We picked Claire up from the airport late last night.  She and her friend, Rachel were tired and happy to be home.  Their back packs were stuffed to the gills and their arms were full of bags and parcels.  They made it all the way through Europe carrying everything they owned.

Their travel route went something like this:  Egypt, Athens, Santorini, Rome, Naples, Pompei, Barcelona, Malaga, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Salzburg, Vienna, New York City.

Yesterday in a lesson I taught in Relief Society, I shared this story about my daughter Claire:

“As is the mother, so is her daughter.” Ezekiel 16:44

Many of you know my daughter, Claire. As a little girl she was delightful and loved to learn. She often asked me how to do things–she seemed to want to learn to do all the things I did. Once at the kitchen sink when she was about 7, I was showing her how to load the dishwasher, she said, “Mom, when I grow up, I want to be just exactly like you–I want to do all the things you do just the way you do them. I want to cook and I want to make quilts and I want to read lots of books and make things and know all the things you know.” And then she added, “but I want to be skinner!”

As I recovered from that, I looked at her little face and her open mind, and realized the power of the influence I have over her life. It was a staggering realization. I am her mother. I will have more influence on her than any other person in this entire world. I will have more influence over my sons. I am the person Heavenly Father sent to teach and nurture them. That is my role. That is why I am here.

Today as I look at my grown up daughter, I can see myself in her.  When I was 20 I also backpacked through Egypt, Athens and Europe.  In her own independent way, I don’t think she has any idea how much alike we are.  But I can see it.

“As is the mother, so is her daughter.”