Scott Tremelling of Marlborough, Massachusetts

By Iris Tremelling

“Mom, Scouts is tonight. I have to take my backpack. Brother Willis is going to teach us how to pack for the polar bear camp-out next month. I’m not going to be in the hospital, am I?”

Scott Tremelling (11) is a Blazer Scout in the Boston Stake. In spite of a liver disease and allergies—including one to pine trees—he has a strong desire to become an Eagle Scout.

Scott lives with his parents, his two brothers, Greg (9) and Grant (6), and Mozart, their gerbil.

Scott loves to play music that he knows on the piano, but he doesn’t like to practice new pieces. He likes birds, math, archery, rifle shooting, and inventing things. And when his homework is done—and sometimes when it isn’t—Scott likes to read fantasy novels.

Bicycling to the nearby gristmill is one of Scott’s favorite family activities. The gristmill is a sixteenth-century corn-and-wheat grinder that is powered by water. Scott and his brothers like to climb on the millstones there. It helps make the scripture in Matthew 18:6 [Matt. 18:6] more real: “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Or, perched on Catfish Rock, the boys enjoy watching the water ripple as it flows down the mill creek. This spot was named by a brother who once saw a catfish sunning itself there. Scott also likes to skip stones on the millpond. Five skips is his record.

In the summertime Scott can usually be found in water somewhere. Last year he earned the swimming merit badge. One of the badge requirements is to jump into the water fully dressed, remove your pants, and inflate them so that they can be used as a life preserver. His own pant legs were too short to tie around his neck after they were inflated, so he borrowed a pair of jeans from a friend with longer legs. Scott has found that with a little creativity he can do just about anything that he’d like to do.

To control his disease, Scott must eat frequently during the day and twice during the night. Once, on a winter camp-out with his dad, his thermos was frozen shut when it was time for his 3:00 A.M. meal. His dad had to thaw it open with his breath—not an easy task in subfreezing weather.

In a sacrament meeting talk last fall, Scott said, “Everyone is a child of God. That means that we are all brothers and sisters. Being a child of God means that God is the Father of our spirits and that we can become like Him.

“Learning about our Father in Heaven and obeying His commandments in this life is like going to school for the job of becoming a God. I’ve found that my parents have rules similar to Heavenly Father’s: One—Thou shalt not steal. Two—Thou shalt not lie about what thou did to thy brother. Three—Thou shalt obey thy father and thy mother or thou shalt get a time-out.

“All of us have trials in our lives. Some are permanent and some are temporary. We can learn from our trials if we have a positive attitude. My disease is a permanent trial. I am learning to practice self-control because when kids make fun of me, I want to pound their faces in. The kids in my class used to call me names because I am short for my age and my belly sticks out. I had to learn to ignore their comments because they did not understand. Now that I am in sixth grade, the kids who know me don’t make fun of me anymore. Being a child of God helps me understand the things that happen in my life.”

Photos by Kent Blackett and Iris Tremelling

Greg and Scott wearing kooky glasses while playing chess

Grant, Scott, and Greg on a millstone

On a hike with his backpack

Playing the piano with his grandmother

Lying flat on Catfish Rock, looking into the water

Scott and brother holding on to the raft that they lashed together in Shannon, Vermont