Trails to Testimony: Bringing Young Men to Christ Through Scouting

by Bradley D. Harris

leaders, a host of leaders, a nation of leaders did for me as a Scout. . . . “Here today, and tomorrow and last week and next month and forever, we pray there will be leaders who will invest themselves in the next generation and pass the torch of liberty and love and loyalty and service and devotion and reverence to you. “I am the beneficiary of those kinds of leaders and so are you. The principles and virtues, the laws, the oaths, the mottos, the emblems, the symbols, the statement of scouting . . . is 45 years more important to me now than the day I received my eagle.” You may not receive feedback from the young men during your tenure as their leader, but at some point either in this life or the next, your name will be called blessed for the work you did and for the way it impacted those you served. A BYU student and Eagle Scout named Casey described to me the influence of his teacher’s quorum adviser: My teacher’s quorum adviser was fun and respectful. In fact, I always remember him teaching us to be respectful. I remember on my mission always thinking what he taught us about respecting people even when they were not the most respectful back to us. I learned some lifelong lessons, and he probably has no clue how much he affected me. Having this kind of impact on young men doesn’t happen by accident. We need to prepare ourselves. The scriptures admonish us to learn our duty (see D&C 107:99). Duty requires that we learn and then apply what we have learned. However, is du...