When my grandfather was very young, his mother, Marie, was taught the gospel of Jesus Christ by missionaries. She accepted the truth and did everything she could to teach it to her children. Life was hard in Switzerland after World War I, but Marie took her children to church with her every Sunday. To encourage them to attend with her, she would stop at the bakery on the way home. They would give her a paper cone filled with the crumbs left behind from the bread and treats of the day. Her faithfulness was seen by her children, and while not all remained active in the church, my grandfather did return to the church and taught his children the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am grateful for Marie and her courage and determination to teach her children what she believed, even when times were difficult. Perhaps you are struggling with your small children each Sunday. Carry on; it will be hard, but it will be worth it. Your children will see your faith, and they will remember how they felt when they were with you. They will see your testimony through your example.
My Grandmother Teaches Me to Love the Temple
My paternal grandmother lived through so much in her life. I called her Grossmutti (Grandmother). She was a small child when her family sent her to Switzerland from Hungary to save her from the devastation of World War II. Then, as a young lady, she travelled from Switzerland to Canada to marry a man with four young daughters. She would go on to raise those four girls and six children of her own on a farm in Southern Alberta. Once the children were grown, Helene and her husband, Walter, would return to Switzerland to serve several missions in the Bern Switzerland Temple. Her eyesight diminished as she aged, but that never stopped her. She would knit and crochet all through her life. Just ask any of the grandchildren, and they will remember treasured slippers and blankets from Grossmutti. Even as she lost her sight, she continued using muscle memory to make blankets for her great-grandchildren.
I am grateful for my Grossmutti, who taught me the importance of the temple in my life. There wasn’t a time I visited her later in her life that she didn’t encourage me to attend the temple as often as I could. One of the things I especially loved was when she lived just across the street from the Cardston Alberta Temple; it meant I could visit both her and the temple in the same trip.
Make time for the temple as often as you are able. Plan for it; write it down. Yes, life is busy, but it will be worth the sacrifice needed to attend. Each time I am in the temple, I like to read Doctrine and Covenants 109:22, “And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them”.
President Nelson reiterated this promise when he said: “In the temple, we receive protection from the buffetings of the world. We experience the pure love of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father in great abundance! We feel peace and spiritual reassurance, in contrast to the turbulence of the world.
Here is my promise to you: Every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find Him in the temple. You will feel His mercy. You will find answers to your most vexing questions. You will better comprehend the joy of His gospel.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 2024, 121-122)
My Mother’s Faith Inspires Me or
The last mother I want to honour is my own dear mom. She is everything that I need from a mother in my life. She is an example of doing hard things. This past December, my parents left behind their family, their home, and their puppy and have come full circle back to Switzerland. They are currently serving in the Alpine German-speaking Mission. While my dad grew up with Swiss German-speaking parents and served a full-time mission in Germany, my mom had never spoken German before. Mom loves adventures, but I can see that sometimes she wonders if this adventure is worth it.
As part of their visa application, they had a checklist of items they needed to have and do for the application to be processed. One of those items was a language proficiency test. She was very worried about it but told me, “We said a prayer and went with smiles on our faces…and included our ‘Geistlichenausweis’, a certificate to preach the gospel. The immigration official went through all the items on the checklist, but when she got to the language certificate, she crossed it off and added a little note,” allowing them to enter the country.
She continues to study the language every day, and in one of her recent emails, she said that by the time they come home, she will probably be able to say a prayer at church in German. I have faith that she will be better than that, but even if she isn’t, her faith and love of the gospel will bless the members, missionaries and friends she meets in Germany and Switzerland. She is doing hard things at a time in life when maybe she was hoping all the hard things were done.
My life has been blessed by the remarkable women in my life. I know just a small part of the amazing things they have done, but all of it has shaped who I have become. The sacrifices and example of these and all the mothers in my family history guide me and encourage me to do better every day of my life.
I love my mom and her example of faith and love. All of us will have hard things we need to do, but we can face them with a prayer and a smile.