“Essential Conversations,” For the Strength of Youth, May 2021.
Sunday Morning Session
Essential Conversations
Excerpts
We cannot wait for conversion to simply happen to our children. Accidental conversion is not a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Becoming like our Savior will not happen randomly. Being intentional in loving, teaching, and testifying can help children begin at a young age to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is essential to our children’s testimony of and conversion to Jesus Christ. …
Consider the value of family conversations about the gospel of Jesus Christ, essential conversations, that can invite the Spirit. When we have such conversations with our children, we help them create a foundation, “which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if [they] build they cannot fall” [Helaman 5:12].
These vital discussions can lead children to:
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Understand the doctrine of repentance.
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Have faith in Christ, the Son of the living God.
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Choose baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost when eight years old.
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And pray and “walk uprightly before the Lord”[Doctrine and Covenants 68:28]. …
As children learn and progress, their beliefs will be challenged. But as they are properly equipped, they can grow in faith, courage, and confidence, even in the midst of strong opposition.
Alma taught us to “prepare the minds of [the] children” [Alma 39:16]. We are preparing the rising generation to be the future defenders of the faith, to understand “that [they] are free to act for [themselves]—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life” [2 Nephi 10:23]. Children deserve to understand this great truth: eternity is the wrong thing to be wrong about.
May our simple yet essential conversations with our children help them to “enjoy the words of eternal life” now so that they may enjoy “eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory” [Moses 6:59; emphasis added].