Lessons from my elders

Tonight for our weekly church youth activity we had a veterans night. We invited the oldest veterans in our congregation to come and talk about their experiences in the military. First of all, I have known these men my entire life but I have only known them as well put together and settled grandparent type individuals. Never had I thought of them as 18 year old boys at war. It was really interesting and I could go on and on about their stories...but instead I'm going to get to the point.

What I realized was that they haven't always been wise adults with a home, a steady job, and a wife and kids...but they were once young adults like me, uncertain of what their future holds. Obvious, I know...but I'm a slow learner. I kept thinking of Elder Holland (love him!) when he talked about wanting to call out to his younger self, "Don't give up, boy. Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead--a lot of it--30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come."

As I listened to my former bishop standing in front of us tonight, now showing signs of age, reminiscing about the time spent as a young sailor in World War II, I couldn't help but try and imagine him at the beginning of his adult life, wondering what in the world life had in store for him and hoping it would improve.

One of the brethren talked of how he was single while most of the others he served with were married. He said that while they spent time with their wives on their leave, he traveled and saw many sights. He said he liked that opportunity, but he was very lonely. Boy could I relate to that! But here he is, married, with grown children and their growing and perhaps grown children. Who would have thought that he was a lonely young man once upon a time??

It was just a good reminder that even though the details of each of our stories are different, trials come and go, and most importantly there is help and happiness ahead. Again I was reminded that as long as I'm doing the best I can, I will stand at the other end of my life and look back and see the "big picture".

Like Steve Jobs says "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards."