 I speak today to the youth of the church, the ironic priesthood, and young women. In order to teach a lesson not easily learned, I will relate an experience. I have always been interested in animals and birds. When I learned to read, I found books about birds and animals and came to know much about them. By the time I was in my teens, I could identify most of the African animals. I could tell a clipped springer from an impala or a gems buck from a wildebeest. I always wanted to go to Africa and see the animals and finally that opportunity came. It was very dry that season and there was not much water, really just muddy spots. We stopped at a water hole to watch the animals come to drink. The antelope particularly were very nervous. They would approach the mud hole only to turn and run away in great pride. I could see there were no lions about and asked the guide why they didn't drink. His answer, and this is the lesson, was crocodiles. I knew he must be joking and ask him seriously, what is the problem? The answer again, crocodiles. Nonsense I said, there are no crocodiles out there, anyone can see that. He could tell I did not believe him and determined I was supposed to teach me a lesson. We drove to another location. There he said, see for yourself. I couldn't see anything except the mud and little water. Then all at once I saw it. A large crocodile settled in the mud waiting for some unsuspecting animal to get thirsty enough to come and drink. There are crocodiles all over the park he said, not just in the rivers. We don't have any water without a crocodile somewhere near it and you'd better count on it. On another trip to Africa, I discussed this experience with a game ranger in another park. He showed me where a tragedy had occurred. A young man from England was visiting the compound for the season. In spite of constant and repeated warnings, he decided to do some exploring beyond the compound fence. Hey Ben, hello my friend. You still working on that thing? My young friends, those ahead of you in life have probed about the water holes a bit and raised a voice of warning about crocodiles. Not just the big gray lizards that can bite you to pieces, but spiritual crocodiles, infinitely more dangerous and more deceptive and less visible even than those well-camouflaged reptiles of Africa. These spiritual crocodiles can kill or mutilate your soul. They can destroy your peace of mind and the peace of mind of those who love you. Those are the ones to be warned against. And there's hardly a watering place in all of mortality now that is not infested with them.