Joshua Sayings

As I reflect upon the turmoil of this world and all of the wickedness that I see, I can easily feel the weight of it. I really do sorrow over the sins of the world. Sometimes, it is rather easy to be saddened by it and anxious over it. It's easy to fear the raising of our children in this world so overcome with confusion and lies.

I see the importance of making our home heavenly and teaching our children through day to day real-life moments and interactions the truths of the gospel. We do our best. We will continue to do our best. We are told that some of Heavenly Father's most righteous and courageous spirits were saved for the latter days. I see that in my children. Sometimes they make connections that I would have never made at their age, and sometimes they surprise me with their scriptural knowledge and spiritual strength. I had a moment like that the other day.

I was exercising in the front room and we weren't having any sort of gospel discussion or moment of any kind (at least not that I was aware of). I was dancing to a program on the TV, the other kids were following along with me. Joshua came up to me and out of the blue said that sometimes he got a really strange feeling about things. I paused and asked him what he was talking about, and he said, "I don't know why but sometimes I get a really strange feeling that my generation is probably going to be the last generation that will know what going to our church is like without persecution."

Whaaat?!

I said, "I think you may be right, who knows. We know that we will gather to Missouri somehow. Perhaps we will be driven there, I don't know. But, we don't need to fear as long as we stay faithful. If we get persecuted for believing in what's right, we're in good company." He said, "yeah, pretty much everybody in the Book of Mormon and Bible were mocked, and so was Jesus. That's pretty good company!" Today he related to me how when he went to conference with Grandma and Papa he saw first-hand what it was like to see people mocked. He said that outside the conference center there were people holding signs that said mocking things on them. He and I related it to Lehi's dream. I told him that walking on the sidewalk towards the conference center was kind of like walking past the great and spacious building. He said, "yeah, it was, but you go on anyway."

He also fasted today, on his own. I didn't even remind him. I came downstairs and asked if he had eaten breakfast and he told me no, that he was fasting. (I am fasting too, for the first time in a long time. I have been either nursing or pregnant for the past 9 years. I am still nursing once a day, but I felt I needed to fast for a friend of mine who's baby is dying.)

I can assure you that at 8 years old, I wasn't making such connections. I may have been hoping for the second coming so that I would never know the pain of child birth, but that was it.

Our children were saved for these times. They are ready. They have been preparing for eons of time and they are strong and courageous. Now, if only I can continue to do my best to teach them how to reach their potential, and that is a tremendous work. A joyous responsibility, but a tremendous one at that. It's something I pray for every day.