He told of a boy named Ling who, along with the other children in the kingdom, was invited to hear the emperer speak. In this meeting the emperer said  he was getting old and wanted to choose a new emperer. To help him choose, he was going to give each child a seed. They were to take their seeds home, care for them, and then, in one year, return to show what they’d grown.

Ling was really excited by this project. He carefully planted his seed and worked hard to take care of it in its little pot. After about three weeks all the other children were starting to talk about the great plants growing in their pots, but Ling’s pot was growing nothing at all. He was worried, but he kept taking care of the plant the best he could. All year he listened to the other children talking about their tall plants and even trees, but his pot stayed empty.

When the year ended, Ling was embarrassed and didn’t want to show his empty flower pot to the emperer. His mother told him he needed to go and to be honest. She advised him to tell the truth–that he worked hard to care for his plant but that nothing had grown. Ling knew his mother was right. He needed to tell the truth–to have integrity. He nervously took his flowerpot to the meeting. Everyone was instructed to place his or her flowerpot in one area. All around the room were beautiful flowers, plants, and trees. Ling placed his empty pot on the floor in the back of the room, hoping no one would notice it. He stood beside it, waiting.

Soon the emperer showed up. The emperer walked around, looking at all the plants, flowers, and trees. Then he saw Ling and his empty pot. He asked the guards to bring Ling and his flowerpot to the front of the room. Frightened, Ling approached the emperer. To his great surprise, the emperer proclaimed him the new emperer.

The room fell silent as everyone tried to figure out why the only child who hadn’t managed to grow something was going to be the emperer. The emperer explained that the seeds each child had been given had been boiled. It would be impossible for them to grow. He had known most children would, when they saw their seed wasn’t growing, would replace it with a good seed and then lie about it. When he saw Ling’s empty pot, he knew he had found a boy with integrity–someone who would follow the rules and tell the truth. That was the sort of person he wanted to run his country and that was why only Ling qualified to become the new emperer.

Ling had integrity. Even though he thought it would cost him the chance to become the emperer, even though he was embarrassed, he refused to cheat at the contest and when the time came to be judged, he told the truth. He was willing to pay for his integrity with the cost of a kingdom. What are you willing to pay for your own integrity?

Some time ago I was putting my groceries into the trunk of my car after shopping. I had only a few things and had kept them in the child seat, but as I unloaded the groceries, I saw a small item, worth about 87 cents, in the main basket. I checked my receipt and saw that I hadn’t paid for it, so I quickly returned to the store and went to the customer service desk to pay for it. The cashier commented on my honesty in returning to pay for something so inexpensive. However, I felt my integrity was worth more than 87 cents. Had I simply left without paying, the store might not have lost much, but I would have lost a lot. I’d have lost God’s respect and I’d have lost respect for myself.

My integrity was worth a lot more than 87 cents and I wasn’t willing to sell it for so little. How much is your integrity worth?

The Martin Handcart company had more problems than many of the companies. They were so desperate to reach Salt Lake set out too late in the year and storms came early. They had been advised to wait, but they were anxious to get started in a safe new home. They ended up traveling in the cold of winter, when it was hard to find food or to stay warm.

In October 1856, Brigham Young learned they were in deep trouble. The semi-annual conference was about to begin, so during the conference, he asked for volunteers to form a rescue party. The rescuers found them, bringing food and help. However, by the time they reached the Sweetwater River, the people in the Martin Handcart Company were very weak from having been hungry and cold for so long. The very deep, wide, and icy cold river was more than they could handle and they were afraid their journey would end right there, because they weren’t strong enough to cross it. Three teenage boys from the rescue party, George W. Grant, David P. Kimball, and C. Allen Huntington, took matters into their own hands and decided to carry people across. Those three boys carried almost every member of the handcart company themselves. However, this came with a price, as heroism often does. They became quite ill themselves from the strain and the challenges of spending so much time in icy water with heavy loads. Eventually—years after their heroic actions—they all died from complications of that day of heroism. Brigham Young was moved by their sacrifice and cried when he learned what they’d done.

Mary Goble was a teenager in the Cluff Wagon Company, which was to follow the Martin Handcart company in order to help them as needed. Because they had wagons and not handcarts, they had better supplies and more options open to them. Her heroism came in the form of helping her mother. Her mother became very sick during the journey and the company was traveling in an area with no water. They’d been able to melt snow sometimes to have something to drink, but Mary’s mother longed for water from the freshwater spring a few miles away. Mary set out to get it for her, traveling with a woman from the company. As they were walking, they found a very sick man. He was old and unable to move. They knew he would die of frostbite soon if they didn’t get help. Mary continued on to get the water and the other women went back to the camp to get help for the man.

Mary was naturally frightened to find herself all alone in the woods. The travelers were afraid of the native people and Mary was so busy watching for them she lost track of where she was. Soon she realized she was completely lost in the wilderness. The snow was all the way up to her knees and it was almost midnight before search teams found her. They tried to treat her frostbite.

Mary’s mother died just as they entered the Valley and they carried her body in the wagon the rest of the way. Already, three of Mary’s younger siblings had died during the five month journey. When they arrived that evening, they were quickly given shelter and food. Brigham Young himself came to greet them the next morning. Tears filled his eyes when he saw Mary’s frozen feet and learned her mother was dead. A doctor was sent for who had to amputate her toes because they were unable to be saved from the frostbite. Naturally, this was traumatic for her, but Brigham Young made a prophetic promise to her the rest of her feet and her legs would heal. It didn’t seem at first like this was going to be true. She continued to get worse and the doctor told her he needed to amputate her feet. She refused, remembering Brigham’s promise and having faith in him. The doctor was amazed, a few months later, that she was completely healed.

Sometimes a hero is just someone who keeps on going, doing what needs to be done even when their hearts are breaking and their bodies are weak. This was the case with Maggie, age thirteen, and Ellen, age nine, who left their home in England to come to be with the Mormons, whose religion they had just joined. The Pucell family immigrated to the United States on the same ship that brought Mary Goble.

They found, when they arrived, their wagons and handcarts weren’t ready and it was July before they could begin their journey. They traveled to Winter Quarters in Missouri and then set out for Salt Lake. They had to cross the Platte River several times, and the last time there were chunks of ice floating in the water. Some were too weak to even attempt to cross a deep icy river and sat down, where they died. Others, including the Pucells, braved the water. However, the girls’ mother became very ill from doing this and had to be placed in the wagon. Their father, although weak and thin from lack of food, tried to pull the wagon up the steep hills himself, with the girls pushing the back of the wagon.

When it came time to cross another stream, again icy, the father fell. He managed to get back up but died on the other side of the stream. Now there were only the girls to care for their mother and manage the journey. Their mother soon died also and the girls were orphaned. Despite their broken hearts and the fear they must have felt, they kept right on going, managing as best they could with whatever help was available, until rescuers came. Then they continued on, still struggling in the icy cold, although at least with a little food and warmer clothing to help them. Everyone had been hungry for so long they were dangerously thin and weak.

The girls had frozen arms and legs. Ellen had to have her legs amputated at the knees—and because the Saints were newly arrived, they didn’t have proper tools or even anesthesia. Can you imagine having your knees amputated while you’re still awake and without pain killers? This didn’t stop Ellen, though. She went on to marry and have a large family. She spent her life in pain, because her legs never healed properly, but was never heard to complain. Without the wheelchair she might have had in modern times, she learned to get around on her stumps and to devote her life to helping others.

Life can be hard. A lot of times, our trials are not our own fault, but we still have a responsibility to follow the examples of these teenagers and make something of our lives. We can learn to endure our trials and to find our proper place in whatever life we’re given.