Educating our Children

I received my Patriarchal blessing as a teenager. Being so young with my whole future ahead of me, many of the blessings addressed were a mystery for me. Many of them still are. One sentence that stood out to me then and even more now because I have children is this:

Become a good teacher to teach within the walls of your own home.

I have often wondered what this means and why it was included in my blessing. Even as a teenager, I thought there may come a time when I might need to homeschool my children. I am not a very patient mother, and I'm not even very educated, but I have always tried to keep an open mind about this subject because of what is contained in my Patriarchal Blessing.

My amazing sister has dabbled in homeschool, and I also have a friend from high school that is currently homeschooling her children. I am fascinated with the idea of having my children home with me all day and me being their teacher. I love the idea of being able to present subjects the way I want my children to be taught, to include values and morals into lessons of science and history, and most of all, including the Gospel in their general education.

With current events in our country and the world, I have felt an increasing desire to keep my children close to me...to keep them safe. Not only physically, but spiritually as well. I'm feeling like although I'm teaching what I can when they are home, I feel I simply don't have enough time to teach them all they need to know to help them through the tough times ahead. Because of this, I experimented this summer with homeschool. Every weekday during the summer we had a school bell (a hymn played on the piano), then we met together to have family prayer, a spiritual devotional or gospel discussion, we organized our day and then worked on some academics together. We ended with a family cheer (that we made up together) and then we went our ways to do our chores and play. I really felt like our home was a much sweeter place on the days we had school. I feel our little homeschool helped us to feel more unified as a family. I think the children enjoyed the structure, attention from their mother, and inviting the Spirit in the morning really made a difference on how the rest of the day went. I was actually sad this year when they had to go back to school.

I have done some research on what our church leaders have had to say concerning education and this is what I found:

President Gordon B. Hinckley
What has happened to our schools? There are still many that are excellent,
but there are very many that are failing. What has become of the teaching of
values? We are told that educators must be neutral in these matters. Neutrality
in the teaching of values can only lead to an absence of values. Is it less
important to learn something of honesty than to learn something of computer
science?. . . . Where today are the heroes from whose lives we learned honesty
and integrity and the meaning of work? The debunkers of Washington and Lincoln
have done their job and we all are the poorer for it. Speech given at the U.S.
Conference of Mayors, Salt Lake City, Utah, September 25, 1998

President Boyd K. Packer
In many places it is literally not safe physically for youngsters to go to
school. And in many schools--and it's becoming almost generally true--it is
spiritually unsafe to attend public schools. Look back over the history of
education to the turn of the century and the beginning of the educational
philosophies....which have led us now into a circumstance where our schools are
producing the problems that we face. BYU, Oct. 9, 1996

President Boyd K. Packer
Moral values are being neglected and prayer expelled from public schools on
the pretext that moral teaching belongs to religion. At the same time, atheism,
the secular religion, is admitted to class, and our youngsters are proselyted to
a conduct without morality.....we are caught in a current so strong that unless
we correct our course, civilization as we know it will surely be wrecked to
pieces...The distance between the church and a world set on a course which we
cannot follow will steadily increase. Conference, April 1994

Elder Dallin H. Oaks
"We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is
good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can
do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better
than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in
our lives. . . . Consider how we use our time in the choices we make in viewing
television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, or reading books or
magazines. Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain
interesting information. But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of
our life we give to obtain it. Some things are better, and others are best. When
the Lord told us to seek learning, He said, "Seek ye out of the best books words
of wisdom." Ensign, November 2007

Elder Neal A. Maxwell
. . .this rising generation is the first generation to be reared in a time
when society's other institutions, previously supportive of certain moral
standards, have largely been neutralized, or worse, secularized. This rising
generation, basically shorn of such external support systems, therefore must
believe because of the word, and behave because they believe. As we all know,
current film, music, art, and theater too often promote drugs, alcohol,
pornography and promiscuity. . . .this is not simply a temporary tidal wave
which ere long will pass. It is the wave-tossed secular sea itself, and it will
not subside until He comes and all the winds and the waves once again obey His
will. Hence this is not a time for busy or preoccupied parents to leave our
youth unloved, unattended, or untaught. Conference, Apr '84

President Brigham Young
I am opposed to free education as much as I am opposed to taking property
from one man and giving it to another....Would I encourage free schools by
taxation? No! Journal of Discourses 18:357

President John Taylor
Whatever you do, be choice in your selection of teachers. We do not want
infidels to mold the minds of our children. They are a precious charge bestowed
upon us by the Lord, and we cannot be too careful in rearing and training them.
I would rather have my children taught the simple rudiments of a common
education by men of God, and have them under their influence, than have them
taught in the most abstruse [or complex] sciences by men who have not the fear
of God in their hearts. . . Teachings of Presidents of the Church, John Taylor,
p.90

President John Taylor
Parents . . . do you surround your sons and daughters with every safeguard
to shield them from the arts of the vile? . . Or do you leave them in their
ignorance and inexperience to mix with any society they may choose, at any hour
that may be convenient to them, and to be exposed to the wiles of the seducer
and the corrupt? These are questions you will all have to answer either to your
shame and condemnation or to your joy and eternal happiness. Teachings of
Presidents of the Church, John Taylor, p.198

After my experience this summer, I'm not sure if there is a more noble way for me to spend each day, than to fill the whole day teaching, loving, nurturing, reading good literature, and overseeing the education of the spirits our Heavenly Father has put in my care.

A Record of the People

I was thinking about how Nephi was commanded to keep a record of the people. Most of the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon are just that: a record of the Lord's people. If the Lord commanded his prophets of old to keep a record of his people, why wouldn't he do that today as well?

We have General Conference, so a record is kept of the counsel given to the Saints. I have been listening to some of President Hinckley's General Conference addresses and he references his journal entries in several of his talks.

If the prophet keeps a spiritual record of the Lord's people on Earth today, what would it say?

Are we like the people who lived in the City of Enoch fully converted to the Gospel of Christ. Willing to sacrifice for one another, always bearing each others' burdens and caring for the less fortunate? Are we able to live the law of Consecration as it was intended? Are we worthy to be translated?

Are we like the Zoramites in Alma 31 who gathered one day a week to worship their God. They abandoned the traditions of their fathers and thanked Him that they were a chosen and a holy people. After thanking their God they returned to their homes never to speak of God again until the next week when they returned to worship.

Are we like the people Moses led into the wilderness for years and years? Those who claimed to be God's chosen people, but didn't have the faith to follow to be healed by the serpent's bite by simply looking upon his staff? Do we insist the prophet's counsel is too simple, too old fashioned, or do we doubt the counsel is actually coming from the Lord and so insist on making our own way or waiting for some great revelation before we are motivated to obey?

Most prophets have felt like they have been ignored. Lehi, Noah, Abinidi, Moses, Joseph Smith... Some may have a small following, but even amongst those there are some that murmur, complain, or eventually come up with their own philosophies that eventually lead away the believers who weren't fully converted.

We know that the parable of the 10 virgins was a parable for the members of the church. Am I one of the 5 wise or 5 foolish? Am I a wheat or a tare?

From a quick search among General Conference addresses at lds.org, The word "casual" seems to be a common theme in General Conference: "Casual study is also not enough."(Uchtdorf, 2006) "If we were to become casual in partaking of the sacrament, we would lose the opportunity for spiritual growth." (Perry, 2006) "Because families are eternal, we cannot afford to be casual or complacent about those relationships." (Beck, 2007) "We simply cannot afford to be casual or get too close to the edge." (Dalton, 2007) "Sometimes people get casual about repenting." (Beck, 2007) "Some rationalize that they can casually view pornography without suffering its adverse effects." (Clayton, 2007) "When we become hurried, repetitive, casual, or forgetful in our prayers, we tend to lose the closeness of the Spirit..." (Staheli, 2004) "I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems … no divine voice is speaking" (Staheli, 2004).

I think we can know what our Prophet would write about us as a people. I think we can listen to General Conference and find trends such as this. I can't change what we as a people do, but what I can do is repent and make sure that I am not casual about my worship, my relationships, or my gospel study and prayer. I can also teach my children and influence those I have stewardship over.

Machinations

Machination: crafty schemes; plots; intrigues
Machinate: to contrive or plot esp. artfully or with evil purpose. To machinate the overthrow of the government

"We have been placed on earth in troubled times. We live in a complex world with
currents of conflict everywhere to be found. Political machinations ruin the
stability of nations, despots grasp for power, and segments of society seem
forever downtrodden, deprived of opportunity, and left with a feeling of
failure." - President Thomas S. Monson, April 2008 General Conference

This was in President Monson's "Examples of Righteousness" talk given at the Priesthood session this spring. I didn't know what "machinations" meant, so I looked it up. In my attempt to Awaken, I am trying to look a little deeper into the calm, comforting words that come from the familiar voices of the leaders we have loved for so long. I'm trying to have ears to hear. I'm trying to dig a little deeper.

I always tend to say "Yeah. Troubled times. Hitler and Hussein were wicked power hungry leaders. That war in Iraq is awful. I'm glad i don't have to live like that. Those poor starving people in Africa. I'm so glad I live in the promised land and we'll always be blessed as long as we're righteous." It always seems to feel so far away. The war is always somewhere else. The bad things happen in someone else's neighborhood. I'm pretty happy and well taken care of and safe here in my home.

The Prophet Joseph Smith said "The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. "(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 15, July 4, 1854)

Elder Orson Hyde of the Council of the Twelve, President John Taylor, Orson Pratt, President J. Reuben Clarke, President David O. McKay, and George Q. Cannon have all referred to this prophecy.

So we know through latter-day prophecy that our dear beloved United States of America will face a near collapse. It won't always be so far away. Something of this magnitude doesn't happen all in one day. It has to start somewhere. We know we live in the latter days. Has it started already? Do we see things happening in our world and in our country that could contribute to this ill fate?

Although initially, President Monson's description of current events seem to refer to world events. But is it possible he could be talking about our own country?

"...Currents of Conflict everywhere to be found." Do we not have conflict everywhere? Especially regarding moral values and our constitutional rights? We have conflict about gun rights, same-sex marriage, school vouchers, abortion, the War in Iraq, Global Warming, violence in schools...

"Political machinations ruin the stability of nations." I know our nation seems to be pretty unstable right now. Our economy is suffering, food and gas prices are on the rise, our soldiers are spread thin throughout the world, our congress can't agree on anything, foreign countries are taking advantage of our poor housing market buying up land an properties for pennies on the dollar...oh, and our dollar - it is weakening all the time. I would say our nation right now might be able to be classified as unstable. Could it be possible that we might have "political machinations" here in our own country? If so, that would cover his next phrase "despots grasp for power."

"Segments of society seem forever downtrodden, deprived of opportunity, and left with a feeling of failure." Does this not describe our "ghettos"? It seems we have areas in our largest cities filled with uneducated minorities that feel this way. You can hear in the news about crimes committed against race, religion, or lifestyle. We have a huge welfare system to help people get back on their feet, but many never quite get there. We have scholarships and charities to help this group of people, but this group still exists and the need still exists. And what about the growing rate of depression in adults and children? That touches just about every community there is.

We know we live in the Latter-days. Our prophets have told us what will happen and what to expect. I fear that we as a people are so comfortable and used to our way of life that we feel it won't happen in our lifetime. But what if it does? None knows when these prophecies will come to pass. What if they are already coming to pass and we aren't paying attention?

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Matthew 24:42, 44

Awaken

I have been feeling compelled for over a year now to start being more active and diligent in my Gospel Study. I have been very distracted with raising a small family and I have used that excuse to keep me from doing the little things that I know would actually help me be more successful in that effort. I still have a strong testimony, I still attend church every week and faithfully fulfill my callings. I still feel and recognize the hand of the Lord in my life. But the Spirit gently whispers what I already know. I'm slacking. I'm being okay with being mediocre. I'm focused on my little world when there is so much more to be understood. The Lord needs me to be an instrument in His hands, but ...but what? I am lazy. I am stubborn. I am not diligent.

These words from Ether 8:24 keep coming to my mind: "...when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation..." The prophet is speaking to the Latter-Day Gentiles (US) here. Awake. Are we sleeping? Awful situation? Is there one that I'm not seeing? Refusing to see?

I keep thinking of an experience I had recently with my son. He was expressing how he got in trouble at school because he was so involved with the book he was reading that he didn't hear the teacher's directions and then had to have consequences for it. He wasn't sleeping per se, but he wasn't paying attention. He was so distracted by his book (entertainment, family life, hobbies, TV, Bunko, etc.) that he completely missed the directions given by his teacher.

Matthew 11:15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Maybe my son heard his teacher talking, but her message didn't register because he wasn't ready to look beyond his current situation. But the class moved on without him and then he was lost because he wasn't listening and eventually had to be reprimanded for his neglect.

I love General Conference. I look forward to it and wish it was more often than every 6 months. We listen to every session along with our little ones. Although I wish I could listen without distraction or interruption, it is impossible with 4 small children. I wonder what I've missed as I try to instill a love of Conference into my children - a worthy effort. With this blog, I'd like to record my efforts as I backtrack over what the latter-day prophets have taught us, and record my journey as I learn.

I want to be Awake. I want to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. I want to be diligent. I want to learn the Language of the Spirit. I want to be able to receive inspiration for me and my family as I try to lead my family in righteousness in this ever increasingly evil world.