I had been scared of this kid for awhile

A story related about three 18 year old boys from a rescue party for the martin handcart company. They carried almost the entire company across the freezing river and all three boys died of related health problems. When Pres Brigham Young heard what these three boys had done, he wept. He later said that this act alone would ensure the three young men places in the celestial kingdom.
I’ve often thought of this selfless act and the Christ like love they showed to others. My story is an experience I consider very similar to the one above. I don’t know a lot about the three boys personal lives but can only assume they were decent young men. The protagonist in my story however is a little different…
I had been scared of this kid for awhile. He hung out with a dangerous crowd, he smoked, drank, and took part in may other non churchy things. I had never really talked to him and now he was at a different school, high school. I was in 8th grade when this story took place. I’d always advanced along with David in church and school, but this was the first year Davey would be in a different school. As his little-big brother I felt very protective of him. One day at lunch a kid came up to me and told me someone had slammed David’s face into the lunch table while saying “David you bug me”. I was very upset and headed over to my bike at the bike rack determined to ride over to the high school, pull the kid out of class, and beat the snot out of him, or get the snot beat out of me trying. The same barer of bad news caught up to me and told me everything was okay. The stoner kid that I had been afraid of, had already beaten the jerky kid to a pulp. I learned a good lesson that day. For all the “stoners” visible flaws he was the only person in the lunchroom that day that stood up for what was right. I’m not saying that one act will guarantee him the celestial kingdom, and I can’t deny it either. I believe he showed true Christ like attributes that day.
(Joseph Thomas Nielsen, Christmas 2001)