Mt. Phillips Speech

The entire day had been a struggle as we slipped on the various rocks underneath our feet as we made our way up Mt. Phillips. Every ten minutes our Scoutmaster, Mr. Britton, would gleefully shout, and “Come on boys, just a little more climbing and we will be at the top.” Although I wanted to believe him, I was running out of energy. This was the most difficult challenge I had ever faced in my seventeen years of life and I felt like quitting, but I did not want to let Mr. Britton down. Mr. Britton always had various words of wisdom he would pass on to us as he was teaching us a lesson. One of these statements was, “It makes no sense to worry about something if you cannot do anything about it. But if you can do something about it, then

Britton as I sat on the same rock formation and I felt as if he were beside me each step of the way up the mountain. I looked at Kyle Parkinson and he was exhausted from the climb, yet he managed a slight smile and caught his second wind after I shouted words of encouragement. Once we had reached the top, I thought about the moment thirty years earlier when I had reached the top of Mt. Phillips. That moment so many years earlier helped me realize that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to doing. It was just the thing I needed to set my life down the right path and I hoped that this experience would do the same for Kyle. He reminded me of myself at that age in so many ways. The most noticeable way was that he was not sure what the future would hold and unsure what path to take in life. Kyle was meandering his way through life and needed

It was during these times I would shared words of wisdom with Kyle and the other young men in the troop. I often found myself telling these boys about what I learned from Mr. Britton while I was their age. It was my hope that I was making a difference in their lives as Mr. Britton had made a difference in my life.

On a very warm July evening in 2013, there was an Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Kyle after he had achieved Scouting’s highest rank. I was very proud of him and I had wondered if anything I had done or said had any bearing on how he had turned out. Towards the end of the ceremony, I was asked to come forward by Kyle. He then told the audience that I was more than just a Scoutmaster and that he thought of me as his second father. Tears began to run down my face and I could barely speak as he recounted the many adventures we had over the years and the positive influence I had on his life. Kyle has been on his mission since October 2015, and I miss him very much. He has been faithful in sending me emails to tell me about his mission and recounts some of the things I was able to teach him over the past several years. I think of Kyle and the other young men I have been able to help grow over the past several years as my