My dad and I are very different.

There's no other relationship quite like that which can and should exist between a boy and his dad.

I don't know if we were kind of distant or we kind of find our own paths. I knew he loved me and I loved him, but we didn't really talk a lot. He likes different things than I like. I didn't really get along with him. I would roll my eyes when he started to talk. It was not the relationship I wanted for a father and son. I believe that by doing these three simple things you can increase your relationship with your father and make it even better than it is right now. Trust your father. Take an interest in your father's life. Ask your father for advice. My name is Dylan, and three weeks ago I decided to take Elder M. Russell Ballard's counsel to strengthen my relationship with my dad.

When I was about five years old and he started to date my mother, I started to consider Mark as a father figure. He used to go fishing with him, and do things with him. Dylan is not my biological son. Through the years as they've gotten older, my husband's not a big talker, and so their relationship has been pretty strained. We kind of just-- kind of grew apart a little bit. These past few months I've been praying that somehow our relationship would get strengthened. I think my husband was waiting for Dylan to go out of his way. I didn't know Dylan wanted a closer relationship. I talk to my mom about everything. And then when I was asked to talk to my dad about everything in asking for advice, it was just-- I don't know, it was a little weird. To show my dad trust, he would tell me to do something, like if he said to help my brother out or to do my chores, I would go in and do them. And throughout the past three weeks, I would try to do it without complaining, trust that I'd be rewarded in the long run. To gain interest in my father's life, every day he'd come home from work, and we'd talk a little bit. And about a week and a half ago, my dad and I were driving home from Scouts. And I asked him how his mission was. And he started talking about it. I was able to sit with my son and have a conversation with him, and not just talk to him or have him talk to me, but we had a good conversation. They drove up in the car, and they didn't come in. And so I was wondering what was going on. About 15 minutes later, I walked out and opened the car door. And then my mom comes up, and she's like, "What are you guys doing in here?" And she opens the door, and she saw my dad crying. And then he said, "I'm just talking to my son." So I hurried and shut the car door and ran back in the house. What an awesome experience it was for me to actually communicate and have a conversation with my son. We ended up having a 45-minute conversation. And we've never had that, and he's been my dad for a long time. Our relationship has changed--and has changed for the better. You know, I didn't say much when Dylan told me about the experiment. But as I took a day and thought about it, I realized for myself that this is how our relationship should be like.

I got sealed to my dad when I was nine. It was probably one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had. I knew that if one of us died, we would still be together.

And I didn't have that before he came into my life. He's my son. And he's sealed to me. And he'll be with me through the eternities. And so I've learned that just by talking with him over the last couple weeks that we can have a great relationship and have some wonderful times together. And so I think our relationship has gotten better.

And I pray now that our Heavenly Father will bless all of us as fathers and sons, that we will love one another by making relationships with each other one of the great eternal priorities of our lives. And I so pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.