The Lord has indicated a mission is a privilege and responsibility. For a young man, your first hard decision may be whether you should be a missionary or not. There will be a job for you.” Your Difficult DecisionsĪs a youth, you will have challenges and hard decisions to make throughout your life. He added, “When you come back from the mission, I want you to call me. Then something happened I never thought would occur. He said he would read the Book of Mormon. What is it you have?” There followed a very interesting, quiet conversation. He looked at me and said, “Sit down, Scott, what do you have? I have tried every way I can to force you to change. I went with a copy of the Book of Mormon in my hand. My last day in the office I asked for an appointment with the admiral. My heart kept saying, “Is this going to turn out all right, or will somebody be innocently hurt who depends on our program for livelihood?”Īs I prayed and pondered about it, I had a feeling about the hymn “Do What Is Right.” A line from the hymn would come to mind: “Do what is right let the consequence follow.” Other words from the hymn were reinforcing such as “God will protect you then do what is right!” ( Hymns, no. In the Idaho Falls, Idaho, area were many members of the Church whose jobs depended upon working in the nuclear program. But I knew that my decision would affect others. It wasn’t going to be hard for me to leave I knew I had been called as a mission president by the Lord. He assigned an individual to take my responsibility, and I trained him. When critical decisions had to be made, he would send a messenger, or I would communicate through a third party. True to his word, the admiral ceased to speak to me. I responded, “Admiral, you can bar me from the office, but unless you prevent me, I am going to turn this assignment over to another individual.” You are finished, not only here, but don’t ever plan to work in the nuclear field again.” There was more conversation, and he finally said, “I never will talk to you again. I said, “I can train my replacement in the two remaining months, and there won’t be any risk to the country.” Second, if you do go, you are a traitor to your country.” “Scott, what you are doing in this defense program is so vital that it will take a year to replace you, so you can’t go. He said some unrepeatable things, broke the paper tray on his desk, and in the comments that followed clearly established two points: As I explained the mission call to him and that it would mean I would have to quit my job, he became rather upset. I knew him well enough that I felt I needed to tell him as soon as possible that I was being called. The head of the program I was working for was Admiral Hyman Rickover, a hard-working, demanding individual. I flew up to meet him, and we had an interview that led to my call to be a mission president. He was in New York City, and I was in Washington, D.C. Elder Lee, who later became President of the Church, asked if he could see me that very night. I said, “He’s right.” I took the phone call. My secretary came in and said, “There’s a man on the phone who says if I tell you his name you’ll come to the phone.” We must exercise courage and faith and choose the right, even though many around us are not.Īfter 11 exciting years of working at that job, I was in a meeting one night with those developing an essential part of the nuclear power plant. That shows us that the Lord will bless our lives if we follow His promptings and do what the prophets say. It just worked out that the Lord helped me. There were more experienced people applying for it. As I look back, it should have been virtually impossible for me to get that job. Through a series of what I now see as unusual experiences, I was interviewed to have a job as an engineer in a new and exciting activity: the design and development of nuclear power plants for submarines. The Lord Began to Bless MeĪfter I graduated from college, served a mission, and got married, my wife and I moved to the eastern United States, where I found a job. With a sincere desire to help you gain confidence in your ability to consistently make right choices, I will share a personal experience that taught me important lessons. I have learned from personal experience how making the right decision at a critical time can bless your entire life. To qualify for inspiration and direction from the Lord throughout your life, decide now to do what the Lord wants you to do-even though it may appear to be a sacrifice or very challenging.
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