"After one mother was lamenting about how hard it is with so many children and feeling looked down upon by others who don't have large families this was a response from a grandmother who is part of the group:
"President Gordon B. Hinckley’s sister, Sylvia, lived in the small town that I grew up in. She was extremely brilliant and was the Valedictorian at BYU when she graduated. She could have done anything or been anything in this world. She was a shining example to me all of my growing up years. She had 11 children, married to a farmer, and she died of cancer in the late sixties when her youngest child was 8 years old.
A neat and tidy, very kindly sister from the ward came over to Sylvia’s home to help out one day. She went to the kitchen and thought that she would start with the dishes. Milk buckets and strainers, piles of dishes were everywhere. Too discouraged to help with that, she went to the laundry, unbelievable amounts of dirty clothes met her. Then she thought that she could iron some clothes---yes, this was in the days of ironing! Piles and piles of unironed clothes! Too overwhelmed, she went to the mending. Again, too much to even contemplate. I am unsure how many chores overwhelmed her, but she left having done nothing to help.
But at Sylvia’s funeral, both President Hinckley and President Kimball spoke. They told of what a perfect example of womanhood she was. They said that her reward was assured because she put having children and raising them with firm testimonies above all else. President Hinckley went so far as to say that other women had not made that sacrifice and choice and had put lovely homes and calmer lives ahead of that greater and far more important choice. I don’t remember their exact words as this was a long time ago, but the message was clear. Choosing a large family is choosing chaos, and humility by being looked down upon, but it is also choosing life in a righteous family for Heavenly Father’s beloved spirit children. It is the same choice Adam and Eve made in the garden—perfect, orderly life vs. chaos and trials. They made the right choice and we do too, when we choose family first.
Chin up, you are all doing a great work, the most vital work that we are ever to do during our life on earth. Family is what it is all about."
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