Category: LDS Quotes

I was very fortunate this past weekend to be able to attend a session of Time Out for Women. It was a very enriching experience and gave me much to ponder in my roles as woman, wife, and mother. Tonight I thought I would share a scripture chain from the talk How Can I Know If I’m Getting It Right? by Emily Watts. The scriptures are in bold, and my version of her words are underneath.

“Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).
-The fruits of motherhood are agonizingly slow to ripen.

“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart” (Psalms 27:14).
-Don’t forget that Heavenly Father loves my children as much as I do.

“And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him” (1 Chronicles 5:20).
-Parenting can indeed be a battle. In the midst of the battle, turn to the Lord.

“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee” (Psalms 9:10).
-Sometimes the fruit doesn’t ripen in this life. Be patient and trust in the Lord.

The key point of her talk is this: What if the fruits of parenting have less to do with how my children turn out, and more with how I turn out? How am I being changed and refined as a mother?

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
2 Nephi 25:26

“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. Give priesthood blessings. And bear your testimony! Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.“

“Nephi-like, might we ask ourselves what our children know? From us? Personally? Do our children know that we love the scriptures? Do they see us reading them and marking them and clinging to them in daily life? Have our children ever unexpectedly opened a closed door and found us on our knees in prayer? Have they heard us not only pray with them but also pray for them out of nothing more than sheer parental love? Do our children know we believe in fasting as something more than an obligatory first-Sunday-of-the-month hardship? Do they know that we have fasted for them and for their future on days about which they knew nothing? Do they know we love being in the temple, not least because it provides a bond to them that neither death nor the legions of hell can break? Do they know we love and sustain local and general leaders, imperfect as they are, for their willingness to accept callings they did not seek in order to preserve a standard of righteousness they did not create? Do those children know that we love God with all our heart and that we long to see the face—and fall at the feet—of His Only Begotten Son? I pray that they know this.

“Carl Sandburg once said, “A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.” For that baby’s future as well as your own, be strong. Be believing. Keep loving and keep testifying. Keep praying. Those prayers will be heard and answered in the most unexpected hour. God will send aid to no one more readily than He will send it to a child—and to the parent of a child.”

Jeffrey R. Holland, “A Prayer for the Children,” Ensign, May 2003, 85

“To parents everywhere, my counsel is simple: Get a copy of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Read it and strive to align your marriage and your family to its inspired, revealed direction from the Lord. Then, be the very best and act the very best you can. God will give you strength beyond your own as you strive daily to fulfill the most sacred mortal responsibility He gives to His children. Listen to the voice of the Spirit and the counsel of the living prophets. Be of good cheer. God did not place you on earth to fail, and your efforts as parents will not be counted as failure unless you give up.”

M. Russell Ballard (2003, August 19). “The Sacred Responsibilities of Parenthood,” BYU Devotional Address.

“Have you ever wondered why prophets have taught the doctrine of motherhood—and it is doctrine—again and again? I have. I have thought long and hard about the work of women of God. And I have wrestled with what the doctrine of motherhood means for all of us. This issue has driven me to my knees, to the scriptures, and to the temple—all of which teach an ennobling doctrine regarding our most crucial role as women. It is a doctrine about which we must be clear if we hope to stand “steadfast and immovable” regarding the issues that swirl around our gender. For Satan has declared war on motherhood. He knows that those who rock the cradle can rock his earthly empire. And he knows that without righteous mothers loving and leading the next generation, the kingdom of God will fail.

“When we understand the magnitude of motherhood, it becomes clear why prophets have been so protective of woman’s most sacred role. While we tend to equate motherhood solely with maternity, in the Lord’s language, the word mother has layers of meaning. Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve “the mother of all living” —and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality, righteous women were endowed premortally with the privilege of motherhood. Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us.”

Sheri L. Dew, “Are We Not All Mothers?,” Ensign, Nov 2001, 96

“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.

Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.

Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty.”

“If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them. If you are not a mother now, the creative talents you develop will prepare you for that day, in this life or the next.”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Happiness, Your Heritage,” Ensign, Nov 2008, 117–20

To see a little more of this inspiring message by President Uchtdorf, watch the following presentation produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Children rise higher when they are treated with respect. Use courteous and respectful language when you talk with your children and others. Bruno Bettelheim, a world-famous psychologist, said, “You can’t teach children to be good. The best you can do for your child is to live a good life yourself. What a parent knows and believes, the child will lean on.” You don’t teach a child not to yell by yelling. We cannot expect to be respected if we treat others in demeaning ways.”

Marjorie Pay Hinckley, Small and Simple Things (2003), 141.

“I have taken for a title to my remarks Mrs. Browning’s wonderful line “How do I love thee?” (Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese [1850], no. 43.) I am not going to “count the ways” this morning, but I am impressed with her choice of adverb–not when do I love thee nor where do I love thee nor why do I love thee nor why don’t you love me, but, rather, how. How do I demonstrate it, how do I reveal my true love for you? Mrs. Browning was correct. Real love is best shown in the “how,”.”

Jeffrey R. Holland (2000, February 15). “How Do I Love Thee?” BYU Devotional Address.

“The commandment taught by Jesus shortly before His crucifixion was: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (john 13:34). Love is the core of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Love, also called nurturance, affection, warmth, and support, is consistently the most predictive variable for favorable child outcomes in research on parenting. Nurturance is defined as behavior that helps the child feel safe, valued, and accepted. Effective loving is the most important thing a parent can do for a child.”

“Love is more than a feeling. It may be considered a commitment to act in the best interest of another person.”

“When we take time to be with children, doing things that they value, they feel loved.”

H. Wallace Goddard and Larry C. Jensen (2000), Understanding and Applying Proclamation Principles of Parenting; in David C. Dollahite, ed., Strengthening Our Families: An In-Depth Look at the Proclamation on the Family (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft), 124-134.

“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children…Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another…”

The Family: A Proclamation to the World, paragraph 6.

“Love is the very essence of life. It is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet it is more than the end of the rainbow. Love is at the beginning also, and from it springs the beauty that arches across the sky on a stormy day. Love is the security for which children weep, the yearning of youth, the adhesive of marriage, and the lubricant that prevents devastating friction in the home; it is the peace of old age, the sunlight of hope shining through death. How rich are those who enjoy it in their associations with family, friends, church, and neighbors…love, like faith, is a gift of God.”

Gordon B. Hinckley (1989), Faith: The essence of true religion. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book), 44.