Of Men and Boys

Captivating title, eh? Bet you thought this blog entry would be something scandalizing about how Sister Stewart has failed to take President Kimball's advice to "lock her heart." Try again. I'm not so bad as that.

This is an entry of an entirely more sobering sort. I learned this week that these goofy 18-21 year-old comrades of mine aren't just boys, but men. The Priesthood is what bridges the gap.

Imagine training at 11 weeks. You're young and insecure and pretty ignorant about the mission still. Imagine loving your 19 year-old companion more than you thought possible. you laugh at her crazy love of animals, and rejoice in her bold teaching style, and on Mondays you play the quarter machines at Wal-Mart and listen to her favorite church song on repeat in the car. Now imagine struggling with her through homesickness. And when that homesickness blossoms into anxiety, which blossoms into sleeplessness and malnutrition you will cry with her and pray for her and trust all the while that she will be okay.

And then one day, President will call and say to her, "Pack your bags; you've got a ticket home at 4pm." And it's not okay anymore. But there is not time to mourn, just to cancel the appointments, hustle to the mission home, and spend the next five days in a trio with the sisters an area away, trying to keep your area alive and to put things in readiness to train yet again. Imagine the grief and the worry and the pace that still never slows. And then the awkwardness of not having food or clothes or your usual apartment.

Whew.

Enter the priesthood.

One day after my comp flew home, I found myself sitting on a chair in the primary room, surrounded by four teenage boys. My district leader and zone leaders laid their hands on my head and evoked the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood in my behalf. I could hear their post-lunch stomachs growling, and I sensed a few shaking hands as the elder offering the blessing paused and shifted to speak the words of God. I cannot recall the exact words spoken, but I received comfort and counsel and a moment of peace. I knew that they were speaking for God.

And how marvelous that God's love for me would be delivered by a group of gangly teenage boys! I am amazed every day to see young men -- at an age when society expects them to be nothing more than renegade -- in suits and ties, working day and night for the sole purpose of blessing others. They delivered my mattress to the temporary apartment so I could sleep well at night. They counseled me not to be discouraged. They called, coordinated, and made certain that I was not left alone.

I am blessed by them. I am blessed by their humor, their faith, their leadership, and their service.

Most of all, I am blessed by the Priesthood of God. How kind our Heavenly Father is to train up men to be worthy brothers, husbands, sons, and fathers! I would believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints if all it had going for it was this Priesthood. It is the means by which God transforms boys to men. He makes them followers of Jesus Christ, having access to the very powers of heaven.

All will be well. God is on our side.
Doctrine & Covenants 121