Become as a little child....

If you know Elder Scott chances are you're aware that after his mission he dreams of becoming a pediatric surgeon. He has always loved being around children. They inspire him and he has a goal of doing what he can to help them and mentor them. Add that to the fact that he also loves anything medical, and this career aspiration seems like a no-brainer. 

Last week Elder Scott's friend Donna sent him an email detailing a heartfelt experience she had as a pediatric nurse. In her e-mail she shared a story of  meeting a sweet little girl who left a deep impression on her heart. I'm glad she felt inspired to share the story with Elder Scott because it obviously touched his heart  as evidenced by his journal entry that night:

"It amazes me just how close children are to Jesus. The veil is so, so thin between them and Heaven. It truly puts such amazing meaning to Matthew 18. In verses 3 through 5 we read, “And said he,Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Verse 4 states, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Finally in verse 5 we read, “And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.” 

These are such powerful scriptures. Look at the significance of “become as little children” How can we do that in our lives? How can we focus less on the world and on our wants and become as a little child? How can we strive to “humble himself as this little child?” Children are so amazing. They are so close to the veil. They have many Christlike attributes. 

Preach My Gospel  has an entire chapter dedicated to these attributes. Look at the chapter subheadings and look at how many children have. It’s all of them, “Faith, Hope, Charity & Love, Virtue, Knowledge, Patience, Humility, Diligence, and Obedience.” Children truly are close to Christ because they exemplify these attributes. They have love and care for all. They love the Lord and their Heavenly Father. They love unconditionally. The little girl in the hospital was so close to Christ. She wasn’t scared. She was joyous because she was going to be able to see and live with the Lord again. How can we be more like that little girl? One of my favorite quotes is from page 123 of Preach My Gospel, “You need to be a Christlike missionary not just do missionary things. You follow Christ’s example- develop His attributes- one action and decision at a time” 

I encourage everyone to remember this, keep it in your mind and in your heart. Strive to have his Spirit with you. Strive to act as a little child. Develop His attributes, always have His love. 

The Christlike attributes Elder Scott mentioned can be found in one of our books of scripture, Doctrine and Covenants chapter 4.

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/4

Since our goal in this life is to become more like Christ our family made a goal of each choosing one of the attributes listed that we struggle with and trying to exemplify it more in our daily life. We wrote the goal on a paper, studied what the attribute meant,and looked at scriptures describing the attribute. We then prayed to Heavenly Father that he would give us opportunities to act on that goal and help us improve. It has had an impact on all of us. I chose "patience" and have come to realize there is no shortage in opportunity to work on this trait. Just driving to and from a store gives me plenty of opportunities to be more patient with fellow drivers on the road. My husband chose knowledge and has been pouring over talks about knowledge and really striving to be more knowledgeable in areas that matter. My children chose love and charity and have tried to show that in small, meaningful ways whether that's saying kind words to each other or giving an extra hug, it all adds up and creates such a great spirit in our home. 

I'm grateful for the scriptures, for our knowledge of our Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness, for our Savior's redeeming love and atonement for all, and for the attributes he exemplified that we can strive to improve in our own life. Isn't it great that we can continuously try to become more like Him? Even when we fall short, and we all do, every moment is a moment we can choose to change and become more like Him, and He will always be there with open arms to welcome us.