The week after we had our lesson on the temple, we were at the library and James walked over to the librarian and said, "I went to the temple." She asked if his family went and if he dressed up and where the temple was. He told her that it had Moroni on it and he had a horn. (I was very impressed he remembered the angel's name and impressed again when Megan remembered it later when addressing a picture of the temple.) From that, the librarian knew he was talking about the Mormon temple. He told her his mom and dad got married there. He said he loved the temple and was going to get married there. He said it was the only one. (We were trying to teach them that there are lots of churches all over but there is only one temple in all of Oklahoma.)
I was so amazed that my kids actually listened and learned from us! I thought everything we try to teach them just went in one ear and out the other. But this experience taught me that Family Home Evening can be and actually is effective! While most of the time James grumbles about it, and Isaac plays or fusses, and Megan can't answer questions about what we're talking about (although she is always happy about having it), some of the messages actually get through to them. (However, I don't think they got the one about "crying wolf" or the one about forgiving friends who hurt us.)
I was also reminded from this experience that children are often better examples than adults. James just walked right up to the woman and started a conversation about a gospel topic. I often think that I don't have any opportunity to share the gospel because the only people I know are members of the Church. But James showed me that you don't need to know the people you share it with and there is no reason to be scared about talking about it. I should be more like my mini missionary and tell others about families being together forever and how a joint relationship with the Lord really strengthens marriages and family bonds.
...and a little child shall lead them....
1 comment:
Isn't that so amazing how little children pick up on the important things like that, and how fascinating it is to them? A couple weeks ago I took Emily to the dr. The office is just a few miles down the road from the temple, so I decided to stop by and let Emily walk around the grounds for a couple minutes. She was so excited to see Moroni on the spire, and said, "He's got a magic wand!" Then I got a couple schedule cards from the distribution center, and let Emily keep one so she could have her own little picture of the temple. She loved it!
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