Friend to Friend

“I help my grandpa trim the lawn,” said Matthew, age four.

“What does your grandpa say when you help him with the lawn?” I asked.

“He says, ‘Now you can help me pull some weeds.’”

“When Grandpa was a little boy, he lived on a farm in Canada,” an older child related. “Horses were special to him, starting when he was just a little boy. He has told us many times about his favorite pony when he was young.

“He also teases us about Canada. He told us once it was so cold there you had to build a fire under a cow before you could milk her.”

Some of the other grandchildren remember their grandfather in these ways:

“When Grandpa holds me and kisses me, I giggle.”

“When I helped Grandpa put his books on his new bookshelf, I sure got hot and sweaty.”

“He loves strawberry ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, and scrambled eggs.”

“He writes in a notebook a lot.”

“Grandpa has a big garden with peas, corn, potatoes, and all kinds of vegetables. I get to help him water the garden.

“Once he had four big beds of roses in his backyard. But when President Kimball said we should all plant a garden with peas and corn and stuff, he tore up all of his roses that he’d had for years and planted vegetables. We got to help him roll back the grass and get it ready.”

“Grandpa loves horses. He also likes to swim and is good at it too. But mostly Grandpa talks a lot about his horses. I’ve ridden his brown horse Suzy.”

“My Grandpa holds me while I ride on the horses.”

“What comes to your mind first when you think of your grandpa?” I asked.

“How honest he is. He’s always honest. And when he asks you to come to him, he says it only once.”

“You can always talk to him and he’ll take the time to listen, and he understands what you’re telling him.”

“He talks a lot about getting our year’s food supply. He also says, ‘Keep the commandments and listen to President Kimball.’”

“He’s kind and he says kind words.”

“He likes to sing the song ‘When Grandpa Comes.’”

“He tells us a lot of things when he prays.”

“He puts his foot out and trips me so he can catch me up and hug me.”

A final statement about this General Authority is revealing: “When I think of Grandpa, I think of how happy he is.”