General Conference Talk Summary:President Henry B. Eyring

Henry B. Eyring: Help Them on Their Way

• "Brothers and sisters, our Heavenly Father wants and needs our help to bring His spirit children home to Him again. I speak today of young people already within His true Church and so are started on the strait and narrow way to return to their heavenly home. He wants them to gain early the spiritual strength to stay on the path. And He needs our help to get them back to the path quickly should they begin to wander."
• "we help God’s children best by providing ways to build faith in Jesus Christ and His restored gospel when they are young"
• "Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family"
• He talks about how family and church programs are put in place to help children gain faith young. Then he talks about the Young Women's Personal Progress and the Young Men's Duty to God Programs. "Both of these programs put great responsibility on the efforts of the young people themselves. They are invited to learn and do things that would be challenging for anyone. As I reflect on my own youth, I cannot remember being so challenged. Oh, on a few occasions I was invited to rise to such tests, but only now and then. These programs expect consistency, great effort, and the accumulation of learning and spiritual experiences over years."
• "Of all the help we can give these young people, the greatest will be to let them feel our confidence that they are on the path home to God and that they can make it. And we do that best by going with them. Because the path is steep and sometimes rocky, they will at times feel discouraged and even stumble. They may at times become confused about their destination and wander after less eternally important goals. These inspired programs make that less likely because they will lead the young person to invite and receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost."
• "The best counsel for us to give young people is that they can arrive back to Heavenly Father only as they are guided and corrected by the Spirit of God. So if we are wise, we will encourage, praise, and exemplify everything which invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost."
• "The example they most need from us is to do what they must do. We need to pray for the gifts of the Spirit. We need to ponder in the scriptures and in the words of living prophets. We need to make plans which are not only wishes but covenants. And then we need to keep our promises to the Lord. And we need to lift others by sharing with them the blessings of the Atonement which have come in our lives. And we need to exemplify in our own lives the steady and prolonged faithfulness that the Lord expects of them. As we do, we will help them feel from the Spirit an assurance that if they will persist, they will hear the words from a loving Savior and Heavenly Father: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”⁴ And we who help them along the way will hear those words with joy."
  
   

My Thoughts:

I have generally thought that John and I have been decent gospel teachers to our children. As soon as they are reading well enough, we buy them their own scriptures and give them a time for personal scripture study each night before bed. 2 of my 3 readers have completed the book of Mormon and my third is well on the way. i also read scripture stories to the young children each night before they go to bed, to get them in the habit of personal scripture study. What I I think, we need to improve on is to talk more about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and how one listens and feels the promptings. I really think, the thing that I can change the most is to be calmer and more patient so the Holy Ghost can be in our home more consistently. I have a plan for this. I am going to make a chart that I have to mark on whenever I raise my voice or say something unkind or even in an impatient tone. I also need to work more steadily with Ruth on her personal progress and with Kate and Johnny on their faith and God programs. I should probably set a couple evenings aside a week for this.