All Things What Ye Should Do

To my son,

                In September of 1989, a boy scout troop went on a camping trip at the Hidden Treasure Mine in the Oquirrh Mountains. The scoutmaster Terry had a ten-year-old boy Josh whom he brought along, and on Friday evening they went into the mine to explore. But soon one of the scouts needed to turn back, and Terry turned around to take him out. Josh said he would stick with the other scouts and went in further to catch up. His father exited one direction—with their flashlight—and Josh went in following the other scouts who didn’t realize he was coming behind them. Josh never found them, and soon he was in total darkness with no idea how to get out of the mine. What followed was a massive search for this young boy lost in the mine, but he was nowhere to be found. On Saturday and Sunday dozens of rescue crew endlessly scoured the mine. A Tooele resident named John Skinner soon heard about this little boy lost in the mine, and he wanted to help. He had grown up exploring the mine because his grandfather was the superintendent, but when he offered his services, the authorities turned him down.

I quote from an article describing what this man did next: “He decided to go up to the mine and see for himself, but only made it up to Stockton where the road was blocked. No, they didn’t care how well he knew the mine, he wasn’t needed there…. Something kept telling him that he had to get up there, that he had a key to finding the boy. He took a drive one more time to Stockton and one more time was stopped. As Sunday turned into Monday, whenever John Skinner had a moment, he prayed for Josh, and the news media reported that few people still assumed that Josh could be in the mine. Searchers had combed every inch of it… Nothing…. But John Skinner, still pushed with the sense that he could find the boy, was not allowed near the mine. Having been turned away twice on the Stockton side of the mountain, he hatched an idea. He decided to go up the mountain on the Ophir side on a different unguarded road, and then go into the old Buckhorn mine which he knew connected with the Hidden Treasure…. It took him hours to wind his way through the nooks and crannies of the abandoned mine. When he got to the place where the two holes joined, fallen timbers and rocks made it too dangerous to cross. He was foiled again…. John couldn’t rest. He prayed, and he felt all but compelled to try again. On Tuesday, he finally made it up to the camp… ‘I know this area. I know the mine,’ he pled with authorities. ‘If you don’t leave now, we’ll escort you out,’ a deputy told him.

“Some were saying that shortly the entrance to the mine should be blasted shut so that nobody could ever be lost in there again. It was a bad night for John Skinner, as a discouraging cloud sunk over his spirit. He kept praying about it, and three areas of the mine kept coming to his mind…. John hardly slept that Tuesday night, tossing and turning and praying. When he awoke on Wednesday morning, he had an entirely new feeling. He was going to go up there, no matter what, and find Josh…. Wednesday was the last day of the search. A Utah Power and Light team from Carbon County, with high-powered, sophisticated experience in mine rescue, had been called onto the scene on Tuesday, and still the ten-year old had not shown up.” As he met with them and showed he knew the mine, he was finally permitted to help. It had been nearly five days since Josh was lost. [Two others came with him] and “they went to the first of the three places that John had been impressed to look. Nothing. They went to the second place. Nothing again. As they went to the third spot in the mine, they were talking and calling, ‘Josh, Josh,’ and suddenly Ray Guyman, who was deaf in one ear said, ‘Shh. Did you hear that?’ They became still and listened. A faint cry came, ‘Help.’ Different colored ribbons hung everywhere, showing that the area had been checked and rechecked by scores of people. How could the little boy have been missed? But the cry came again: ‘Help.’ Cold chills went down John’s back. He’d always known it. The boy was alive. For five days and nights he had held on. Neither terror, nor dehydration, nor hunger had taken him. Josh had seen their light and was able to answer…. He had sunken eyes from dehydration and rocks in his hands because in his dreams he was eating a hamburger and drinking Sprite, but no sight could have looked better to three rescuers than Josh Dennis. ‘We’ll take you out to your Mom and Dad.’”

Josh is my cousin, and how grateful we are that John Skinner did not give up trying to save Josh! I hope that this story will always remind us of two things. First, the Lord will never give up on us. He declared, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15-16). He will always be there to help and guide and protect you throughout your life if you strive to keep your covenants with Him. Second, we should strive to follow the Spirit even when it is hard and we have setbacks. John Skinner kept looking for Josh because the Spirit was pushing him to do so, and so even when just about everyone else believed Josh was dead, he kept trying to save the lost boy. When you were baptized you received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and as you seek to listen to the still, small voice you will be guided in the things that you do. Nephi gave us this promise: “For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:5). Take time to listen to the feelings that come to you about what you should do and act on the righteous impressions you get—sometimes you may not realize until later that it was the Holy Ghost guiding you. As we were getting into the car on Friday to go skiing, I remembered at the last second that I didn’t have helmets for your brother and sister. I ran and got those, and because of that your brother was wearing his helmet when he ran into the tree with his head. If he hadn’t had a helmet he would have been seriously injured, and I am sure that it was the Holy Ghost prompting me to get those helmets before we left. This promise to Jared Carter is surely valid for you and me as well: “And I will send upon him the Comforter, which shall teach him the truth and the way whither he shall go” (Doctrine and Covenants 79:2). He has sent upon you His Comforter, and I know that the Lord will guide you in your life as you learn to listen to Him. Like John Skinner you can be a great blessing to others through your deeds if you follow the Spirit. Always remember these powerful words of the Savior to the Prophet Joseph Smith: “Be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours” (Doctrine and Covenants 78:18). Always stay close to the Lord and He will indeed lead you along to blessings far greater than you can imagine. 

Love, Dad