President Monson & Primary President

"Tommy was ten years old when he began earning the Trail Builder badges....The Trail Builders were not an easy bunch to handle. Tommy's energy level and curiosity were difficult to channel. One day he saw Sister Georgell, the Primary president, sitting in the chapel crying. He approached her and asked innocently, 'May I help, Sister Georgell?'

"She explained that she could not control the Trail Builders in Primary opening exercises. What he didn't realize was that he, Tommy Monson, was at the center of the disruptive boys. He magnanimously committed to help Sister Georgell, and the rowdiness in Primary came to an abrupt end.

"When Melissa Georgell was in her nineties, she lived in a nursing facility in the northwest part of Salt Lake. During his Christmas rounds one year, President Monson stopped to visit his beloved Primary president. He found her in the lunchroom staring at her food, shifting it from one corner of the plate to another. as he spoke to her, he saw her eyes look blankly at him and about the room. 'I gently took her fork from her and began to feed her, talking all the time I did so about her service to boys and girls as a Primary worker and the job which was mine to have served later as her bishop.' Not even a quick glimmer of recognition crossed her face. Two other residents spoke up: 'She doesn't know anyone, not even her own family,' one reported, 'She hasn't said a word for a long, long time.' said the other.

"Lunch ended, and Tom, much taller than that little Primary lad, stood to leave. 'I held her frail hand in mine, gazed into her wrinkled but beautiful countenance, and said, God bless you, Melissa, and Merry Christmas. Immediately she spoke, 'I know you. You're Tommy Monson, my Primary boy. How I love you.' "

1916 Beehive Requirements

In 1916, every female over fourteen was a Beehive girl until she entered the Relief Society. There were no Mia Maids, Gleaners, or Laurels. The following are 20 out of 373 requirements possible for a Beehive girl to earn her awards:

1. Care successfully for a hive of bees for one season and know their habits. 2. Give the distinguishing characteristics of six varieties of hen and cattle and tell the good and weak points of each. 3. Exterminate the mosquitoes over an area of = mile square by pouring a little kerosene on the surface of all standing pools of water twice each month during April, May, and June.

4. Make two articles of underwear by hand.

5. Cover 25 miles on snowshoes in any six days.

6. Learn to float in Great Salt Lake and propel yourself 50 feet.

7. During three consecutive months, abstain from candy, ice cream, commercially manufactures beverages, and chewing gum

8. For one month, masticate your food so thoroughly that it slips down without any visible effort at swallowing it.

9. Successfully put a new washer on a faucet.

10. Care for at least two kerosene lamps daily.

11. For three month, take care of milk and cream from at least one cow and see that the pails, pans, strainer, and separator are thoroughly cleansed.

12. During two weeks, keep the house free from flies or destroy at least 25 flies daily.

13. Have your toilet moved to an isolated place in the garden. Have a frame of chicken wire built about three feet away and plant quick-growing vines such as cucumber or morning glories to screen it from observation.

14. Whitewash your toilet inside and out.

15. Know and describe three cries of a baby.

16. Without help or advice, care for and harness a team at least five times; drive them 50 miles during one season.

17. During two summer months, clean ice chest thoroughly twice a week.

18. Discover ten reasons why the Columbine should be the national flower.

19. Clear sagebrush off of = acre of land.

20. Know six blazes used by the Indians.

--June Conference; Beehive Dept., 1969

President Monson on Family

"When we have sampled much and have wandered far and have seen how fleeting and sometimes superficial a lot of the world is, our gratitude grows for the privilege of being part of something we can count on--home and family and the loyalty of loved ones. we come to know what it means to be bound together by duty, by respect, by belonging. We learn that nothing can fully take the place of the blessed relationship of family life.
"The family holds its preeminent place in our way of life because it is the only possible base upon which a society of responsible human beings has ever found it practicable to build for the future and maintain the values they cherish in the present.
"All of us remember the home of our childhood"..."Interestingly our thoughts do not dwell on whether the house was a large of small, the neighborhood fashionable or downtrodden. Rather, we delight in the experiences we shared as a family...What we learn there largely determines what we do when we leave there...The thoughts we think, the deeds we do, and the lives we live influence not only the success of our earthly journey; they also mark the way to our eternal goals."
The Biography of Thomas S. Monson p.33