Little Ears Do Hear

Yesterday we had stake conference.   We had a visiting general authority because there was a change in the stake presidency.  It was a big deal.  There were lots of people there.  Elder M. Russell Ballard gave the concluding talk. 

To be honest I don't remember a lot of his talk because at that point Spencer was beginning to break down.  Two hours of sitting still combined with the day light savings time change meant he was also hungry and tired.  I think he handled everything really well considering the situation.  What I did catch from the talk was that parents need to work on not raising their voices at their children.  Easier said than done and something I'm already working on.  Very quickly after that comment he addressed the children.  I poked Evelyn and said he's talking to you now.  Her ears perked up.  He said children need to respect and obey their parents without arguing.  (I wish I could remember his exact words!)  He said they didn't have to agree with their parents but they were to be respectful. He went on to explain that they should ask their parents further about the rules they felt differently than their parents about so they could better understand why such a rule was in place in their home.  Immediately Evenly turned to me and said, "Mom why do you make us do a job every morning?"  I responded that we all help in our home to get the work done.  That by working together we have time to do fun things together.  If mom and dad did all of the work we wouldn't have time for fun family things.  After a few minutes passed I felt I need to add to my response.  I nudged her and said, "Evelyn Mom and Dad also ask you to do jobs because someday you are going to be a grown up.  We're teaching you so that you'll know how to be a good grown up.  Imagine what kind of grown up you'd be if we didn't teach you how to do the things grown ups know how to do."  She beamed and said "Really?"  I guess the thought of learning how to be a good grown up was really appealing. 

To add to that I asked her to do her job this morning and there was no complaint.  She quickly went and did the work.  My jaw was on the floor.

It struck me how much more communication we need between children and parents.  Its easy to think that communication is happening just because we're together so much. Togetherness does not necessarily equal communication. 

Though I don't remember all or even most of what Elder Ballard said he provided the opportunity for a great teaching moment for both of us.

What made the experience even more special was getting to shake his hand. We were told that the stake presidency would be set apart immediately after the meeting because Elder Ballard had another place to be in the afternoon.  Meaning there isn't time to stop to say hi to him but as we were filing out of the building he passed by us and put out his hand to shake hands with each member of our family.  So to add to our special moment Evelyn shook an apostle's hand, the very one that spoke and she heard the message.