Wayward Children

1. “It is not uncommon for responsible parents to lose one of their children, for a time, to influences over which they have no control. They agonize over rebellious sons or daughters. They are puzzled over why they are so helpless when they have tried so hard to do what they should.”

          
Boyd K. Packer Hope For Parents of Wayward Children

www.lds.org/ensign/2002/09/hope-for-parents-of-wayward-children?lang=eng

2. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return.

David A. Bednar Faithful Parents and Wayward Children

www.lds.org/ensign/2014/03/faithful-parents-and-wayward-children-sustaining-hope-while-overcoming-misunderstanding?lang=eng

3. No enduring improvement can occur without righteous exercise of agency.  Do not attempt to override agency. The Lord himself would not do that.  Forced obedience yields no blessings.

Richard G. Scott, Helping a Loved one In Need

www.lds.org/ensign/1988/05/to-help-a-loved-one-in-need?lang=eng&query=No+enduring+improvement

4. You parents of the willful and the wayward! Don’t give them up. Don't cast them off.  They are not utterly lost. The Shepherd will find his sheep. They were his before they were yours--long before he entrusted them to your care; and you cannot begin to love them as he loves them. They have but strayed in ignorance from the path of right, and God is merciful to ignorance. Only the fullness of knowledge brings the fullness of accountability. Our Heavenly Feather is far more merciful, infinitely more charitable than even the best of his servants, and the everlasting gospel is mightier in power to save than our narrow finite minds can comprehend.

Boyd K. Packer 1992 April General Conference, Our Moral Environment 

www.lds.org/search?q=Our+Moral+Environment+&domains=general-conference&lang=eng

5. Even firm foundations cannot prevent life’s problems. Wayward children cause parents to grieve. Some broken families don’t fixed. Gender disorientation is poorly misunderstood.

Russell M. Nelson- April 2002 Conference

www.lds.org/general-conference/2002/04/how-firm-our-foundation?lang=eng&query=Wayward+children

 6. One of the greatest heartaches a valiant parent in Zion can suffer is a child who strays from the gospel path. Questions of “Why?” or “What did I do wrong?” and “How can this child now be helped?” are pondered without ceasing in the minds and hearts of such parents.

David A. Bednar-Faithful Parents and Wayward Children   

www.lds.org/ensign/2014/03/faithful-parents-and-wayward-children-sustaining-hope-while-overcoming-misunderstanding?lang=eng

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7. To those brokenhearted parents who have been righteous, diligent, and prayerful in the teaching of their disobedient children, we say to you, the Good Shepherd is watching over them.”

James E. Faust- Dear To The Sheep Who have Wandered- April 2003 General Conference www.lds.org/general-conference/2003/04/dear-are-the-sheep-that-have-wandered?lang=eng

8. By your faith in him and in the gospel, you stand as a light to him. But as in any matter, faith without works is dead.

Gordon B. Hinckley – Family Home Evening Manual

www.lds.org/manual/family-home-evening-resource-book/building-a-strong-family/reclaiming-a-wayward-child?lang=eng&query=lds+quotes+on+wayward+children

9. You can’t force your boys, nor your girls into heaven. You may force them to hell, by using harsh means in the efforts to make them good… Our children are like we are; we couldn’t be driven; we can’t be driven now… We won’t be driven.  Men are not in the habit of being driven; they are not made that way.

Teachings of the President of the Church – Joseph F. Smith, p.253

10. You can coax them; you can lead them by holding out inducements to them and by speaking kindly to them.

Joseph F. Smith- Improvement Era Jan 1910 www.lds.org/search?q=You+can+coax+them+Jan+1910&domains=general-conference&lang=eng

I chose wayward children as one of my topics because I have two boys that did go astray. Being a mom it was very hard on me. When one of them thought he was gay and moved away to a state far away to be with some guy. He wasn't gone very long. My other son got into drugs and alcohol. He dropped out of high school.  He ended up moving to Oregon and living with one of my step-sisters. He changed his life around and moved back home. I did not push or force my kids to go back to church.

We ended up having Sister Missionaries come to the house and visit with the whole family. In time both my boys decided to start going to church again. One received his Melchezidek Priesthood and the other one still working on it.

When our children go astray, we need to love them and set an example for them. Just as President Joseph F. Smith said “we can’t force them in to heaven, but we can force them to hell by using harsh words.” So, we need to watch what we say as well.