San Diego day #3/Tender Parent

We went to a children's museum in San Diego and the rest of the family went and toured the Midway carrier.  We then had a family photo shoot.  Here are some shots that I took!

1 Nephi 8:38 -37 

"37  And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them, and not cast them off; yea, my father did preach unto them.

38  And after he had preached unto them, and also prophesied unto them of many things, he bade them to keep the commandments of the Lord; and he did cease speaking unto them."

• As parents we can only tell our children what we want for them and then we have to let them make their own decisions. I can picture him talking to them with the "feelings of a tender parent," hoping that their hearts will be touched and changed. But then he "ceased speaking with them," because there is only so much he can say. 

Elizabeth has been having a difficult time with her testimony and the church. She is at that tender age where she is trying to decide what is truth. Several months ago I felt that we should start praying that she would have a spiritual experience this summer that would help change her heart. So Derek and I began to pray for this. So far she had an experience in San Diego where she prayed that the Lord would allow her to take a good picture of an Elephant and just the the Elephant moved so she could get a good shot. Then she prayed for a friend who had lost a parent and felt the comfort of the Spirit, that all would be okay. This week she is at EFY and called to tell me that she is so grateful for her Savior. That she loved the poem, "Footprints in the Sand," and how she knows the Lord is carrying her as she struggles with her testimony.

I have truly felt that I needed to just continually express my love for her and not try to convince her of what was right but instead turn it over to the Lord and let Him work with her heart. I have faith in Him and in her.