Some years ago, when I was a very young man, I was called by our Ward Bishop to serve as the Deacon Quorum Advisor. As is the norm, when a person is called by church leadership, local, stake or by some other authorized church leader, they almost always respond in an affirmative way. And so did I, I had recently graduated from college and had my first professional job at a local high school. The Deacon’s Quorum is the first Aaronic Priesthood assignment that a young boy is called to experience, when he turns twelve years of age. When they turn 14 they are generally advanced to the office of a Teacher and so on. After the Sacrament is blessed by Priests or Elders, the Deacons, assignment in each ward, pass the sacramental symbols of bread and water to the members of the Ward. In times past, on the first Sunday of each month, the deacons were assigned to go around the ward area and collect Fast Offerings from members. A fast offering was the equivalent of the price of two meals for those who could afford it. The money was collected by the deacon’s and given to the Bishop to help with the poor in the ward area. The Deacons Quorum advisor taught a lesson to the Deacons during their weekly priesthood meeting. On the first Sunday of each month, after the lesson, I would have to drive them around to gather Fast Offerings, if their father’s couldn’t take them. They gathered offerings only from those who could afford to share. It was fun for me to watch the young deacons jump out of my car and run up to houses. They’re pants were often twisted around, with their white shirts halfway tucked in and half not. Their hair by now was disheveled. But to me they were young angels doing the Lord’s will, so that some of our poor could eat or have heat in their homes. At that time, the Deacon’s Advisor was also their coach and mentor in most every way you could think of. Love for them cannot be helped, the prayer and hope is that they will grow to be good men and Elders who will serve the Lord faithfully. The following story was written by a gentleman who grew up in Salt Lake City during the pioneer days. He writes that as a deacon he was assigned to gather the fast offerings on his block. The main difference, in his day, the deacons were not driven around as they were in my day, as there were no, or very few cars. His Advisor, at the time he was a deacon, was a brother Reid, who had a little red wagon that he would bring over to this deacons home so he could pull it around from house to house to gather Fast Offering items. Not only did he gather the Fast Offerings but he also delivered them to those who needed help. He visited every home, both members and non-members alike, to give them the opportunity to give something for the poor. He said that one home might give him a large lump of coal, another some wood, another a scoop of flour, a bottle of fruit, a cup of sugar or a slab of bacon, etc. The young Deacon tells: “One day I missed my assignment in order to play football and the next day Brother Reid knocked on our door and I opened with my head hung low, knowing what he was there for. He said, “Willard, do you have time to take a little walk with me?” I went with him, we stopped first at a little frame home and he gently rapped on the door. A frail little thin lady came to the door and said, “Brother Reid, we didn’t get our food yesterday and we haven’t a thing to eat in the whole house. Brother Reid said; “I am sorry sister but I am sure that we’ll have something here before the close of day.” We went to another door and knocked and a voice said, “Please come in.” We went in and an aged man and his wife were still in bed. The man said, “ Bro Reid, we are without coal and we had to stay in bed to keep warm.” The next place we stopped we were greeted by a mother with three small children. The baby was crying and the other children had tear stained faces. That was enough! As we parted Bro Reid said gently, “Willard, whenever anybody fails to do his duty, someone suffers.” I was about to cry for my neglect of duty, thank you Brother Reid for being so understanding. Those people had their coal and food early that afternoon and I had learned a valuable lesson.
D.G. McIntire wrote about the summer he, a young city kid, stayed on his Uncle’s farm. Everybody on the farm had a job to do, his was to keep a supply of firewood on hand, at all times, for the kitchen stove. I learned to use the crosscut, the bucksaw and the axe, and I enjoyed it. I did not foresee the crisis I created one day when I neglected my job. My aunt could not make breakfast for all the empty stomachs before they had to get out into the fields. I averted the crisis by getting up at an unearthly hour, 4 A.M. to split wood. It was a shock to find for the first time in his life, when other people dependent on him. In families, or at work places, we are all interdependent on each other. We each have a place, a job or responsibility, the expectation is that we are all responsible and our jobs will be done. When they are not, they cause a problem for everybody that is a part of that organization.