Families,
communities, and nations are strengthened when parents rear uncommon
children. The rising generation of today
tends to feel they are entitled to whatever they want whenever they want
it. If they see something they desire,
they will just take it at whatever cost.
Uncommon children are taught to love God and to respect other people and
their property. Uncommon children can be
the answer to our prayers.
Elder Legrand Richards
(1886-1983) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared two true stories about
uncommon young men. Both experiences
involve members of the Armed Services.
The first experience took place in California when a women’s club set an
extra plate at the luncheon table. The
place was reserved for the first soldier that came long. Well the soldier happened to be a Mormon boy,
a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The women passed coffee around, and the
soldier politely refused it. They
offered him some tea, and he refused it.
After lunch was over, they offered him a cigarette, and he refused
it. The women wanted to know more about
him, including how he was reared. One
woman at the luncheon made the decision:
“If the Mormon elders ever call at my home, I will let them in. I want to know more about a people who can
raise a boy like that boy who sat at our table today.”
The second incident took place
at an officers’ training school. A new
commanding officer was assigned to the school, and a banquet was held in his
honor. A cocktail glass was beside every
plate. When the proper time came, every
cocktail glass was raised in a toast to the new commanding officer – except
one. One young man raised a glass of
milk. The commanding officer noticed the
glass of milk and went right over to ask the potential officer why he had used
milk to toast him.
“Well, officer,” he said, “I’ve
never touched liquor in my life. I don’t
want to touch it; my parents wouldn’t want me to touch it; and I didn’t think
you would want me to either. And I
wanted to toast you, so I thought you would be satisfied if I toasted you with
what I am accustomed to drinking.”
The officer said, “You report at
headquarters in the morning,” and told him what time.
The young man probably got
little sleep but reported to headquarters the next morning. The officer assigned him to his staff and
gave this explanation: “I want to
surround myself with men who have the courage to do what they think is right
regardless of what anybody else thinks about it.”
These two young men were far
from home, but they remembered the teachings of their parents and their
Church. They maintained their principles
and did not seem to care what anyone else thought about it. They were uncommon young men. (See Elder LeGrand Richards, “Uncommon Boys,”
Ensign, September 2014, p. 80.)
My children are “uncommon” and
have been since they were young. I was
always pleased to hear good things from their teachers. Their teachers would tell me how wonderful
they were, but I thought they said those nice things to every parent. Then I worked as a teacher’s aide at the
local school district for a couple of years and became a true believer. I realized that my children were part of the
“cream of the crop” just as their teachers had been telling me.
Not only are my children uncommon,
but their spouses are uncommon also.
They are rearing their children to be uncommon also. I recently received an email message that
included a statement by a teacher of one of my grandsons from an email
chain. My daughter had thanked the
teacher for making history interesting, and the teacher wrote back: “I am so glad he learned from it (a history
lesson). If I may, I would like to tell
you that E_____ is a young man of stellar character. I’ve been blessed to be a teacher for a long
time, and I can assure you that young people of his maturity and leadership
potential come through all too seldom. I
am excited to see what the future holds for E____, and more excited to see what
he will do with his gifts! Thank you for
sharing him with me for a season!”
I remember interviewing an uncommon
young man for graduation from Primary, the Church organization for
children. He was twelve years old and
ready to join the Young Men’s organization.
I remember congratulating him and then telling him that I would keep my
eyes on him. I lost touch with his
family when they moved out of Alaska, and years later I read that he was
married to the daughter of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles. I have seen his picture in the
Ensign along with Elder Holland and his recently returned missionary daughter. He is an uncommon man who reared uncommon
children.
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