March 30th, 2025, 3pm MDT
Despite their best efforts, those who teach their loved ones the doctrine of Jesus Christ may wonder whether they are sufficient enough to do so. “Doubt may creep into your heart,” President Henry B. Eyring said. “You may question whether you know enough to effectively teach the Savior’s doctrine.”
The impact of teaching his doctrine may not always be clear either. “If you’ve already tried to teach it, you might wonder why the positive effect is not so visible.”
President Eyring encouraged such followers: “Don’t succumb to those doubts. Turn to God for help.”
In a March 30 video titled “The Powerful Effects of God’s Word,” published on the church’s YouTube channel, the first president’s second counselor invited listeners to trust in God in order to share the Savior’s Gospel with loved ones.
“We all have families we love. We are seduced and tested by the seemingly permanent army of Satan, the destroyer, who makes all of God’s children miserable,” said President Eyring.
This can lead to sleepless nights and worry about your loved one. “We tried to surround those who were in perpetual danger with all our strength. We prayed for them. We have loved them.
He quoted Alma, the prophet of the Book of Mormon. He described the positive effect of God’s Word on those he preached.
“And now, the sermons of words had a great tendency to lead people to do it, so that it had a stronger effect on the minds of the people than the sword, or something else that had happened to them” (Alma 31:5).
Those who teach loved ones the doctrine of Jesus Christ can find hope in the family’s Bible records, President Eyring said.
“We read those who turned away from what they were taught, and those who struggled with God for forgiveness,” like the sons of Enos, the young Alma, and Mosiah of the Book of Mormon.
For example, when Enos went hunting in the forest of Enos 1, “The words that I often heard my Father talk about eternal life and the joy of the saints sink deep into my heart” (verse 3). His father’s words encouraged Enos to repent, saying, “I kneeled before my maker, and I cried to him with the mighty prayers and pleadings of my soul” (verse 4).
The young Alma remembers that in Alma 36 “he was troubled by the memories of many of my sins,” but “he had “hears the Father to those who prophesied the people about the tone of the sins of the world” (verse 17). He continues: “As my heart embraced this thought, I cried out in my heart.
And the sons of Mosaiah, also called repentance, became “the tool for bringing many to true knowledge in the hands of God” (Moss 27:35-36).
“In their moment of crisis, they recall the words of their parents, the doctrine of Jesus Christ,” President Eyring said. “I remembered saving them. Your teachings of that sacred doctrine will be remembered by those you love and teach.”
