Heber J. Grant

During my youth, I had wonderful Primary and Sunday School teachers who taught me the gospel and strengthened my testimony, but after all these years, the lessons are just a blur. The one exception is a lesson about Heber J. Grant. I can't remember who taught it, or my age at the time, but I do know that the lesson greatly impacted my life.

The themes of the lesson were perseverance and determination, which Heber J. Grant exemplified. For example, he wished to obtain employment at the Wells Fargo and Company Bank, but his penmanship was far too sloppy. He practiced and practiced, using "carloads of paper," until his handwriting was so beautiful that he was frequently called upon to write greeting cards, insurance policies, and legal documents. He was even asked to teach penmanship at the University of Deseret.

On a similar note, he was downright awful at baseball, lacking the strength and coordination to bat the ball or to run from base to base. In fact, when he had the ball, his teammates would yell, "Throw it here, Sissy!" Heber decided that he was going to learn to play baseball and vowed to be a member of the team that won the state championship. He worked hard to earn a dollar to buy a baseball, then spent hours throwing it against his bishop's barn. Through great determination and hard work, he eventually became a member of the baseball team that won the championship in California, Colorado, and Wyoming.

Like baseball and penmanship, vocal skills did not come easily to Heber. His mother tried to teach him to sing, but eventually gave up because he couldn't learn to carry a tune. He joined a singing group, but sang so poorly that the professor told him that he could never in this world learn to sing. However, a friend told him that anybody could sing if they practiced enough. So practice he did, and eventally learned to carry a tune.

I think the lesson on Heber J. Grant stood out to me because I could relate to it. Few skills come easily to me, and usually only through hard work and determination do I become successful at anything. Over the years, I have reflected many times upon the lesson and it's message and gained strength to ovecome my weaknesses.


Heber J. Grant often quoted the following words by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do,

not that the nature of the thing has changed,

but that our power to do so is increased."

How perfectly these words seem to reflect the man he was and the values he held dear!!

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