This talk entitled "Mothers Who Know" was given by Sister Julie B. Beck, the LDS church General Relief Society President at the time, and, to me, is one of the Classic Talks of all time. I share the FULL text with you - as it's something to be reviewed and pondered!
There is eternal influence and power in motherhood.
Mothers Who Know
In the Book of Mormon
we read about 2,000 exemplary young men who were exceedingly valiant,
courageous, and strong. “Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for
they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk
uprightly before him” (Alma 53:21). These faithful young men paid tribute to their mothers. They said, “Our mothers knew it” (Alma 56:48). I would suspect that the mothers of Captain Moroni, Mosiah, Mormon, and other great leaders also knew.
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 “wrestle 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.
Mothers Who Know Bear Children
Mothers who know desire to bear children. Whereas in many cultures in the world children are “becoming less valued,”
in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children.
Prophets, seers, and revelators who were sustained at this conference
have declared that “God’s commandment for His children to multiply and
replenish the earth remains in force.”
President Ezra Taft Benson taught that young couples should not
postpone having children and that “in the eternal perspective,
children—not possessions, not position, not prestige—are our greatest
jewels.”
Faithful daughters of God desire children. In the scriptures we read of Eve (see Moses 4:26), Sarah (see Genesis 17:16), Rebekah (see Genesis 24:60), and Mary (see 1 Nephi 11:13–20),
who were foreordained to be mothers before children were born to them.
Some women are not given the responsibility of bearing children in
mortality, but just as Hannah of the Old Testament prayed fervently for
her child (see 1 Samuel 1:11),
the value women place on motherhood in this life and the attributes of
motherhood they attain here will rise with them in the Resurrection (see D&C 130:18).
Women who desire and work toward that blessing in this life are
promised they will receive it for all eternity, and eternity is much,
much longer than mortality. There is eternal influence and power in
motherhood.
Mothers Who Know Honor Sacred Ordinances and Covenants
Mothers who know honor sacred ordinances and covenants. I have visited sacrament
meetings in some of the poorest places on the earth where mothers have
dressed with great care in their Sunday best despite walking for miles
on dusty streets and using worn-out public transportation. They bring
daughters in clean and ironed dresses with hair brushed to perfection;
their sons wear white shirts and ties and have missionary haircuts.
These mothers know they are going to sacrament meeting, where covenants
are renewed. These mothers have made and honor temple covenants. They
know that if they are not pointing their children to the temple, they
are not pointing them toward desired eternal goals. These mothers have
influence and power.
Mothers Who Know Are Nurturers
Mothers who know are nurturers. This is their special assignment and role under the plan of happiness.
To nurture means to cultivate, care for, and make grow. Therefore,
mothers who know create a climate for spiritual and temporal growth in
their homes. Another word for nurturing is homemaking.
Homemaking includes cooking, washing clothes and dishes, and keeping an
orderly home. Home is where women have the most power and influence;
therefore, Latter-day Saint women should be the best homemakers in the
world. Working beside children in homemaking tasks creates opportunities
to teach and model qualities children should emulate. Nurturing mothers
are knowledgeable, but all the education women attain will avail them
nothing if they do not have the skill to make a home that creates a
climate for spiritual growth. Growth happens best in a “house of order,”
and women should pattern their homes after the Lord’s house (see D&C 109).
Nurturing requires organization, patience, love, and work. Helping
growth occur through nurturing is truly a powerful and influential role
bestowed on women.Mothers Who Know Are Leaders
Mothers
who know are leaders. In equal partnership with their husbands, they
lead a great and eternal organization. These mothers plan for the future
of their organization. They plan for missions, temple marriages, and
education. They plan for prayer, scripture study, and family
home evening. Mothers who know build children into future leaders and
are the primary examples of what leaders look like. They do not abandon
their plan by succumbing to social pressure and worldly models of
parenting. These wise mothers who know are selective about their own
activities and involvement to conserve their limited strength in order
to maximize their influence where it matters most.
Mothers Who Know Are Teachers
Mothers
who know are always teachers. Since they are not babysitters, they are
never off duty. A well-taught friend told me that he did not learn
anything at church that he had not already learned at home. His parents
used family scripture study, prayer, family home evening, mealtimes, and
other gatherings to teach. Think of the power of our future missionary
force if mothers considered their homes as a pre–missionary training
center. Then the doctrines of the gospel taught in the MTC would be a
review and not a revelation. That is influence; that is power.
Mothers Who Know Do Less
Mothers
who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit
eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less
activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who
know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods
in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating
together, more time working together, more time reading together, more
time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose
carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a
rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ
into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and
mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50
years. That is influence; that is power.
Mothers Who Know Stand Strong and Immovable
Who
will prepare this righteous generation of sons and daughters?
Latter-day Saint women will do this—women who know and love the Lord and
bear testimony of Him, women who are strong and immovable and who do
not give up during difficult and discouraging times. We are led by an
inspired prophet of God who has called upon the women of the Church to
“stand strong and immovable for that which is correct and proper under
the plan of the Lord.” He has asked us to “begin in [our] own homes”
to teach children the ways of truth. Latter-day Saint women should be
the very best in the world at upholding, nurturing, and protecting
families. I have every confidence that our women will do this and will
come to be known as mothers who “knew” (Alma 56:48). In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
