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"Pray Always" by Elder David A. Bednar

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October 2008 General Conference Summary: Elder Bednar gives three specific things we should do to improve our prayers and make them more meaningful: counsel with the Lord in ALL our doings, express more gratitude, and pray more sincerely for others. This talk is not specifically about parenting, but so much of it applies very well to my efforts as a parent that I wanted to actually write my thoughts out about it here. As a parent, I have a lot more to pray about than I ever did before, and I find myself caring more about getting spiritual guidance. However, it's hard to stay consistent, even still. So, Elder Bednar discusses three things we should do to help our prayers become more meaningful. Principle #1: Prayer becomes more meaningful as we counsel with the Lord in all our doings. Elder Bednar uses a fascinating analogy in comparing the creation of the earth with our creations of our days. In the book of Moses we learn that all things were created spiritually before they ...
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"The Language of the Gospel" by Elder Valeri V. Cordon

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April 2017 General Conference Summary: Elder Cordon compares the loss of a language from generation to generation with the loss of the gospel in families, and gives three ways we should combat this: by actively teaching gospel lessons at home, by modeling the best spiritual behaviors we can, and by avoiding any traditions that will taint our gospel-centered home. Elder Cordon begins by discussing families who move to America from other countries and lose the language their families spoke in their home countries after a few generations (which, obviously, is so common as to be almost a stereotype of immigrant narratives). He then compares this language loss to losing the "language of the gospel" in our families. I really like this analogy between language loss and gospel loss, because the language we speak is incredibly important to those who speak it. Older generations may be disappointed or devastated by younger generations refusing to learn or speak their native tongues,...
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"Watching with All Perseverance" by Elder David A. Bednar

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April 2010 General Conference Summary: Parents should be attentive to signs of spiritual growth or challenges in their children, and three habits can bring those things to light: 1) reading and discussing the Book of Mormon together, 2) spontaneously bearing testimony of the gospel, and 3) helping children to be agents acting in their own lives instead of being acted upon. Elder Bednar gave this talk in the General Conference six months after his talk on being more diligent and concerned at home (in which he gave three techniques parents could use to be more involved with their children). I think this talk is something of a continuation of the previous one, with three more techniques that we parents should try to implement. I especially love this talk, however, because I love the idea of a "spiritual early warning system" which can help me be aware of potential pitfalls or struggles my children may be facing, spiritually or otherwise. I would love to imagine that I will ...
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"More Diligent and Concerned at Home" by Elder David A. Bednar

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October 2009 General Conference Summary: Elder Bednar gives three suggestions for things parents should do to be better at home: expressing and showing love, bearing and living testimony, and being more consistent in all aspects of our gospel worship with our family. Elder Bednar starts his talk by explaining the reference for the title of his talk, from D&C 93:50, where the Lord is chastening different elders in the early church that they need to "set in order [their families], and see that they are more diligent and concerned at home." Obviously the Lord does not want them--or us--to be so overwhelmed with outside issues, like work or church callings, that we neglect our responsibilities in our families. Elder Bednar says he is going to set forth three specific things we should do to be "more diligent and concerned at home" in our own lives. Suggestion Number One: Express Love--and Show It Obviously one of the most important things we should be doing as...
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