The Serv-Ant

                        I want to tell you a special story. It is about an ant named Servant!

                        There was once a family of ants. There was the Father Ant, Mother Ant, and
                        six children ants named Persist-Ant, Observ-Ant, Pleas-Ant, Dilig-Ant,
                        Obedi-Ant, and Servant

                        They were a happy family. They lived in a nice comfortable ant hill that Father
                        Ant had worked hard to make, and Mother Ant always kept it looking very
                        clean and neat.

                        Everyday the six little ants would march out of the ant hill in a straight line to
                        go to school and come home the very same way. You could always tell who
                        was who, even though all the ants looked very much alike.

                        Persist-ant was always first and made sure everyone stayed in line. Mother
                        and Father Ant told him to keep the line straight and on course and he did
                        this even though the others often complained. But thanks to Persist-ant they
                        always made it to school and back.

                        Observ-ant came next. It was a good thing Persist-ant was first because
                        Observant was often busy looking around, so he didn’t always walk very
                        straight. Observant was forever noticing the beautiful sky and he constantly
                        observed the good in everything and everyone.

                        Pleas-ant was easy to pick out. He always had the biggest ant smile in the
                        world. Besides, when the sun would hit his braces, his smile would be the
                        brightest, shiniest, and most radiant. He would grin at everyone and wave as
                        they passed by. Everyone knew and liked Pleasant because he was so
                        enjoyable to be around.

                        Dilig-ant was the easiest to pick out. He wore ant glasses. There were not
                        many ants that had to wear glasses but Dilig-ant did, because he spent so
                        much time studying. He was so diligent that when his teachers assigned a
                        chapter to read, he would read the whole book! No matter who gave him
                        something to do he was always diligent and did more than was asked of
                        him.

                        Obedi-ant was the only girl in the family but she was the kind of ant that every
                        mother and father ant would love to have in their family. She always made
                        her bed and helped with the dishes and never got in fights. She did
                        everything she was supposed to do. Her parents and friends knew she
                        would always be obedient and trusted her to be a good example.

                        Last in line because he was the smallest was Serv-ant. Although his brother
                        and sister were good ants, he was everyone’s favorite. He was often quiet,
                        but was always doing something for someone else. He would help Mom with
                        the housework, then help Dad outside. If Persist-ant was having a hard time
                        getting everybody in line for school, you could bet Servant was right there
                        helping. Or if someone was teasing Dilig-ant and calling him "four-eyes"
                        because of his glasses, then you would see Servant defending his brother
                        and making him feel better. He was rarely sad, lonely, or angry because he
                        felt happy when he was helping. If by chance, he occasionally had these
                        feelings, he knew all he had to do was to be of service to someone and
                        these feelings would go away!

                        He not only helped his family, but he helped the neighbors as well. All of the
                        other ant families knew that if they needed anyone to help, Servant would be
                        there for sure. Servant never wanted to be thanked or paid for what he did,
                        he just did it because he wanted to make life easier for others.

                        Even though Servant was always in the background and usually quiet, the
                        other ants couldn’t help notice how happy he seemed. When anyone would
                        ask him why he was so happy, he said that it wasn’t what he got in life that
                        made him happy, but what he was able to give.

                        Now Heavenly Father loves ants just like he loves people. He loved
                        Persist-ant because he knew how to be a good leader. He loved Obedi-ant
                        because he always noticed the good in others. He loved Pleasant because
                        he was so friendly. He loved Dilig-ant because he always went the second
                        mile and he loved Obedi-ant because she always did what was right. But, do
                        you know what? He had a special place in his heart for Servant because he
                        was always, always serving others.