Guardians of Virtue

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the General Young Women Meeting of the April 2011 conference.

If my calculations are correct then the young women attending and viewing this session are now between 26 and 33 years old. I hope most are married and mothers. I know that some won't be, I have a 36 year old daughter who has never had the opportunity to marry and have children though she would love that blessing.

 

These talks were so encouraging to even me, a "little old lady" in the autumn of life. Wouldn't it be wonderful for those girls to hear or read them again and be reminded of all that was said.

 

Sister Elaine S. Dalton is special to me because of the way she greeted me with a hug, as if we were best friends, prior to a regional Young Women morning devotional in Omaha, Nebraska.  She made me feel special and important and I was in my fifties having driven some young women from our branch to the meeting.

 

One thing I've learned as I've lived into my seventh decade, is that each generation lives in what seems to be the most wicked times. And for that generation it is! No generation has had it easy, without challenges and struggles. Mortality is hard, but it's supposed to be; after all, it is a test.

 

Young women, in a world ever growing in moral pollution, tolerance of evil, exploitation of women, and distortion of roles, you must stand guard of yourself, your family, and all those with whom you associate. You must be guardians of virtue.

 

Being a guardian of virtue means you will always be modest not only in your dress but also in your speech, your actions, and your use of social media.

 

For mothers listening tonight [and these young women, now grown up], you are your daughters' most important example of modesty and virtue--thank you. Never hesitate to teach them that they are royal daughters of God and that their value is not based on their sensual appeal. And let them see your belief modeled correctly and consistently in your own personal attitude and appearance. You are also guardians of virtue.

 

When we were praying about homeschooling in 1994 I received an unexpected answer. I was told that we needed to know how to homeschool because in the future it would not be safe to send covenant children to public schools. I have seen that answer fulfilled year after year. Whether or not you homeschool, we all need to stand as guardians of godly virtues and be a light to the increasingly wicked world. Modest, virtuous young women and young men are especially needed lights to those who are seeking a better way to live but haven't been taught in their own homes.

 

Building our life upon the rock of our Redeemer is the only sure way to stand firm in keeping covenants, obeying commandments and withstanding temptations. As the gulf between good and evil deepens and widens let's be found on the right side, the Lord's side, safely anchored in His teachings, ordinances and covenants.

Not after the manner of men

It's an obscure little verse, not ever mentioned in Gospel Doctrine or Seminary lessons. Which is rather sad as I think it is one of the more important verses in the whole book. You've read it every time you go through the Book of Mormon, but it hardly registers. I'd like to share my experience of realizing its importance.

Almost twenty years ago my parents visited us for the birth of our fourth child. We had chosen to homeschool and were just beginning our third year. My parents were rather appalled at what they thought was a discrepancy between where our oldest was and where they believed she should be. She was a delightful, imaginative child, but at age seven was still not reading. They pleaded with us to put her in public school so she wouldn’t fall behind. We stood firm in our desire to do what we felt the Lord had called us to do.

The situation was stressful to say the least. I prayed to find a better answer to give them as to why we chose to homeschool. Many months after they left, while I was reading in first Nephi, a verse came, in the words of Joseph Smith, with more power to my heart than any other.

Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men, but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men.      

                                                (1 Nephi 18:2)

Here was our answer. We were educating our children not after the manner of men, but after the manner the Lord had shown us. We know that not everyone will be called to homeschool their children, but we were.

Since that time I’ve pondered in what other ways we are building lives, not after the manner of men, but after the manner the Lord shows us.

We build our financial lives differently through paying tithes and offerings. We take care of our physical bodies according to the Word of Wisdom. We choose our entertainment according to the Thirteenth Article of Faith. We date, court and marry according to the blueprints in For the Strength of Youth and The Family, a Proclamation to the World. In so many areas, in fact, all areas of our lives, we can live according to the manner which the Lord has shown us. We need not be ashamed or embarrassed by our differences to the world. The Lord is faithful, and when he commands he prepares a way for us to keep those commandments.

As for our oldest daughter? Shortly afterward she did learn to read and has kept on reading, and writing. She has amassed a library of over 1,100 books, learned a second language, traveled overseas and is a delight to all who meet her. She is an aspiring writer and has several books in the works.

Before my mother died she confided to me that she was wrong to worry and that we had done a great job with our children. I can’t claim credit, we just did what the Lord instructed and He prepared the way.