Pushups and Donuts....

Mo had her very first talk in Sacrament today.  For those of you who aren't familiar with my religion, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church.   Instead of a hired priest or pastor to give a sermon, we have members of the congregation who are asked a couple of weeks in advance to prepare to give a talk to the congregation on a certain subject.   It can be quite a daunting task and is certainly overwhelming for anyone, let alone a 12 year old girl speaking for the first time in front of over 100 people.  Mo's talk was on repentance and she did a wonderful job.  She spoke clearly, used inflection and delivered a powerful message.

She read a story that made most of the congregation cry, including our bishop, called Push-ups and Donuts.

Here is that story.  Enjoy a good Sunday cry...

 There was a boy, named Brian, who was a bit of a trouble maker.  He had been kicked out of his sixth period class and had nowhere to go during that hour.  He eventually found himself in Brother Jones’ seminary class.  

Brian knew he couldn’t be late for the class so he would come in at the very last moment and plop down in the very back of the class.  He never participated in discussions and was always the first to leave when class ended.

One day, Brother Jones asked Brian to stay after class so he could talk with him.  After class,
Brother Jones pulled Brian aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"

Brian’s answer was, "Yeah, I do."
 

"How many push-ups can you do?" 

Brian said, "I do about 200 every night."
 

"200?  That's pretty good, Brian.  Do you think you could do 300?"
 

Brian replied, "I don't know...  I've never done 300 at a time." 

"Do you think you could?" asked Brother Jones 

"Well, I can try.”

" I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work.  Can you do it?

Brian said, "Well...  I think I can...  yeah, I can do it." 

"Good!  I need you to do this on Friday." 

Friday came and Brian got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, Brother Jones pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts,
they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls.  Everyone was pretty excited.

Bro. Jones went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?"

Cynthia said, "Yes."
 

Bro. Jones then turned to Brian and asked, "Brian, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia
can have a donut?" 

Brian said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then he again sat in his desk. 

Bro. Jones put a donut on Cynthia's desk.
 

He then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe do you want a donut?" 

Joe said, "Yes."  Bro. Jones asked, "Brian would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?"

 
Brian did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. 

And so it went, down the first aisle, Brian did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. 

And down the second aisle, till Bro. Jones came to Scott. Scott was captain of the football team.

 When Bro. Jones asked, "Scott do you want a donut?”, Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?" 

"No, Brian has to do them."
 

Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."
 

Bro. Jones then turned to Brian and asked, "Brian, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?" 

Brian started to do ten pushups.  Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!" 

Bro. Jones said, "Look, this is my classroom, my desks, and my donuts.  Just leave it on
the desk if you don't want it."  And he put a donut on Scott's desk. 

Now by this time, Brian had begun to tire and was starting to sweat under the effort.  Instead of leaping back up to his desk, Brian decided to just lay on the floor between sets. 

Bro. Jones started down the third row.  Now the students were beginning to get a little angry. 

Bro. Jones asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?" 

Jenny said, "No."
 

Then Bro. Jones asked Brian, "Brian, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?"  Brian did ten, Jenny got a donut. 

By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Brian was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut.   He was sweating heavily and it was dripping off his face and landing in puddles on the floor.

During  class, some other students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room.  When Bro. Jones realized  this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room.  He started to worry if Brain would be able to make it. 

Bro. Jones went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Brian was really having a rough time.  He was taking a lot more time to complete each set. 

Brian asked Bro. Jones, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?" 

Bro. Jones thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You can do them any way that you want." 

And Bro. Jones went on.
 

A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in!  Stay out!" 

Jason didn't know what was going on.  Brian picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Bro. Jones said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him." 

Brian said, "Yes, let him come in."
 

Bro. Jones said, "Okay, Jason, do you want a donut?" 

"Yes."
 

"Brian, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?"

Brian did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort.  Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down. Brian’s arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity.  Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room. 

The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Bro. Jones went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut? 

Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."
 

Bro .Jones asked Brian, "Brian, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she
doesn't want?" 

Grunting from the effort, Brian did ten very slow pushups for Linda. Then Bro. Jones turned to
the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?" 

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Bro. Jones, can I help him?" 

Bro. Jones, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone, Brian, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?" 

As Brian very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor. 

Brother Jones turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ,
plead to the Father, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit." With the understanding that He had doneeverything that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died.  And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten.