Teaching our children

I've ALWAYS looked forword to having kids, I'm just so excited for it. But one thing that scares me, kind of a lot, is that I'll be responsible for teaching them and guiding them toward, well, the ultimate goal of eternal life. This past conference (April 2010) had so many talks on teaching children and the rising generation... and as I've been reading the talks again I've been able to learn more... and of course, it scares me even more about the responsibility that I'll have, and that really I want to have, because I know it's part of why I'm here and I know that it will be worth it. I just hope that I'll be given the help that I need as I try to guide and teach my children. There was a story shared by President Henry B Eyring that I was reading today and it just made me cry. Soooo... here it is... :

"I learned the power of simple faith in prayer and in the Holy Ghost when our children were small. Our oldest son was not yet baptized. His parents, Primary teachers, and priesthood servants had tried to help him feel and recognize the Spirit and know how to receive His help.

One afternoon my wife had taken him to the home of a woman who was teaching him to read. Our plan was that I was to pick him up on my way home from work.

His lesson ended earlier than we had expected. He felt confident that he knew the way home. So he started to walk. He said afterward that he had complete confidence and liked the idea of being alone on the trip. After he had gone about half a mile (0.8 km), it started to grow dark. He began to sense that he was still very far from home.

He can still remember that the lights of the cars as they streamed past him were blurred by his tears. He felt like a little child, not the confident boy who had begun to walk home alone. He realized that he needed help. Then something came to his memory. He knew he was supposed to pray. And so he left the road and headed toward some trees he could barely see in the darkness. He found a place to kneel down.

Through the bushes he could hear voices coming toward him. Two young people had heard him crying. As they approached, they said, “Can we help you?” Through his tears he told them he was lost and that he wanted to go home. They asked if he knew his home phone number or address. He didn’t. They asked if he knew his name. He did know that. They led him to the nearby place where they lived. They found our family name in a phone book.

When I got the phone call, I rushed to the rescue, grateful that kind people had been placed along his way home. And I have been ever grateful he was taught to pray with faith that help would come when he was lost. That faith has led him to safety and brought him more rescuers more times than he can count."