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This devotional address entitled Fear Not Little Flock was given on July 15th of

2025 by Jeremy L. Hara, then BYU assistant dean in the College of Humanities.

When I was a young child, I had a terrible fear of vampires.

I was convinced one lived under my bed just waiting for me to get too close to the edge

so he could drag me under, and that would be the end of me.

My fear was so strong that I developed a strict morning and nighttime routine to keep myself safe. At night, I would run from

the hallway to my bedroom and launch myself onto my bed from several feet away, careful to not let

even a toe touch the floor. In the morning, I'd stand in the far corner of my bed, press my back

against the wall, and then sprint across the mattress and leap for the

doorway. I did this every day, morning and night for months. It all sounds very terrifying,

but it's important to note that the vampire living under my bed was the count from Sesame

Street.

If you weren't familiar with him, he is a Muppet,

a cheerful character made of foam and fleece who taught me to count.

Now, in fairness to little me,

I had heard Halloween stories about vampires,

and he was the only one I had ever seen so naturally,

he became the one I imagined lurking under my bed.

Now, this story seems silly to us as adults.

All of us know that Muppets are relatively harmless, with the exception of Miss Piggy.

...