Ward Family

Today in Sunday School this quote by Marvin J Ashton was read:

Someone has said, “A friend is a person who is willing to take me the way I am.” Accepting this as one definition of the word, may I quickly suggest that we are something less than a real friend if we leave a person the same way we find him. There seems to be a misunderstanding on the part of some men today as to what it means to be a friend. Acts of a friend should result in self-improvement, better attitudes, self-reliance, comfort, consolation, self-respect, and better welfare. Certainly the word friend is misused if it is identified with a person who contributes to our delinquency, misery, and heartaches. When we make a man feel he is wanted, his whole attitude changes. Our friendship will be recognizable if our actions and attitudes result in improvement and independence. It takes courage to be a real friend. Some of us endanger the valued classification of friend because of our unwillingness to be one under all circumstances. Fear can deprive us of friendship. Some of us identify our closest friends as those with the courage to remain and share themselves with us under all circumstances. A friend is a person who will suggest and render the best for us regardless of the immediate consequences.

As that quote was read and for the remainder of Sunday School I thought about all the amazing people I know in the Vineyard Ward. I miss Vineyard Ward very much!! There are so many people there who are my "friends". They did not "leave me the way they found me". I am a better person because of so many of my friends. I could name off names but I would be afraid I would forget too many. This quote made me change the way I think about being a friend. I want to be a better a friend.