Age of 8 - Teach your children key principles by that age

We are told that it is critical for children to be taught the basic principles and ordinances of the gospel by the age of 8. Here's the verses discussing this from D.C. 68:

 25 And again, inasmuch as ^aparents have children in Zion, or in any of her ^bstakes which are organized, that ^cteach them not to understand the ^ddoctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when ^eeight years old, the ^fsin be upon the heads of the parents.

 26 For this shall be a law unto the ^ainhabitants of Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized.

 27 And their children shall be ^abaptized for the ^bremission of their sins when ^ceight years old, and receive the laying on of the hands.

 28 And they shall also ^ateach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.

In a CES fireside talk, President Monson discussed this topic and mentioned the need to teach children while they are young. Here's his comments:

The Lord tells us in the Doctrine and Covenants that during the first eight years of our lives, power is not given unto Satan to tempt us as little children (see D&C 29:46–47). We had an eight-year head start on Lucifer.

This information was given by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith back in 1830. In our own time Dr. Glenn Doman, a renowned scholar and scientist who has almost definitely never heard of the revelation quoted, has, through his research, come to the conclusion that “a newborn child is almost an exact duplicate of [a] computer, although superior to one in almost every way.

“What is placed in the child’s brain during the first eight years of life is probably there to stay. If you put misinformation into his brain during this period, it is extremely difficult to erase it.” He believed that the most receptive age in human life is that of two or three years old.3

You might ask, “Why is President Monson emphasizing this? Our first eight-year period of learning is long past.” But you, my brothers and sisters, are going to be parents one day, and you will want to emphasize the importance to your children and to your future generations of descendants of that first eight-year period.

Since having kids I've realized that they learn incredibly quickly. I want to make sure to help teach them the best that I can the critical things of life, such as the need to trust in God, believe in Him, keep his commandments, talk to Him, etc.

Key Distinguishing Factor of God

God hears our prayers. That is something that struck me as I listened to Elder Nelson tell a story in conference. He talked about visiting a fish store and asking a question.

Recently, Sister Nelson and I enjoyed the beauty of tropical fish in a small private aquarium. Fish with vivid colors and of a variety of shapes and sizes darted back and forth. I asked the attendant nearby, “Who provides food for these beautiful fish?”

She responded, “I do.”

Then I asked, “Have they ever thanked you?”

She replied, “Not yet!”

I thought of some people I know who are just as oblivious to their Creator and their true “bread of life.”¹ They live from day to day without an awareness of God and His goodness unto them.

At first I laughed, thinking this was a weird analogy to our lives. However, when I consider that  God created the earth and all the opportunities that we are given, this seems like a fair analogy. We owe thanks to God as much as fish owe thanks to the person taking care of them. In our situation though, there's a greater difference; God also allows us to communicate with Him even though the difference between us and him may be greater than the difference between a fish and the human caretaker. God knows everything; we know so little.

I thought of prayer and its blessing when reading about Limhi's people today in Mosiah 21. God heard their prayers and helped them, despite their earlier wickedness. He will do the same for all of us.

14 And they did ^ahumble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would ^bdeliver them out of their afflictions.

 15 And now the Lord was ^aslow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their ^bcries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage.

 16 And it came to pass that they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger.

Focus teaching on core principles, faith and repentance

Alma was heavily influenced by Abinadi's teachings as we can tell from what he taught the people to focus on. For instance, the priests of Noah said that they taught the law of Moses and the 10 commandments. Abinadi's closing statement was this (Mosiah 16:13-15):

13 And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins, and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved?

 14 Therefore, if ye teach the ^alaw of Moses, also teach that it is a^bshadow of those things which are to come—

 15 Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very ^aEternal Father. Amen.

Notice he says "if" ye teach the law of Moses, make sure to teach that it is only there to point to Christ and help people follow Him. It's critical to repent, and remember Christ and that only through him is salvation possible. Basically, he's saying to teach faith in Christ and his redemption and repent of sins. 

In Mosiah 18 we learn what Alma told the priests to teach the people:

 20 Yea, even he commanded them that they should ^apreachnothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people.

In order to preach repentance you must teach people the commandments so that they know what to repent of. It's after faith in Christ that a desire to repent and follow Him occurs, so teaching the commandments becomes something the student wants.

I appreciate the emphasis on these ideas in the book of Mormon, the focus on the basic principles of following Christ.

Consequences of not repenting

The scriptures are clear about the consequences of not repenting and coming to Jesus. One message directed towards a wicked group is found in Mosiah 16 in which Abinadi warns the priests of King Noah what will happen to them and to any people that do not come to the Savior.

Here's his message:

 11 If they be good, to the resurrection of ^aendless life and^bhappiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of ^cendlessdamnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation—

 12 Having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would ^anot; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent.

Those who do not come to the Savior will spend time with the devil and avoid happiness. Why? Because they have a chance to call on the Lord who had his arms extended towards them, but they did not go. It is critical to come to Him when the opportunity is there.

I hope to always come to the Savior, who desires to lift us with those arms of safety as Amulek refers to them in Alma 34.

Knowing what the Prophet has Spoken

King Benjamin gave a magnificent address at the end of his life. It was clearly impactful, and many members remembered it for a long time. A great example of this is given in Mosiah 8. Ammon, who was a soldier in the army, met up with a group of people who had left his village/city several decades earlier. He was asked to recite to them the important things that had happened since they left. It says that he did the following:

2 And he caused that Ammon should stand up before the multitude, and rehearse unto them all that had happened unto their brethren from the time that ^aZeniff went up out of the land even until the time that he ^bhimself came up out of the land.

3 And he also rehearsed unto them the last words which king Benjamin had ^ataught them, and explained them to the people of king Limhi, so that they might understand all the words which he spake.

I am so impressed that he was able to rehearse the words of the prophet/king without notes and from memory. It's a great example of what we need to be able to do. We must know the words of the prophet and be able to teach them to people.

Getting out of bondage (addiction)

A group of Nephites were in a very tough situation. They paid 1/2 of everything they made to the Lamanites and considered themselves to be in great bondage. When some friendly Nephites from a neighboring country came to help out, the king was hopeful they would leave bondage. However, getting out would require help from God. Here's what the king said, "

33 But if ye will ^aturn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all ^bdiligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.

They were delivered. I think this applies to addictions of all kinds.

Church Leaders struggle through life decisions too (e.g., marriage)

I listened to Elaine Dalton's 2009 CES fireside today and really enjoyed her account of the decision to get married. She was so nervous, she almost backed out on the day of the wedding.

Here's her account about revelation and how to make decisions:

It was here at BYU, in a devotional such as this, that it all began for me. I had been dating a young man. One night he began talking about marriage, and he was very persistent! I didn’t sleep well that night because of the things he said, and I knew I had to make a decision. I prayed that the Lord would help me know what to do, but I received no instant answer. The next morning we attended a devotional together. While sitting in that devotional, I listened in amazement as the speaker, Elder A. Theodore Tuttle, stood and began to speak about the process of making important decisions. It was as if he were speaking directly to me. He knew my heart, and his words went deep into my soul. He outlined the process of decision making by referring to Doctrine and Covenants section 9. Everyone else seemed to be very familiar with this section of the scriptures except me. You are all familiar with it too, but for me, that day, it was pure revelation and provided a pattern for me to receive an answer to my prayers. He read:

“Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.

“But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.

“But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong” (D&C 9:7–9).

Though this passage was originally directed to Oliver Cowdery, in that moment it became personal for me and was a direct answer to the question I had asked the night before in prayer. Elder Tuttle also outlined a process of listing positives and negatives, making a tentative decision, and then taking that decision back to the Lord in prayer.²

I knew that I had to act! I couldn’t just keep doing what I was doing. I had to decide to decide. I knew it, and I knew God knew that I knew it. After I made a tentative decision to move forward, I can’t say that my answer came as a burning in my bosom. But it did feel right and comfortable and good. I was no longer perplexed or troubled. I felt peace. I knew what to do, and I was happy. And so I went forward, and that persistent young man is here with me tonight. I am grateful for his goodness, his insistence, and his patience.

Was it always easy after that answer came? No. My husband says, to this day, that he can show you the heel marks in the sidewalk outside the door of the Salt Lake Temple where I got a little scared and thought that I wanted to wait. But this is what I learned: As you exercise your faith through prayer, the Lord will help you make defining decisions in defining moments. He will hear and answer your prayers through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. You will not be left alone. You have been given the blessing to be able to receive the guidance of the Holy Ghost. In Doctrine and Covenants section 8, the Lord promises each of us, “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart” (D&C 8:2). That is what happened for me, and that will happen for each of you.

I bear witness that the Lord hears and answers our prayers and that He will guide and direct us as we seek to do His will and keep His commandments. This is the process of receiving personal revelation.

Clearly she's not saying that someone should go through with difficult decisions no matter what they're feeling. However, she definitely struggled making this important decision. She had help from the Lord but still wanted to wait to get married on the day of the marriage. 40 years later, I think she's glad she went through with it.

In general, the leaders of our church understand our situations much better than we think. They have a lot of wisdom and experience. They have not had an easy path through life. We would be wise to follow them as much as possible.

Retaining a Remission of your Sins

King Benjamin lets us know how to retain a remission of sins. He gives a great checklist of what's important in order for this to happen.

First some broad points:

6 I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body—

7 I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world.

The Atonement was prepared from the time the Earth's foundation was started. It comes to those who put their trust in the Lord, are diligent in keeping the commandments and continue in the faith. What does it look like to do these 3 things? He gives guidance in the rest of the chapter.

8 And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you.

1) Believe in God

2) repent of your sins and forsake them

3) humble yourselves before God

4) ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you

5) always retain in remembrance

a) greatness of God

b) humble yourselves

c) calling on the name of the Lord daily

d) standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come (Christ coming)

6) live peaceably

7) teach them (children) to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another

8) ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish

9) should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants

But also a piece of wisdom regarding being overly exuberant in accomplishing these things:

27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

Also, a guide about watching yourself, not just depending on a list of "do's and don'ts".

29 And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.

30 But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

Great chapter. I appreciate the guidance on how to retain the remission of sins granted through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ on all those that believe.