Though Elder Featherstone has changed the details, it goes something like this.
"The farmer told his wife he was going out to mow the north forty. On his way to the machine shed, he noticed a loose board on the corn crib. So he went to look for a hammer and some nails which he remembered leaving on the back porch. This led him through the garden which he noticed was quite weedy. He decided to weed a row of carrots, telling himself that he ought to weed a row a day.
About two-thirds of the way down the carrot row he straightened up to rest his back and, looking over his shoulder, he saw he had left the gate open and some hens had come into the garden and were scratching up his sweet corn. It took about fifteen minutes to get them out and back into the hen yard. It took another half hour to mend the hole through which they were getting out. After that he figured he had just as well gather the eggs. As he began to do so, he noticed that the nests needed more straw; so he left the eggs and went after a bale of straw. Is he was about to pick up the straw, he noticed his pitchfork had a broken handle and remembered that he hadn't fixed it. So he went to the machine shop to hunt for the new handle he had bought. While hunting, he stumbled across the mowing machine and remembered he was going to spend the day mowing. It wasn't much past 10:00 A.M.; so he decided to return to his original plan.
Only he remembered he hadn't greased the mower. He started to hunt for his grease gun. After some searching he remembered that he had left it in the garage. When he found it, it was empty, and he didn't have a refill. So he got in his car and went to town to get some grease. As he passed Sleepy Corners he stopped at Sleepy Joe's for a doughnut and a glass of milk. Some of the boys were there, and he learned that the bass were biting down at the reservoir south of town. He got home about lunch time. After lunch, on his way to the machine shed he stumbled over the hoe he had left in the garden. He remembered hoeing up some worms and decided to see if he could find some to set aside for some evening fishing. It didn't take long to get a can of worms.
At this point he decided the day was pretty well shot anyway, and he had just as well go fishing right now instead of waiting until evening."
Do you see yourself here in your daily missionary life - sometimes? This is a story about a farmer who fails to get his work done because he lacks firm commitment. The opposite of this sort of aimlessness is well-directed persistence based on proper planning. Persistence eventually and finally wins. Sometimes worthwhile things come easily; but usually they come hard and slow.
PMG, page 195 states, "commitment is an essential part of repentance. It is the act of obligating oneself to a course of action and then diligently following through on that decision."
"The farmer told his wife he was going out to mow the north forty. On his way to the machine shed, he noticed a loose board on the corn crib. So he went to look for a hammer and some nails which he remembered leaving on the back porch. This led him through the garden which he noticed was quite weedy. He decided to weed a row of carrots, telling himself that he ought to weed a row a day.
About two-thirds of the way down the carrot row he straightened up to rest his back and, looking over his shoulder, he saw he had left the gate open and some hens had come into the garden and were scratching up his sweet corn. It took about fifteen minutes to get them out and back into the hen yard. It took another half hour to mend the hole through which they were getting out. After that he figured he had just as well gather the eggs. As he began to do so, he noticed that the nests needed more straw; so he left the eggs and went after a bale of straw. Is he was about to pick up the straw, he noticed his pitchfork had a broken handle and remembered that he hadn't fixed it. So he went to the machine shop to hunt for the new handle he had bought. While hunting, he stumbled across the mowing machine and remembered he was going to spend the day mowing. It wasn't much past 10:00 A.M.; so he decided to return to his original plan.
Only he remembered he hadn't greased the mower. He started to hunt for his grease gun. After some searching he remembered that he had left it in the garage. When he found it, it was empty, and he didn't have a refill. So he got in his car and went to town to get some grease. As he passed Sleepy Corners he stopped at Sleepy Joe's for a doughnut and a glass of milk. Some of the boys were there, and he learned that the bass were biting down at the reservoir south of town. He got home about lunch time. After lunch, on his way to the machine shed he stumbled over the hoe he had left in the garden. He remembered hoeing up some worms and decided to see if he could find some to set aside for some evening fishing. It didn't take long to get a can of worms.
At this point he decided the day was pretty well shot anyway, and he had just as well go fishing right now instead of waiting until evening."
Do you see yourself here in your daily missionary life - sometimes? This is a story about a farmer who fails to get his work done because he lacks firm commitment. The opposite of this sort of aimlessness is well-directed persistence based on proper planning. Persistence eventually and finally wins. Sometimes worthwhile things come easily; but usually they come hard and slow.
PMG, page 195 states, "commitment is an essential part of repentance. It is the act of obligating oneself to a course of action and then diligently following through on that decision."
