#2 - "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them" - President Packer

For this post, I will be commenting on and referencing President Packer's talk "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them," which can be found here (I really need to learn how to embed the link in the word "here"):

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/and-a-little-child-shall-lead-them?lang=eng

This talk is one of the main reasons it's been awhile between my last General Conference post and this one. I can tell it has a lot of deep doctrine in it and I know I do not understand all of it. It covers a lot of different aspects of children - perhaps that's another reason why I feel so intimidated to talk about it, as I don't have any children yet. It seems to jump around a bit, but as I read and re-read it, the theme of children/parenthood/family ties everything together. Thus, my notes on the talk will be a little jumbled, too, and I know I can't cover every thought I have had about every thing he says.

Also, a lot of the stories about suffering children make me so sad that it's hard to see past the story into the meaning behind it. For example, in the story about the hungry boy who wants to eat the sacrament bread that President Packer ends up holding him on his lap, I recognize that this story is about much more than a hungry, little boy. But I can't help agonizing and wondering whatever happened to him. It doesn't sound like he got any sort of food or clothing at the meeting as he left before it ended. President Packer tells us that this story inspired a prophesy from President Kimball: “You were holding a nation on your lap.” This statement sounds very important and inspiring but I just don't fully understand it. Apparently, neither did President Packer at the time because President Kimball said to him more than once, “That experience has far greater meaning than you have yet come to know.” My current thoughts are that physical and spiritual sustenance are both necessities for everyone and when it comes down to it, spiritual sustenance is even more important. It is hard for me to overlook the physical suffering of the little children President Packer talks about.

Possibly that is one thing President Kimball is trying to stress? The nations that President Packer was talking about had a great deal of poverty in both areas. The church provides means to help people all over the world become more educated, which means less poverty. It also provides the Gospel and the knowledge of how to get back to our Father in Heaven. I also wonder if the main point of the story is that it is symbolic of the growth of the church in that area of the world. When it was first starting, the church leadership had to be provided by people not native to the country. But as the church would grow throughout those nations, the leadership would be from the people of those nations. Which has definitely happened and is continuing to happen.

The story of the Japanese orphan with scabies and the Salt Lake City boy with no coat just make me so sad. But I try to use that sadness to motivate me to be thankful for the blessings that I have and to be generous to all around me, keeping in mind that people in need are not necessarily in third world countries.

I love the story of the Japanese girl at the close of WWII who collected leaves from a tree in a city completely turned to rubble. She seemed oblivious to the carnage around and "she had found the one beauty left in her world." I love the portrayal of a little child as the personification of hope.

I found comfort in the story about the couple unable to have children. I had a miscarriage about six months ago and have felt a lot of heartache. It has made me worry that I might be unable to have children of my own (even though I know miscarriages are fairly common). President Packer's response that the couple who could not have children were fortunate due to their righteous desires helped me to have a paradigm shift. I still get sad and worried sometimes, but I am comforted by the fact that I have righteous desires to be a mother and I know I will be at some point. On a similar note, I have felt discouraged about still struggling with feelings of grief at the miscarriage. Having never had a close person in my life go through this before I did, I hadn't realized how heartbreaking it can be. I have felt like I should be "over it" by now or something. But when President Packer told how he and his wife lost two of their little boys at birth, you could hear the sorrow in his voice and see it in his face. I am guessing that happened 50-ish years ago. It helped me realize it was okay to be sad and grieve still and that I probably would be sad about it for the rest of my life. Now, I don't mean that it's okay for me to give into despair or not be able to move on in my life. It just helped me realize this is okay for me to feel the feelings I have been feeling.

Quotes that stood out to me:

"Husbands and wives should understand that their first calling—from which they will never be released—is to one another and then to their children"

"Family time is sacred time and should be protected and respected."

"Now in the sunset of our lives, Sister Packer and I understand and witness that our families can be forever."

"Fathers and mothers, next time you cradle a newborn child in your arms, you can have an inner vision of the mysteries and purpose of life." (I hope to experience this in my life.)

"There is much to be learned from following His [Christ's] example in seeking to pray for, bless, and teach “those little ones.”

"At night, when I pull the covers over me, I offer a prayer for those who have no warm bed to go to." (I am going to try to do this, too.)


Scriptures that I loved:

“Children are an heritage of the Lord: and … happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.”

ALL of 3 Nephi 17 - so amazing - has to be in my top five favorite chapters of scripture ever