-- 1914
In 1914, Ezra entered the Church-sponsored Oneida Academy in Preston, Idaho, graduating in 1918. That year as Scoutmaster, he led his Scouts into choral competition and won the Cache Valley chorus championship. Also during that year he enlisted in the military service just before the close of World War I. As a young man, he developed a love for the land and for the Lord, two fundamental influences in his ensuing life. He felt that the basic ingredient for successful farming was intelligent, hard work. To increase his agricultural skills, he took correspondence courses and began attending the Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University).
[Note his stay at the academy overlapped Harold B. Lee's stay] (1)
-- April 15, 1917
Receives first Patriarchal Blessing: "I would go on a mission 'to the nations of the earth, crying repentance to a wicked world. ... his life would be preserved on land and sea, that he would raise his voice in testimony and would grow in favor with the Almighty, and that many would rise up and bless his name." (2)
-- 1918
Called to serve as an assistant Scoutmaster (a leader of young men) in his ward in Whitney. (3)
-- 1918, November 19
President Joseph F. Smith d. Salt Lake City, age 80. (4)
-- 1918, November 23
Heber J. Grant became President of Church. (4)
-- 1920
Meets Flora Smith Amussen, his future wife. (3)
-- 1921
Attends Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University) in Logan, Utah. (3)
-- July 13, 1921
Ordained an elder by his father. (3)
-- July 15, 1921, to November 2, 1923
Serves as a full-time missionary in the British Mission. (3)
-- Late March 1922
Missionary Benson reported that the "Town [was] in uproar about Mormons. All of vast assembly voted to have us put out of town." (2)
Endnotes:
1 - "Ezra Taft Benson," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, by Reed Benson and Sheri Dew. New York: Macmillan, 1992
2 - Gary James Bergera, "Ezra Taft Benson's 1921-23 Mission to England", Journal of Mormon History 35:4 (Fall 2009)
3 - Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson, Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (2014)
4 - Encyclopedia of Mormonism, edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, New York: Macmillan, 1992, Appendix 2: A Chronology of Church History
LDS History Chronology: Ezra Taft Benson
Mormon History Timeline: the life of Ezra Taft Benson
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
