Testimony Saplings

I love being a mom. I love watching my kids learn and grow. Every once in a while, it's such a treat to see little glimpses of them becoming the kind of people I hope they will grow up to be someday. Yesterday, I had one of those moments. I had pulled the new "Friend" magazine out of our mailbox, and saw that there were some good Christmas stories that my kids might enjoy, so we all plopped down on the basement couch and started reading. They were thoroughly enjoying each and every story, so we kept going. We got to an article towards the middle of the magazine entitled "Growing a Testimony". The story was about a little boy who, like my own sons, had been taught that he belonged to the TRUE church of Jesus Christ. One day, the boy was confronted by a friend of another faith who believed that HIS church was the true church of Jesus Christ. Stunned and confused, the boy began to wonder, "what makes me right and him wrong? Or, what makes him right and me wrong?" In the story, the boy heard a voice in his mind asking him specific questions. As I read each question listed in the magazine, I paused briefly as my own three boys, snuggling around me on the couch, each answered the questions for themselves:

#1. Do you know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God?
Three confident boys declared, "Yes!"
#2. Do you pray?
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" came the reply.
#3, Do you feel peace when you pray?
Again, three yesses.
#4. Do you believe the Book of Mormon is true?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
#5. Do you believe you have a Father in Heaven?
"Yes, Mom, we do."
#6. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?
My heart swelled with joy as each son responded in the affirmative.

The magazine article went on to talk about how, just as a small sapling and a giant redwood are both trees, a testimony is still a testimony, whether it is small and simple or mighty and great. It was such a sweet reward of motherhood to see that my three sons were already growing their own testimony saplings. At the same time, I can't help but feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of helping to protect those fragile testimonies so that one day they can grow into the strong and mighty redwoods I hope they will be someday.