The Second Coming
"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall
send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together his elect from the four winds, from one end
of
heaven to the other."
-Matthew 24:30-31
A Boy Learns a Lesson
Thomas S. Monson
In about my tenth year, as Christmas approached, I longed for and electric
train. the times were those of the economic depression, yet my mother and
dad purchased for me a lovely electric train.
Christmas morning bright and early I thrilled when I noticed my train. the
next few hours were devoted to operating the transformer and watching the
engine pull its cars forward - then backward around the track.
Mother said that she had purchased a windup train for the widow Hansen's
boy, Mark, who lived down the lane at Gale street. as I looked at his train, I
noted a tanker car which I so much admired. I put up such a fuss that my
mother succumbed to my pleadings and gave me the tanker car. I put it with
the train set and felt pleased.
My mother and I took the remaining cars and the engine down to Mark
Hansen. the young boy was a year or two older that I . He had never
anticipated such a gift. He was thrilled beyond words. He wound the key in
his engine, it not being electric or as expensive as mine, and was overjoyed
as the engine and the three cars, plus caboose went around the track.
I felt a horrible sense of guilt as I returned home. the tanker car no longer
appealed to me. suddenly, I took the tank car in my hand, plus and
additional car of my own, and ran all the way down to Gale Street and
proudly announced to Mark, "we forgot to bring two cars which belong to
your train."
I don't know when a deed has made me feel any better than that experience as
a ten-year-old boy.
Recommended Song: Away in a Manger
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