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Do You Want a Donut?
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 push-ups 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 300 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 push-ups 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 push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did
ten push-ups, 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. Then 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.”.
When everyone in the classroom heard what the teacher
meant by it and realized everything. Steve smiled on the
ground where he laid in his own sweat and began to cry.
Don't be like those who didn't eat the donut forward
this email to everyone you know! Remember Christ and his
sacrifice!

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