Sister Gayle M. Clegg
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"When I was a young mother, my husband and I found ourselves taking five children under the age of 8 to live in South America. Although none of us spoke the language, my 6-year-old had the greatest difficulty learning the language. . . . Each of us, like my 6-year-old, have felt lost or alienated in a foreign land."
Perhaps your foreign land was learning the language of algebra, or joining the church, where words like "calling" and "general authority" require a glossary entry.
"Our lives are filled with many instances of the frustration of learning a foreign tongue. Nevertheless, there is one language that is universal. . . . To 'encircle' with the fire of our testimony is a language all of us must learn to speak and understand.
"Someday we will all be given final report cards. Maybe we will be graded on how well we have reported each other's goodness . . . . A smiling countenance says you are good. Children are trying to be like Jesus. They want to be like someone who smiles. They want to be with someone who responds to them joyfully.
"President Hinckley has said, 'Children need sunlight. They need happiness. They need love and nurture.'
"This should be the gospel instruction to our children. Whatever your mother tongue, learn to teach and speak in the language of heartfelt prayers and joyful testimony so that angels, earthly and heavenly, can encircle and minister to us.
"I give thanks for the great blessing to 'Behold our little ones.' "
