A friend of mine e-mailed over the new photograph of the First Presidency, and I saved it to my desktop. This morning, my two sons saw it and asked about it, and I explained who the men are. They both showed immediate interest in the man who is our new prophet.
A few minutes later, I overheard my six-year-old say, “If I have a flag when that new man dies, I’ll fly it half way up and half way down.”
“That’s right,” my nine-year-old said. “Because he’s a good man, just like President Hinckley.”
“What was his name again?” the six-year-old wanted to know.
“Mr. Monson,” came the reply. “I don’t know his first name, so I’ll call him Mr. Monson.”
“I think I’ll call him Mr. Nice Guy,” the six-year-old said.
I couldn’t help but smile as I listened. We had seen flags flying at half-mast in President Hinckley’s honor, and I was touched that my children remembered that memorial. And even though they don’t know much about President Monson, they’re ready to accept him, simply because they know he’s the prophet. How did they learn this? Because of the attitude that’s in our home.
We can sit down with our children and explain to them, all we want. But when they see us showing an attitude of respect, that will make the difference. Do we want them to revere the prophet? Then we need to revere him. Do we want them to listen to the prophet? Then we need to listen to him. It will do us no good to tell our children to follow the prophet, if they then hear us belittling inspired counsel or see us choosing not to watch conference or read the report in the Ensign.
We are so blessed to have a modern-day prophet who speaks the will of the Lord to us. We don’t have to rely solely on prophets of old—we have prophets for our times. And the more we seek out their teachings and follow their counsel, the more our children will emulate us, and the more sure their own foundation will be.
Related Blogs:
In Honor of President Gordon B. Hinckley
President Monson to Succeed President Hinckley