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Donuts
There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending Seminary in
Utah. In this Seminary classes are held during school
hours. Brother Christianson taught Seminary at this particular
school. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student
that had been thrown out of another class as long
as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his
sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into
Brother Christianson's Seminary class.
Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just
seconds before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back
of the room. He would also be the first to leave after the
class was over.
One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he
could talk with him. After class, Bro. Christianson pulled Steve
aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't
you?"
Steve's
answer was, "Yeah,
I do."
Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many pushups can
you do?"
Steve
said, "I do about 200 every night." "200? That's
pretty good, Steve,"
Brother
Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300?"
Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a
time."
"Do
you think you could?" Again asked Brother Christianson.
"Well, I can try," said Steve. "Can you do 300 in
sets of 10? I need you to do 30 in sets of ten for this to work. Can
you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it,"
Brother
Christianson said. Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah,
I can do it."
Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on
Friday."
Friday
came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the
room. When class started, Brother Christianson 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 it was Friday, the last class of the
day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.
Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked,
"Cynthia, do you want a donut?" Cynthia said,
"Yes."
Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked: "Steve, would
you do ten pushups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"
Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a
quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Bro. Christianson put a
donut on Cynthia's desk.
Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked,
"Joe do you want a donut?"
Joe said, "Yes." Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve
would you do ten pushups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve
did ten pushups, Joe got a donut.
And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for
every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle,
till Bro. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was captain of the
football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular
and never lacking for female companionship. When Bro. Christianson
asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"
Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"
Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them." Then
Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then." Bro.
Christianson then turned to Steve and asked,
"Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a
donut he doesn't want?"
Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I
didn't want one!"
Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class,
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, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just
stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to
be getting up and down. You could start to see a little
perspiration coming out around his brow.
Bro. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were
beginning to get a little angry.
Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a
donut?" Jenny said, "No."
Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten
pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve
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. Steve was also having to
really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for
each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor
beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning
to get red because of the physical effort involved.
Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did
ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of
Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to
watch Steve closely.
Bro.
Christianson started down the fourth row.
During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat
along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro.
Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34
students in the room. He started to worry if
Steve would be able to make it.
Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the
next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a
rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each
set.
Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch
on each one?"
Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your
pushups. You can do them any way that you want." And Bro.
Christianson 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. Steve picked up his head and
said, "No, let him come."
Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you
will have to do ten pushups for him."
Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."
Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of
the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"
"Yes."
"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a
donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great
effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.
Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those
seated on the heaters. Steve'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. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and
asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut? Linda said, very sadly,
"No, thank you."
Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups
so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"
Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.
Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan,
do you want a donut?"
Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Bro.
Christianson , can I help him?"
Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to
do it alone, Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a
donut?"
As Steve 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 Christianson 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
done everything 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."
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