Gospel Story Finder

One time I could not go to sleep, so I read the Friend and prayed. Then I went right to sleep. I love the Friend.

I would like to express my gratitude for the Liahona and for the universal application of its articles. I teach school, and even though I cannot teach about religion, I have been able to use several articles in my work.
“The Unwise Bee,” a parable by Elder James E. Talmage in the February 2003 issue, helped me show my students that adults who try to guide them want to help them—not limit their freedoms. The lessons I have taught with the help of parables and stories in the Liahona strike true in my students’ hearts.Aleksei Dobrovolskyy, Mikolaiv Tsentralny Branch, Odessa Ukraine Tsentralny District

Blessed also with the gift of prophecy, he influenced the lives of many. On one occasion, he returned from a three-month trip to another island and saw preparations for a fiafia (celebration) in progress to celebrate the marriage of a young man and a young woman. As he interviewed the young woman, he suddenly told her, without any other explanation, that if she married the young man, she would soon be saddened.

The samurai were the military nobility of medieval and early-modern Japan. The Japanese still talk about one of them, Ry?ma Sakamoto, who died in 1867. One of the reasons he is still so popular is because he always kept a positive attitude. He did not fear anyone or anything. He went anywhere he was needed. Inspired by the ideal that all men are created equal, he made every effort to establish a new government. But he was assassinated, and even as he was stabbed many times by another samurai’s sword, he didn’t give up. He tried to stand up and walk forward. This is a very famous story in Japan.

One of my experiences with prayer was when I lost my wallet. It may seem unimportant, but it mattered to me. The wallet was hard to find, and after I checked everywhere, I prayed for help in finding it. I found it after a few more days of looking. Answers to meaningful prayers—even prayers over small matters—might not come quickly, but they will eventually come.
Garrett K., 14, Arizona, USA

We have less detail regarding the visitation of Peter, James, and John to Joseph and Oliver to restore the Melchizedek Priesthood. Various interpretations based upon reminiscent accounts place the event from the spring of 1829, perhaps late May or June, to months later.7 Joseph and Oliver never dated the appearance of Peter, James, and John, as they did for John the Baptist and the restoration for the Aaronic Priesthood. They may not have fully comprehended the nature of the priesthood or its divisions early on. Joseph’s understanding of the priesthood came incrementally.
From 1830 to 1835, priesthood offices were clarified, and quorums, councils, presidencies, and bishoprics were formed. Even the term Melchizedek Priesthood was not used as a name for the “High Priesthood” or “greater priesthood” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:9; 84:19) until 1835 (see Doctrine and Covenants 107:2–4).
Joseph did provide rough details about the location. In 1842, he recalled hearing “the voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony … and Colesville … on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:20).
This suggests that the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood occurred somewhere along a 28-mile (45 km) stretch of road between the Smith home in Harmony, Pennsylvania, and the town of Colesville, New York, where the Joseph Knight family lived. The Knight family were early Church members and devoted friends of Joseph Smith. They supplied paper and provisions during the translation of the Book of Mormon and later formed the core of the Colesville Branch of the Church.
In addition to receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood from Peter, James, and John, Joseph and Oliver were ordained “to be apostles, and especial witnesses” of the Lord (Doctrine and Covenants 27:12) and received the keys necessary to usher in the dispensation of the fulness of times. They now had the authority to administer all priesthood ordinances, including the bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost.
They also received “the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:18) essential to organize the Church in April 1830 and received revelation to restore all things in their proper order. Spiritual blessings were manifested through miracles, healings, and ordinances performed by the authority of the priesthood. In 1836, additional angelic messengers delivered priesthood keys related to the gathering of Israel and temple work (see Doctrine and Covenants 110).

“It is a dream come true,” says 18-year-old Gunday Solomon Israel, who goes by his last name. “The design of the chapel itself makes me feel the Spirit. I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for answering my prayers.”
With the completion of the chapel, Church members and investigators in Hyderabad will have a beautiful building in which to meet and feel the language of the Spirit touching their hearts, just as it did Israel’s three years ago.
“When I first came to church, I was surprised to see the love among the Saints. They were so happy. I could see the glow of the gospel in their faces,” recalls Israel.

My older brother wanted to go on a mission before he started school, so he looked around at all the different universities, and he got one that would accept him whenever he came home from his mission. He was putting his mission first.
Debra Boyd, 16Belfast, Northern Ireland

My children munched their popcorn excitedly as I told them a story about something that had happened to me when I was young.
“I was sitting on the school bus as Jerry came down the aisle looking for the kid who had turned in his friend for vandalizing the school. One by one Jerry grabbed each kid and tried to force a confession. I was scared—really scared—because I was the one he was looking for! I looked to see if I could jump out the window, but I couldn’t. Jerry was getting closer.”
Every one of my children stopped eating their popcorn.
“Jerry grabbed a skinny kid with glasses,” I continued. “‘You finked, didn’t you?’ he demanded.
“‘No, I didn’t,’ the kid insisted.
“But Jerry didn’t believe him. ‘You are going to get it!’ he yelled, and the skinny kid started to cry. What should I do? I was off the hook, but here was an innocent kid facing a beating for something I had done.”
By now my children were feeling a bit of the same anxiety I had felt.
“I prayed for help,” I told my children, “and the thought came, ‘What would Jesus do?’ I stood up and yelled, ‘Leave him alone! He didn’t do it—I did!’”
My children sat with their mouths open, waiting to hear what had happened to me—their dad—not to some television character.

Recently, as our small group of missionaries was traveling from the Ghana Accra Missionary Training Centre to our mission assignment in Lubumbashi, we met two women at the Kenya airport departure lounge. As newly trained missionaries having a great desire to teach, we approached and made acquaintance with them. After introducing ourselves, I had the opportunity to present the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is what we strive to share with everyone.
It was difficult for those women to give us much time to listen, or to accept an appointment, or even to take the pamphlets we offered them. But an idea came to my mind that we should not insist but rather that we should just bear simple testimony of the gospel.
Right before boarding the plane bound for Lubumbashi, one of those women approached and told me that she had been thinking about what I had said and was now aware that this message was important for her and her whole family. Her interest came about simply because of the testimony I had borne and the confidence that I had to say that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the only true Church here on the earth.
She also said to me that she had been asking herself two questions: “Why was this young missionary able to bear such a sure testimony?” “How can I also gain a testimony of these things myself?”
Apparently, my testimony had preoccupied her, and I immediately realized that just bearing our testimony influences many people to ponder and be converted.
This airport experience taught me that our testimony does not depend on eloquence—or the power of our voice—but it does depend on the conviction of our heart. That is why when we become converted, our testimony has power and affects those who listen to it.

When Elder Ryan K. Olsen was growing up in Sandy, Utah, USA, his parents never let him leave the house without this defining reminder: “Remember who you are.”
“It used to drive me crazy when I was a young man,” he said, laughing. “But those words helped me remember my divine identity. They helped me remember that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and that the Savior is my best friend. Everything we can hope to do or accomplish is only through Him.”

“I would like to be able to write,” Lynda muses, “but that requires a cloistered environment, and I certainly don’t have that living in an apartment with a husband and eight children! I can work on these quilts at the park and at home and still be with my family. I was not trained as an artist, so when I began, I didn’t know what I couldn’t do—I was free to experiment and make my own creations. Some have not been as successful as others, but I like fabrics, and I like to work with them and make beautiful things with them.”
Lynda, surrounded by the fabric, the family, and the city she loves, explains, “This is the way I have recorded my own personal history and the history of my family.”

Once while I was in Tonga, I was traveling between islands to attend a district conference. Traveling with me were my wife, a translator, and the mission president and his wife. To get from island to island, the people travel by boat. This particular boat trip between Ha’apai and Ha’afeva took us four hours. When we arrived at Ha’afeva, the Saints were lining the shore and singing to us. We rolled up our pants, took off our shoes, and waded ashore.
We soon learned that the people there had been suffering because of a drought. In the islands, drinking water is collected in barrels from rainwater running off roofs. The islanders drink the water from the barrels. If it doesn’t rain, they’re out of drinking water, and their crops don’t grow either. They had been experiencing the drought for so long that they were out of water, and for dinner that afternoon, they shared with us the last of their food. I thought to myself, “What faith!” They had been fasting, and they asked if we would join them in a prayer for rain, which we did.
After the conference had ended and we prepared to leave, the people on the island prayed not only for rain, but they prayed that we would have good weather until we arrived back at our destination. We got into our boats and traveled back with good weather. But as we arrived at our final destination the heavens opened, and the islands were blessed with rain.

This magazine helps keep my spirits high and has helped me get through basic training for the U.S. Army. Reading about the amazing things that have happened with the gifts and blessings of other teens makes my day. The stories have shown me that I’m not alone, and they make me feel that I have friends and family writing to me and others. This magazine is a great thing to have in my life.
Justin N., Kansas

Rebecca loves music and ballroom dancing. Actually, Matthew loves music, too, and they often sing and play piano together. But ballroom dancing? More on that later.
Remember the ballroom dancing mentioned above? That’s where Matthew may have set the gold standard for sibling support. Not only did he practice ballroom dancing at home with Rebecca, he also learned a routine so that he could perform with another girl on a song Rebecca choreographed. When the ballroom dance club needed an extra member, Matthew joined. Now Rebecca relies on him when she tests routines: “I ask him if it will work or not, and together we figure it out.”
Not long ago, members of the club staged a workshop for the youth in Rebecca’s and Matthew’s ward. Rebecca took charge and got everyone involved. “And Matthew got to dance with all the girls!” Rebecca teases. Matthew just grins.

But finding religious peace had its price: “It was soon reported that I had become a Mormon; and I was ridiculed and called old Joe Smith and old Brigham Young, and they were accused of many things as well as myself.” Friends, relatives, customers, and former Sunday school teachers tried to “show me my error.” During most of 1855 he accompanied another new priest (later to be his father-in-law), Samual Gentry, to conduct open-air preaching services in surrounding villages. William’s relatives sometimes attended these meetings to hear, as they said, “little Billy preach,” although Brother Gentry did the preaching and William assisted by giving prayers. Some relatives ridiculed him openly, but such treatment only made William “cling with a stronger tenacity to the principles of truth.”

Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, mortgaged his family farm to pay for the printing. When financial concerns arose, he asked for guidance from the Lord.
“I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the word of God. …
“And thou shalt declare glad tidings, yea, publish it upon the mountains, and upon every high place, and among every people that thou shalt be permitted to see” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:26, 29).

The Big Deal Since his dog, Wally, is flunking obedience school and is growing twice as fast as he is, Sam has to figure out now how to control his large friend on their walks. If he can’t, Wally will have to go back to the farm!Alison Cragin Herzig6–9 years

President Romney was born in September 1897 in Colonia Juarez, Mexico, to George S. and Artemesia Redd Romney. President Romney attended school in Mexico until revolutionary activities forced his family to flee the country. He practiced law in Salt Lake City for a number of years.

One evening, I met with my boss to discuss my situation and the goal I wanted to achieve (i.e. serving a full-time mission). After listening to me, he set a condition: If I would forgo my dream and stay with him, he would do everything for me. I knew he could do that. He had good intentions when he set this condition. He was very close to me, and I had become like a son to him. He trusted me more than some of his brothers. For me, the Savior‘s call was the most important thing. I, therefore, declined the offer. He even sent people to plead with me, but it was all in vain because I was determined to serve a mission.