This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the April 2013 Conference.
This conference had so many words of encouragement that felt directed specifically toward mothers about their families. Here is a sampling.
• God will give us power to nurture our families!
The same priesthood power that created worlds, galaxies, and the universe can and should be part of our lives to succor, strengthen, and bless our families, our friends, and our neighbors—in other words, to do the things that the Savior would do if He were ministering among us today. (Elder Ballard)
• Following our covenants—just living those ordinary acts of obedience—will give great protection to our homes.
Latter-day Saints recognize the transcendent importance of the family and strive to live in such a way that the adversary cannot steal into our homes. We find safety and security for ourselves and our children in honoring the covenants we have made and living up to the ordinary acts of obedience required of the followers of Christ. (Elder Packer)
• Motherhood is a great work, and Heavenly Father loves us for doing it!
Our daily contributions of nurturing, teaching, and caring for others may seem mundane, diminished, difficult, and demeaning at times, and yet as we remember that first line in the Young Women theme—“We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us”—it will make all the difference in our relationships and our responses. (Sister Elaine S. Dalton)
• Serving those around us and keeping our own covenants is the best way to reach family members we are worried about. As we serve all of His children, God does miracles in the lives of our children.
Many of you have loved ones who are wandering off the path to eternal life. You wonder what more you can do to bring them back. You can depend on the Lord to draw closer to them as you serve Him in faith.…Your prayers and the prayers of those who exercise their faith will bring the Lord’s servants to help your family members. They will help them choose the way home to God, even as they are attacked by Satan and his followers, whose purpose it is to destroy families in this life and in eternity.…
My promise to you who pray and serve the Lord cannot be that you will have every blessing you may wish for yourself and your family. But I can promise you that the Savior will draw close to you and bless you and your family with what is best. You will have the comfort of His love and feel the answer of His drawing closer as you reach out your arms in giving service to others. …His arms are outstretched with yours to succor and bless the children of our Heavenly Father, including those in your family. (Elder Henry B. Eyring)
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