In the United States, we set aside a day in February - Presidents' Day - to honor past presidents, who have made the office larger than themselves.

Presidents like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln spent countless hours in service on behalf of their country. Often they were on their knees during those troubled times, seeking divine guidance to overcome the strife of their offices. As the nation turned their eyes to them, they turned to God.During the Civil War, a group of ministers met with President Lincoln and remarked that they "hoped the Lord is on our side."

The President responded: "I don't agree with you." There was amazement. Lincoln continued: "I am not at all concerned about that, for we know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side." (From Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol. 3, by Carl Sandburg.)

Turning to God in prayer is characteristic of great people as they seek for answers to their weighty responsibilities.

Several years ago, President Ezra Taft Benson said, "If the great men of America - past and present - turned as if by instinct to God in prayer, surely we, too, should give prayer - daily prayer, secret prayer - a foremost place in our lives." (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 423.)

And at the April 1988 general conference, President Benson counseled, "Communicating with our Father in Heaven through prayer . . . brings a spiritual power and strength found in no other way."

As we honor Lincoln and Washington and great leaders in many nations of the world for their devoted service, it is also a good time to reflect on the life and contributions of members of the Church who have given selflessly of their time and service.

President J. Reuben Clark Jr. once said, "In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one takes the place to which one is duly called, which place one neither seeks nor declines."

Those who have been called to serve others in various capacities in the Church have, in countless ways, influenced the lives of many Church members.

Such was the case of one former bishop and high councilor, who was amazed when he was called as president of the Young Men's program in the ward. He accepted the call with reluctance, but his call to that particular position at that particular time was no mystery to one mother, whose son was struggling with a decision of whether or not to go on a mission.

The mother felt that only one individual in the ward might reach that young man. Week after week, the former bishop counseled and encouraged the wavering young man to fulfill his priesthood responsibilities and stay close to his family and the Church. When the time came, the young man willingly entered the mission field and soon thereafter the former bishop was released as Young Men's president and given another calling.

He had completed the call and had influenced the life of a young man through the exercise of righteous principles taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith:

"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned.

By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile." (D&C 121:41-42.)

It is true that great people may be those who are elected to high and lofty positions in government, such as Lincoln and Washington. They were leaders who truly exemplified their office. But in the eternal perspective, great people could well be the common people of the earth, who, armed with a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, go about quietly and without fanfare in serving others. Theirs also is a noble calling of honor and trust.

They leave behind a path of righteous service, touching the hearts and lives of all about them.

To them we also should give our respect and appreciation.