Brothers and sisters, I wish to thank President Eyring for the pleasure and the

opportunity
for me to introduce my college roommate, President Rydalsk, to you today.
President Rydalsk thinks it's probably a very dangerous maneuver.
President Rydalsk was born in Grantsville, Utah, and I can't think of a finer name
to
have as a town to be born in.
He was raised, however, in Newdale, Idaho, which is just a few miles from here.
His early schooling and high schooling years took place in Sugar Salem High School
in Sugar
City.
There he was coached by President Ferren Sondrager, who is the president of the
North Rexburg
and a member of our faculty.
Of course, President Rydalsk was a football coach here at Ricks, and one of those
who
preceded him in that position was President Sondrager.
I'm not suggesting that it's a prerogative to be a football coach, to be a state
president,
but it's worked well for those two brethren at this time.
President Rydalsk was recruited by many colleges and selected to University of
Utah, where
he attended school and was the quarterback on three consecutive championship teams
in
the early 1950s.
Also, he participated and was successful as a wrestler at the University of Utah.
At that time, he went into the Air Force through the Air Force ROTC program and for
three years
was a jet pilot in the United States Air Force.
After he got out of the Air Force, he became a football coach at Granger, Utah, and
then
in 1962 he came to Ricks College, where he has been very active in the church and
in
Ricks College Affairs, serving as the coach of the national championship cross
country
team as well as being very successful as the football coach here at Ricks College.
His present assignment at Ricks College is he's the chairman of the Division of
Religious
and Family Affairs.
Brothers and sisters, Dr. Rydalsk, or President Rydalsk, has been very successful
in many
areas.
There's two areas where I think he's been very successful that tie in with college
life,
and one of those areas is that I would testify to you that there has been no finer
example
of a roommate who set examples in church service and church activities than he did
while he
was a college student.
I know of no one that has done any better than he did in that area.
He then courted and was successful in one of his greatest achievements, and that is
securing Dora Lee Bowman, a very lovely lady, a very beautiful woman, who was being
pursued
by many, by the way, up here at Ricks College while he was down at the University
of Utah.
His charm won her over, and it had to be his charm because he's very quiet and
doesn't
say very much, and they are the parents today of 11 children.
Three of them have attended Ricks College.
Melody attended here and is now on a mission in Australia.
Laurie attended here and is now at BYU, and Shelley, of course, is with us here
today.
His other achievement that ties him in with college students that I'd like to tell
you
about what might be the only humorous part of the program today, because President
Rydalsk
said he was going to be serious, I want to tell you just a story about he had
problems
in courtship just like some of you young men have today.
When he was about a sophomore in college, he invited me to come up here from my
home,
and he had a date with this beautiful young lady by the name of Dora Lee Bowman.
He assured me that she could get me a date even though it would be a hard task, and
we
would go to the biggest dance of the summer up at Max Inn.
I came up, we went to the dance, Dora Lee was beautiful, she was a fine dancer.
I had no date, but what was even more amazing, neither did President Rydalsk,
because Dora
Lee was there with a returned missionary from Idaho Falls.
Brothers and sisters, I think so much of Coach Rydalsk that when I was a senior
Aaronic and
had my oldest child to bless, out of the many people I knew, I called upon him to
do that
assignment which I should have done.
That's how much I care about him.
I give you one of the finest examples of a friend, Don Rydalsk.
My brothers and sisters, I recognize that this is a hallowed hour.
I've had a few restless nights, but I suspect that Coach Grant has had even more.
As devotional speakers go, I wouldn't rank very high on the totem pole, and I know
he's
had a struggle with that introduction.
He could have told a lot more things, all of them true.
But I am very appreciative of our friendship and the many years of good times we've
had
together.
He's had to carry a heavy load for a lot of years.
You misunderstood me.
The first day I arrived at the University of Utah, the coach met me out in front of
the field house and said, how do you like the looks of that lineman over there?
Coach Grant was standing in a doorway and just felt it.
I said, golly, coach, if they're all like that, it's going to be real easy.
It was.
We had a lot of good linemen like Coach Grant, and like I say, he's carried a
pretty heavy
load since then.
I'm delighted to be at Ricks College, a member of the faculty.
I hope I have some vision of the school and students and the work that's to
transpire
here.
I do want to say I appreciate the lovely music of Brother Barris.
I'm not a musician, but anyone can tell the touch of a master's hand as he plays
that
violin.
My brothers and sisters, I'm not going to give a formal speech.
I'd like to talk in a quiet, visiting-type way.
One man well along in years wrote down a number of things in saying this.
He says, life has been rich, but I do have a number of regrets.
He wrote them down under the title, Things I Wish I Hadn't Known When I Was 21.
He wrote down quite a list.
I'm just going to mention a few, and I'd like to talk a little bit about one.
He said, first of all, I wish I had known that a thorough education brings out the
best
in everything.
I wish I had known my health after I'm age 30 was largely dependent upon what I eat
before
I'm 21.
He said, I wish I had known that honesty is the only policy in dealing with my
neighbors,
as well as with my God and myself.
He said, I wish I had known that the harvest depends so much on the seeds that are
sown.
He said, I wish I had known that you could never get something for nothing.
He said, I wish I had known that the world would give me just about what I deserve.
And then the one I'd like to discuss a little bit, he said, I wish I had known what
it meant
to my father and mother to raise a child.
You know, as Latter-day Saints, we understand that marriage and the home is
intended to
be an eternal unit.
Parents get very little practice, very little experience in trying to cope with the
problems
that represent all of the corrective we teach here at Ricks College.
You know, when I was going through pilot training, I kept waiting for the day that
we'd work
on parachuting an airplane.
Never came.
Nothing was ever said.
We wore these parachutes every day.
Nobody ever said anything except this is what you pull.
Finally, I asked somebody, I said, when are we going to work on baiting out of an
airplane
in case we ever have to?
And one guy very slowly and reflectively said, we never will.
He said, there's no need to practice anything that you have to have right the first
time.
Well, parenthood's a lot like that.
Even though we may have a number of children, golly, each one is so different that
parents
go through the process again with very little experience, really.
And consequently, we make a lot of mistakes and it's a learning process.
But I think if you young people maybe understood what it means to raise a child, it
would be
helpful as the man said.
I'd like to suggest two or three things.
And again, I realize there'd be many more.
Some years ago, Elder S. Dilworth Young was walking down the road near Palmyra with
a
group of scouts.
He fell in alongside a particular scout and the day had been sobering and it was a
time
for reflective thinking.
He said to the young man, he says, what do you think of your dad?
He says, oh, you know Elder Young, he says, my dad is rough and tough.
He smokes a little and he drinks a little, but I love him.
But I never get really a chance to tell him because whenever I get close to
mustering
up the courage to tell him, he seems to sense it and tighten up and we never really
get
a chance to communicate.
What the young man didn't know was just prior to the trip, his father had been in
the sea, Elder Young.
And he bore the trademarks of his work, a little crusty, a little rough, but he
loved
his son.
Said Elder Young, when you're on this trip, if you have a chance, I want you to
tell my
son how much I love him.
I want him to be better than I am.
He will be a better individual.
Elder Young went on to tell the young man what it means to be a father.
You know, fathers are blessed with the miracle of children.
President McKay said that's the only real miracle there is.
No father ever feels quite worthy of that.
I think mothers do and rightfully so.
But a father never really feels quite worthy that the Lord has actually blessed him
with
a spirit and with a boy or a girl.
And so fathers often have the same difficulty in raising a child.
We'd like to say more often and we'd like to show more often how we love our
children.
But quite often like the boy and the father, when it gets close to that time, we
kind of
tighten up and I don't quite get it done.
That's one of the matters of communication relative to raising a child.
No arrows in the hands of a mighty warrior are like children in the home.
And happy is the man who hath his quiver full.
Now it doesn't make a lot of difference whether there's one child in your family or
a dozen.
And it doesn't make a lot of difference what the circumstances are in your
particular family.
There is a mother and there is a father who love you.
They may have difficulty in expressing it and quite sometimes showing it.
And maybe at the immediate moment it's not there, but it has been and it will be.
You ought to sense that and make it easy for your parents to tell you that.
Another thing that parents find in raising a child, again referring to my college
experience,
I can remember to this day crossing the campus about 8.30 in the morning and ran
into one
of our football teammates and his wife had just given birth to a baby boy.
And again, you've all witnessed that glow and that joy and that experience.
You can't measure it.
He was just elated.
Well you know three hours later his baby boy was dead.
And that's a tragedy.
Many parents experience that kind of thing in trying to raise a child.
It brings sorrow and deep sorrow.
But you know in time that will turn itself into a joy and to a reaching out and an
expectation
of what is to come.
But parents would like to take all the knocks for their children.
Parents are anxious to have you avoid any thorns and thistles and the pricks of
your
friends and associates or difficult times that come along.
They would gladly trade places and take all of those hard knocks.
That's what it means to raise a child.
I was on the telephone just a few days ago.
The boy was telling me about an automobile accident, described it and then ended up
with
a statement something like this.
It won't make a lot of difference as far as the damage is concerned because the
insurance
company is going to pay the bill.
It won't cost me anything.
It reminded me of a statement I heard Billy Casper say.
You know he's a great golfer and a member of the church.
About the time he was converted to the church he was riding pretty high in the golf
world.
The reporters approached him and wanted to get the rundown on his upcoming
tournament
schedule.
He said, well next week I'm going to play in the Western Open and the following
week
I'm going to play in the Mormon Church Golf Tournament.
The reporter said, well how much is the prize money going to be in that Mormon
Church Tournament?
He says, well there won't be any prize money.
The reporter said, you mean you'd play for nothing?
And Elder Casper said, nobody ever plays for nothing.
Everything costs something.
Somebody pays for everything.
Now your parents in raising you are going to great sacrifice.
We make a mistake if we think that anything is free.
That somebody doesn't have to pay for it.
You can't get a meal, you can't get a piece of clothing, even scholarships and
things
of that nature.
While they may appear on the surface to be free, somebody pays for those.
And sometimes our biggest plays in life, we win, lose or get ourselves involved and
there's really no money involved.
But I think Brother Casper's statement, everything we do costs.
We don't do anything for nothing.
We, as parents and as you young people sit here, one of the things your parents are
concerned
about is your testimony of the gospel.
We had a student come to Ricks College several years ago for a short time.
Her father was president of another school and quite logically would have gone
there.
But she made an agreement with her dad if she could come to Ricks College for a
semester,
then she would go to his college thereafter.
And that's what happened.
When she arrived here, early in the semester, she had a visit with her bishop.
In those days we had wards here.
And she didn't have a testimony of the gospel and told him so.
She just didn't feel any conviction.
Just like she was on a cloud that went nowhere.
And there was little meaning and little consequence to life or what followed.
His counsel was rather short and direct.
He said, what religion class are you taking?
She said, well, I'm taking Book of Mormon.
And then she went on to tell him she was only going to be here a semester and would
just
get through the first half.
He said, I'll tell you what you do.
You read the whole Book of Mormon during this fall semester.
I'm going to promise you that you'll have a testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints.
She did that.
And the last testimony meeting of the semester, she bore such a testimony.
Now, your parents expect you to maintain your testimony, build one if you need to,
and
to acquire one if you need to.
That's one of their primary concerns in raising you as you were at Ricks College,
is a conviction
that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.
Now, another important element in raising a child, particularly in your situation,
your
parents are now concerned about the decisions you're making and about the company
you keep.
I'd kind of like to cite a personal example, if you would.
Long years ago, right here in this vicinity, Easter Sunday was approaching.
And as a young man, we lined up.
We were in the courting age and had some dates for that Sunday.
In this case, we had one.
And those days, we traveled quite a few in a car.
In fact, there were four of us and we had four girls with us.
And so we went to the church meetings and done most of the things that would
normally
be done on Easter Sunday.
And then we pulled up down here in front of the Romance Theater after church and we
had
all decided, that is, the boys had decided, we were going to take in the movie,
kind of
top the day off.
We pulled up in front and I was driving.
And then this girl in the back says, well, I don't go to shows on Sunday.
She says, you people can go ahead and go, but I have a relative down the street.
I'll go on down there.
Well, of course, we all come to our senses, I think, and none of us will.
You know, your parents would hope that you'd make better decisions than I did.
They have tried to teach you to make better decisions.
Your parents are hoping that the company you keep while you're here at Ricks
College
are like the girl who was in the backseat of that car.
We all need to pull each other up and sustain each other and strengthen each other.
There are no small decisions.
Everything is important when we decide in terms of the principles of the gospel.
There is nothing trivial with sacred and hallowed things, with truth that the Lord
has revealed.
I did want to mention the girl in the backseat of that car turned out to be my wife
and consequently
has helped immeasurably in a lot of other things.
I have been greatly blessed with a good wife and family, with good parents, a fine
heritage
and foundation, and you have too.
Now, brothers and sisters, you know, like Nephi, you're at the very stage of the
family
life where you should be carrying a good part of the load.
Now, I realize that among us our families would be in a variety of circumstances.
Some of you come from very active homes, some are nonmembers, some come from
inactive homes,
maybe some parents are even divorced and split up.
But again, a marriage, and if a ceiling is taken place in a temple, that is
intended
to be forever.
That is an eternal unit.
And again, if you work like Nephi did and have all the respect and admiration for
your
parents but shoulder a good bit of the responsibility for fostering and promoting
that eternal unit.
I'd like to quote a verse or two just to kind of maybe crystallize what I'm talking
about.
When he was only nine months old and round and plump and pink of cheek, before he
had
learn to speak, his gentle mother used to say, it is too bad that he must grow.
If I could only have my way, his baby ways, we'd always know.
And then the year was turned and he began to toddle around the floor and name the
things
that he could see and soil the dresses that he wore.
Then many a night she whispered low, our baby now is such a joy, I hate to think
that he
must grow to be a wild and heedless boy.
But on he went and sweeter grew.
And then his mother I recall, wish she could always keep him too, for that's the
finest
age of all.
She thought to herself same thing at three and now that he is four she sighs, to
think
he cannot always be a youngster with those laughing eyes.
Oh little boy, my wish is not to always keep you four years old.
Each night I stand beside your cot and think of what the years may hold.
And looking down on you I pray that when we've lost our baby small, the mother of
our man
will say, this is the finest age of all.
Brothers and sisters, that's true.
This is intended to be the finest age of all, you young brothers and sisters.
Now you think for a minute the joy that you see with a two year old, three year
old, and
a four year old, and the labor that parents put forth in raising you, a child of
God.
Nevertheless as you reach this age of womanhood and manhood, it is intended to be
the finest
age of all.
Now you watch your parents.
You'll see the backs bend a little more.
You'll see that the tears come a little easier and quicker.
Lumps jump into the throat bigger and more readily.
The heart swells and the joy abounds.
Go to a production, a musical, any kind of a production and just look around or
listen
to people say, that's my boy or that's my girl.
That's the way it's intended to be.
But nevertheless, your age is intended to be the finest age of all and intended to
bring
mother and dad the greatest joy and the greatest happiness.
Simply by the way you live and a better realization of what it is, what it means to
raise a child.
Now we don't have all the answers and nobody knows when it ends.
Probably doesn't end.
I suspect that parents will always want to have children around them and children
will
always want to be with parents.
But then as you are in this finest age, will you look at your own eternal unit?
If dad needs a letter, if he needs an expression, if a brother or sister needs a
word of encouragement,
a pat on the back, a kick in the seat of the pants, whatever it is, you are in the
best
position to do something.
You have more vigor.
You're probably sensitive to many of these things, both younger and older.
And you can carry a great burden and be a great assist to your father and mother
despite
whatever the circumstances are.
Make that an eternal unit and you cultivate it the way the Lord has intended your
own
little unit to be.
Brothers and sisters, I bear solemn testimony that the church is true.
We play lots of games, but this is not a game.
It is a real thing.
We travel at once.
It's a one-way trip.
There are certain things we want to get done, we want to accomplish, and we want to
put
together.
And the Lord loves us.
This is His church.
And I bear that testimony in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.