The Power of a Devoted Scoutmaster

I believe we have special people placed in our lives to direct us toward our life’s path, providing us knowledge and experience along the way to help us succeed.

At fourteen years old, my life consisted of school, homework, Boy Scouts, friends, and occasional work for local farmers hauling hay or watering the onion fields. I was always busy, but I didn’t have much direction. Then, something changed; a new Scout Master was assigned to our Boy Scout troop. Scoutmaster Jerry S. brought excitement and adventure into my life. Every week I learned something new: I built and camped in snow caves, mastered knot tying, conquered orienteering, swam across a glacial lake, completed service projects, and went on fifty-mile treks. Jerry S. brought direction into my life, taught me what was most important, and very quickly became my hero.

A few years later, after returning home from a two-year service mission, I found myself searching for a career. I was twenty-one years old and I had no idea what I wanted to do.

On a warm spring afternoon, I drove to one of my favorite hiking trails and climbed up to a rock overlooking the Great Salt Lake. It was there that I knelt in prayer and asked for guidance on what steps I should take in my life. I had an immediate feeling of warmth throughout my body, and I knew that everything would work out fine.

When I arrived home later that evening, there was a note by the phone with a message for me to call Jerry; it was urgent. I immediately dialed the number and was delighted to hear Jerry’s familiar voice. Wonderful memories of exhilarating adventures and exciting scout camps erupted in my mind.

“Do you know computers?” Jerry asked.

“Umm… I’ve used one before, yes,” I tentatively replied.

“Well, I need you to come work for me in my new software company,” he stated. “When can you start?”

I knew this was the answer to my prayer. “I can start tomorrow!” I exclaimed.

The next five years of my life whooshed by like a bullet train. Jerry again took me under his wing, but this time he educated me in business. He taught me how to sell, how to market, how to manage people, and how to grow a business from almost nothing to a nationwide success. Jerry was still my hero, but he had also become my personal advisor and mentor.

Jerry’s patience, example, and constant coaching laid a foundation of learning and confidence that catapulted me into the career that I have now been in for twenty years.

Last week, my hero passed away. He left with me some of the best memories of my young life, and more importantly, he left me with the knowledge that special people are put into our lives to help direct us down our life’s path. Jerry was that person in my life, and it is this message, this lesson, which has stayed with me. I am now in Boy Scouts, striving to be a Jerry in someone else’s life.