Do Ye Even So To Them

To my daughter, 

                This week you watched some videos about creative ways to do pranks on people, and it inspired your brother to pull a prank on your sister this morning (with a little bit of your help). It was creative and pretty funny for you two, but it got your sister upset to have her things messed with. It reminded me of a story that President Hinckley told about a lesson he learned as a boy. He related that in their family home evening, “Father told us stories out of his memory. I still remember one of those stories. I found it recently while going through a book he had published some years ago. Listen to it: ‘An older boy and his young companion were walking along a road which led through a field. They saw an old coat and a badly worn pair of men’s shoes by the roadside, and in the distance they saw the owner working in the field. The younger boy suggested that they hide the shoes, conceal themselves, and watch the perplexity on the owner’s face when he returned.’” In other words, the younger boy thought it would be fun to pull a prank on this man. But the older boy was wiser. President Hinckley continued relating the account, “‘The older boy … thought that would not be so good. He said the owner must be a very poor man. So, after talking the matter over, at his suggestion, they concluded to try another experiment. Instead of hiding the shoes, they would put a silver dollar in each one and … see what the owner did when he discovered the money. So they did that. Pretty soon the man returned from the field, put on his coat, slipped one foot into a shoe, felt something hard, took it out and found a silver dollar. Wonder and surprise [shone] upon his face. He looked at the dollar again and again, turned around and could see nobody, then proceeded to put on the other shoe; when to his great surprise he found another dollar. His feelings overcame him. … He knelt down and offered aloud a prayer of thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife being sick and helpless and his children without bread. … He fervently thanked the Lord for this bounty from unknown hands and evoked the blessing of heaven upon those who gave him this needed help.’” President Hinckley commented that the boys “had been touched by his prayer and felt something warm within their hearts. As they left to walk down he road, one said to the other: ‘Don’t you have a good feeling?’” These boys had found that while a prank might have been a little fun for a minute (followed by regret), doing a secret act of service brought true joy to them and someone else.

                I hope that you will always look for ways that you can serve and bless others through kind deeds. The Savior taught us how we should live each day: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). This is often called the “golden rule” and gives us a powerful guideline for making all of our decisions. Another way to put it is this: “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” We should treat other people like we want them to treat us; we should do things for others that we would want to have done unto us. This simple teaching can help us each day to know what we should say to people, how we should interact with them, and how we should serve them. For example, it is easy for you to understand that you like it when others share with you; that means it would be good for you to share with them. You like it when people say nice things about you; that means it would be good for you to say nice things about others. Anything you would like someone to do for you, try to do that thing for someone else. Towards the end of His life the Savior gave a similar teaching but in a different way: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35). To be a true follower of Jesus Christ, we must learn to love one another. Some people like to wear wristbands that say “WWJD” which stands for, “What Would Jesus Do?” They use it to help evaluate choices they make by remembering Him and seeking to do the things He would do. I hope that you will always remember these teachings of Jesus and to strive in your life to love others. When you are tempted to do a prank, seek to do a secret act of service instead. When you think you should say something mean about someone, remember Jesus and instead say something nice. When someone has done something hurtful towards you, instead of seeking revenge seek to show kindness instead. I hope that you will always be like that and never forget that happiness comes from doing the things that the Savior would do. 

Love,

Dad