Eagle Court of Honor

No, no. It wasn't mine.
I only ever achieved Life Scout. It seems I didn't have the patience to do Personal Management and Family Life, something I hope I have now achieved, but which I do not think I have, and something for which I admire those scouts who have received their Eagle Scout award.
So, I attended the Court of Honor of a Priest from my previous quorum tonight, and I had a few thoughts I would like to share:
Guys. If you are slacking off about getting your Eagle Scout, you are about to read advice from someone who never got his. JUST DO IT. I don't care what your excuses are. I had some pretty bad ones. But believe me when I say that this is a GOOD THING. There is nothing inherently bad about the scouting program itself; there is nothing wrong to me with participating in the scouting program. In fact, it had major benefits in your everyday life, your usefulness, and your character. For instance, the scout motto is "Be Prepared." Is there anything wrong with that? No! That is something you can apply to every aspect of your life. As a member of the church, it is a good idea to be prepared with a testimony so that, if you meet someone who wants to know about the church, you can testify as to the truth of it. As an everyday citizen, it is good to be prepared with knowledge that scouting teaches you, like first aid, emergency preparedness, and lifesaving. There are GREAT THINGS about that. As a priesthood holder, it is imperative that you live your life so that if and when someone needs you to use your priesthood (needs a blessing, for instance) that you are ready, able, and willing to do so. The scouting program teaches good things.
The scouting program keeps you out of trouble. It keeps you doing useful things in your life. Believe me, I used to think that scouting was kind of useless. When was I ever going to apply anything I learned in scouting, honestly? But there are SO many things to apply! Not just principles, as previously mentioned, but practical knowledge for use everyday, in emergencies and such. And it's good for you to be exerting your energy toward something that will help you in your life rather than something that will end up harming you. And there are a lot of things out there that can do that.
This evening, during the Court of Honor, the sister of the progressing scout stood up and told something called, "The Legend of Eagle Mountain," though I would describe it more as a parable.
The story is essentially that a boy looked at the mountains one day, and saw boys climbing it. He followed them and began to climb himself, though he did not conceive that he could ever reach the top. At the beginning, he traveled with several boys, and the road was not steep. But as he progressed, the road became steep and more difficult, and boys began to break off, and stop climbing. But the boy continued to climb and climb. At times the road was easier and he walked more quickly, and at others the road was more difficult and he progressed more slowly. But the boy continued on, striving for his goal. And he reached the top. When he reached the summit in the evening, he looked to his left and saw a beautiful sunset. He looked to his right and saw a diamond studded sky of black velvet. He looked behind him and saw the trail he had traversed, and the boys who followed in his footsteps along the trail. And then he looked ahead, and saw new mountains. close and far. He saw one, and another, and another, and another. He looked forward and saw a whole slew of mountains. But he had climbed a mountain today. He could climb another the next day. This was a time for him to rest and celebrate that he had traversed this mountain. And that was what the Court of Honor was. A time for us to celebrate that this priest had attained and earned the title of Eagle. In any case, I felt that this was a great story, and applies to all of us. And it inspired me. And I feel like the Eagle Scout award as well as the Duty to God award are worthy pursuits (though my actions show otherwise). And to achieve them will give you great pride.
A more temporal benefit is that it will look amazing on a resume. It will give you great credit in helping to get you a job. People will look at that line, "I am an Eagle Scout," and consider all of those things you have promised to be, "Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent," and they will want to hire you. If you cannot consider the other things, at least consider that. It will help you to progress in your life, by finding you a job. People will place you in higher esteem when they know that you are an Eagle Scout.