Mothers and Daughters

My thoughts on Elder Ballard's talk "Mothers and Daughters"

"Sisters, we, your brethren, cannot do what you were divinely designated to do from before the foundation of the world. We may try, but we cannot ever hope to replicate your unique gifts. There is nothing in this world as personal, as nurturing, or as life changing as the influence of a righteous woman."

I wish the world would recognize this.

My daughter is only 10, so young. My boys are 18-11, still so young, but the choices they are making now are life long ones and I see so many bad choices, but I also see good ones. I only hope....

"Mothers, your example is extremely important to your daughters—even if they don’t acknowledge it."

"Throughout the history of the world, women have always been teachers of moral values. That instruction begins in the cradle and continues throughout the lives of their children. Today our society is bombarded with messages about womanhood and motherhood that are dangerously and wickedly wrong. Following these messages can put your daughters on the path to sin and self-destruction. Your daughters may not understand that unless you tell them or, better, unless you show them how to make good choices. As mothers in Israel, you are your daughters’ first line of defense against the wiles of the world."

Scares me to death--it truly does.

What he says next scares me even more...
"Let me assure you that even when you think your daughter is not listening to a thing you say, she is still learning from you as she watches you to see if your actions match your words."

"Teach your daughter to find joy in nurturing children."
My poor daughter is the youngest one and hasn't seen me nurturing little children. She told me a little while ago that she has never held a baby. How sad is that. But worst is I don't think she has ever seen me. My friends haven't asked me to hold their babies--but most of my friends don't have babies.

"Mothers, teach your daughter that a faithful daughter of God avoids the temptation to gossip or judge one another."
I think I fail there. I try not to spread gossipy stories, but I do tend to judge way to quickly. I need to fix that.

"A mother-daughter relationship is where a daughter learns how to nurture by being nurtured. She is loved. She is taught and experiences firsthand what it feels like to have someone care about her enough to correct her while continuing to encourage and believe in her at the same time."
I only hope I am doing this. I'm not the mom type of a woman. I don't cook, and I hate housework. My poor daughter does not have a good example in me.

"Your daughters as well as your sons are coming of age in a world that openly embraces early, casual, and thoughtless promiscuity. Immodest, unchaste women are glamorized and all too often celebrated and emulated. While there are steps that we can take in our homes and families to minimize our exposure to these unsavory elements of contemporary living, your daughters cannot entirely avoid the blatant sexual messages and enticements that surround them. You need to have frequent, open discussions during which you teach your daughters the truth about these issues."
I truly hope that I have taught this message. I know my husband has tried to express it to my boys and as my daughter is just in those pre-teen years, we have talked and talked about clothing and lady like behavior. Good for her this summer when she brought me some clothing that was just too tight.

"All youth will be more likely to make and keep covenants if they learn how to recognize the presence and the voice of the Spirit. Teach your daughters about things of the Spirit. Point them to the scriptures. Give them experiences that will help them cherish the blessing of priesthood power in their lives. Through keeping covenants they will learn to hear the voice of the Lord and receive personal revelation. God will truly hear and answer their prayers."
This has been taught over the past year countless times in our Family Home Evenings. I sure hope my kids have gotten the message.

"Make sure they know that keeping covenants is the safest road to eternal happiness. And if needed, teach them how to repent and how to remain pure and worthy."
Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please!

"I conclude my counsel with this prophetic summary from President Joseph F. Smith: “Our [family] associations are not exclusively intended for this life, for time, as we distinguish it from eternity. We live for time and for eternity. We form associations and relations for time and all eternity. . . . Who are there besides the Latter-day Saints who contemplate the thought that beyond the grave we will continue in the family organization? the father, the mother, the children recognizing each other . . . ? this family organization being a unit in the great and perfect organization of God’s work, and all destined to continue throughout time and eternity?” "

That is my hope and my wish. I hope that the covenant my husband and I made will NEVER be broken and that we can all experience the love and happiness that comes from obedience and faithfulness.