He lists 10 specific things that will help us to be successful in life. We will not discuss them all, but we will talk about a few that are pertinent to our family. I will use these:
#2 - Don't make exceptions to your standards
#6 - Smile
#7 - Don't complain
#10 - Use the Savior Jesus Christ as the example for your life
I will briefly tell the following story from Elder Scott:
"May
I share an experience with you? I served in the U.S. Navy with Admiral
Hyman G. Rickover, a very demanding individual. When I was called to be a
mission president, he tried to dissuade me from going. When I said it
was a prophet of God who had called me, he said, “If that’s the way
Mormons are, I’m not going to have any of them working in my program.” I
knew there were many families in Idaho, USA, depending on work in that
program, and I was concerned about it.
As I prayed, a song came to my mind: “Do what is right; let the consequence follow” (“Do What Is Right,” Hymns,
no. 237). I did that. I couldn’t see how some of the challenges we
faced would be worked out the way I hoped they would be with the
individual who would come to replace me, but “do what is right; let the
consequence follow.” It all worked out very well.
When
Admiral Rickover knew I was going to leave on a mission, he had said he
never wanted to see me again and never wanted to talk to me again. On
the final day of my working with him, I asked for an appointment. The
secretary gasped, expecting that there was going to be an explosion.
I
went in, and he said, “Scott, sit down. What do you have? I’ve tried
every way I can to change your decision. What is it that you’ve got?”
I handed him a copy of the Book of Mormon and said, “Admiral, I believe in God. And I believe that when we do the best we can, He will help us.”
Then
Admiral Rickover said something that I didn’t ever expect to hear. He
said, “When you finish your mission, I want you to come back and work
with me.”
To help Calli be successful in the 4th and 5th grade Spelling Bee on Thursday, we will have a family spell off and practice from her list of a million words!