Sister Mary R. Durham (Mormon Newsroom)
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were given three ideas for how parents in the church can increase the spiritual capacity of their children for when they are not in the home.
Sister Mary R. Durham, second counselor in the Primary General Presidency began her remarks by asking, 'How can we prepare our children for the day when they can no longer cling to us and our testimonies — when they are the ones swimming?'
She said the answer 'comes when we recognize this divine source of strength.'
'It is a source often underestimated, yet it can be used daily to lighten our load and guide our precious children. That source its the guiding gift of the Holy Ghost.'
The first idea Sister Durham gave for increasing the spiritual capacity of children is to bring to their attention the times when they are hearing and feeling the Spirit.
Second, she explained that parents should prepare their children to feel the still small voice. She explained that children need to be immersed in the Spirit.
'The best immersion setting for a spiritual education is in the home, where spiritual principles can form the basis for daily living,' Sister Durham said.
Third, she taught that parents can help their children understand how the Spirit speaks to them. She told of one mother who learned that the Holy Ghost teaches each of her children in the specific way that they learn best.
'Feeling and recognizing the Spirit will bring spiritual capacity to our children's lives, and the voice they come to know will become clearer and clearer to them,' Sister Durham said.
Sister Durham then shared a story of a young father who swam the length of a lake with his daughter on his back. The man's heavy clothes began to weigh him down and caused him to sink. He wasn't able to stay afloat until after he took off his heavy shoes. She explained that parents, too, can teach their children to shed the heavy weight of the world in order to stay afloat.
'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.'