome to our homes and to our hearts the children who grace our lives.
Our children have three classrooms of learning which are quite distinct one from another.
I speak of the classroom at school, the classroom in church, and the classroom called home."
The first classroom, the
Classroom at School he says
"There is no more important aspect of ... education than the teacher who has the opportunity to love, to teach, and to inspire eager boys and girls and young men and young women. President David O. McKay said: “Teaching is the noblest profession in the world.
Oh, the importance in the lives of our children of teachers who lift their spirits, sharpen their intellects, and motivate their very lives!"
D&C 109 :7 says And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith;
And one of the places we teach eachother and share our knowledge is:
The Classroom at Church"The classroom at church adds a vital dimension to the education of every child and youth. In this setting each teacher can provide an upward reach to those who listen to her lessons and feel the influence of her testimony. In Primary, Sunday School, Young Women meetings, and those of the Aaronic Priesthood, well-prepared teachers, called under the inspiration of the Lord, can touch each child, each youth, and prompt all to “seek … out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” A word of encouragement here and a spiritual thought there can affect a precious life and leave an indelible imprint upon an immortal soul."
President Monson then relates a story of an experience he had, he said "Many years ago, at a Church magazine awards banquet, we sat with President and Sister Harold B. Lee. President Lee said to our teenage daughter, Ann: “The Lord has blessed you with a beautiful face and body. Keep the inside just as beautiful as the outside, and you will be blessed with true happiness.” This master teacher left with Ann an inspired guide to the celestial kingdom of our Heavenly Father.
The humble and inspired teacher in the church classroom can instill in her pupils a love for the scriptures. Why, the teacher can bring the Apostles of old and the Savior of the world not only into the classroom but also into the hearts, the minds, the souls of our children."
In an Ensign article in 1975 the Ensign interviewed the then General Primary President, Sister Shumway. She was asked How does Primary fit into the total organization of the Church?
Sister Shumway responded The overall purpose of the Primary is to “support the parents” in helping their children “walk uprightly before the Lord.”
M. Russell Ballard said "Those who yearn for true spiritual light and knowledge can only find it through the power of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit enlightens and gives understanding of the eternal purposes of life. By the Spirit, Church members know the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true. We should, therefore, feel compelled to share our spiritual knowledge with all of our Father’s children by inviting them to pull a chair up to the Lord’s table and feast on the words of Christ."
As much as I love a feast, especially a spiritual feast, It is not enough. No matter how much you eat at your feast, or partake of at church, if you only eat once a week, you will not make it to the next week without feeling hungry. Especially if you don't partake of the feast in it's entirety. If you "skip dessert" or don't attend all of your meetings, from the opening prayer in sacrament to the closing prayer in your last class, you are rejecting the strength and spiritual nourishment Christ has offered you and taking that away from your children as well.
I was talking with my sister about the spiritual education of children in preparing for my talk and this was her take on the matter "Just as children have to do homework every night for their secular schooling, because it wouldn't be enough to go to school once a week, so do they also have to have every day exposure to spiritual matters. Which brings me to my favorite of the three classrooms.
The Classroom Called HomeProverbs 22:6 say "Train up a child in the way he should go..."
President Monson says this - "Perhaps most significant of all classrooms is the classroom of the home. It is in the home that we form our attitudes, our deeply held beliefs. It is in the home that hope is fostered or destroyed. Our homes are the laboratories of our lives. What we do there determines the course of our lives when we leave home. Dr. Stuart E. Rosenberg wrote in his book The Road to Confidence, “Despite all new inventions and modern designs, fads and fetishes, no one has yet invented, or will ever invent, a satisfying substitute for one’s own family.”
I love that he called the home "the most significant of all classrooms". Because if the home is where we do form our attitudes, beliefs, and hopes, then it is at home that we become who we are. And if we want to be righteous individuals raising righteous families, we have to start that at home.
The book "True to the Faith" echoes the same thought in their section on Family Home Evening. I quote "The home is the most important place for gospel learning. No other organization can take the place of the family. Latter-day prophets have repeatedly called on parents to nurture their children with love and gospel teaching. In 1915 President Joseph F. Smith and his counselors in the First Presidency began a Churchwide effort to strengthen the family. They called on parents in the Church to gather their children once each week for a "Home Evening." Families were to take time to pray and sing together, read the scriptures, teach the gospel to one another, and participate in other activities that would build family unity.
Another of these activities is daily scripture study with your children.
Deuteronomy 6: 7 says : And thou shalt ateach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt btalk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Incorporate your children into scripture study, make it interesting for them. Give them a word or phrase to listen for as you read. I tried this with my own children and they loved it, and they sat still as they listened for the phrase, it kept their minds from wandering. Ask them questions, and explain what you just read to them. We read the same chapter twice, once in the morning for devotional and then again in the evening for Family scripture study.
Children recognize that what we talk about a lot is what's important to us. If we talk about the gospel, our children will understand that it's important. They'll start to ask questions about what they hear, because children are naturally inquisitive. But they have to first hear things in order to ask questions about them, and they don't always ask them right away, often they'll ask later, or after multiple exposures.
I love teaching children, they amazing minds and such an awesome capacity to understand more than we think they will
