Best Mother's Day Gift - Virtue

How We Honor
Roughly 2000 years before his coming as Jesus the Christ, Jehovah thundered the 10 commandments down from Mt. Sinai. Among these was the injunction to Honor thy Father and Thy Mother that thy days may be long in the land. From my youth I have been taught by my own parents that the best way for me to honor them is to “bring honor to them by the way that I live my life.” On this Mother’s day I would like to talk about how we all can “bring honor to” the women and girls in our lives by the way that we live.

In his confirming vision of the tree of life Nephi saw two trees or fountains in opposition to one another one giving life and the other death… In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were presented with two trees… one promising life and the other administering death.

All things have their likeness.

Two Trees From Which to Partake
Quoting Jeffrey R. Holland, “Most days we all find ourselves assaulted by immoral messages of some kind flooding in on us from every angle. The darker sides of the movie, television, and music industry step further and further into offensive language and sexual misconduct… [we have easy] access to a global cesspool of perceptions”

He continues to explain how, “Immoral activity is not just a man’s problem, and husbands aren’t the only ones offending. The compromise available at the click of a mouse—including what can happen in a chat room’s virtual encounter—is no respecter of persons, male or female, young or old, married or single. And just to make sure that temptation is ever more accessible, the adversary is busy extending his coverage, as they say in the industry, to cell phones, video games, and MP3 players.”

If we stop chopping at the branches of this problem and strike more directly at the root of the tree, not surprisingly we find lust lurking furtively there.

The Very Different Characteristics of the Two Trees Love and Lust:

TRUE LOVE: Endures and is loyal / LUST: Changes as quickly as it can turn a pornographic page or glance at yet another potential object for gratification walking by, male or female. Gives all it affections to the latest romance novel or the latest popular movie.

TRUE LOVE: Open, Honest, Transparent and Happy to be so. / LUST: Characterized by shame, stealth, and dark secretiveness. No one should know that lust has come to play.

TRUE LOVE: Makes us instinctively reach out. / LUST: Anything but godly and celebrates self-indulgence.

TRUE LOVE: Comes with open hands and open heart. / LUST: Comes with only an open appetite.

TRUE LOVE: Builds a solid foundation for families to endure eternally. / LUST: Shakes the pillars of trust upon which present— or future—love is built

Lust is a tree that we cannot afford to bask under. If we are to endure it must be cut from our garden.

How To Cut Down the Tree of Lust
• We can prune the outer branches by separating ourselves from people, materials, and circumstances that kindle our lusts. We can place controls and filters on our TVs and Computers… but this will only stay the fruits for a season.

• We can lop of big core branches by acknowledging that we are bound by the chains of lust and accept help openly. Seek that help and welcome it. Talk to your family. Devise a plan. Talk to your bishop. Follow his counsel. Ask for a priesthood blessing. Use the Church’s Family Services offerings or seek other suitable professional help. Pray without ceasing. Ask for angels to help you. All of this will help.

• We can kill the trunk of the tree by stopping lusts at the level of Thought. Replace lewd thoughts with hopeful images and joyful memories; We can cultivate and be where the Spirit of the Lord is including our homes or apartments, dictating the kind of art, music, and literature we keep there. Temple Attendance, Regular Church Attendance, Quorum and Relief Society Assignments, Callings, Activities… Wasting and wearing out our lives in service to God and his children.

• The only way for us to completely uproot the natural lusts within us is to take full advantage of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. By him only can our very natures be changed.

Passing the Saving on to the Next of Kin
Our children are all confronted with the same opportunities to partake of the fruits of these two trees. They will follow our examples. If we spend our idle time partaking of the fruits of the adversary and basking under a tree that brings death, we can rest assured that our children will also be comfortable there.

The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith in D&C123:11 that we have “an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising generation” What is our duty?

As Elder Robert D Hales just recounted in conference, “Doing our duty to God as parents and leaders begins with leading by example—consistently and diligently living gospel principles at home. This takes daily determination and diligence.

For youth, there is no substitute for seeing the gospel lived in our daily lives. [Elder Hales has] a grandson who once asked [him] to go with him to a popular but inappropriate movie. He recounts, “I told him I wasn’t old enough to see that film. He was puzzled until his grandmother explained to him that the rating system by age didn’t apply to Grandpa. He came back to me and said, “I get it now, Grandpa. You’re never going to be old enough to see that movie, are you?” And he was right!
Let us all strive to be too young for the media of our day and age. By their fruits ye shall know them.

“To truly understand their hearts, we must do more than just be in the same room or attend the same family and Church activities.”

We must do more than simply live next to our children and occasionally grace their presence. We must become a part of their lives, communing with them regularly, building a lasting relationship. This doesn’t happen just because you are proximate to someone.

“We must plan and take advantage of teaching moments that make a deep and lasting impression upon their minds and hearts.”

“Mothers and fathers, as you drive or walk children to school or their various activities, do you use the time to talk with them about their hopes and dreams and fears and joys?”

It is impossible to overestimate the influence of parents who understand the hearts of their children. Research shows that during the most important transitions of life—including those periods when youth are most likely to drift away from the Church—the greatest influence does not come from an interview with the bishop or some other leader but from the regular, warm, friendly, caring interaction with parents.

For our interactions with youth to truly touch their hearts, we have to pay attention to them just as we would pay attention to a trusted adult colleague or close friend. Most important is asking them questions, letting them talk, and then being willing to listen—yes, listen and listen some more—even hearken with spiritual ears! Several years ago I was reading the newspaper when one of my young grandsons snuggled up to me. As I read, I was delighted to hear his sweet voice chattering on in the background. Imagine my surprise when, a few moments later, he pushed himself between me and the paper. Taking my face in his hands and pressing his nose up to mine, he asked, “Grandpa! Are you in there?”

Mother, Father, are you in there? Grandpa, Grandma, are you there? Being there means understanding the hearts of our youth and connecting with them. And connecting with them means not just conversing with them but doing things with them too.

Fathers, mothers, and leaders of youth, we urge you to participate in Personal Progress and Duty to God with your children and with the youth. Not only will they grow; you will grow too. And just as importantly, you will grow together in a bond of faith and friendship that will allow you to strengthen each other and stay on the gospel path forever, to indeed be an eternal family.

The greatest missionary work we will ever do… The greatest family history work, The greatest rescue, activation or reactivation work will be done in our homes. The greatest faith experiences should be shared within our homes. The greatest love and the greatest teachings should be in our homes.

This mother’s day let us take time to evaluate ourselves so that we might be able to give to those women in our lives our best selves. A self that is clean virtuous and willing to stand for all that is wholesome. Let us give to them a self that is not only willing to bask under a tree of life and love, but also willing to cultivate such for the next generation.

Italics Text is Quoted from Jeffrey R. Holland and Robert D. Hales – General Conference Address – April 2010