Brent

Conversation I had with Brent today as I was taking him to preschool.

Brent- "I want to grow up."

Me (listening over music)- "Brent, don't talk like that. You do NOT want to throw up. Throwing up is not good for you."

Brent- "NO, Mommy! GROW up. I want to GROW up."

Me- "Oh! Grow up. Why do you want to grow up?"

Brent- "So I can ride my Buzz Lightyear Bike. Maybe I can ride it when I'm 5. (He has a bike that's a bit too big for him) And maybe when I'm 6 I'll be able to do the monkey bars. And when I'm 8 I will get baptized. And when I'm 12 I will go to the temple. Except I will have to die first to go to the temple."

At this point, I was fumbling to turn down the music, making sure I heard what he said correctly.

The poor kid is SO confused. He is finally understanding what it means to die, but obviously he doesn't REALLY understand what it means. He asked about it once and I changed the subject. He asked again and I said he wouldn't die for a long, long time. But when he did, he would live with Heavenly Father up in heaven. Fast forward to an FHE we had where we talked about the temple and the temple being Heavenly Father's house. Do you get where I'm going with this? The poor kid thought the temple WAS in heaven. When you die, you go to live with Heavenly Father. We have told him that the temple is Heavenly Father's house. Therefore, in his 4 year old mind, the temple must be IN heaven.

It all makes sense. A few weeks ago he said, "I want to die." I got so upset with him and scolded him. I said, "BRENT! We don't talk like that. Dying is not a bad thing, but you do not want to die." He got so upset and started crying and said, "But I want to go to the temple!!!" I had NO idea what he was talking about. It all clicked today. He thinks the temple is in heaven. How confusing for a child! Here we talk about how wonderful the temple is, about how he will go when he is 12, and how there is no where better and the entire time, he thinks you have to die to get to the temple because it's Heavenly Father's house and Heavenly Father lives in heaven.

Aye yay yay!! I had a headache at the end of our conversation today.

We talked a little bit and there was a few minutes of silence. Then..

Me- "The temple is not in heaven. They are all over the earth. There is one in San Diego."

Brent- "How long does it take to get to San Diego?"

Me- "About an hour."

Brent- "Well how long does it take to get to heaven? How many hours?"

Me- "Umm..let's ask Daddy when he gets home."

At that point, my brain was on overload. IT's hard to explain these in depth, big concepts in language that a 4 year old understands. Looks like our family home evenings on sharing, choosing the right, and being reverent in church aren't cutting it anymore. Brent is ready for the meat and potatoes of the gospel. :)