Mothering and the Book of Mormon: What Motherhood Means to Me

Each time Heavenly Father entrusts me with another child, I feel an overwhelming desire to live up to the responsibility that I've been given. Approaching the birth of Zoe, my third baby, I felt a pressing need to step it up as a mother. President Gordon B. Hinckley, speaking specifically to mothers, said:

You have given birth and nurtured children. You have entered into a partnership with our Father in Heaven to give mortal experience to His sons and daughters. They are His children and they are your children, flesh of your flesh, for whom He will hold you responsible... You have nothing in this world more precious than your children. When you grow old... and meditate on the things of your life, nothing will be so important as the question of how your children have turned out. 

President Hinckley's words ring true in my heart. I want to do the best I can for the special spirits that He has placed in my care.

In the Doctrine and Covenants, we are taught that, "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection." (D&C 130:18) Sister Julie B. Beck expounded on this scripture and taught that "the value women place on motherhood in this life and the attributes of motherhood they attain here" are included in those principles of intelligence.

For me, raising children is not a casual duty. Though I am consistently imperfect at it, I take motherhood and parenting very seriously - it is the most important thing I have ever done. I don't have all of the right answers, but I am always learning and growing. In fact, I can't think of anything that has the potential to bring me closer to the Savior than fulfilling my role as a mother. Since the knowledge I gain through this experience will be with me eternally, I want to soak in as much as I can.

When I reached my 30th week of pregnancy, I took some time to write out some goals and dreams that I have as a mother. Some of my goals are character-based - habits, attributes, and behaviors that I want to have. Others are priority-based - things I want to invest more time and effort into. I also took some time to think about some of the challenges that my family was facing and how they would affect us as we brought a new baby into our lives. I had a lot of concerns, and I felt like I really needed an anchor. As I prayed about my goals and my worries, I felt prompted to turn to the Book of Mormon. At the time, I had been trying really hard to read the New Testament, and I felt like I couldn't stop my study and change courses, but the prompting kept coming back to me. I ended up marking my spot in the New Testament and setting it aside to read the Book of Mormon. As I did so, I decided to look specifically for lessons that pertain to motherhood. Nephi taught that we should liken the scriptures unto us for our profit and learning (1 Nephi 19:23). I thought this would be a good way to "liken" the scriptures and apply them in a way that I needed.

As I studied the Book of Mormon, I wrote a few blog posts about some of the things I learned (mostly for selfish purposes, because I know I will need to look back and re-learn these things over and over again). I'll be posting them throughout the next several weeks with plenty of Zoe, funny stories, and whining in between.