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This devotional address entitled, Put Away Childish Things, was given on May 20th of

2003 by David E. Sorensen, then a member of the presidency of the 70 of the Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My wife's father, Leslie James Anderson, grew up in a small town of Mante, Utah, about 80 miles

south of here.

In 1919, when Les was 14 years old, San Pete County built a road up Mantei Canyon using what was then a common method

of detonating black blasting powder to remove difficult rocks and sharp canyon walls that could

not be subdued any other way. Late that summer, Les, his cousin and best friend, Lyle Anderson, and two other friends

decided to go up that new canyon road to fish and camp overnight at the Corderoy Reservoir.

These young adventuresome boys loaded their camping gear in a one-horse buggy and started at the canyon as a forsome without any adult supervisors.

On the way, the boys found along the side of the road a supply of explosive black powder that had been left behind by the road builders.

Les and his cousin Lyle were intrigued and excited by this discovery

and anticipated the fun they could have with the powder that night around the campfire.

They eagerly filled their pockets and a hat with as much black powder as they could hold.

Later on that afternoon, when they arrived at the camp, they turned their horse loose to

return home to Manti, knowing the horse would be needed at home, and that they could,

on their return, they could pull the little buggy down the hill by themselves.

After pitching camp and building a campfire, the boys thought about having some fun.

But about nine o'clock that evening, Les and Lyle started throwing some of the black powder into the fire and watched it explode

with a bang. But one of these explosions, a spark landed in the hat filled with the powder

...