Young people can be soldiers of faith
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The future of the Church will eventually be in the hands of young people represented by a 10-year-old lad, who, during the cornerstone ceremony of the Recife Brazil Temple, stood unmovable in the sweeping, torrential rains, said Elder Darwin B. Christenson of the Seventy, speaking Saturday afternoon.
"Ignoring the wind and the rain, his white shirt and his trousers soaked through and through, [he] stood tall and resolute as a little soldier," said Elder Christenson.
Schooled by loving parents, with reinforcement from Primary teachers, this young boy, who Elder Christenson called David, is representative of many young people who come "to a deep love for Jesus and for our prophets."
"As parents and teachers we have a responsibility and an opportunity to reinforce . . . tender love and respect," continued Elder Christenson. "Through this careful guidance, testimonies will grow consistently over time to become founded upon personally received revelation."
The family is the "basic, everlasting organization of the Church," that provides tutoring to youth such as David, so they can gain their "own personal testimony that Jesus is the Son of the living God and through His atonement, the Savior perfectly completed His expiatory promise.
"David will grow up knowing he will serve a mission," he said. "His father will speak often of the blessings of his own mission.
"David's mother will build unity in the family by establishing important and lasting family traditions. She is representative of mothers who are eager to see children grow and who are able to wipe away tears and iron out many of the day-to-day wrinkles of mortality as well as the wrinkles in shirts and skirts."
He said youth such as David will learn never to make even one small foray into the polluted waters of life, because he knows the sharks of mortality can tear away the tender spiritual muscle of a growing testimony.
