Grandma: (to her son) “I think you are correcting {your child} too harshly.”
Father: “I will correct my children as I want”
Grandma: “So will I.”
Parents and priesthood leaders are part of a care package from our Father in Heaven. The greatest part of that care package is the atonement.
One of Heavenly Father’s most beloved tools in guiding His children is righteous grandparents. My father’s mother was such a woman. On an occasion that took place when I was too young to remember, my father was disciplining me. Observing this correction, my grandmother said, “Monte, I believe you are correcting him too harshly.”
My father replied, “Mother, I will correct my children as I want.”
And my wise grandmother softly stated, “And so will I.”
Some may be aware that his father, Monte J. Brough, was a general authority in years past. Proof again that They’re Human Too™.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf explained: “Our Father in Heaven knows His children’s needs better than anyone else. It is His work and glory to help us at every turn, giving us marvelous temporal and spiritual resources to help us on our path to return to Him.”
Listen to those words: Heavenly Father knows what you and I need better than anyone else. As a result, He has developed a personal care package suited to each one of us. It has many components. It includes His Son and the Atonement, the Holy Ghost, commandments, scriptures, prayer, prophets, apostles, parents, grandparents, local Church leaders, and many others—all to help us return to live with Him someday.
May I share today just a few of the components of the care package that have made me recognize that a loving Father is leading, guiding, and walking beside me and my family? My prayer is that each of you will recognize in your experiences that Heavenly Father is leading, guiding, and walking beside you and, with that knowledge, you will proceed with confidence, knowing you are never really alone.
We can always do well to remember how much Heavenly Father has prepared for each of us individually to have the opportunity to return home.
Heavenly Father’s commandments are key components of the care package. Alma declared, “Wickedness never was happiness.” Tolerating improper behavior without loving correction is false compassion and reinforces the common notion that wickedness might in fact be happiness. Samuel the Lamanite clearly countered this notion: “Ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.”
Loving people is not the same as tolerating whatever they are doing.
In addition to having the care package components I’ve mentioned, we are each blessed with a priesthood leader to lead and guide us.
President Boyd K. Packer said: “Bishops are inspired! Each of us has agency to accept or reject counsel from our leaders, but never disregard the counsel of your bishop, whether given over the pulpit or individually.”
These men strive to represent the Lord. Whether we are old or young, when Satan wants us to think all is lost, bishops are there to guide us. When speaking with bishops, I have found a common theme regarding confessions of disobedience or the innocent suffering from terrible wrongs. Bishops instantly want to express Heavenly Father’s love for the individual and a desire to walk beside him or her as he or she finds the way home.
Perhaps Heavenly Father’s greatest care package component is described in these words: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.”
We will be less inclined to disregard our bishops if we recognize that they love us.
What a wonderful gift! Repentance is not a punishment; it is a privilege. It is a privilege that leads and guides us. No wonder the scriptures declare that we should teach nothing save repentance.
That privilege was purchased through the Atonement of Christ.
As the Young Men General Presidency, we know that youth are blessed when they have parents and leaders who act for Heavenly Father in leading, guiding, and walking beside them. Three principles that will help us become part of Heavenly Father’s care package for others are:
First, be with the youth. President Henry B. Eyring emphasized this point: “There are some things we can do that could matter most. Even more powerful than using words in our teaching the doctrine will be our examples of living the doctrine.” To lead youth requires being with them. Devoted time is an expression of love that allows us to teach by word and example.
Second, to truly guide youth, we must connect them with heaven. The time always comes when each must stand alone. Only Heavenly Father can be there to guide at all times and in all places. Our youth must know how to seek Heavenly Father’s guidance.
Third, we must let youth lead. Like the loving parent who holds the hand of a toddler learning to walk, we must let go in order for youth to progress. Letting youth lead requires patience and love. It is harder and takes more time than doing it ourselves. They may stumble along the way, but we walk beside them.
I testify that Heavenly Father does lead us, guide us, and walk beside us. As we follow His Son and give heed to His servants, the apostles and prophets, we will find the way to eternal life. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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