Elder Russell M. Nelson, as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said: “Start with your own children. You parents bear the primary responsibility to strengthen their faith. Let them feel your faith, even when sore trials come upon you. Let your faith be focused on our loving Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach that faith with deep conviction. Teach each precious boy or girl that he or she is a child of God, created in His image with a sacred purpose and potential. Each is born with challenges to overcome and faith to be developed.
Teach of faith in God’s plan of salvation. Teach that our sojourn in mortality is a period of probation, a time of trial and testing to see if we will do whatever the Lord commands us to do.[i]
Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. Warn that they will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. It takes faith to obey them, and keeping His commandments will strengthen that faith. (see “Face the Future with Faith,” Ensign, May 2011) (also from “Teachings of Russell M. Nelson”, Deseret Book, 2018, p.104-05)
