Michael's Gratitude Project

I have many mentors in my life that I am very grateful for.  Most of them are older and more experienced and have taught me lessons through their experience.  However a few times I have come across mentors that didn’t need experience or seniority to teach me important lessons or to give me great gifts.  Here is the story of one of those younger people that I will always be grateful for, not because of their life experience or their grand wisdom but because of their force of character and the quality of their personality. I met Ben Gaughran when I was living in his grandmother’s home in England.  I was about 20 and he was only 15.  Ben, his grandmother and their entire family were very close and so we saw Ben around the house regularly.  My missionary companion at the time was John Parker, he and I got along great and really enjoyed working together.  John was an impressive person himself and he loved to sing.  He came from a family where...

I have never cared very much about what people call me, but for years most people have called me Michael.  I get asked all of the time whether I prefer to be called Mike or Michael and I have a canned response.  I tell everybody that when I was in high school one of my best friends was named Mike and that I was Michael and that was just how we were distinguished.  I probably go through this routine every couple of weeks and have for years.  Each time it reminds me of that Mike who used to be a huge part of my life and who, for many reasons, I am very grateful for. I don’t remember how I met Mike, I think he was a friend of a friend and I am sure that we started to hang out because we were friends with, and probably both trying to woo, the same girl. I remember that by the beginning of our junior year in high school that we were pretty close and that we got much closer through that year.  I could write countless stories of adventures that Mike and I had tha...