It might be that the restrictions on beards always seemed unnecessary and arbitrary. It sounds perfectly reasonable to me that a brother would wonder why they had to wait this long to be given permission to grow a beard.
I remember an elder who had a small tuft of hair right under his lower lip. Just a square-shaped bit of hair. I know that he was admonished a couple of times about it, but it apparently was a line in the sand for him. I can't help but think that it was a rebellious act on his part. He must have wanted to have a beard so badly! I would imagine that he probably started to grow his out the moment they said it was allowed. And I wonder if he feels the same way- that there was no reason to order him not to grow one all this time. To him, Lett's words must feel a bit personal.