“The Words Which I Had Often Heard”

Nephi’s strategy for teaching the next generation included saturating them with the most important messages:

We labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ….

We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

2 Nephi 25:23-26

Who else was engaged in this effort? Nephi’s brother Jacob:

We labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest.

Jacob 1:7

How did the strategy work? At least in the case of Jacob’s son (and Nephi’s nephew) Enos, it apparently took some time. He tells us that one day when he was alone in the wilderness, “the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart. And my soul hungered” (Enos 1:3-4).

The implication of this simple statement is that the words hadn’t previously sunk into his heart, at least not to that depth. How many times did Nephi and Jacob sorrow as they taught Enos and failed to see the reaction they had hoped for? How grateful Enos must have been (eventually) that they didn’t stop trying when their first attempts seemed not to work!

When President Russell M. Nelson introduced the Come, Follow Me program, he promised us that as we work to “transform [our homes] into a sanctuary of faith” and a “center of gospel learning,” our “children will be excited to learn and live the Savior’s teachings” (“Becoming Exemplary Latter-day Saints,” General Conference, October 2018). We may find, like Nephi and Jacob, that this promise isn’t fulfilled all at once, that consistent and patient effort are required, and that our children will only develop this enthusiasm when they are ready.

Brother Jan E. Newman provided these words of encouragement to parents:

My dear friends in Christ, you are doing much better than you think. Just keep working at it. Your children are watching, listening, and learning. As you teach them, you will come to know their true nature as beloved sons and daughters of God. They may forget the Savior for a season, but I promise you He will never forget them! Those moments when the Holy Ghost speaks to them will persist in their hearts and minds. And one day your children will echo the testimony of Enos: I know my parents are just, “for [they] taught me … in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it.”

“Preserving the Voice of the Covenant People in the Rising Generation,” General Conference, October 2023

Today, I will continue to talk of Christ. I will recognize that gospel teaching doesn’t usually produce immediate results, but that the messages my children hear from me “often” will eventually sink deep into their hearts and motivate them to find their Savior.