Happy Mother's DAY!

The Importance of Mothers

People often ask what the importance of a mother is in today’s busy society; I ask what the importance of a mother ISN’T. Mothers are essential to God’s great plan of happiness, their sacred work is opposed by Satan, who would destroy the family and demean the worth of women. Our Mothers who are the superheroes, the hospitals, the finest five star restaurants, the nurturer, and the one that children can turn to at any given time. So brothers and sisters my question to you is “What is the importance of Mothers??”

Do we see mothers as someone who simply cooks and cleans? The stay at home house keepers? Do we see mothers as the referrer to make a call on all of our sibling squabbles?

Or do we see them as our Heavenly Father sees them? Divine woman who help his plan of salvation continue on?

The general authorities have many things to say about mothers….

President Monson said,” Mother, who willingly made that personal journey into the valley of the shadow of death to take us by the hand and introduce us to birth—even to mortal life—deserves our undying gratitude. One writer summed up our love for mother when he declared, “God could not be everywhere, and so He gave us mothers.”

Elder Ballard stated, “I surely know that there is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of motherhood.…..I believe that the instincts and the intense nurturing involvement of mothers with their children will always be a major key to their well-being. In the words of the proclamation on the family, “Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children”

President Hinckley said,” No one can calculate the tremendous force for good that you can become. You are the teachers of you’re children and of the rising generations…

The proverb spoken of old said, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).

Teach your children when they are very young and small, and never quit. As long as they are in your home, let them be your primary interest”

President Tanner said, “A mother has far greater influence on her children than anyone else, and she must realize that every word she speaks, every act, every response, her attitude, even her appearance and manner of dress affect the lives of her children and the whole family. It is while the child is in the home that he gains from his mother the attitudes, hopes, and beliefs that will determine the kind of life he will live and the contribution he will make to society.”

Regarding the importance of mothers teaching their children the gospel, President Benson said: “Mothers, you are your children’s best teacher. … Teach your children the gospel in your own home, at your own fireside. This is the most effective teaching that your children will ever receive. This is the Lord’s way of teaching. The Church cannot teach like you can. The school cannot. The day-care center cannot. But you can, and the Lord will sustain you. Your children will remember your teachings forever, and when they are old, they will not depart from them. They will call you blessed—their truly angel mother”

In our most recent general conference elder Ballard said,” There is nothing in this world as personal, as nurturing, or as life changing as the influence of a righteous woman. Throughout the history of the world, women have always been teachers of moral values. That instruction begins in the cradle and continues throughout the lives of their children. Today our society is bombarded with messages about womanhood and motherhood that are dangerously and wickedly wrong. As mothers in Israel, you are your children’s’ first line of defense against the wiles of the world.”

In the beginning she fed us and kept us warm. She taught us how to walk, talk, and be kind. She’s the one we turned to when we fell down and couldn’t get back up again. Because we knew she would lift us to higher ground and wipe away our tears. If we follow her we cannot fail, because she knows where she’s going and she’s been down this walk of life before. Moms I don’t know if you really understand how important you are. You took us to kindergarten, you taught us our ABC’s, how to cook, to choose the right, clean, sow, and have compassion. While shopping for a card for my mother a few days ago I found one that said,” Mom, I’ll always remember the things you’ve taught me. Every once in awhile when I’m in the middle of doing something. I stop and think ‘Mom taught me how to do this,’ and I smile. Thanks for all the things you’ve taught me and shared with me. And in case I don’t always say it, and sometimes I forget to show it, I wanted you to know how much I love you. “We as your children sometimes put on this façade of not listening or not caring. But we hear what you say, and we remember what you’ve taught us. And even if we don’t show it we’ll always love you. You’ve taught us SO many things but the most important thing you’ve taught us of Is Christ and this gospel, that if we build upon Him we cannot fail.

Another talk this April from conference was titled “Mother Told Me” by Elder Foster. Here’s a paragraph from it. When a wayward child returns home it seems they almost always turn first toward Mother, with emotions like those expressed in a poem by Elizabeth Akers Allen:

Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years!
I am so weary of toil and of tears, . . .

Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you! . . .

Over my heart, in the days that are flown,
No love like mother-love ever has shone; . . .

None like a mother can charm away pain
From the sick soul and the world-weary brain.
Slumber’s soft calms o’er my heavy lids creep;
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!

Perhaps the reason we respond so universally to our mothers’ love is because it typifies the love of our Savior. As President Joseph F. Smith said, “The love of a true mother comes nearer [to] being like the love of God than any other kind of love.”

In the scriptures many prominent figures did great things, with the example and pure love of their mothers. One instance of this is the 2000 stripling warriors whose mothers taught them that if they did not doubt God would deliver them. In Alma 56:48 those young men say,” We do not doubt our mothers knew it” and they went forth with great courage to defeat the Lamanites. Another perfect example is our Savior in the love He showed for His earthly mother. In the final, most pivotal moment of His mortal life—after the anguish of Gethsemane, the mock trial, the crown of thorns, the heavy cross to which He was brutally nailed—Jesus looked down from the cross and saw His mother, Mary, who had come to be with her Son. His final act of love before He died was to ensure that His mother would be cared for, saying to His disciple, “Behold thy mother!” And from that point on the disciple took her unto his home. As the scriptures say, then Jesus knew that “all things were now accomplished,” and He bowed His head and died.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said to the mothers in the Church: “Yours is the grand tradition of Eve, the mother of all the human family. … Yours is the grand tradition of Sarah and Rebecca and Rachel, without whom there could not have been those magnificent patriarchal promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob which bless us all. Yours is the grand tradition of Lois and Eunice and the mothers of the 2,000 stripling warriors. Yours is the grand tradition of Mary, chosen and foreordained from before this world was, to conceive, carry, and bear the Son of God Himself.

To end I’d like to share this primary song

Mother tell me the story that I love to hear.

Tell me of heaven and why I came here.

Mother tell me how you love and gently speak and then Ill go to sleep.

Mother tell me of Jesus and how he is near

Tell how he love me and I will not fear

Mother tell how his Spirit brings comfort and peace

And then I’ll go to sleep.

The role of mothers today is NO less vital than it was when Rebecca, Leah, and Mary were around. Mothers you are our greatest hope and light, we look up to you and we love you. We lean on your testimonies until we have gained our own. You are raising the future generations the future prophets, relief society presidents, mothers and fathers. Without you we would be nothing.

I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that my Mother told me. <3>