Parenthood as a Career
Filed under: Contentment in Motherhood, Parents/Leaders
Most of us spend a great many hours improving our job skills. We study the latest technology, management trends, or industry leaders. However, many of the same people who work hard to stay on top of their careers will complain that parenthood is unchallenging. Some parents who stay at home with their children all day fuss that their minds are turning to mush and some parents who are employed spend far less time focusing on making parenthood intellectually challenging than they do on their “paid” jobs. For too many, parenthood is just something we do after our real jobs end each day. Read more
Teaching Toddlers the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Filed under: Parents/Leaders, Scripture Stories, Teaching Children, Teaching Values, Uncategorized
Each week, I teach one to three year olds about God, Jesus, and the Bible in my Mormon nursery class. Every month,
we learn a Bible story, repeating it each Sunday for the entire month, and we also have a lesson on a basic principle of Christianity. Over the past year, I’ve learned a great deal about teaching religion to very young children.
It’s never too soon to start teaching our children. As a family, we can read the scriptures and make sure even our youngest children are in the room as we do. They are listening and will absorb whatever they are ready for. Read more
Teaching Your Child to Entertain Himself
Filed under: Entertaiment and Recreation, Motivating Children, Parents/Leaders, Teaching Children
I was watching various teenagers today as I drove around town doing errands and noticed none of them seemed to be comfortable with their own company. They talked on cell phones or were plugged into music as they waited for school busses or walked down the street. Merely walking and thinking seemed to be out of style. Read more
Mormon Meetinghouses: Relief Society and Primary Rooms
Filed under: Basic LDS Beliefs, Church Organization, Faith in God Program, Gospel Principles, Practices & Precepts, Scouting
Curious about what is inside a Mormon meetinghouse? Visitors are always welcome in these smaller buildings designed for regular worship and weekday activities. However, you can also tour a building virtually through a new feature on the Mormon’s official website.
Start the Mormon Meetinghouse tour. In the previous article, we explored the foyer and chapel and learned what went on during a service. Learn about the Mormon chapel.
Today, we’ll explore two special classrooms: The Relief Society and the Primary Rooms.
Look below the tour to see the map. The Relief Society room is in the top right hand corner of the map. This room is especially for women and is therefore, usually the prettiest room. It normally has nice curtains, attractive paintings, tablecloths, flowers, and other feminine touches. They are usually the only classroom provided with padded seats.
Mormons meet for three hours each Sunday. The main worship service lasts an hour and ten minutes. Following this, the families go in various directions, with adults and teens having two classes to attend, and children attending their own program. Relief Society is normally held the last hour and is only for the women. The organization was founded in 1842, and centers around providing service to others. On Sundays, the women meet for a class that is especially tailored to the particular lives and needs of women. Some weeks they study the same topic as the men, but with a feminine focus if there is one. Other weeks, they study unique topics. Lessons are drawn from teachings of past church leaders, talks given in semi-annual conferences from current church leaders at the international level, and topics of special interest to women.
During the week, each Relief Society may choose to have special clubs, classes, or meetings to help women perform service, learn new skills, and pursue hobbies and friendships. Examples might include a mom and tots group, a blogging club, a humanitarian aid group, lessons in car and home repair, or craft programs. The choices are as diverse as the women themselves, and vary based on the interests and needs of each group.
A unique feature of the Relief Society is the visiting teaching program. Women, working with an assigned partner, are given three or four other women to visit monthly. They come to the home with a brief spiritual message to discuss, and they also work to build a friendship with these women. They are charged with watching for needs the church can fulfill and are the first person a woman calls when she needs help. A visiting teacher will then either provide the service, or help to find someone who can. For instance, a visiting teacher might bring in a meal when the sister (the Mormon form of address for adult women) is ill, watch her children when she has a doctor’s appointment, or alert leaders the family has nothing to eat. It is reassuring to women to know there is someone they can call when they need help or just a friend.
The Relief Society also operates a literacy program that is tailored to whatever needs the congregation might have. Some groups use a church program to teach reading. Others teach English to immigrants, tutor inner-city children, or help people learn to write their personal and family histories.
Now go back to the map and click on the Primary room, found in the bottom right hand corner. This room belongs to the children of the church, ages three to twelve. In most wards (congregations) the children are divided into two groups, Junior Primary and Senior Primary, with age eight being the dividing line. They will meet in the Primary room all together for opening exercises. During this time, they have a prayer, songs, a scripture and a talk given by a child. Even a three-year-old might stand at the pulpit on a step that allows him to reach the microphone, and give a two and a half minute talk on a gospel principle with the help of a parent. This allows children to learn from their peers, and also helps the children learn poise, confidence and public speaking skills, while encouraging him to share his thoughts on an aspect of his faith.
Following this, most Primaries send the older children off to age-divided classes. Their classrooms are small and usually contain a chalkboard, bulletin board, and chairs sized to the students. The teacher prepares a lesson from a manual that can be read online. Read the lesson manuals used to teach Mormon children.
These older children are called Valiants. They have been baptized and are learning to be valiant in keeping the baptismal covenants (promises) they made to God. Mormon children are baptized at age eight. The lessons are taught through the scriptures, and they follow the same four year plan as their parents and teenage siblings, allowing families to discuss together the scripture stories learned. The children spend two years learning the Bible, one learning the Book of Mormon, and one learning church history and the Doctrine and Covenants. This last book is a collection of revelations received in modern times.
After their lesson, the children return to the Primary room for Sharing Time. The younger children, who were already having sharing time, go to their own classes. The younger children are called CTRs, which stands for Choose the Right. They are preparing to be baptized and are learning enough about their religion to make a wise choice and are also learning to become like Jesus. In their lessons, they follow a two year program. When it is repeated, they are more mature and can handle the same lesson taught at a higher level. They spend one year on the Bible. The second year covers the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.
Also included in Junior Primary are the Sunbeams, who are three at the start of the year. Their lesson manual is used for only one year and contains stories from all the scriptures taught in simple ways.
In Sharing Time, the children receive a fifteen minute lesson from a member of the Primary Presidency, a group of three women who run the program. There is a theme for the entire year, such as “I Am a Child of God” or “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus.” Each month, they study an aspect of the theme during Sharing Time. They also have fifteen minutes of singing with a music leader. Much of this music is focused around the theme as well. Near the end of the year, the children do a program for the entire congregation, taking over the regular service to sing and to teach the adults what they’ve learned.
The Primary room has chairs in a variety of sizes placed in rows. Children sit with their own classes and teachers. It usually includes a piano and pictures of Jesus with children. There is a chalkboard and decorated bulletin boards.
The Primary oversees a nursery, as well. This is for children who are eighteen months old to age three. If they are three years old January 1, they graduate to the Sunbeam class. This is not just child-care. It is a true class. The children have a lesson manual with simple lessons that teach them about God and Jesus in easy to understand ways. They generally have about ten minutes of lesson time, a fifteen minute singing time, crafts, group play, stories, and a play time. At least two teachers are present at all times.
Senior nursery children have weekday programs. The boys participate in Cub Scouts and the girls have a similar program called Activity Days.
In the next article, we’ll learn about the Youth program for teenagers, and about the cultural hall.
Teach Your Children the Bible This Summer
School may be out, but there is no reason for the learning to stop. While religious education might be against the law in public schools, at home this summer, you can teach your children to love the scriptures, and maybe sneak in a little academic learning at the same time. Read more
Come, Come Ye Saints
The hymn “Come, Come, Ye Saints” is possibly more closely identified with the Mormons than any other. It was written in the morning of April 15, 1846, which was the day its composer, William Clayton, learned his wife had given birth to a son.
The time was after Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes called Mormons, had been murdered. Brigham Young had assumed leadership of the church. Unfortunately, the murder had not led to safer conditions for the Mormons, and they were forced to travel west to escape persecution and death.
William Clayton was among those who traveled west. He had become a Mormon in the early 1880s in England, a convert from the Church of England. He was only 24 years old when he joined, but was well-educated and skilled at numbers, writing, and record keeping. He quickly become a trusted leader in the little group of Mormons there.
At the age of twenty-four, he and his wife immigrated to the United States and went to Nauvoo, Illinois, a city founded by the Mormons. He served as Joseph Smith’s secretary, sometimes transcribing revelations from the prophet. When Joseph died, there were disagreements over who should run the church. Clayton wisely supported Brigham Young and was soon serving President Young in much the same way he had served Joseph Smith. His reputation as one who was intelligent and trustworthy led to his assignment to lead a group of pioneers. His wife, pregnant, stayed behind in Nauvoo during this first trip.
William Clayton was a talented musician who played the violin. During the preparations for the move, Brigham Young assigned Clayton to purchase instruments and form a brass band. A gifted leader, Young understood morale would be a challenge during a long and dangerous trek, and music would help to keep up spirits.
The journey to Utah was slow and discouraging and the Mormon pioneers made little progress each day as they slogged through the rain and mud. By the time they reached Iowa, many were discouraged.
Clayton spent the trip worrying about his wife and their unborn child, and because communication was so difficult, he did not know for quite some time the baby had come. The child was born healthy, although the mother was very ill with ague and mumps. That evening, the company sang and played music until midnight. Early in that morning, Clayton celebrated by writing the hymn he would be best known for. He named it All is Well and set it to an English tune. It became immediately popular and soon, if anyone began to sing it, everyone was expected to join in. It provided comfort and hope to those making the dangerous journey.
“This morning Ellen Kimball came to me and wishes me much joy. She said Diantha has a son. I told her I was afraid it was not so, but she said Brother Pond had received a letter. I went over to Pond’s and he read that she had a fine fat boy on the 30th ult., but she was very sick with ague and mumps. Truly I feel to rejoice at this intelligence but feel sorry to hear of her sickness. . . . In the evening . . . [several] persons retired to my tent to have a social christening. . . . We named him William Adriel Benoni Clayton. . . . This morning I composed a new song-’All is well.’ I feel to thank my heavenly father for my boy and pray that he will spare and preserve his life and that of his mother and so order it so that we may soon meet again” (William Clayton’s Journal [1921], 19). Quoted on The Pioneer Story
The song, as Clayton hoped, brought hope to the weary pioneers and reminded them God was with them and in the end, no matter what happened on the journey, they were in God’s hands and all was well. Today, the song continues to inspire and uplift members of the Church.
Boyd K. Packer said, “There are many examples, both ancient and modern, that attest to the influence of righteous music. Discouragement disappeared and minds were filled with peace as the words to “Come, Come, Ye Saints” gave the pioneers courage to face their trials. This same song has been an inspiration to many over the years. At one time I was talking to a pilot who had just returned from a hazardous flight. We spoke of courage and of fear, and I asked how he had held himself together in the face of what he had endured. He said, “I have a favorite hymn, and when it was desperate, when there was little hope that we would return, I would keep it on my mind, and it was as though the engines of the aircraft would sing back to me.”
Come, come, ye Saints,
No toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you
This journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
From this he clung to faith, the one essential ingredient to courage.” (Boyd K. Packer, “The Message: Worthy Music, Worthy Thoughts,” NewEra, Apr 2008, 6-11)
This song is also included in the hymnbooks of the Seventh Day Adventists and the United Church of Christ, with variations to replace the references to heading west.
Can I Make a Difference?
Sometimes, when a caring person looks around and sees how much need there is in the world, he can become discouraged. It might seem like it’s hardly worth helping, when your help would barely even touch the hardship the world is facing. A person who can afford to give only three cans of soup to a food bank might wonder if those three cans could make any difference at all when so many are hungry.
There is an often told tale of a man tossing starfish back into the ocean. Starfish that become stranded on the beach will die. A young man comes along and watches the older man for a few minutes. He looks around the beach at the hundreds and hundreds of stranded starfish lying on the beach and knowing the older man can’t possibly rescue them all, asks, “Why do you bother? It’s not going to make a difference.”
The older man picks up another starfish and throws it into the water. He turns to the younger man and says gently, “It made a difference to this one.”
There is a quote on my desk from Gordon B. Hinckley, the previous president of the Mormons. It says, “I believe in 
the principle that I can make a difference in this world. It may be ever so small. But it will count for the greater good. The goodness of the world in which we live is the accumulated goodness of many small and seemingly inconsequential acts.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “I Believe,” Ensign, Aug 1992, 2)
Our three cans of soup might not do very much to end hunger. However, our three cans of soup might feed six people. Then, if our neighbor also contributed three cans of soup, twelve people would be fed. If enough people donated soup, and all the other foods necessary to sustain life, no one would be hungry. The accumulated donations would be enough to take care of everyone who needed them, even though ours alone can’t make a dent in the problem.
In order for this to work though, in order to be sure everyone who is hungry gets fed, and everyone who needs a place to live has one, everyone has to help. This doesn’t mean we can all sit around and wait for a handout. It does mean that those who have done the best they can do and still can’t quite make it will receive what they need. Anyone could unexpectedly find himself in a situation where he is dependent on others for his well-being. No one is immune from hardship. If we’ve helped others, we’ve earned the right to be helped without feeling guilty when we’ve truly exhausted our other resources.
The Mormons have a number of programs designed to help make our small contributions count for the greater good. One such program is the bishop’s storehouse. The storehouse resembles a small grocery store with one big exception-there is no cash register. Mormons meet with their church leaders to evaluate whether or not the member has done everything in his power to take care of himself. Has he cut his expenses down, and gotten rid of the luxuries? The church doesn’t help people maintain their lifestyles. It only helps them live. This means if a member wanted food assistance, but was keeping up a gym membership and a nice boat, he would be turned down.
The church leaders would also help the member learn to live more frugally if necessary. Then, when they were determined to be eligible for help, they would be able to fill out, with help from a leader, a form that lists all available food and personal care items available. They’d select what they need and go to the storehouse every other week to pick it up.
A member receiving this help would be expected to “pay” for it with work that might not entirely cover the cost, but would be tailored to that person’s individual circumstances. A member might come to the church building on Saturday evening to help clean it for the next day’s services, or mow lawns for elderly church members. Those who can come early to the storehouse and work there for an hour or two before filling their order. This maintains a person’s self-respect and dignity, because he’s not taking charity.
The money for this program comes from Mormons, who go without food for twenty-four hours, ending the first Sunday of each month. They skip two meals this way and then donate at least the amount they saved by not eating, drinking, or snacking during this time to a special fund called a Fast Offering. All the money from this fund goes to care for those in need. This allows the person who could normally only afford to donate two cans of soup to donate more once a month. Again, while the amount of money saved from two meals might not be a lot, when combined with the money from all the other skipped meals, it feeds and cares for a great many people around the world.
Each Mormon congregation has a woman’s Relief Society. This Relief Society has a woman assigned to be the Compassionate Service Leader for her congregation, working with assistants if needed. The compassionate service leader makes certain the needs of the congregation are met in terms of service. For instance, a grieving family will receive meals for a few days from members of the church. A woman with a broken leg might driven to the doctor by another woman, and a single mom with a critical job interview might have her children watched while she’s away. In this case, the accumulated goodness is in the form of time, rather than money. Not all needs can be met with money, and Mormons are taught to respond to those needs with their own time and resources.
The Savior Jesus Christ taught us to serve each other. He told the story of a time he was hungry and wasn’t fed or homeless, but was turned away. When his followers wanted to know when they had done that, he reminded them that what they do to others is what they do to the Savior. When we feed a hungry person, it’s a gift to Jesus Christ.
We may not be able to change the world alone, but when we combine our small but loving efforts with those of others, the world does get changed.
The New Mormon Nursery Manual
Mormons believe you’re never too young to learn, so classes for children begin at eighteen months. The nursery is for eighteen month olds to three year olds. In January, a child who will be four by the end of the year moves into the regular children’s program, known as Primary.
The nursery is not merely a babysitting service. It’s a real class, with a structured schedule and meaningful gospel learning opportunities. Previously, the nursery used the manual for the next class up, with suggestions for adapting it. This year, a new manual just for toddlers was introduced, which reinforces the educational and spiritual aspects of the nursery program.
The nursery is staffed with at least two adults, either a married couple or two adults of the same gender. Attendance is voluntary, but it is an important step to preparing children for the higher demands of the rest of the Primary program.
The new manual is called “Behold Your Little Ones.” The title is taken from a powerful story in the Book of Mormon, when Jesus Christ appeared to the Nephites after his death. Jesus asked the people to bring their children to him. When they were gathered, He stood in their midst and prayed. After the prayer, he gave each child an individual and personal blessing-a special personal prayer to God for the child.
22 And when he had done this he wept again;
23 And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.
24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them. (3 Nephi 17)
The title reminds us of how special children are to the Savior and that miracles can occur through and to children. They are never too young to learn to love their Savior.
The manual contains thirty lessons, including lessons for Easter and Christmas. Each lesson is a complete resource. Spiral bound so it can be set on a table, each lesson includes songs, scriptures to be read directly from the scriptures themselves, scripture stories, repetition activities, and pictures. There are full-color pictures, as well as a simple line drawing to be used for coloring or other activities. The lessons also include optional activities leaders can choose from, such as activity verses, crafts, or games. The pictures are in the actual lesson, not a separate packet, making it easy to show them to the children and to keep track of them.
Along the margins are teaching tips to help leaders understand children or learn to improve their teaching skills. They also outline the church rules for teaching.
As an example, lesson two’s theme is “Heavenly Father Has a Plan for Me.” The lesson flows from the children’s song, “I Am a Child of God.” The points of the lesson are taught as children learn one or two lines of the song. Pictures of Jesus Christ and of families make the topic more understandable for small children, and restlessness is avoided, as the children are also learning to sing the song throughout the lesson. This lesson is an excellent way for music leaders to learn how to teach a child a song.
Because each lesson has a picture and craft idea, leaders are less tempted to use materials that aren’t produced by the church. Everything needed is right in the lesson, and teachers are instructed to supplement, if needed, with materials from other lesson manuals or church magazines.
Nurseries are counseled to include in their schedule:
Lesson
Free Play time with books, toys, and puzzles. Toys are to be out only during playtime.
A healthy snack.
Music lesson.
Transition activities to help children move from one activity to the next. This is the schedule I am using in my nursery:
Gathering activity-10 minutes. This is a craft based on the lesson or a few educational toys, just something to get them engaged while they’re arriving.
Lesson: 15 minutes
Snack: 15 minutes ( a nice break after all that structure.)
Music: 15 minutes
Free Play: 30 minutes. Toys are put into four or five stations, not all over the room. One station is rotated out each week, but books and toddler toys always stay. A teacher sits on a blanket reading to those who want to listen. Educational things are at another station, also with an adult. Remaining adults watch over the nursery. We usually have parents around to help with that.
Closing Activities: A review of songs and action rhymes from the lesson, and then coloring or crafts based on the lesson, games. I set out the flannel boards and maybe one other thing for children who don’t do crafts or coloring.
As you can see, the children are busy and learning the whole time. There is only a half hour of toys, and it’s a selected number of toys to avoid overstimulation.
The new manual makes it very easy to build everything but the free play around your lesson and to use only church produced materials. It’s an amazing work, and I hope the next round of manuals for older Primary children will follow the example of this one. It’s also designed to be used in the home, and is so simply written, a child could plan family home evening from the lessons. Take a look and see for yourself:
Mormon Marriage and Family Relations Course
Filed under: Parents/Leaders, Teaching Values
Mormons attend church three hours each week. After the basic service, they attend two other classes. In addition to the regular courses, there are optional courses offered periodically in wards (congregations) as needed. One is the Marriage and Family Relations Course.
While taught from a Mormon perspective, students do not have to be LDS. The course textbook is available free online, which also allows others to learn the material even if it’s not offered in their areas. For those who do wish to take the class, the course is free. You can contact your local congregation to find out if it’s being offered.
The course consists of sixteen lessons. The first eight are about strengthening marriage. This is important because parents who care about each other and have a strong, functional relationship are better able to meet the needs of their children. The remaining lessons are about parenting.
Parents are taught that children are a gift from God. He created them and they are his children, entrusted to our care. That makes parenting a sacred responsibility. Both parents are essential to a child’s well-being and each parent plays a specific role in the child’s life. Parents are taught what those roles are and are given advice on how to fulfill them.
They learn how to teach their children through example, living their own lives the way they want their children to live theirs. They also learn how to talk to their children about those things that are important, including religion.
The course includes guidelines on types of moral instruction parents should focus on and suggests ways to teach them, such as honesty, hard work, and moral purity. They also learn how to help children understand that choices have consequences and they don’t get to choose the consequences.
The course then introduces some specific Mormon programs that are done in the home by the family to strengthen the family and teach the children. These can be adapted to any faith: family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening.
Family home evening is a program that asks families to stay home on Monday evenings and spend time as a family with no outsiders. They have a family meeting, consisting of prayer, songs, a lesson on a principle the family wants to develop (nutrition, service, morality and other issues, both spiritual and practical), a treat and a fun activity. In today’s busy families, this is critical to making sure families develop a relationship with each other.
This course is designed to help parents set meaningful goals for their families, so their parenting and family life is conducted with an overall purpose and focus, rather than just getting through the busy days. Each choice made is one designed to further the well-being and love of the family, and to help children grow to adulthood successfully.
While some of the material is, of course, specific to the Mormon religion, most of it is also generally good advice, and can applied or adapted to almost any family’s values, if those values are conservative and high.
To read the course materials, visit Marriage and Family Relations Class.
Lead Me, Guide Me
There is a children’s song that has lines in the chorus:
“Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do to live with Him someday.” (I Am a Child of God)
Finding ways to lead and guide children is the goal of parents in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (known as the Mormons). When kids aren’t behaving in the way we’d like, sometimes we feel less like leading and guiding and more like pushing, pulling or forcing. But this is not the way shown to us by the Savior, Jesus Christ.
The example of the Savior was one of mentoring leadership, selfless service and gentle persuasion.
I read a great book recently called Nudge; a book that discusses choice. The book shows that people need to make choices, but also understands that they can be influenced and led in positive directions to choose good things. The authors understand human nature and know that people can be fallible.
“Drawing on some well-established findings in social science, we show that in many cases, individuals make pretty bad decisions – decisions they would not have made if they had paid full attention and possessed complete information, unlimited cognitive abilities, and complete self-control.” (Nudge, Thaler and Sunstein, Yale University Press, 2008)
In the book, they talk about how those in leadership positions can create an architecture of choice around those they lead. Their followers can be nudged in the right direction. As parents, we are “choice architects” for our children. We can lead, guide and nudge using these principles, which are consistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ. He respected people’s ability to choose, but still said with confidence, “Follow me.” (Matthew 4:19)
Twelfth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Spencer W. Kimball, described the leadership principles exemplified by the Savior:
“Fixed Principles:
Jesus knew who he was and why he was here on this planet. That meant he could lead from strength rather than from uncertainty or weakness. Jesus operated from a base of fixed principles or truths rather than making up the rules as he went along. Thus, his leadership style was not only correct, but also constant.Understanding Others
Jesus was a listening leader. Because he loved others with a perfect love, he listened without being condescending. A great leader listens not only to others, but also to his conscience and to the promptings of God.Selfless Leadership
The Savior’s leadership was selfless. He put himself and his own needs second and ministered to others beyond the call of duty, tirelessly, lovingly, effectively. So many of the problems in the world today spring from selfishness and self-centeredness in which too many make harsh demands of life and others in order to meet their demands.Jesus’ leadership emphasized the importance of being discerning with regard to others, without seeking to control them.
Responsibility
Jesus knew how to involve his disciples in the process of life. He gave them important and specific things to do for their development. Jesus trusts his followers enough to share his work with them so that they can grow. That is one of the greatest lessons of his leadership.Accountability
Jesus knew how to involve his disciples in the process of life. He gave them important and specific things to do for their development. Jesus trusts his followers enough to share his work with them so that they can grow. That is one of the greatest lessons of his leadership.” (Spencer W. Kimball, “Jesus: The Perfect Leader,” Tambuli, Aug 1983, 7)
Jesus Christ is the leader we should follow as we work to lead our children back to our Father in Heaven. We can follow His great example of a willingness to serve (Matthew 20:28 and Matthew 23:11). We can know that we have a great stewardship to teach our children, but still be humble in our teaching. (Matthew 23:12)
Like the song says, we can lead, guide and walk beside our children as we show them by our example the way of our Savior, Jesus Christ.