A Tribute to Mothers and Fathers ...

Dear Brethren, my fellow Sons of Mosiah--and you sons of wonderful mothers,

Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity to recognize--and thank our Heavenly Father for--the sanctity of Motherhood, and of Womanhood. I am eternally grateful for a loving mother who has always cared for me, and who taught me in righteousness. In no way am I perfect, but I feel very indebted to my mother for teaching me how to receive a testimony of things that are true. Though I know that in the end, receiving a testimony had to be a personal thing between me and my Heavenly Father, I feel very much that my mother showed me that path of how to do so. I still remember the first time that I recognized the Holy Ghost consciously--I was seven years old. I was sitting in my bed, and my mother was sitting with me. We were reading the Book of Mormon, and if memory serves me right, we had been talking about the Holy Ghost just beforehand. We talked about how we can feel it even before baptism, but that the Gift of the Holy Ghost is essential to have him with us all of the time. After such a conversation, we read from the Book of Mormon, and then a powerful feeling came over me. I told my mom what I felt, and she told me that it was the Spirit. It was an important moment in my very young life, and I do not think that I will ever forget it. Of course, many times since then I have had to gain my own testimony of different principles of the gospel--and also of the Book of Mormon. I have had to find for myself that this Church is true, that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith really was His Prophet that restored His church to the earth. Concerning the truthfulness of these things which I have come to find out for myself, I feel that I grew up being able to say--as the Sons of Helaman could say: I "do not doubt [my mother] knew it" (Alma 56:48), for these things are true. Because she knew it, I knew I could know it.
Now, I do not wish to leave my father out, because he has impacted my life so much more than he will ever know. My father and mother have been huge examples to me, and I love them very much. I know also that my dad has a very strong testimony of the gospel, and I learned a lot from it. The nurturing love of both of my parents has given me the support I needed to be here and serve a mission. They gave me support through my trials at home, and out here on my mission. I will forever love them, and I am forever grateful for them. They magnified their calling as parents, and I know the Lord will recognize them for it at the last day.
Brethren, I hope we let our parents know often, how much we love them, and how grateful we are for them. I do not doubt that many of your mothers "knew it", and I hope that we can have the same confidence the Stripling Warriors had in the gospel their mothers had taught them--and I hope we have the same trust they did, in their parents, and in their Eternal God. They knew if "they did not doubt, God would deliver them" (Alma 56:47). Let us honor our fathers and mothers by becoming great warriors, and men who are "exceedingly valiant for courage; and also for strength and activity...men who [are] true at all times in whatsoever thing [we are] entrusted...men of truth and soberness, for [we have] been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him".
I fall short--and I know we all do at times--but let us always keep these things in remembrance and strive to become better. I love you all! I know you are engaged in great works--even the works of the Lord. Remember that we have also Heavenly Parents, who love us. I had a wonderful experience concerning this thing, this last week. I will not type it all out for sake of time, but it suffices me to say that this truth is very real. We had a powerful experience with an investigator who believed this thing already, and the night before I was impressed to share with her that we have Heavenly Parents. I hope we can keep this truth sacred, as Heavenly Father does. Let us not take this truth lightly, or make blasphemy of it. If we do this thing, the curses of God will fall upon us. We are privileged to have such knowledge.
I love you all, and I hope we can keep these things in our hearts always.

Love your brother, Elder Christopher D. Petersen