Hank Smith: 00:00 Hello! Welcome to followHIM Favorites. This is where John and I are sharing a single story to go with each week’s lesson. John, we are in Doctrine & Covenants 60 through 63. You’ve told me that you read a verse and it reminded you of a great story.

John Bytheway: 00:17 Right in Section 61 at the very end, verse 36, and I love that the Lord ends with this because there’s some heavy things in some of these sections. Verse 36. Now, verily I say unto you and what I say unto one, I say unto all, be of good cheer little children. I am in your midst. I have not forsaken you. He wants us to be happy. Happiness manifests itself sometimes in a sense of humor. When I was taking the teach seminary classes, they wanted us to read this book, Teach Ye Diligently from President Packer. He said, A sense of humor is powerfully important attribute of a good teacher. The gospel is a happy and a pleasant gospel. There are times when we may be solemn to tears, but a good teacher will develop a sense of humor. Following are a few illustrations of humor that can be used in a classroom, and then he tells one of his own experiences, which was so hard for me to imagine President Packer doing this.

  01:17 To have a sense of humor is a lesson a teacher must learn. When I was attending college, I enrolled in a physiology class. One day during a lecture, the professor asked me to sit up on the high table in front of the room so he could demonstrate the principal of reflexes. What do you think he’s gonna do Hank? He took a little mallet similar to the one a medical doctor would use. Proceeded to tap me on the knee, expecting my leg to jerk noticeably in the typical reflex action. However, held my leg very rigid and flipped my arm in the air. When he tapped my knee, the class roared with delight. The professor was not amused. We did not thereafter appreciate one another. I was branded as an impudent upstart, and at the end of the semester, my grade reflected that categorization. We are all going through this life. It’s tough. Maybe I can cheer people up a little bit.

Hank Smith: 02:17 I want to add to that story then John, because my father-in-law, Sara’s dad, when he walked in late to a meeting with President Packer, he walks in. He quickly knew that he was in trouble for being late. He looked around the room at the other stake presidents. He noticed one wasn’t there besides him. He walked in and he said, I’m sorry I’m late. I’m President Morby. That’s not his name. That was the stake president that wasn’t there, and they said all the stake presidents laughed except for Elder Packer. He said he looked over at him and he did not laugh one bit, I have to share with my father-in-law the story of Elder Packer trying to make a joke for that teacher. It came full circle. That’s funny. I gotta read this quote from Elder Holland. He says, we should honor the Savior’s declaration to be of good cheer. Indeed it seems to me we may be more guilty of breaking that commandment than almost any other. Be of good cheer. It’s a commandment.

John Bytheway: 03:18 Hank, you’re really good at that.

Hank Smith: 03:20 What does the Lord say? Not with much laughter, for this is a sin. I’m like, oh no.

John Bytheway: 03:25 I thought you said be of good cheer. Thanks for bringing that up. I love the distinction that Brother Truman Madsen made. He said there’s a difference between being light minded and lighthearted.

Hank Smith: 03:35 Good.

John Bytheway: 03:37 Like-mindedness is making fun of sacred things, which we just don’t do Hank. Lightheartedness, Hank, we do that all the time.

Hank Smith: 03:44 We do that all the time. It keeps things light. President Hinckley said a good sense of humor is like the shocks of a car keeps things from being a little too bumpy, makes a smoother ride. We hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. Get it wherever you get any podcast. We are in section 60 through 63 this week with Dr. Scott Esplin. He’s the dean of the religion department at BYU. It’s pretty incredible what he does with these sections. Come over, join us there, and then come back next week. We’ll do another followHIM Favorites.