My Dear Brothers And Sisters And Friends...

My dear brothers and sisters and friends: ¶

In the few minutes allotted to me this morning, I seek for the Spirit of the Lord to impress what I have to say. ¶

Just before our Lord and Savior's earthly mission was to be terminated, his "disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us . . . what is the sign of thy coming . . . ?" Among other things, he said to them that as it was in the days which were before the flood, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matt. 24:4, see v. 44. Inspired Version.) ¶

Wickedness Caused God to Weep

As we read from the writings of the early prophets, we discover what seems to have been the underlying evil which brought about the wickedness which caused God, who had created mankind, to weep. In a revelation to his faithful prophet Enoch, God declared that the remnant of his children were without natural affection, even hating their own blood, which in all likelihood meant their children. ¶

In his answer to Enoch's question as to why he wept, God replied that ". . . among all the workmanship of mine hands there has not been so great wickedness as among thy brethren." ¶

"Sins upon the heads of their fathers" ¶

Then he added: ". . . behold, their sins shall be upon the heads of their fathers. . . ." (Moses 7:36-37.) Evidently the parents of that generation had committed the great sin of failing to comply with the command given to all parents from Adam's day down to our own day. They had failed to teach the doctrines of salvation to their children. ¶

The Lord has warned us that, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man. ¶

God grant that this people will heed the call of our prophet-leaders and teach their children as the Lord has commanded and escape the chastening hand of Almighty God. ¶

Recently I had occasion to read an inspiring article concerning an elderly mother who was awarded an unusual honorary degree from an Eastern university "for outstanding achievement as a wife and a mother." Three sons and a daughter had won the highest places in educational and scientific fields. A narrator was sent by his editor to find the reason to his question: "How did it happen?" He first sought the reason from the father of the family, but he didn't find the answer in the sitting room with the father, who declared that he was just one of the "boys," ¶

and referred the investigator to the kitchen where the mother of seventy-nine years still managed the home. ¶

The mother first had answered: "We used the Bible and common sense." ¶

She declared that the only heredity she felt played a part was the "heredity of training" which she had inherited from her own mother. "A child isn't likely to learn good habits from his parents unless they learned them from theirs." ¶

In the discussion which followed, this wonderful mother gave expression to some simple and homespun but wonderful thoughts on successful family living. "If parents have decided their children haven't a chance, they are not likely to give them one." ¶

Children Not Likely to Be Better than Parents

The real answer to his question as to "how did it happen" was to be found in one word: the home. Parents forget that neither school nor the world can reform the finished product of a bad home. In this mother's earlier years, no matter how many servants a mother could afford, she took care of her children herself. Children are not likely to be better than the parents are themselves. Parents must obtain the confidence of children in all things if they do not want to make strangers of them and have them seek advice from a boy on the street corner. Parents must take time to explain to every child every action that affects him. She had taken great pains to teach them the importance of simplicity in living by practising simplicity and by subjecting them to hard physical work. Each of her children had his own bank account, not to glorify money, she explained, but to teach them that money, no matter how much or how little, must not be wasted. Children must be taught that hard work must be in the right direction — work that is good in itself. Her children were encouraged to develop their natural bents and were not forced to choose a career. To her, money success for the sake of money is the kind of success that has nothing to do either with usefulness or happiness. ¶

(One Thousand Inspirational Things, p. 42.) These comments from those who know the importance of the home and family life by their own experience are but testifying to the fundamental soundness in the instructions of the Lord to parents in our day as he first gave them to the ancients relative to the teaching of their children in order to stem the tide of wickedness among the children of the earth. ¶

Loss of Children Charged to Parents

From a former President of the Church, we hear this warning to parents who fail to teach their children: ¶

". . . if . . . the children go astray and turn from the truth, then the Lord has said that the sin shall be upon the heads of the parents. . . . The loss of these children will be charged to the parents, and they will be held responsible for their apostasy and darkness. . . . ¶

My children must not and will not turn away with my consent. ... I will endeavor with all the power I possess to have them as true and faithful to this gospel as it is possible for me to be " ¶

(President Joseph F. Smith, Deseret Evening News, June 25, 1898.) ¶

Redemption from Spiritual Darkness

The greatest demonstration of the power of the Almighty we see today is the redemption of human souls from spiritual darkness into spiritual light. ¶

I saw and heard such a miracle recently when a man who had been incorrigible much of his life, now reaching up to his middle-age years, spoke by his own request at the funeral services of his elderly mother. His father and mother, obedient to the Lord's instruction, had persisted in teaching their children, including this son, who vigorously and rudely resisted their efforts. Despite this opposition, the father continued in his role as a faithful father should; he not only taught, but every Sunday he fasted and prayed, especially for this wayward son. The father was shown in a dream, as though to reassure him, his unruly son walking in a dense fog. ¶

In the dream he saw this son walk out of the fog into bright sunlight, cleansed by genuine repentance. We have seen that boy now a changed man and enjoying some of the Lord's choicest blessings in the Church because of his faithful parents who didn't fail him. ¶

Parents, Not Schools, Must Save Children from Evil

We are hearing of and reading constantly of the alarming increase of juvenile delinquency and major crimes among the youth, particularly sex crimes. An eminent educator, the Superintendent of Public Instruction in California, made this statement recently under the subject heading: ¶

"Don't Saddle Schools with Sex Cleanup." He said, "At first glance it would seem that today's children need instruction in sexual matters as much as Custer needed more Indians. From morning until night, they are fed an almost unmixed diet of high-calorie, highly commercialized sex. . . . The so-called legitimate stage has achieved a condition of such sheer filth as to merit the adjective 'indescribable.' We are the first generation since time began which has allowed its playwrights and its actors to wallow in vileness. . . . ¶

"So a lot of people are urging schools to step in and clean this mess up by giving the youngsters a good stiff dose of sex education. . . . ¶

"People are not discouraged from becoming safecrackers by learning how to manipulate tumblers in the dark. ¶

They avoid a life of crime because they are taught from infancy that crime is evil. The only way society has ever found to discourage misconduct is to label it clearly as either a crime or sin, or both, and then punish it accordingly." ¶

Then the superintendent of schools concludes: "Only when we adults, in our homes, our churches, our businesses, decide that we are going to set a decent example and demand decent behavior from the young, will the children start growing up to become the kind of people we want them to be, and should have been ourselves." (Dr. Max Rafferty, The Salt Lake Tribune, 1964. Copyright 1965, Los Angeles Times Syndicate.) How wise the words of this great educator! ¶

The Church Can Help

Just how the Church is essential to each individual and to every home in combating these evils is rather dramatically set forth in a letter I received recently from a sister, a new convert, now living in the Middle West, where I had attended a stake quarterly conference. I quote from a part of her letter: ¶

"As you spoke, an idea kept repeating itself in my mind: how life as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is like crossing a swinging bridge suspended between the points of birth by baptism into the Church and death into eternal life over the turbulent stream of worldliness and sin. As one starts out onto the bridge, the nearness of his baptism lends a feeling of security and faith, but as one becomes aware of the stream below and the vast expanse to be crossed, the sense of security gives way to spasmodic twinges of doubt and fear, causing one to lose the rhythm of prayer, faith, and love, and work which makes one's progress smooth. ¶

The mists of doubt and apathy arise and corrode one's heart and mind, impeding one's progress and restricting one's response to the magnetic force of love which streams across the bridge. It is then one breaks step and falls to his knees and hangs on until the force of love restores faith and direction to the crossing. ¶

"This is where the Church and its Authorities come in. When they speak it is as if the force of love calling to us becomes vocal and adds impetus to our response to it, as a voice calling to us from farther along the bridge saying, 'Have faith, this is the way.' "Thank you and God bless you and our prophet, whom I have never met, but have learned to love more dearly because of you." ¶

In this analogy this gifted sister has borne witness to the power of one who tries sincerely to teach the truths of the gospel. Through inspired teachers and parent, one not only can come to know the prophet of God, as she has said, but can come to know God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and thus gain an eternal anchor to his soul. ¶

The Weekly Home Evening

For over half a century, the leaders of this Church have counseled with parents in the home to gather their children around them in a weekly Home Evening and there teach the truths of salvation — honesty, sobriety, integrity, and chastity. One of our leaders has promised that if parents would do this, "ninety-nine out of every hundred children . . . will observe them through life." (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, pp. 267268.) This year our leaders have directed us in an intensive effort to observe this weekly Family Home Evening. ¶

Lesson materials with suggested activities have been prepared and are now in the hands of every parent in the Church. One night each week all meetings, socials, or other activities are discontinued. In the home the family, led by the father, engage in a Family Home Night, which consists of scripture reading, singing, and activities suited to the ages of the children. This is the time for a family council and free expressions of all family members. Reports from throughout the Church are most heartening. ¶

From a psychiatrist comes this unusual comment: ¶

"My professional activity," he said, "brings me in contact with many church members who have problems. ¶

It was a most refreshing experience to receive the Family Night manual and to see the lesson materials. Most of the problems I see could be corrected if members of the Church could just understand and live the first three lessons in the Family Night manual. ¶

Inferiority feelings, trying to be someone else other than one's self, and failure to believe in repentance create the background for most of the problems I see. The Church Family Night program is the most effective preventive program I have seen." (Dr. ¶

Carlos Madsen.) Testimonies coming from young families concerning these programs as they put them into practice in their little families continue on and on, as we could tell you of the reawakening which has come to parents as they are led by the family home manual to guide their children through these important years of their lives. ¶

: Just as a flood-lighted temple is more beautiful in a severe storm or in a heavy fog, so the gospel of Jesus Christ is more glorious in times of inward storm and of personal sorrow and tormenting conflict. When the density of the fog of doubt and uncertainty and dangers in the way ahead put fear into our hearts, God's eternal light of gospel truth is more beautiful than ever before because of our greater need. ¶

May we remember the history of past generations and their failure to teach their children, lest the "sins of today's children be upon the heads of today's fathers." ¶

I bear testimony to all within the sound of my voice that God does live and that his Church, bearing the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, is among us today. That each and all of us may live so that we may be guided by the truths taught therein and teach our children to do likewise, I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶