The Holy Ghost gives us courage to do hard things. – by Isaac Johnson

The Holy Ghost gives us courage to do hard things


For my 8th birthday I went to Alabama to see my Grandma and Grandpa Johnson who were serving as a Mission President. I got special permission to be baptized there in a little river. I went to church the next day in Alabama. It was Fast and Testimony Meeting. I was prompted by the spirit to bear my testimony, which I quickly followed without even being nervous. I can’t remember what I said, but after the meeting a lot of people told me that I did a good job. It was then that I realized I didn’t recognize these people and that I was in a different ward. I know that if we follow the prompting of the Holy Ghost then we will be blessed – like I was able to have the courage to bear my testimony in an unfamiliar ward.


When I was 10 years old I went with my mom, dad, and Hannah to visit my Grandma Georgia and Grandpa Bruce who were serving a mission in Connecticut. We went to Boston and my Grandma gave me some pass along cards to give to people that we meet. I was determined to give at least one to one person. When we were looking for a cemetery we asked for directions. Before she left I tried to give her a pass a long card but she didn’t see me and knocked it out of my hand. She then noticed me and I picked the card up and handed it to her. She was very nice and grateful. I felt good for doing the right thing even though it was hard. I know that the Holy Ghost helped me once again to have courage to give a pass along card to someone that I didn’t even know.

Choose the Right (by: Ryan Johnson)

Choose the Right

I vividly remember the summer of 1985, I was 10-years old and just finished 5th grade. I had really never been away from home for very long, I had slept over at a friend’s house for a night at a time but never longer than one night.

I don’t know how I got roped into going to “Shadow Mountain”, maybe because my cousin Brian Hughes and his friends were going, but never-the-less I was signed up to go!! Shadow Mountain was suppose to be one of those great times to remember, you play games, swim in the river, stay up late in the bunk-beds, tell jokes, play pranks and just have a great time. Well, I certainly did all those things that week up at Shadow Mountain, and the experience was definitely one to remember. But all I remember was a week of misery, I missed my Mom!!

I remember getting up to Shadow Mountain and meeting all of Brian’s friends, they were all pretty nice but I didn’t feel like I fit in with them. The second night, everyone was getting picked up to go back home for a few hours to play in their baseball games, for some reason arrangements were not made for me to go play in my games. At that time I didn’t really care much for playing in the game, but I knew that if I went then I would be able to see my Mom. Well, the week finally ended!! I spent a large part of my time crying because I was soooo home-sick. I cried so much that I earned the nick-name of “Smiling John”, the leaders made that name up for me to try and get me to be happy. I don’t remember any specifics, but recall some of the boys that week doing things that may have not been quite right (maybe swearing, or talking naughty about girls). I knew that I was not going to take part in those activities, because I knew that my Mom would not be proud of me if I did, there was no way that I wanted to disappoint my Mom!

I believe it was the same summer (maybe the next) that I went to my first over-night basketball camp in Price, Utah at CEU (College of Eastern Utah). I don’t think I cried as much, if I did it was at night when no-one could see me, but I was just as home-sick at that camp (and the next few summer camps as well). Once again, a lot of the guys would talk about girls in-appropriately, swear, steal, gamble a lot with money, and even look at inappropriate things on TV. However, this was never a temptation to me as I knew that my Mom would not want me to do anything wrong.

I read my scriptures, said my prayers every night, went to church, but at this time in my life I probably had a stronger testimony of my earthly parents than I did of my Heavenly Parents. I am so grateful for loving parents that taught me what was right and expected me to do what was right and “return with honor” to their home. As I look back on these experiences I learned the following lessons:

It is ok if you are still trying to develop a testimony at a young age, and if the only thing that compels you to do what is right is because you love your Mom & Dad. The important thing, is that you “choose the right”.

I’ve learned that as parents, sometimes all we can do is teach and then pray with faith that our children “return home with honor”. We don’t know how God will work miracles in our children’s lives. In my case it was through home-sickness.

A story for a different time was in the Summer/Fall of 1993 (8 years later, when I was 18), when I gained a burning testimony of my Heavenly Parents and knew the unconditional love that they had for me. I still loved my Mom & Dad but once I knew of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love for me, I knew that I could accomplish the challenges that were before me (specifically serving of mission). I still do not want to disappoint my Mom and Dad, but I certainly don’t want to disappoint my Heavenly Parents. I pray that, for whatever reason we can find, we will always choose the right!

RJ

My First Scout Trip (by: Doug Johnson)

My First Scout Trip

It was probably the summer of 1960 when I was able to go on my first official “scout packing trip”. I say probably because that is when I would have been twelve years old and eligible for “overnight” trips with the scouts. I do not remember a lot of details about the trip, but there are a few things about that trip that have always stuck with me and I will never forget.

Our trip was planned for the Granddaddy Lake in the Uintas, which I considered to be the greatest outdoor adventure that a young boy of my age could ever possibly imagine. The Uintas was where the real campers went and the real campers would always catch lots of fish. I had always heard about how great the Uintas where for fishing. The older boys had told us stories about being able to just throw your fishing line into any lake in the Uintas and immediately a fish would grab onto the hook. I was excited to make the trip and experience what it was like to be a “real backpacker”.

The trail into the Granddaddy Lake was not very long (as I think about it today) only about three miles. However, as I think back on the experience when I was twelve years old, I can only remember it seemed we would never get there. We hiked all day and finally arrived at Granddaddy Lake, where we had planned to make our camp.

Brother Jerry Riding, our scoutmaster reminded us that we needed to set up our tents and lean-tos before we went fishing so we would be ready in case it rained. I probably looked up at the sky and thought, “That was not a good idea.” There was not a cloud in the sky and we had been hiking for so long and besides that I wanted to catch a fish. My friend and I (and a few other scouts) decided that we would just go fishing for a while before we set up our lean-to. We had plenty of time before it got dark, so it did not seem like a big deal to have some fun before we started to work. Besides that we had been hiking for a long time and we deserved to have a break. Brother Riding was a good scoutmaster, as he was not demanding. He and the other scouts set up their tents and built their lean-tos, while my friend and I hurried down to the lake to see who could catch the biggest fish.

It did not seem that we were gone for very long, but we could tell that it was getting late as the sun started to dip behind the mountain. Reluctantly my friend and I left the lake and made our way back up the hill to our camp. Unfortunately, before we made it back to camp there was a big dark cloud that suddenly showed up from nowhere and it started to rain and rain and rain. The thunder crashed and the lightning flashed across the sky. I remember running up the trail that lead back to camp, but we were not able to get back to camp in time. The rain came down hard and by the time we made it back to camp, our sleeping bags and supplies was soaked. I remember standing over the top of my soaked sleeping bag and looking up into the trees. I could see Brother Riding and the other scouts all nestled in their tents and huddled under their lean-tos.

As I said, Brother Riding was a good scoutmaster. He was not demanding as he was willing to let us experience our own agency. He was willing to let us fish all that we wanted, but he was also not going to keep us from experiencing the consequences of our choice. He and the other scouts remained comfortably tucked away in their tents and lean-tos, while they watched my friend and I franticly trying to find some sort of cover. My friend and I along with a few other scouts, who also chose to play before the work was done, found ourselves trying to make a fire in the rain. I distinctly remember that night as being one of the coldest and longest nights that I have ever experienced. We huddled around the campfire with our backsides to the fire, while our front sides chilled in the cold night air. We would rotate from front to back throughout the night, but never able to get completely dry as the rain continued throughout the night.

The next day was spent mostly huddled around the fire, still trying to dry out our sleeping bags. We were finally able to build our lean-to, but it took the entire day to get ready for the next night of rain. I still remember how foolish I felt for not following Brother Riding’s advice when we first arrived at our campsite. I have never forgotten that experience as the Scout Motto of “Be Prepared” took on a whole new meaning for me. I am also thankful for Brother Riding. He could have pampered my friend and me, but he chose to let us learn from our own mistakes. I remember that second night as being the most comfortable night I have ever spent in the mountains. I still had the stark contrast from the night before, so I could easily tell the difference. I was warm and comfortable under my lean-to, even though it rained all night, which was not the feeling that I had from the night before.

That experience has taught me a number of lessons that has helped to give direction to me in my life. Some of the lessons that I learned from this experience include: 1) it is always best to take care of first things first; 2) sometimes you have to do things that you do not want to do, but you do them anyway, because you know that it is the right thing to do; 3) we will always have our agency to chose, but we do not always have the freedom to choose the consequences of our decisions; 4) good leaders will always help to give direction to our lives; 5) the lessons that we learn early in life will help us to avoid more “pitfalls” later in life.