Hank Smith: 00:03 Hello, everyone. Welcome to followHIM Favorites. John and I are sharing a story that goes with each week’s lesson.

00:09John, I have a story for you. This week, we’re in Mosiah 18 through 24. And right at the very end of the lesson, the people of Alma, terrible things have happened to them. They’re trying to be good people and live their covenants and have a happy society. And all of a sudden they’re taken over by the wicked priests of King Noah and Lamanites. They’re in a terrible circumstance. The Lord says, “I will ease your burdens that are put upon your backs so you can stand as a witness to me hereafter.” And the people end up, it says, submitting cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

00:46Now, the one thing that Alma and his people don’t know, John, that we know because we have the rest of the book, is that they are going to end up in Zarahemla. They’re going to be delivered out of this to Zarahemla in a far better situation than they were in. And I thought of a story that might help someone who is in a struggling situation submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. And I bet you’re going to be excited about this because it’s about airplanes. John, you know who the Wright brothers are. I’m guessing. You love airplanes. I’m guessing you’ve heard of these guys.

John Bytheway: 01:17 Yeah.

Hank Smith: 01:18 Orville and Wilbur Wright.

John Bytheway: 01:20 I married their sister, Miss Wright.

Hank Smith: 01:23 Oh, you did. Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Did you know that before they became the first two people to ever fly, that they had some difficulties early in life? One, Wilbur Wright was planning on going to Yale and becoming a scholar. But as he was playing hockey one afternoon, there was an accident and he got hit in the face and it broke some bones in his face, knocked out his teeth. And by the time he had recovered, that spot at Yale was gone. His mother was so sick, he needed to stay home. He never got to go to Yale. And he says something to the effect of, “Well, I guess my life is over. That was my chance to do something great.” So he opens up a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. And who works at the bicycle shop? His brother Orville.

02:11Orville was the one apparently who loved to tinker with things, take things apart, put them back together again. Orville gets sick, he gets typhoid fever, and he ends up staying in bed for a few months. Now, what do you do in the late 1800s if you’re laying in bed for a few months? I don’t think he was able to charge his phone, so he ends up reading about a German aviator named Dieter Ucht- Just kidding. A German aviator named Otto Lilienthal who is trying to figure out how to fly. He can glide. A lot of people have glided up to that point, but not anyone has ever flown under its own power.

John Bytheway: 02:54 No powered flight, yeah.

Hank Smith: 02:56 As Wilbur comes over to visit Orville as he’s laying in bed, they start talking about this. And I think Wilbur says something to the effect of, “Orville, the smartest people in the world are taking on this challenge. What makes you think you and I could figure it out?” But apparently, there’s no need for bicycle shops to be open during the winter in Dayton, Ohio, so they have some time to think about this and start working on it. Where do they go, John? I bet you know. Where do they go so they can practice?

John Bytheway: 03:27 Well, I know the first flight was in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Hank Smith: 03:30 They go to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Have sand on the beach in case you need to come down. And there’s a lot of wind right there on the beach. It was December 17th, 1903 when Orville and Wilbur Wright fly. One of the top events in the history of the world happens. There was three guys from Kitty Hawk there to kind of help him out. There was one guy there to be a photographer. And there was some kid who was just going by on his bike and he stops to watch because apparently one of these Kitty Hawk guys says, “Oh, these guys have made this thing to go catch ducks.” So John, I think that kid saw maybe the most important or one of the most important events in the history of the world. And he left disappointed.

John Bytheway: 04:22 Because no ducks.

Hank Smith: 04:25 There was no ducks. They didn’t catch a single duck. And of course, the Wright brothers are everlastingly famous for this event. In fact, you and I were standing in an airport once, I don’t know if you remember this, and we saw a 747 out on the tarmac, and you said, “From wingtip to wingtip, that is longer than the Wright brother’s first flight.”

John Bytheway: 04:47 Amazing, isn’t it?

Hank Smith: 04:49 What this has turned into. And it almost didn’t happen if it weren’t for a hockey accident and typhoid fever. I bet if you asked Wilbur Wright or Orville Wright what they think of typhoid fever or broken bones in their face, I don’t think they’d say, “This is one of the best things that ever happened to me.” But yet, it turns out to be one of the best things that ever happens to them. Maybe as people struggle through their difficulties and problems and trials, they might think, “What if this is my hockey accident? What if this is my typhoid fever that’s going to lead to something grand, something great?”

John Bytheway: 05:27 Yeah, I’ve heard people say that. Everybody goes through hard things. But see if you can find a message in your misfortune. Maybe there’ll be something you can get from it. And my own Wilbur-Orville thing that’s on my shelf here, so I’ve got my own Wright flyer.

Hank Smith: 05:42 You’ve got your Wright flyer.

John Bytheway: 05:44 Made by Hallmark and hangs on a Christmas tree.

Hank Smith: 05:47 I think the original was just a touch bigger.

John Bytheway: 05:50 A little bit bigger.

Hank Smith: 05:51 Yeah. You never know what’s going to happen in the next couple of chapters in life. We hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. You can get it wherever you get your podcasts, and then come back next week and join us for another followHIM Favorites.