Today I would like to address my remarks to the little children in the room. They come here and sit through a meeting that is primarily directed to their parents and other adults. They do this week after week, year after year, until one day, they begin to understand and focus in on the messages they hear over this pulpit. But today, I will speak to them, as they are, little children. And if any of the rest of you want to get out your crayons and color during my talk, you may do so, or maybe you can tune in to a wave length which everyone in this room at a former time once understood, and thereby reap some useful message out of my comments.

Boys and girls! Can I have your attention? (Call a few by name). Sister Woods would like to talk to you today. I wonder how many people in this room have ever had a baby doll? If you have ever had a baby doll, or played with a baby doll, could you please touch your nose? Even if it was many years ago, touch your nose. Very good. I had a baby doll too.

Maybe some of you had one of those toy tool sets made out of plastic, or maybe even the little wood and metal tool sets that come in a wooden box. If anyone in this room has ever had a play tool set, pull your ear. I always wanted one, and my children had one, but I didn't have one of my own.

Now, how many of you have ever played dress-up and worn costumes, or put on big shoes and hats and clothes? If you have ever done that, touch your chin. That was always one of my favorite games to play.

Or if you had a play doctor kit with a stethoscope and thermometer and blood pressure gauge and tongue depressor, and the little hammer doctors use to bang on our knees and elbows to test or reflexes. I f you had one of those put your hand on the top of your head.

Boys and girls, what do you think you are doing when you play with these things? Is there someone you are pretending to be like? Could it be maybe that you are playing at being like your mommy and daddy? There is a great deal of time that children spend playing, and a lot of that play is pretending to be adults.

Do you think that play is important? I do. By playing, you are learning how to someday become mommies and daddies yourself. You are pretending to have the same kind of work that big people do, so someday, you can do that work too. But are you ready to do that work right now?

Have you ever been to the hospital and seen the room where they keep all the new babies? Those babies are so little, they are like dolls sort of. Since you know how to play with dolls, maybe you could go to the hospital someday and walk into the nursery and tell the doctors and nurses that they can go home because you are there to take care of all the babies. What do you think they would say? "Oh thank you! I wanted to have a vacation day today!" Would they say that? I suppose they wouldn't say that. I suppose they would try to find your parents and get you out of the nursery.

And maybe it wouldn't be a good idea anyway. Because dolls are not really babies are they? And we do not know how to take care of real babies when we are little children. We can help our parents, but we can't take over for our parents. We are just learning. We are just practicing.

Do you know that mommies and daddies are also practicing for something? In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma the Younger tells about what we are practicing or preparing for.

In Alma 12:24 we read:

". . . There was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead."

Joseph Smith taught that as man now is, God once was, and as God is, man may become. We have heavenly parents, and just the way boys and girls will grow up into adults like their parents, all people can "grow up" to become like our heavenly parents. That is what Heavenly Father and Mother want for all their spirit children, just as your mom and dad want you to grow up to be healthy good adults.

So parents are practicing to be heavenly parents someday. Heavenly Father and Mother have many many children. It is important for people to get married and have children so that they can be parents and have families where they can start to learn how to do be heavenly parents.

Now think about your play boys and girls. When you play with your toys, do you always treat them right? Have you ever held your doll by its hair or left it out on the grass all night, or taken off its clothes and forgot to put them back on for a couple of weeks? Poor Dolly! Dolly has been abused quite badly by us. But when we are little, we don't know how to be so responsible. We are only learning and practicing.

Heavenly Father knows everything. Not only that, but he has the power to do anything! How does Heavenly Father know when to use his power and when not to? He could change anything he wanted to. If he saw his children making mistakes, he could stop them or fix it for them. If they were fighting he could stop them. If they were sick, he could heal them. How does he know when to use his power? That is a very hard thing to do. Sometimes it is best to let His children have hard times so they can learn and grow. If he always fixed everything for us, we would not grow and learn. But he is wise and knows when to use his power to help us.

That is what mommies and daddies are learning to do here on earth. And just like children who play with toys (and sometimes break them) so they can practice and learn how to be adults someday, mommies and daddies sometimes make mistakes.

When we make mistakes, we are no longer perfect. And if we are not perfect, can we go and live in a perfect place with our perfect heavenly parents? NO!

Nephi teaches us in 1 Nephi 10:21 that "no unclean thing can dwell with God"

But Guess what! Heavenly Father wanted us to be able to come here and get bodies and learn to be like him, and he knew we would make mistakes that would keep us from returning to him. So he provided a plan for us to be able to come here and practice and learn and grow, and still make it back to him. He provided us with someone who could save us and bring us home to Heavenly Father. We call him our Savior. His name is Jesus Christ. He also gave us commandments through prophets to help us avoid mistakes and make good choices that will make us happy. And he taught us about repentance, so that Jesus could take us back to Heavenly Father.

Alma the younger said in the Book of Alma 12:34: "Therefore, whosoever repents and hardeneth not his heart shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest."

That means that we can use this life to prepare and practice and learn, and if we make mistakes, and we all do, we can learn from our mistakes, and grow more and more like Heavenly Father and Mother and through faith in Jesus Christ, and following him, and repenting of our sins, we can go back and be with our Heavenly Parents, and someday even be parents in heaven like they are.

I am grateful to be a mother. I know I am learning things that I could never learn if I were not a mother. Important things that have transformed me and continue to change me and make me grow. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, who died for my sins. Because I do make mistakes as I am learning and practicing here on earth. For now I know that if I have faith in Christ and follow him and repent of my sins, I can be forgiven and made clean and whole and perfect so I can return to my heavenly parents, and someday be like them.