Noble's Rite of Passage

An eleven-year-old's last sacrament presentation.

One of my favorite talks from President Monson during this last General Conference was the one titled, "To Learn, to Do, to Be." In it President Monson talks about a letter he received from Theron W. Borup. This letter talks about how Brother Borup had a desire to live his life in a way that he could always have the Holy Ghost. He wasn't sure when or why he would need it, but he wanted to be prepared.

During WWII, Brother Borup was an engineer gunner on a B-29 bomber. Because of heavy enemy fire the crew had to bail out of the plane over the ocean. As he was parachuting down to the water's surface, he had some trouble opening his life raft, so when he hit the water he began to drown and then passed out. He came to momentarily and cried out, "God save me!" Again he tried inflating the life raft and this time he was successful. Once it had folded out he rolled over on top of it too exhausted to move. He floated for three days with his crew. Then a storm came up with 30 foot high waves that almost tore the rafts apart. Another three days went by with no food or water.

That evening they saw a submarine that they thought had come to search for them. It totally missed them and passed on by. As the submarine left the area, he heard the promptings of the Holy Ghost, "You have the priesthood. Command the sub to pick you up." In a few minutes the submarine was along side them. When they were on deck the captain said, "I don't know how we ever found you, for we were not even looking for you."

I learned from this story that as long as you live worthy to keep the Holy Ghost and honor the priesthood that all things are possible. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Noble will turn twelve in April and receive the priesthood. I often hope and pray that we have prepared him for this rite of passage. Today as he told the story and bore his testimony, I saw a four-year-old boy dressed as Adam the Prophet for his very first primary presentation. That little boy was very frustrated during that first program because he wanted to be Lehi instead. I have seen him participate in 8 different programs. He has learned many songs, though, he only sings them at home. I have watched him sway back and forth to the music, much to the chagrin of his primary chorister. I have been amazed at his ability to speak fluently and with emotion in front of a large congregation. He has incredible timing in his talks and often improvises for comedic affect. I got rather teary-eyed this morning, as I relived his primary years. When he finished, he looked so grown up in his jacket, white shirt, and tie. He looked almost ready to be a deacon, a young man growing up so very fast.