President Thomas S. Monson in his priesthood session address Saturday evening spoke of the need to make proper choices and to prepare early to serve the Lord honorably.

President Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, said that as the years go by, choices become increasingly complex and that a personal code of honor is needed not only on a daily basis, but frequently many times in a given day. "A spirit of determination to do the right thing can come in the earliest boyhood."He told of a 10-year-old boy he met at a cemetery following a funeral.

"I said, `In nine years we're going to be looking for you to serve a mission.' His response was immediate and told me something about him. He said, `Brother Monson, you won't have to look for me; I'll be looking for you.' "

President Monson said that in certain moments "you know our Heavenly Father is doing the teaching and you are His student." He related an incident that occurred while he was a deacon in which, while tubing in the Provo River, he had occasion to rescue a young woman who was in danger of drowning.

He said of his feelings afterward: "That day I learned that the sweetest feeling in mortality is to realize that God, our Heavenly Father, knows each one of us and generously permits us to see and to share His divine power to save."

President Monson encouraged young men to pray always in the performance of priesthood responsibilities, prepare to serve missions by learning to get along with others and by learning their duties in the priesthood.

He told of one exemplary young man, a priest officiating at the sacrament table at a care facility for the elderly, who, noticing a patient having difficulty opening his hymnbook, slipped to his side and helped him find the correct hymn and placed the man's finger at the beginning of the first verse.

"This modest gesture of love and helpfulness impressed me," President Monson remarked. "I congratulated him and said, `You are going to be an effective missionary.' "

He counseled young men to avoid the temptation on missions of "ladder-climbing" in the mission ranks.

"The important thing is that each one does his very best in the work to which he has been called. Why, [as a mission president] I had some missionaries who were so adept at training new missionaries that I couldn't spare them for other leadership assignments."

He declared that priesthood bearers, united as one, can qualify for the Lord's guiding influence in their respective callings. "May we ever remember the truth, `Who honors God, God honors.' "