Every Mom a Missionary
By Kimberli Pelo Robison

Whenever one of my children reaches a spiritual milestone in his or her life, I wonder if I have prepared them for the step they are about to take.  Recently, my daughter, Camilla, was baptized, and the weeks leading up to it felt a little like we were cramming for an exam.  We had special family home evening lessons and spent meal times reviewing what the bishop might ask when she had her interview.  As we asked her questions, I was surprised that she didn’t know and understand more.  Was it her or was it that I hadn’t taught her well enough?  I wished then that I had the confidence that my sister-in-law, Melody, conveyed when her son was baptized just a few months ago.
 
She said that she knew he was ready to be baptized.  He had been taught to “understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God and baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, when eight years old (Doctrine and Covenants 68:25).”  She said that she considered herself a missionary to her children.  They were the most important converts she would ever lead to Christ.
 
A missionary to her children, I had never really thought of it in exactly those terms, but it made sense.  I want my children to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I want them to have firm testimonies, but without a missionary focus I go about teaching haphazardly.  How would it be if instead of just “every member a missionary,” we also considered, “every mom a missionary,” a missionary with a call to proclaim the restored gospel in her home? 

With that in mind, when I was beginning to study Preach My Gospel  I replaced the word “missionary” with “mother” and the word “investigators” with “children.”  In doing so I discovered a powerful message for mothers on a mission. The First Presidency Message had this to say:

“We challenge you to rise to a new sense of commitment to assist our Father in Heaven in His glorious work.  Every mother has an important role in helping “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39)
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“The Lord will reward and richly bless you as you humbly and prayerfully serve Him.  More happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced as you labor among His children.”

I can always do with “more happiness,” can’t you?  And I must admit that when I am proactively involved in teaching my children I am a happier, more peaceful mother.  I love it when my three-year-old declares in the middle of his play, “I love Jesus!” or my twelve year old relates how we went to the Lord with a problem and how he received an answer.  These are sweeter joys than almost anything. 

So why am I so distracted most of the time?    Why do a multitude of “important” tasks seem to take precedence in my life?  I loved what President Monson said in his Sunday morning address during October 2009 General Conference.  “We become so caught up in the busyness of our lives.  Were we to step back however and take a good look at what we’re doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the thick of thin things.  In other words, too often we spend most of our time taking care of things which do not really matter much at all in the grand scheme of things neglecting those more important causes.”
 
What greater cause could we be involved in than proclaiming the gospel to our children?  When we look at all the things we do as mothers is there anything that really matters more?  Besides family home evening and scripture study, there must be opportunities to teach the gospel in our every day activities, while we involve our children in housework, as we drive to activities and lessons, as we visit around the dinner table and as we kiss them good night.

No more wondering and cramming when children meet milestones in their lives, just gentle reviews and confidence that they have been taught.  I want my children to hear my testimony so many times that when they face the inevitable battles of their lives they can say, “We do not doubt our mothers knew it (Alma 56:48).”  I want to “rise to a new sense of commitment” to be a missionary to those who call me “Mom.”