Their Angels

To my son, 

                Yesterday you were playing on the stairs while we were on the couch reading scriptures as a family. At one point we all looked over there in time to see you go tumbling off balance from the top of the stairs. I think you fell backwards, headfirst, down the stairs, and I jumped up to help you with a fear that you would be very hurt from the fall. But you immediately called up to us, while laying upside down halfway to the bottom of the stairs, “I’m okay!” That gave us all a good laugh and we were amazed that you were not injured from the fall. I was very grateful that you were kept safe, and it made me think of this statement from the Savior when He taught His disciples to love little children: “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). I believe that you indeed have angels who watch over you, for you have been protected on many occasions like this one yesterday. I hope that you feel your Heavenly Father’s love for you and know that He cares for you more than you could possibly know.

I love the story we have in the Book of Mormon when the Savior came and visited the Nephites. He showed indeed that He loves all of us and especially little children like you. At one point during His visit to the Nephites, “He commanded that their little children should be brought.” The account continues, “So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.” That would have been so amazing to have been there—can you imagine being able to sit at the feet of Jesus and see and hear Him? In this story He prayed to the Father words so great that those who witnessed it recorded, “And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.” After that He spoke to them, “He wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.” How incredible that must have been for those children to have the Savior bless them one by one. But this wasn’t all that happened, for after this, “They cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them” (3 Nephi 17:11-24). These were the angels of these little children who came down and encircled these children in an incredible manifestation of the love of God for them. I believe we have this story to show us how He feels about you and all other little children—He loves you deeply and wants to bless your life just as He did those other children. He will indeed send His angels to surround you and watch over you, even if you don’t see them. Recently you told me with excitement, “I don’t like Jesus—I love Him!” He told us what we will do if we truly love Him: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). I hope that you and I will always remember to keep His commandments because of our love for Him. Then we will always feel the great love that He has for us.

Love, Dad