This Day Can't Get Any Worse

Ever have a day when you wondered if heaven forgot you?  This story is about Teasha's bad day that turned worse and then became the worst.  This was back when Teasha and I had been on a few dates, so Teasha still worked at the vet clinic.  We had dated but that didn't mean we were officially a couple.  Still, maybe some of it is my fault since Teasha and I were probably up until midnight the night before on a date.  The next morning she was running just a little late.

And to make matters worse she was out of gas.  This was back when you could get gas and pay the cashier inside.  Except there was a long line ahead of her.  Finally when Teasha got to the cashier she gave him the ten bucks and ran out.  Her goal to make it on time was ruined.  She had read her scriptures, but it seemed like Joshua's promise "for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." (Joshua 1:8) wasn't going to work for today.

At work Teasha had two bosses:  The vet, and the vet's wife.  The wife was sometimes rather mean, and this day was no exception.  At one point the phone rang for the vet's wife, and she sent Teasha out so she could chat in private, telling her to clean the kennels.  When the kennels were done the vet's wife said Teasha needed to do another painful chore, and commented that she would need to work faster.  She was the type that was rarely pleased.  Teasha was ordered to begin the clean up ten minutes before closing time.  When 5:00 finally came the vet's wife told her she had caused problems all day and it would be best if she just left.

Teasha should have been glad to go home early, but no one likes to be told they are doing everything wrong, and then at the end of the day to be told they weren't worth their wages.  The lord said, " Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence." (2 Nephi 1:20)  Teasha was trying her best, then why did she feel more cut off than prosperous?

At least she could go home and relax.  She got into her old Volkswagon Panelwagon (imagine a green loaf of bread).  As she pulled onto the main road the red and blue police lights flashed behind her.  Was God cursing her for something?  This day can't get any worse!  She knew she hadn't sped, she had her seat belt on, what was the problem.  The officer swaggered up to her window with that "Just try and see how tough I am" attitude.  Officer Callison asked Teasha for her ID.  As he was sauntering away Teasha asked, "Officer, can I ask what the problem is?"

"Ma'am, a vehicle matching this description bought gas today and didn't pay for it.  Have you bought gas recently?"
"Uh, yeah, this morning."
"Did you get a receipt?"
"Um..... no"
"Ma'am, we take gas skips very seriously.  If you buy gas without paying that is a serious offense."
And the officer walked back to his car.

Isaiah said, "the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him." (Isaiah 30:18).  But the longer Teasha's day went, the worse it got.  She said it couldn't get any worse, but now the day had officially bottomed out.  Here she was on the main road with people she knew driving past about to be arrested because that clerk stole her money that morning.  Being falsely accused will make anyone angry, and after the kind of day Teasha had her emotions were close to the surface.  Still, "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." (James 1:2)  Maybe Teasha just needed to wait for the Lord's help a little longer and she would see He had a greater plan for her the whole time.  She decided she would brave the future and trust the Lord to explain why she was going through such trials eventually.

After a very long time Officer Callison came back and told Teasha she was parked too close to the busy road, and she would need to pull off onto a side street.  When she parked on a deserted avenue he told her to get into his patrol car to take her to the gas station and sort the mess out.  He invited her to sit in the passenger seat since she wasn't being treated as a criminal.  She sat down next to a huge shotgun to the policeman's side.  He started the car and they drove to where the gas station was on the edge of town.

"So, you're name is Teasha?  Do you have any plans for tonight?"

The sing song way he was speaking made the hair on Teasha's neck stand on end.  "the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth" (John 15:26).  Teasha felt he was not asking just to make conversation.


"Yes, I have plans, thanks for asking."
"Oh?  Do you have a boyfriend then?"
"I've been dating a guy named Scott"
"Yeah, so are you serious, or would you consider going with other guys?"
"No, I am serious, he's my boyfriend and I'm not interested in looking at other guys."
Then Teasha noticed they had just passed the gas station, which was the last gas station on that road heading out of town.

Suddenly this bad day has gone beyond trials and problems.  Now Teasha is in more trouble than she has the power to handle on her own.  When those times come, (and I can promise you they will) there is a source we can turn to.  Teasha was furiously praying in her heart for help.  The Lord will choose how to answer, but I promise he will always answer that prayer.  She had wondered if her bad day was part of a greater plan.  The Lord told Joseph Smith "if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." (D&C 122:7).  She prayed in faith that help would come, and that there was a greater plan that she couldn't see.

I promise there was.  Because I helped plan it.

You see, Teasha and I had been on several dates, but it was time for something different.  Maybe something funny, exciting, and tricky.  If you know my personality you won't be that surprised with what I thought of.  I asked my mom (who's maiden name is Callison) if Uncle Carl was still part of the municipal police.  Turns out he was.

Uncle Carl said he would be willing to pull this girl over, but he got off work at 5:00, and he couldn't do it before then, and he couldn't stay as a cop when he was off duty, so it had to be exactly at 5:00 or it wouldn't work.  I called the vet clinic.  The vet's wife answered.

"Hey, this is Scott.  I'm the one that's been dating Teasha.  Is she there?  I wanted to plan something secretly."
So the vet's wife shooed her out of the office by making her clean the kennels.
"Ok, she's gone, what are you planning?"
"My uncle is a cop.  I'd like to pull her over just for fun, but it would have to be right at 5:00.  Is that possible?"
"Just for fun?  If a guy I was dating had done that to me I would be ticked!  Of course I'm in on this.  We'll try to rush the clean up as best we can, but I can kick her out right at 5:00."

So when Teasha was kicked out of work at 5:00 I was in the back of my uncle's patrol car.  We watched her get into the panel wagon, and as she drove off we swooped in.  When Carl pulled her over he looked me,
"Scott, we've got an issue.  What do I say she did?  She wasn't speeding, she stopped at the stop sign, what do I say?"
"I dunno!  You're the cop, what do you pull people over for?"
"Umm.... let's do the gas skip, that should be interesting."

Peeking from the back of the car I saw him swagger to the car.  When he came back he was grinning,
"You'll never believe it!  She actually bought gas this morning!!  What luck.  Hey, she's a cute one too, make sure you hold on to this one.  Are you guys officially 'dating' dating?"
"Well, I don't think we're boyfriend/girlfriend yet, but I sure wouldn't mind if we were."
"All right, do you want me to ask her?"
"NO!  Don't you dare!  I'd die.  What if she says no?  Just take her to the Arby's on the outskirts of town where I've got a car parked."
"Are you sure?  I really think I could get her to talk about you..."

So it took us a good while to resolve our argument.  In the end he agreed to not discuss our dating situation, and I agreed to not throttle him with his own pair of handcuffs.

"So, you're name is Teasha?  Do you have any plans for tonight?"
Long pause.  I am going to throttle Uncle Carl.  I can tell where he's going.

"Yes, I have plans, thanks for asking."
"Oh?  Do you have a boyfriend then?"
I knew it.  Let me die.  I probably deserve this for playing such a mean trick on Teasha.

"I've been dating a guy named Scott"
"Yeah, so are you serious, or would you consider going with other guys?"
"No, I am serious, he's my boyfriend and I'm not interested in looking at other guys."

I popped up from the back seat, "Wow!  That is so awesome to hear!"

Teasha turned to face me and passed through several emotions from anger to relief and excitement to exasperation.  Ten minutes later we discussed her bad day over milkshakes.  Turns out once she saw the plan from the other side everything made sense, and things that seemed to be so bad that day weren't actually as bad as she thought.  Some of them were actually leading to good things.  I have learned that when my day goes from bad to horrible to worst if I am patient and wait on the Lord eventually I will see how they have been to my benefit.  Maybe preparing me for something later in life, maybe something I needed to learn about myself.  Once I see the Lord's view of the whole plan I understand how God has never left me alone, and it gives me more strength to wait for the answers to prayer the next time I find myself in a day that can't possibly get any worse.

What Do You Want Me To Do?

Every now and then I get tested beyond what I thought I could handle.  This story I think I reacted well to it, but it's only because I remembered a similar story from church history.  One day in a statistics class I managed to handle the meanest lecture I ever received by thinking about a story between Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.

My undergraduate degree was from SUU, a small school, so the Master's program at BYU seemed overwhelming.  There were times I felt like I was playing catch up to the students who had gotten their bachelor's degree at BYU.  One day I received a homework assignment that I couldn't even begin because I didn't know the notation.  The assignment had new variables that we had not discussed in class, and used subscripts in a way that I had never seen.  I scoured the assignment for clues as to what the symbols meant, but there was nothing.  My friend Paul didn't know and couldn't guess either.

At the beginning of class I raised my hand, "I'm having trouble with the homework.  There seems to be some explanations you didn't include for some of the notation, and I need the missing clarification before I can start."

The teacher moved to the other side of the classroom so that he could be standing right in front of my desk, "Don't you dare call me stupid!  If you try to say I'm stupid then I'll turn it right back around on you!  There has been a lot of respect lost in today's society, but at BYU and especially in my classroom you will treat me with respect as the teacher, and as a person.  Never try to insult someone's intelligence unless you're absolutely sure you can win that sort of battle.  If you tried to get a job with that sort of attitude you would be thrown out faster than you can speak, and I could easily have you tossed out of here, but fortunately I'm going to show more thought than you did and allow you to stay.  You might think you're better than me, but I bet if we compared you'd find out I'm not as dumb as you think...."

At this point I turned to Paul behind me and discreetly mouthed,  "Is he really being serious or funny?"  Paul was wide eyed, "I think he's serious."  I turned back around.  No smirk, no melodrama, for another 5 minutes he went on about how stupid I was to call him stupid, and how I needed to show the class and the instructor more respect if I ever wanted to amount to anything in life and not end up stupid myself.  Then he asked, "Now what did you want to say?"

I don't know if you can guess what I felt.  I was unjustly accused and belittled in front of a class of my peers.  I was obviously misunderstood, and "only a fool takes offense when no offense was intended".  Whatever happened to "And if thy brother or sister offend thee, thou shalt take him or her between him or her and thee alone"? (D&C 42:88) Here was a man that I had trusted as my teacher who was slaughtering me, and really had no idea why!

I remembered the quote (which I can't find) "When someone says something horrible, or even untrue about me, I always look first to see if there is an element of truth to what they are saying. Usually I find that there is." What were my words?  I had said that my teacher left clarification off the homework.  I didn't think he would take it personally, but maybe he prided himself on his homework.  Maybe he felt like only a stupid person would leave necessary things off the homework, and he was confident that he had not made such a mistake.  Whether I felt like it was justified or not to him he felt very hurt by my words.

Then I remembered the story of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.  Apparently Joseph Smith chastised Brigham Young unfairly, and rather than retaliate Brigham simply asked, "What would you have me do?"  It reminds me of the "A soft answer turneth away wrath:" (Proverbs 15:1).   I looked at the professor and said, "I really apologize if my words were offensive.  It was unintentional.  What would you have me to do?"

He responded, "Just tell me what homework problems you needed help on."  I asked one question, which he clarified.  Then he continued his lesson.  I was still pumping with adrenaline, but I managed to sit through the class calmly.  After class several students came to me to make sure I was ok, and I got my other homework questions answered.  They told me this teacher was a coach in his spare time, and he was just that way.  I felt the impulse to say rude things about him, but I made an effort to resist.

Now with time I can look back on the incident and I am so thankful I resisted the desire to lash back.  This professor would not have changed based on my input, but it could have damaged me spiritually to seek revenge.  A story from church history had given me the little extra push I needed to keep control.  These kinds of stories give me the motivation to study more church history because the Lord will help me remember them when I need them.

King Benjamin's Race

What percentage of your time do you spend thinking about yourself?  It's a serious question - even when I say I'm thinking of other people I'm usually thinking about how they can help me, or about what I get out of helping them.  This is embarrassing to say, but many times I do service because I am seeking blessings from the Lord and not because I want to help the other person.  Sadly this selfish attitude means I sometimes put my own wants in front of other people.  That is especially hurtful when the other person has spend a lot of time trying to serve me.

That goes double for teachers who spent hours preparing a lesson only to have me derail it.  I like to think I am not as bad now, but there was a time when I would look for ways to be funny or annoying during a lesson just to get the attention for myself.  Even during Sunday School or Seminary when the lesson was on thinking of others.  Like Brother Eastmond's lesson based on King Benjamin's speech.

King Benjamin taught his people to serve and work and to look towards Christ.  The reason was "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17)  My junior year of seminary Bro. Eastmond was teaching us this lesson from the Book of Mormon, and he proposed a race to teach us about following the words of King Benjamin.  We would be given a set of directions, and if those directions were followed precisely they would lead us to a second set of directions.  That would lead to a third, then a fourth, and finally a fifth set of directions.  The class would be broken into teams, and whichever team could do the course in the shortest amount of time would be declared the winner.

As my team waited for our turn something was tugging at my memory.  It was something my sister had told me.  She was four years older than me, and had taken the Book of Mormon class with Brother Eastmond.  She once came home very impressed with a lesson.  I remember she said that Bro. Eastmond had challenged the class to complete a race, and everyone thought the purpose was to prove how quickly they could follow instructions.  What they didn't realize was that along the course Bro. Eastmond had planted people who needed help.  A girl who was crying alone, a young man searching to something in the grass, a pair of boys trying to carry a heavy box, a car that was stalled and wouldn't start.  Julie said she was so proud of her time, until the people they had ran past walked into the room.  Then her head hung in shame.  She knew she had missed the true point of the race.

But I knew!!  It was like having a secret power!  I could be super cool - the guy that won the race and was super kind hearted!  Everyone would wish they had been like me, and I would have shown them the proper way to be charitable.  I quickly gathered my team and explained what I knew.  One of the girls on my team suggested we play along and pretend we didn't know, but I told her it would be more fun to outsmart the teacher.  We waited for our turn.

We were chosen to go last, and when we left we asked the crying girl if she was ok, we helped the guy look for his contact lens, we carried a heavy table, and helped some guy start his truck.  We walked back to the classroom triumphantly.   The teacher then asked his helpers to come in.   I saw the other teams recognize the distressed kids and they looked shamed at their uncharitable attitudes.  This was my moment of glory.

Then the teacher said, "So I apparently one of the teams figured out what this was really about, which I guess ruins it for them, but for the other teams, let's talk about why you passed these people up, and what you have learned."

My heart sunk.

I ruined it for my team?  I had saved my team!  I was the hero, but I could tell in Bro. Eastmond's voice that he knew exactly who had spilled the beans and why.  He was kind enough to not call me on it, but I started thinking.  What had I ruined?  The other students were saying things like, "I was in such a hurry I didn't stop to think about how the other people were feeling..." and "I wanted to win and so I didn't care what got passed up..."

The spirit apparently couldn't pass up the opportunity to add his comments.  Bro. Eastmond had spent hours orchestrating an object lesson that would cause us to act the way we act in the real world.  He had carefully chosen which students would help him and where they would be and what they would need, and his goal was to create a scenario that could be diagrammed to learn about service.  Then one of his students ruined the surprise that was key to the lesson.

What was I trying to teach?  How cool I was?  How to outsmart the teacher?  I was so focused on myself that I didn't think about what was most valuable to the class.  The spirit made a point to mention that not only did I ruin the lesson for myself, but I dragged the rest of my team down too.  In a classroom of students who were ashamed of their selfishness I was three times as embarrassed as any of them.

How often have I goofed off during the lesson, or tried to make the object lesson backfire?  How many times have I tried to find a funny answer to the question, or give the wrong answer just to see the teacher react?  How many times have I told myself their lesson was boring, and I was actually doing them a favor by throwing in a little humor?  "And now, I say... that after ye have... been taught all these things, if ye should... come out in open rebellion against God; ...and repent not, ... the demands of divine justice do awaken thy immortal soul to a lively sense of your own guilt." (Mosiah 2:36-38).

Bro. Eastmond challenged us to look around and find ways to serve, then mentioned, "Please don't tell anyone about this object lesson, I want it to still be a surprise for the other classes.  It's important to see how they react without knowing they're being tested."   I thought to myself, 'Don't worry, Bro. Eastmond.  I've got that part now.'

I made a promise right then to perform a specific type of service: help the teacher.  Instead of trying to get the spotlight I would try to figure out how the teacher wanted the students to learn, and to help.  Sometimes that means staying quiet, sometimes that means sharing my own thoughts, but it never means trying to make myself look cool.  When I help the teacher I am actually serving Christ, because as King Benjamin put it, "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17).

Reasons not to Visit

As a young man I was often jealous of those who lived a wicked life.  To be able to do what felt good whenever I wanted seemed like a ideal way to live.  Then I would meet people who were doing things I had been taught were wrong.  Rather than being miserably sad I discovered they were usually quite happy.  Take my friend Burt (name changed).

Burt lived a few houses away from Simon, and you could often find Burt at his friends house.  He admitted to me one day that at Simon's house the computer was not monitored, and they could browse any website they wanted.  I was 14, and the internet was fairly new, so I suspect Simon's parents didn't know how dangerous internet pornography could be.  Come to think of it, I doubt I guessed how dangerous pornography was, because I thought that sounded interesting.  Unfortunately our house rules on visiting friends made it so I couldn't go, and somehow deep inside I knew it was wrong, so I never visited Simon's house.

And yet things seemed to go well for Burt and Simon.  I understand why Jeremy said, "Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?" (Jeremiah 12:1).  It didn't seem fair that each of them went to church and the young men's president said what good examples they were.  They did fine in school, and their parents weren't aware of what was going on.  Once I tried to talk to Burt about it, and I suggested he tell his parents what was going on, but Burt said he wasn't hurting anybody, and it wasn't a big deal, and besides it was a lot of fun.  I started to wonder if he wasn't right.   Too bad I wasn't allowed to visit Simon's house too.

"And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it." (1 Nephi 22:14)  This prophesy from Nephi has several interpretations, but it helps me to know that every idea, person, or thing that is contrary to the commands of God is part of the "whore" which will eventually bring disappointment.  That is why the Savior said, "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:" (Matthew 6:20).  Only those things which bring us closer to Christ will bring lasting happiness.

I share this story because I know how it turns out.  There are others that chose a wicked life who I have lost track of, but I have faith that at some point they will either choose to repent or they will regret their choice.  There are some who choose lust and greed over righteousness, and they are still living a riotous life, but I have faith that some day their choice to abandon what they knew was right will lead them to sorrow.  Just because I don't see the pain that results from every unrighteous choice doesn't mean I should doubt the truth.  All the money, the prestige, the high scores on video games, the awesome movies, the clever schemes, alcohol, drugs, immorality - anything that doesn't lead to Christ will eventually lead to sorrow.

Burt went to Simon's house regularly, and he seemed just like every other faithful LDS kid, until it was time to serve a mission.  Suddenly he realized how much he would be asked to give up.  I suspect he had slowly eroded away his faith and pushed away the spirit until the idea of giving up 2 years to serve a mission seemed silly.  Burt joined the military without telling anyone, and after high school he was gone.  His family was surprised and hurt by his secretive nature, and soon he was estranged from his family.  I am guessing his family and friends tried to encourage Burt to return to church because soon he stopped communicating with them. He married at some point, but I don't know when.  He was living life the way he wanted without asking what the Lord wanted him to be doing.

A few years ago I ran into Burt again.  He had returned home and was trying to pick up the pieces of his life.  His marriage was ruined and the divorce painful.  He was addicted to cigarettes and felt uncomfortable at church.  He had found the army wasn't offering him the career choices he wanted, and his attitude of selfishness wasn't earning him favor with his officers.  He had left the army and was trying to go back to college after being gone for years.  It was difficult and painful.  I won't pretend to know everything, but the spirit testified to me that his decision to visit his friend for wicked reasons had lead to more sorrow than pleasure ten times over.

It is critical for me to choose friends that encourage me to live righteously.  When I look at those people who enjoy wicked living I remember Burt, and I repeat what the scriptures have said about following the world instead of Christ.  Every opportunity to sin that I have passed up has led to blessings, and every wrong choice has lead to pain, but it takes faith to be patient when I see people who are enjoying wicked living.  I choose to wait on the Lord and to avoid places that I know invite sin.

Scrape that Car

When I was a freshman in high school my older sister was 17, and she was allowed to drive a car to school as long as she wasn't late for class.  I was allowed to sit in my sister's car which saved me from the 30 minute walk I would have done otherwise.  Of course Julie knew her schedule well, and she would park her car near the door to her classroom and walk in right on time.  I had to run to make it to the other side of the building on time.

Obviously I was grateful for the ride, but on those cold Utah winter days I knew that the car windows would need to be scraped (for my Texan friends: ice forms naturally on car windows on cold nights).  I decided I would scrape her window and warm her car to show her I was grateful for the ride... and because I couldn't afford for her to be late.  When my sister came she thanked me and I felt like I had done something good.

The next few days I scraped her windows and warmed up the car.  It meant I needed to get out there 20 freezing minutes earlier, but a little brother will do a lot to impress an older sister.  But then I noticed she didn't even say thanks when she got in the car anymore.  I realized that my awesome service didn't mean much anymore.  One particularly cold day there was a light layer of snow, and I was running behind.  I got out to the car only 5 minutes early, and I hadn't scraped half the windows or started the car by the time my sister came.

Ooo she was mad!  She had to grab a scraper and scrape half the car, and when we finally got in the car was freezing.  On the way to school I was informed of how ungrateful I was.  Julie drove the car and paid for the gas and all she asked me to do was to have it ready when it was time to go and was that too much to ask and why wasn't I ready on time because if I really wanted a ride from her I couldn't just expect to be so lazy and immature and she hadn't scheduled in the time for that and now she was going to be late which is a big deal when you're a senior and I was only a freshmen and how could I understand the trouble I had caused her that day and on and on.  I was glad when we got to the high school.

Before you blame my sister think of how often you do this.  The Lord gives us everything, and helps out of scrape after scrape.  At first we pray with sincere gratitude, but then my prayers tend to get repetitive, and the first time something goes wrong I furiously pray for God to get on the ball.  "O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?" (D&C 121:1).  If we could see it from the Lord's perspective He is saying "[I] created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto [me]"  (Mosiah 2:23).   I wonder if the Lord feels as hurt as I did, "And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments." (D&C 59:21)

That afternoon I was reminded that as a passenger it was my duty to make sure Julie wasn't late.  My mother overheard the conversation and since getting to school on time is a rule for using the car she wanted to know what I had done.  I explained that I had tried to scrape the car but I was late, and besides I am lucky if I can make it to my class on time because Julie always parks on the other side of the building.  My mother then turned on Julie and informed her that she was equally responsible for scraping the windows and I did not use any extra gas and if Julie wanted to keep using her parents car she would park in the middle lot so that we could both make it to class on time.

My sister was not amused.  As she stormed to her room she sneered into my ear, "Do you need me to hold your hand and walk you to class too?"

Keep in mind that one of my goals in life was to impress my sister, and darned if that was impossible!  I tried to figure out a solution, but the fact was I couldn't erase what my mom heard, and I couldn't get Julie out of trouble, and besides I felt more than a little chagrined.  As I stared out the window I realized there was light snow melting which would turn to ice and it was supposed to snow more all night.  The car would be awful to scrape in the morning.  Then I got a plan.

I think Lord does this sometimes too.  His divine motivation is not revenge, the way my teenage brain was.  "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" (Hebrews 12:6).  There have been times in my life when a sore trial has reminded me that I have not been as close to the Lord as I should be.

The next morning twenty five minutes before it would be time to leave I put my backpack on the other side of my sisters door.  I went in the kitchen, bundled up, grabbed my personal ice scraper, and jangled my mother's set of keys (without touching Julie's keys).  Then I made a show of getting my backpack holding the ice scraper.  After I was sure my sister had seen me I headed out the front door.  Seeing a foot of new snow on the ground made my resolve waver, but an angry teenager is unstoppable.  Throwing the scraper in my backpack I ran to the high school.  I barely made it to class, exhausted, freezing, and overheated, but on time.

I never heard how Julie's morning went that day.  I do know that afternoon she came to me and told me how grateful she was that I scraped her car.  She told me we could work out a schedule and trade off who scraped the car.  And she had found the perfect place to park so that we could each make it to class on time. She didn'
t ask me if I was going with her the next day, but I did.   I scraped the car and we were both to class early.  The next day she apologized for the time she had gotten angry with me.

I think from then on I scraped the car more frequently than Julie did, but she was always expressed gratitude for the help.  Even today there are times Julie will say, "Scott, I think I was a little ornery with you as a teenager, and I am sorry.  I was learning, and I feel bad, but I want you to know how much I love you" (that's why I have never asked if she remembers that morning).  I tell her I understand.  I went through the same age, and there were times I needed to learn some lessons too.

Not every trial comes because we are ungrateful, but when I am facing a difficult time I try to remember scraping Julie's car and make a point to pray in gratitude.  If you have never tried a prayer where you only give thanks and do not ask for anything you ought to try it.  It will be harder than you think at first, but it gets easier with practice.  I promise the Lord blesses us when we are grateful, even during trials.  Gratitude will help us avoid getting into a hard scrape on a bitter cold morning.

Newspapers vs. the Closet

When I was 14 I had an afternoon paper route.  The schedule was like this:
3:00 Come home from school.  Try to stretch out in front of the TV and eat a snack
3:02 Mother "reminds" me I am supposed to deliver newspapers
3:10 Done eating snack.  Go get stack of papers from the porch and fold them while watching TV
3:30 Finish folding newspapers but go really slow on the last few so I can watch more TV
3:32 Mother "reminds" me that my route is big and I won't make it on time if I don't leave now
3:34 Grab a snack and complain.  Try to whine long enough to finish the TV show
3:50 Suddenly realize how late it is.  It takes two hours to do my route and 6:00 is the deadline
4:00 Rush around furiously trying to get out the door.  Scold mother for not telling me how late it was.

Now one particular day I came home and my mother was gone.  It was a rare occasion, which was usually celebrated by gorging myself on the marshmallows hidden in the back of the fridge and a solid peaceful hour of cartoons.  The very thought of having the whole house to myself with absolutely no adult supervision made my imagination soar.  After a chocolate covered chocolate sprinkled Ovaltine ice cream sundae I had the perfect idea.  Chad's closet.

You see my older brother Chad was on a mission in Tennessee.  When he was leaving he took everything in his room and boxed it up and stacked the boxes in his closet.  There were boxes labelled "games", "books", "magic tricks", and "personal".  To a 14 year old kid every label screamed "Open me and loot!" except when my brother left he made me solemnly promise not to touch those boxes.  I would never dare when my mother was home, but this was the perfect afternoon to try.

I walked into my brother's room, opened the closet and eyed the boxes.  Oh it was wrong, but the timing was so right.  I knew it was the wrong choice.  Those papers were sitting on the front porch, but maybe just maybe it would be ok to do something wrong.  I picked the box labelled "books".

Then I had a thought.  In primary we used to talk about such simple scenarios: "Henry wants a piece of gum from the store, but he doesn't have any money.  Should Henry steal the gum?"  And as small children we would emphatically say no.  The problem is when I got older I realized things weren't so well defined.  Is it ok to fight a bully?  Is it ok to tell someone you aced the test when they ask how you did and you know it will make them sad?  Primary is not very realistic for the types of choices we face in real life.

I had always been annoyed with the primary stories.  Not only were the choices obvious, but the blessings so immediate.  "Henry decides not to steal the gum, and that night the Holy Ghost made Henry feel all happy inside because he chose the right".  As if.  "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." (1 Corinthians 13:11).  I am so done with stupid primary examples.

And yet here I was facing a choice that I knew was unquestionably wrong.  I was supposed to be doing papers.  That was the right choice.  If I couldn't Choose The Right when facing a simple primary scenario, how would I ever handle the more complicated decisions?  I closed the closet door.  I decided then and there that I would keep my promise to my brother, no matter how badly I was tempted.  I got the papers, folded them, and headed out the door, feeling proud of myself.  Proud might be the right word because deep inside I was miffed that no one would ever know how righteous I had chosen to be.

There's more to the story.  As I was rounding the last street my mother came up in the car.  When she got home and I was no where to be found she was worried.  Apparently she panicked until she saw the newspaper strap in the garbage.  She then knew I had left to do newspapers all on my own.  She wanted me to know she was proud of me so she brought me a candy bar (king size, no less).  As I finished the papers I realized that I was blatantly blessed for choosing the right in an obvious scenario.  Perhaps every scenario is really simple, we don't see it.  "For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil" (Moroni 7:16).  One goal in life is to see the complicated situations in the Light of Christ until they are childishly obvious.  Maybe my primary teachers were on the right track after all.