Mothering through Generations

Elder Holland’s beautiful talk about mothers today made me think of all the generations of mothers that have gone before me. It is staggering to think about the lifelong carrying that all of them have done throughout time to make my existence possible.

It is not only the prenatal carrying but the lifelong carrying that makes mothering such a staggering feat.

Speaking directly to mothers, Elder Holland said:

Thank you to all mothers everywhere for giving birth, shaping souls, forming character, demonstrating the pure love of Christ.

Thank you for your crucial role in fulfilling the purposes of eternity.

Be peaceful, believe in God and yourself. You are doing better than you think you are. You are Savior’s on Mt. Zion and like the master you follow, your love never faileth.

How beautifully this intertwines with the teaching of Joseph Smith about Saviors on Mt. Zion:

“But how are they to become saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples,…receiving all the ordinances…in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead, and redeem them that they may come forth in the first resurrection and be exalted to thrones of glory with them; and herein is the chain that binds the hearts of the [mothers and] fathers to the children, and the children to the [mothers and] fathers.”