Hank Smith: 00:03 Welcome to followHIM Favorites. John and I are bringing out a single story from this week’s lesson. John, we’re in 2 Nephi 26 through 30, and you told me you have a great story, so I’m going to turn it over to you.

John Bytheway: 00:14 My wife and I were newlyweds. We were called immediately to be Sunday school teachers for the teenagers. We were thrilled with that calling. We met our students and everything. I can’t remember how many weeks, how many months into our new calling, a kid came in that we didn’t recognize, sat down in the class, and he had a bright red mohawk and some piercings and whatever. And I tossed whatever lesson that I thought I had and I spent the time on, there’s a God who loves us and he’s real.

Hank Smith: 00:46 John, I got to tell you that. I love that. I wish I could pull that off. Well, not off his head but my own head. I wish I could put it on my own head. I don’t know. There’s just something about the color. I like it.

John Bytheway: 01:00 Yeah, it was bright. We didn’t need to turn on the lights in the room. It was intense. And the next week he came back.

Hank Smith: 01:07 Awesome.

John Bytheway: 01:08 And again, I just thought I’m going to stay on this other lesson. I started to learn more about what was going on, and this time his mohawk was kelly green, totally green.

Hank Smith: 01:18 Kelly green? Okay.

John Bytheway: 01:18 Yeah, Kelly green, bright green. I just kept telling him, we’re so glad you’re here, so glad you’ve come to our ward and we’re really glad to have you. Really want to make sure you feel welcome and everything. And the next week he came back and his mohawk, Hank, it was leopard skin. I don’t know how he did that. I know it doesn’t come out of the bottle that way. I don’t know how he did that.

Hank Smith: 01:38 Kelly green to leopard skin.

John Bytheway: 01:41 To leopard skin. And he was there and, “Hey, we’re so glad you’re here. Just really want to make you feel welcome and thanks for being here.” And the next week he was gone. I didn’t know what to say, but I said to my teenage students there, “Listen you guys, it’s one thing if the teacher is all nice and loving and welcoming, but he’s at your high school and I don’t know who’s in your friend group, but you guys, if we don’t put our arms around him, literally, figuratively, we will never see him again. You guys have got to do this.” And I’m so proud of them because they did. And he came again and he came again and again. And I never ever got out a dressing grooming lesson or anything like that. I just kept doing what we were doing. And the other hair grew out a natural brown shade. The piercings came out. I never said anything. It was awesome. He became my home teaching companion.

  02:34 And what I love about this was there’s these lines in 2 Nephi 26 that are repeated. I feel like Nephi saying, “Are you getting this message?,” because he keeps saying the same thing over and over again. 2 Nephi 26:24. “He doeth not anything, save it be for the benefit of the world, for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto Him, wherefore he commandeth none, that they shall not partake of this salvation.” Okay, first time. Second time, verse 25, “Doth he cry to any saying, ‘Depart from me’? Behold I say unto you, ‘Nay.’ He says, ‘Come unto me all ye ends of the earth. Buy milk and honey without money and without price.'”

  03:15 Now he’s going to say it again, third time, “Hath he commanded any they should depart out of the synagogues or out of the houses of worship? Behold I say unto you, ‘Nay.'” Okay, fourth time, verse 27. “Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold, I say unto you, ‘Nay.’ He hath given it free for all men and hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance.” Fifth time, verse 28. “Behold hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, ‘Nay.'”

Hank Smith: 03:42 I feel like he’s trying to tell us something, John.

John Bytheway: 03:44 It seems like he’s trying to get through to us here. And I just love that idea and I read it four times and I go, “I think Nephi’s trying to say that the Lord never said, go away.” And then I was reading, Hank, in 3 Nephi, which I know you do too all the time. Jesus comes physically in 3 Nephi, chapter 11. They hear a voice before that. But in 3 Nephi 11, he’s there. He teaches them in 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, he says, “I have to go.” They beg him to stay with their eyes. So he does. And in 3 Nephi 18:25, he says this. You ready for this? “And you see that I have commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that you should come unto me, that you might feel and see. Even so shall ye do unto the world.” And I thought, That’s where Jesus comes back. And after all that day he says, “Did you notice I never told anyone to go away, but I told them to come and see? and do that to the world, be that way with the world.” That’s why I was so proud of my students because that is exactly what they did.

Hank Smith: 04:53 That’s fantastic. What a great story. Sometimes we don’t tell people to go away, we would never do that. But sometimes by our tone and the way we treat people, we’re saying, “We don’t really care if you’re here.” What a great lesson and what great Sunday school class you had.

John Bytheway: 05:13 I was so proud of them because I thought, “It’s one thing if the old guy teacher is this way, but you guys have to do this, and I don’t know who your friend group is at your school or what you think it is, you’ve got to do this. This is so important.” And they did. They were wonderful. So I loved my teenage students.

Hank Smith: 05:30 One day an apostle is going to stand up in general conference and say, “I was that boy with the leopard skin mohawk.”

John Bytheway: 05:38 The leopard skin mohawk.

Hank Smith: 05:41 Hey, we hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. You can get it wherever you get your podcasts. We are with Dr. Joe Spencer this week, and it is unbelievable. Make sure you come join us and then join us next week for another followHIM Favorites.