This Young Crow

“Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been” (Mark Twain).

At age 21 I have finished serving a 12 month part time mission in the Family History Department.  As one might imagine I have always been kind of a rarity when I put on my name tag each day.  As far as I know, there is a relatively small percentage of young family history missionaries and an even smaller percentage of those attending BYU.  Most of the people I work with have about 30 to 40 years more life experience than I have and I often notice the age gap: when they talk about children, their grandchildren, when they mention that they don’t hear very well, when they bring up their time in the 60s, and most especially when I hear the testimonies, stories, commentaries, and questions indicative of a life full of service and struggles that no 21-year-old can quite understand.

I am often touched by the sweet examples of service from my much wiser, more experienced elders.  They were my favorite part about my mission and they are filled with a love of the Lord and His work.  In his counsel to the youth President Boyd K. Packer shared this poem:

The old crow is getting slow.
The young crow is not.
Of what the young crow does not know
The old crow knows a lot.

At knowing things the old crow
Is still the young crow’s master.
What does the slow old crow not know?
—How to go faster.

The young crow flies above, below,
And rings around the slow old crow.
What does the fast young crow not know?
—Where to go.


Those words ring true for me.  I have a great respect and a bit of a soft spot for my older counterparts.  In high school I spent a lot of time visiting our local nursing home; as a missionary in Chile I spent an unanticipated amount of time ministering to the elderly; when I came home I complained about back pain and bunions with the best of ‘em!  Then it was on to a Family History mission.  Some are not so very old, but I am grateful for all the “old crows” in my life that have helped me as teachers, friends, fellow missionaries, and as family.  I have truly been blessed and don’t mind flying slow as long as you’ll show me where to go.

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