"The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn to their Fathers"

This week's Come Follow Me Study (Jan 11-17) covered Doctrine and Covenants 2 and Joseph Smith History 1:27-65. 

The Come Follow Me manual chose this line from D&C 2:2 as its topic title "... and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers." 

This really stood out to me as I read the assigned scriptures first, and then went back and looked at the manual. For context, this section of scripture study takes place after what is known as the First Vision (summary here on the church's website), when an angel of the Lord (Moroni) came to visit Joseph 3 times during the night, then 1 more time during the day, in the scripture leading up to this one.

Joseph Smith - History 1:49-50:

"The first thing that I can recollect was a voice speaking unto me, calling me by name. I looked up, and beheld the same messenger standing over my head, surrounded by light as before. He then again related unto me all that he had related to me the previous night, and commanded to me to go my father and tell him of the vision and commandments which I had received."

"I obeyed; I returned to my father in the field, and rehearsed the whole matter to him. He replied to me that it was of God, and told me to go and do as commanded by the messenger. ..."

When I was reading in Joseph Smith History, I thought it was significant and memorable that Joseph Smith was told by an angel to turn to his father and that he did, and that he listened to the guidance of his father. This obedience and respect for his father reminded me of that moment in 1 Nephi 3:7 when Nephi said to his father:

"I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

The next verse, 1 Nephi 3:8, says:

"And it came to pass that when my father had heard these words he was exceedingly glad, for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord."

Joseph Smith and Nephi both obeyed the commandments of God and they both respected their fathers.

As a child, this phrase, "The hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers," was confusing for me. We can turn our hearts to our fathers by listening to what they taught (e.g., studying the Book of Mormon and the Bible) and doing temple work for ancestors (e.g., baptisms for the dead).

There's a great article in the October 2020 Ensign called, "Turning Our Hearts," by Margot Hovley,  where she talks about this concept. First, we turned our hearts to our fathers when Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon so that we could learn from the prophets of old. We continue to turn our hearts to our fathers as we learn about our family histories. Hovley's article has great ideas on how you can help children to explore ways to work on family history that are fun and interesting.

I have been interviewing my parents bit by bit over the years, but this year in particular,  I have been astounded by what I have learned. My parent's faith and perseverance through difficult challenges that I never knew about teaches me about how I can proceed with my own challenges. I have felt my heart turning to my ancestors as I have turned to my parents to learn their stories and as my parents have done to make sure their temple work is completed. (More on The Purpose of Temple and Family History Work can be found here.)

In recent years, our prophet has emphasized the importance of hearing the Lord in our life. 

During General Conference October 2020, President Nelson said, "... our ultimate security comes as we yoke ourselves to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! Life without God is a life filled with fear. Life with God is a life filled with peace. This is because spiritual blessings come to the faithful. Receiving personal revelation is one of the greatest of those blessings. The Lord has promised that if we will ask, we may receive 'revelation upon revelation.' I promise that as you increase your capacity to receive revelation, the Lord will bless you with increased direction for your life and with boundless gifts of the Spirit." ("Embrace the Future with Faith," President Russell M. Nelson). 

We can Hear Him in so many ways, but one of them, is in turning our hearts to our fathers. You can looked up "Hear Him" at the churchofjesuschrist.org to listen to different men and women that are close to the Lord and what they do to Hear Him in their lives.