Preparing to make and keep sacred covenants

My husband and I decided before our baby was born that we would ALWAYS dress her modestly, even as an infant. The scriptures teach our bodies are temples. Our goal in doing this with our daughter is to ensure that she holds a respect for herself and the sacredness of the body she has been blessed with. We want her to value virtue not vanity, in doing such we plan to prepare her NOW for the covenants she will be making at baptism and in the temple. We recognize we have more to do in preparing our daughter to live a covenant path than this motto of modesty, but we also see that we cannot wait to teach her her intrinsic value in the sight of God. 

There has been a call for women to stand as "guardians of virtue," and as Sister Elaine S. Dalton has said "Virtue is a requirement to have the companionship and guidance of the Holy Ghost. You will need that guidance in order to successfully navigate the world in which you live. Being virtuous is a requirement to enter the temple. And it is a requirement to be worthy to stand in the Savior’s presence." Sister Dalton also said "For the mothers... you are your daughters’ most important example of modesty and virtue--thank you. Never hesitate to teach them that they are royal daughters of God and that their value is not based on their sensual appeal. And let them see your belief modeled correctly and consistently in your own personal attitude and appearance." Dressing modestly is only a small part of the picture of eternal progression, but if we fail to teach it to our daughter what else are we failing to teach in the process? That our daughter has more value than a sensual world would have her believe? That any man who really loves her will love her for who she is, not her sexual appeal? That the loss of chastity carries beyond this life and can affect generations?

Putting my daughter in immodest clothing now, even though she is unaccountable, does not make me unaccountable. "And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents. (D&C 68:25)" I see this duty to extend as well to preparing my daughter to enter God's holy temple. NOW is the time to prepare her, not when she's 8 or 18, by then we will have been too late!

Our choices today with our daughter affect the choices she makes tomorrow with her children. I am blessed to have a mother and father who taught me the value of virtue, and they were blessed with parents who taught them. Being virtuous and modest is not only a tradition in our family it is a sacred privilege and duty that we respect. Have there been mistakes? Yes. Could I have done better in my personal goal of virtue and modesty growing up? Absolutely. But if allow past mistakes to stop me from teaching my daughter the value of virtue then I am failing as a parent. 

In the recent General Conference President Eyring said, "When you choose whether to make or keep a covenant with God, you choose whether you will leave an inheritance of hope to those who might follow your example." I can't raise my daughter to follow the crowd, my daughter has been sent to the earth at this time because the Lord needs her here to be a force for good in a world of moral relevance. It is my duty and my husband's duty to prepare our daughter to make covenants, and to teach her to be firmly rooted in the gospel. We see that consciously teaching our daughter to respect herself and love God now through modest dress is a small but important part of our daughter's eternal happiness.