Trails to Testimony: Bringing Young Men to Christ Through Scouting

by Bradley D. Harris

As a small boy in grammar school, I had a teacher who made King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table come alive. She caused me to become so obsessed with stories of knights that I dreamed that I was one. One evening I dreamed that I was a knight on a white horse riding over the greens of England. Suddenly, without warning, a knight dressed in black armor and mounted on a black horse appeared at the edge of the forest. We measured each other carefully, lowered our lanced, and charged at full gallop. The lances struck target and both of us were knocked off our steeds. I scrambled to my feet knowing that swords would be drawn and that hand-to-hand combat was imminent. (at this point I threw the Styrofoam sword to the boy representing the knight dressed in black). Fear gripped my heart as I saw my opponent rushing toward me flashing a long, gleaming sword (then I threw the small Styrofoam knife to the boy representing Elder Asay). Instinctively, I reached to my side and drew forth from the scabbard my weapon. That is when the dream turned into a nightmare! For in my hand was a small, dinky dagger – not a long, gleaming sword. I woke up in a cold sweat screaming for help. Many times since that nightmarish experience, I have wondered about the serviceability of the Saints, particularly the young Latter-day Saints. When God calls you to serve, are you positioned in the scabbard and ready to be drawn? When the Lord draws you forth as his instrument in combating evil forces, w...