Being a mother
and a grandmother, I am partial to stories about mothers. I particularly like
the story that Dr. Ben Carson tells about the impact of his mother on his life.
She was a single mother doing her best to rear two sons. She saw Ben’s poor
report card and knew she needed to do something. She knew – and told her sons –
that they were smart and could be successful. They did not believe her, but she
knew they could do better.
Sonya Carson knew that education was the way out of poverty. She did not know how to
motivate her sons to do better in school, but she knew she could get an answer
from God. Following the Lord’s counsel, she determined that her sons would do
their homework before playing outside, read two books every week, and write
reports on the books they read. They would also limit their television viewing
to two programs per week. In a year and a half, Ben went from the class dummy who
misspelled every spelling word and got every math problem wrong to the top of
his class. He learned that reading was the way out of ignorance and into
success. Because of his mother’s influence on his education, he became a
world-famous neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore.
The Book of Mormon – Another Testament
of Jesus Christ – tells the story of another group of mothers. Their sons are
known as the 2000 stripling warriors who miraculously survived numerous battles
because of their faith in the teachings of their mothers. These young men were
valiant, courageous, and strong. They were “men of truth and soberness” (Alma
53:21). They paid tribute to their mothers when they said, “Our mothers knew it”
(Alma 56:48). What did their mothers know? They knew the gospel of Jesus
Christ, and they put their trust in God.
Sister Julie B. Beck, then
Relief Society general president, spoke in General Conference on the subject “Mothers Who Know.” She referenced the story of the stripling warriors and then said: “The
responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than
at any time in the history of the world, we need mothers who know. Children are being born into a world where
they `wrestles not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places’ (Ephesians 6:12). However, mothers need not fear.
When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him,
they will have great power and influence for good on their children.”
Sister Beck then spoke about the
things “mothers who know” do: (1) They desire to bear children and do not
postpone their families; (2) They make and keep sacred ordinances and covenants;
(3) They nurture – cultivate, care for, and make grow – by creating “a climate
for spiritual and temporal growth in their homes;” (4) In equal partnership
with their husbands, they are leaders in their homes; (5) They are always
teaching; (6) “They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally …
less media, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from
their home… willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in
order to spend more time with their children….”; and (7) They “know and love
the Lord and bear testimony of Him, … are strong and immovable and … do not
give up during difficult and discouraging times.”
Like Sonya Carson and the
mothers of the 2,000 stripling warriors, mothers today can have great influence
for good in their lives of their children. They must first learn of God and
listen to His word; then they can walk in His paths and bring His power and
influence to others.
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