Lesson Summary 1/4/2015: An Introduction to Ezra Taft Benson's life

See "The Life and Ministry of Ezra Taft Benson" for the full lesson material

Throughout the years of his mature life, when he walked with presidents and kings, he never lost the touch of his boyhood farm days. He never lost his capacity for work. He never lost the will to rise at dawn and work into the night. But there was more than a tremendous habit of work that came out of that boyhood home. There was a certain strength that comes from the soil. There was a constant reminder of the dictum given Adam and Eve when they were driven from the garden: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground” (Gen. 3:19). A spirit of self-reliance was built into those who worked the soil. There were no government farm programs then, no subsidies of any kind. The vagaries of the seasons had to be accepted. Killing frosts, unseasonal storms, wind, and drought were all accepted as the risks of life against which there was no available insurance. Storage against a day of want was a necessity, else there would be hunger. The one constant resource against the risks of life was prayer, prayer to our eternal, loving Father, the Almighty God of the universe. - Gordon B. Hinkley 

Reflecting on his experiences with the young men in his ward, President Benson said: “One of the joys of working with boys is the fact that you do get your pay as you go along. You have an opportunity to observe the results of your leadership daily as you work with them through the years and watch them grow into stalwart manhood, accepting eagerly its challenges and responsibilities. Such satisfaction cannot be purchased at any price; it must be earned through service and devotion. What a glorious thing it is to have even a small part in helping to build boys into men, real men."

 [about post-WWII European saints]:
 "As I looked into their upturned faces, pale, thin, many of these Saints dressed in rags, some of them barefooted, I could see the light of faith in their eyes as they bore testimony to the divinity of this great latter-day work, and expressed their gratitude for the blessings of the Lord. …
“We found that our members had carried on in a marvelous way. Their faith was strong, their devotion greater, and their loyalty unsurpassed. We found very little, if any, bitterness or despair. There was a spirit of fellowship and brotherhood which had extended from one mission to the other, and as we traveled, the Saints asked us to take their greetings to their brothers and sisters in other countries although their nations had been at war only a few months before.” Even the refugees “sang the songs of Zion with … fervor” and “knelt together in prayer night and morning and bore testimony … regarding the blessings of the gospel."

[about the people lined up to see the funeral procession in Whitney, ID]:

This outpouring of affection was indeed a tribute, but it was more than that. It was visible evidence that people’s lives had changed because they had followed the counsel of a prophet. And the people who gathered along the highway represented many more. Between the time Ezra Taft Benson was born near Whitney, Idaho, and the time his mortal remains were buried there, he served as an instrument in the Lord’s hands, traveling throughout the world and helping millions come unto Christ.

Thank you Tori G. for giving a wonderful lesson