The Repentant Grandchildren

One of my friends is a convert to the church. His is a success story indeed, for his grandparents and great-grandparents were active members of the church, but his parents distanced themselves from it. While he knew of the church and his grandparents association with it, it wasn’t until he went to college that he received instruction from the missionaries and gained his own testimony.  Looking back, he shares mixed emotions of his experience with the church; sadness for experiences lost and gratitude for the solidity of his grandparent’s example that helped prick his interest later in life. This tale is not wholly unusual, with one generation falling out of the church and being picked back up in the next. The Book of Mormon houses such an experience, and typifies how the good example of church members and prior generations can nullify the apathy of the most recent generation.

 Mosiah 25:12 And it came to pass that those who were the children of Amulon and his brethren, who had taken to wife the daughters of the Lamanites, were displeased with the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers, therefore they took upon themselves the name of Nephi, that they might be called the children of Nephi and be numbered among those who were called Nephites.

LESSON LEARNED: Faith and long-suffering by family and friends will often bring lost sheep back to the fold. It may not be quick, perhaps not even in our lifetimes, but the faithful examples shown will be remembered and have an influence for good.

FEEDBACK: HAVE YOU WITNESSED AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IN YOUR LIFE?