"Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich" (D&C 6:7).
Riches were not a part of my childhood. We were a family of five: my father and four siblings. My mother had passed away when I was five years old. My father's meager income was used to buy our food; the purchase of clothing was put off as long as possible.
One day, somewhat bothered, I came up to my father and said, "Daddy, why don't you buy me some shoes? Look at these; they're worn out, and you can see my big toe through the hole in the shoe."
"We'll fix that up," he replied and, with some black polish, gave a shine to my shoes. Later on he told me, "Son, it's fixed up."
"No," I answered, "you can still see my big toe."
"That can also be fixed," he told me. He again took the polish and put some on my toe, and before long it shined like my shoes. So it was early on in life I learned that happiness does not depend on money.
As time went by, a pair of missionaries taught us the riches of the restored gospel, of the doctrine of the plan of salvation, and of eternal families. We were baptized, and when my father began his calling as district president, his first objective was to journey to the temple and receive the blessings which would come because of that sacrifice. It was a 15-day journey covering 4,800 miles (7,725 km)—a journey filled with difficulties and setbacks, highways in poor condition, uncomfortable buses, not even knowing the route, but with great hope in the ordinances we would participate in.
"He aquí, rico es el que tiene la vida eterna" (D. y C. 6:7).
Las riquezas no fueron parte de mi niñez; éramos una familia de cinco: mi padre y cuatro hermanos. Mi madre había fallecido cuando yo tenía cinco años. Los escasos ingresos de mi padre se usaban para comprar comida; la compra de ropa se postergaba al máximo.
Un día, un poco molesto, me acerqué a mi padre y le dije: "Papi, ¿por qué no me compras zapatos? Mira éstos, están gastados y se me ve el dedo gordo por el agujero del zapato".
"Lo arreglaremos", me contestó, e inmediatamente le dio lustre a mis zapatos. Luego me dijo: "Hijo, ya está arreglado".
"No", repliqué, "todavía se me ve el dedo gordo".
Él dijo: "Eso también se puede arreglar". Volvió a tomar el lustre para zapatos, me puso un poco en el dedo gordo y al poco rato brillaba tanto como mis zapatos. De modo que, muy temprano en la vida, aprendí que la felicidad no depende del dinero.
Al pasar el tiempo, dos misioneros nos enseñaron las riquezas del Evangelio restaurado, de la doctrina del plan de salvación y de las familias eternas. Nos bautizamos, y cuando mi padre comenzó a servir como presidente de distrito, su primer objetivo fue el de viajar al templo y recibir las bendiciones que vendrían por ese sacrificio. Fue un viaje de 15 días, que abarcaba unos 8.000 km.; fue una travesía llena de dificultades y contratiempos, por rutas en malas condiciones, en autobuses incómodos y sin siquiera conocer el camino, pero con gran esperanza en las ordenanzas de las que participaríamos.
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