A small part of my Father's Day Sacrament Mtg talk

Happy Fathers' Day to our Dads and Grandpas! We love you and honor you today. And maybe tomorrow, too.

I'll spare you from my lengthy Sacrament Meeting talk today. But I did want to share one of the stories I used, as told by President George Albert Smith, who was named after his grandfather. George A. Smith was a first cousin of the Prophet Joseph, and was called as an apostle at the young age of 22.

“A number of years ago I was seriously ill. In fact, I think everyone gave me up but my wife. With my family I went to St. George, Utah, to see if it would improve my health…I became so weak as to be scarcely able to move. It was a slow and exhausting effort for me even to turn over in bed.

“One day, under these conditions, I lost consciousness of my surroundings and thought I had passed to the Other Side. I found myself standing with my back to a large and beautiful lake, facing a great forest of trees. There was no one in sight, and there was no boat upon the lake or any other visible means to indicate how I might have arrived there. I realized, or seemed to realize, that I had finished my work in mortality and had gone home. I began to look around, to see if I could not find someone. There was no evidence of anyone’s living there, just those great, beautiful trees in front of me and the wonderful lake behind me.

“I began to explore, and soon I found a trail through the woods which seemed to have been used very little, and which was almost obscured by grass. I followed this trail, and after I had walked for some time and had traveled a considerable distance through the forest, I saw a man coming towards me. I became aware that he was a very large man, and I hurried my steps to reach him, because I recognized him as my grandfather. In mortality he weighed over three hundred pounds, so you may know he was a large man. I remember how happy I was to see him coming. I had been given his name and had always been proud of it.

“When Grandfather came within a few feet of me, he stopped. His stopping was an invitation for me to stop. Then—and this I would like the boys and girls and young people never to forget—he looked at me very earnestly and said:

“ ‘I would like to know what you have done with my name.’

“Everything I had ever done passed before me as though it were a flying picture on a screen—everything I had done. Quickly this vivid retrospect came down to the very time I was standing there. My whole life had passed before me. I smiled and looked at my grandfather and said:

“ ‘I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed.’

“He stepped forward and took me in his arms, and as he did so, I became conscious again of my earthly surroundings. My pillow was wet as though water had been poured on it—wet with tears of gratitude that I could answer unashamed” (George Albert Smith, “Your Good Name,” Improvement Era, Mar. 1947, p. 139).

This story has always had great personal significance for me. Even though I am the fifth and youngest son of my parents, I was named after my Dad. This is because I was born on my Dad's 35th birthday (having the same name and the same birthday has proven to cause great confusion for the folks at health insurance companies and the credit bureau). I am honored to have my Dad's name. I've thought of this story many times when faced with tough choices, and pictured my own father asking me what I have done with his name.

I hope I will always be able to answer truthfully that I have honored the names of my earthly and spiritual Fathers.

Happy Fathers' Day!