Dear Sisters,
School has begun! What an interesting time of year. For some it is filled with relief as we send the kids back to school and reclaim our house, personal time and a familiar routine. For others it is a time of anxiety has we send our little ones out for the first time to start new experiences. For all of us it is a time of hope. Hope that we have prepared our children to face the oncoming trails of a new school year. Hope that our children know they are children of their Heavenly Father and act as such while away from home. Hope that the new school year will bring growth, not just academically, but spiritually as our children learn more of who they are and who they want to become. I was recently reading a conference address that helped relieve some of the anxiety related to sending kids back to school. A Child’s Guiding Gift By Mary R. Durham, Recently Released Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, stated
How do we as parents increase the spiritual capacity of our little ones? How do we teach them to kick off worldly influences and trust the Spirit when we are not with them and they are alone in the deep waters of their lives?
Feeling and recognizing the Spirit will bring spiritual capacity into our children’s lives, and the voice they come to know will become clearer and clearer to them. It will be as Elder Richard G. Scott said: “As you gain experience and success in being guided by the Spirit, your confidence in the impressions you feel can become more certain than your dependence on what you see or hear.”11
We need not fear as we see our children enter the waters of life, for we have helped them rid themselves of worldly weight. We have taught them to live for the guiding gift of the Spirit. This gift will continue to lighten the weight they carry and lead them back to their heavenly home if they live for it and follow its promptings.
Our children are not alone out in the world. They have been taught to listen to the Holy Ghost and recognize his promptings. In times of temptation and trials they will remember what their parents have taught them. It might not be right away, they might decide to ignore our advice and counsel in attempts to find their own way. But if the seed has been placed, they will eventually listen to that still small voice. Trust them, love them, and believe in them. The Lord will lead them safely home.
Love, Sister Heather Olsen.
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