Impart of Your Substance

To my son,

               As you know, one of the persons whom you were named after is your fourth-great grandfather. He came to Utah with his foster parents when he was very small, and he grew up in Springville, Utah. He learned how to run a grist mill where they turn wheat into flour for cooking. He continued that profession after he was married, running two different grist mills in Midway. Later he also took up farming, and yet even though he worked producing food in these professions, he sometimes did not have enough food for his own family. In fact, his daughter recorded this about one time they were especially poor during a period of a general depression in the United States: “[They] lived in a tent by the side of the road, with none too much worldly goods, and there were hundreds of men tramping by looking for work. But each hungry man that stopped by their door received a bit to eat and a cheering word.” His daughter also wrote this about her father when he was running a grist mill: “People would pass by the other mills to come to Father's because he made the best flour, but Mother said it was because he was so generous. He would feel sorry for them and not take out his portion of the grist. She often had to borrow a pan of flour from the neighbors to tide them over until he felt them well enough off to pay. He would give his last dime or the shirt from his back to others less fortunate.” Think of that—they would sometimes have to borrow flour from neighbors even though they ran a mill making flour! It was because he was so generous that he would give it all away. What an incredible legacy he has left us of giving and loving others. I hope that you and I can both learn to be more like him and always be willing to give what we have to help others.

Today I want to encourage you to always be generous to those around you like your fourth great grandfather. This is what King Benjamin taught his people about giving: “And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another” (Mosiah 4:21). We know that our Father in Heaven hears and answers our prayers and gives liberally to us, just as the Savior testified, saying that “your Father which is in heaven give(s) good things to them that ask him” (Matthew 7:11). So to be like Him, we should likewise seek to give to those who are in need around us, to always share what we have with others. King Benjamin gave us a powerful promise about what the Lord would do for us if we would indeed impart of our substance to help our neighbor: “For the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants” (Mosiah 4:26). As we share what we have to help the poor and the hungry and the sick, the Lord promises to always forgive us of our sins. In other words, as we show mercy to others, God will show mercy to us. Never forget what the Savior taught: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). I hope you will always live by that principle and your life will indeed be richly blessed. I know that you have a loving heart, and I encourage you to find ways each day to share with others and be the kind of friend that the Savior would have you be.

Love,

Dad