Yesterday I attended a stake conference meeting. It was one of the satellite broadcast meetings from Salt Lake City. I spent most of the meeting dealing with my almost-two-year-old son, so I unfortunately didn’t hear too much of the meeting. But what I did hear was this:
“The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest.”
The quote was given in a talk by Sister Esplin of the Primary General Presidency. The words stuck with me, and I know that is the lesson I needed to hear right now. I came home from church and did a little digging to find the original source of the quote. The words are from President Monson, and you can view a short video of his address discussing the importance of Family Home Evening here. The text is below. So the question I am pondering, and what I invite you to consider, is “What lessons are you teaching your children?“
“I begin with family home evening. We cannot afford to neglect this heaven-inspired program. It can bring spiritual growth to each member of the family, helping him or her to withstand the temptations which are everywhere. The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest. As President Gordon B. Hinckley and his predecessors have stated, “The home is the basis of a righteous life, and no other instrumentality can take its place nor fulfill its essential functions.” 2
“Dr. Glenn J. Doman, noted author and medical authority, wrote: “The newborn child is almost an exact duplicate of an empty … computer, although superior to such a computer in almost every way. … What is placed in the child’s [mind] during the first eight years of life is probably there to stay. … If you put misinformation into his [mind] during [this period], it is extremely difficult to erase it.” Dr. Doman added that the most receptive age in human life is that of two or three years. 3
“I like this thought: “Your mind is a cupboard, and you stock the shelves.” Let us make certain that our cupboard shelves, and those of our family members, are stocked with the things which will provide safety to our souls and enable us to return to our Father in Heaven. Such shelves could well be stocked with gospel scholarship, faith, prayer, love, service, obedience, example, and kindness.”
Thomas S. Monson, “Constant Truths for Changing Times”, Ensign, May 2005.