I suppose that I always appreciated Enos, but I am paying much closer attention to him as a fellow this time around. Although, a few things bewilder me still.
Most of all I paused on the wordsthat said the Lamanites were hard to understand. Then the thing I wish to speak about is this passage:
-- stirring them up continually to keep them in the fear of the Lord. I say there was nothing short of these things, and exceedingly great plainness of speech, would keep them from going down speedily to destruction
This is exactly what problems I am having with my husband and how he expects to both motivate and be motivated to act. Whereas, I feel like one ought to respect another's ability to make a choice not use fear. To me that is too much like Satan's plan to force everyone in to Heaven. Children need parental guidance, but all punishment or forcefulness ought to be done with the awareness of why so every choice is understood and a framework or heavenly law imerges as evidence to our choices. This is morality not cohersion. When help is needed it is there UNTIL the training wheels can be removed. It is why teens struggle so much for independence. They want to experience first hand consequences that result from their actions. It is like they are learning for the first time the very thing I am trying so hard to establish.
I think now about my baby, Mary Anne. She had an exceptional kindergarten teacher who alone could figure out how to motivate my stubborn, rude little angel.
We knew that deep inside she wanted to be kind and loving and yet She purposefully aggrivated others and disrepected any one who tried to force her to behave. This teacher learned how to motivate her to be good. She did this by rewarding good behavior and subsequently, that has always worked where punishing bad behavior only seems to make her worse.
In a class I recently took it was brought to my attention that forceful negative language sometimes will not work where praising good will. A study showed that children hear only the last words of the command to "do not throw cars." And even if or maybe more particularly when they want to obey they throw the cars. Where as thanking them for not throwing cars and mentioning why we do not throw them teaches them moral behavior.
From experience, with Mary I learned that speaking in positives and a pleasant tone has earned her love, respect, and one hundred percent obedience. I think it is similar to the way Enos must've been feeling about the Lamanties. I am soooooooooo thankful for my daughter's teacher and I have told her so.
I have prayed often for her and her name comes to mind whenever I wonder about what I am most thankful for. It truly is no little thing. Infact, when Enos prayed and was heard and answered it was the sincerest wish of his heart to want to help his bretheren despite what appeared. I can relate to that feeling of love. I remember right now a story told by Thomas S. Monson at a regional conference in Seattle about a nurse who prayed to love a patient who seemed unlovable. She was granted the momentary ability to feel as the Savior did for this cantankerous old man and so much love wore her out physically as it was a burden to love so purely and intently. It is eye opening to know that He actually loves us all that much and also wants each of us to be motivated by love and not fear. Fear, afterall, is the opposite of faith...
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