Gospel Story Finder

Getting up early Christmas morning is a tradition that’s a favorite. “Our earliest was 4:30 A.M., but because my father says Santa’s helpers need their sleep, we’ve moved the time back 15 minutes each year,” said John Webber, 16. “This year we’re at 6:15. We’re not allowed to use alarm clocks, though, so if we oversleep, that’s our parents’ luck. When we do wake up, we put on a record of alarm clocks going off so our parents will wake up. Then all of us kids go to the top of the stairs in the children’s hallway and wait until our parents and grandmother come down from the upper staircase. Dad takes a picture of us, then we run into the living room where we each have a particular spot for our presents. We make special cards for our spot, and each year we add more decoration to the cards.”

On Mother’s Lap Michael loves to rock with Mother, and he likes it even better when he shares her lap with Dolly, Boat, and Puppy. But when his baby sister wakes up and starts to cry, he says, “There isn’t room.” Mother says, “Let’s see.” A tender, easy-to-read book.Ann Herbert Scott2–5 years

Dad smiled. “Like you, I wanted to keep all the commandments when I was baptized. But I have done many things wrong since then. Just yesterday I lost my patience when you didn’t do your chores right away, remember?”
“Yes.”
“I really wanted to erase my mistake as if it had never happened.”
“So you wanted to get baptized again?” James asked.
“Well, I did want to be clean again,” Dad said. “But I knew that there was another way to get clean again besides getting baptized. I could repent.”

I hope that you will have the experience of being taught to read by your parents. Since my father was busy at the New England Conservatory of Music all day, my mother taught me to read when I was about four years old. One day we walked down Huntington Avenue to the shops in the center of Boston. We went to the publishing house of Little, Brown and Company. There we were shown a lot of children’s books. Mother bought several that were suitable for my ability. One was an attractive little primer that inspired my imagination. It was called The Brownie Book, a story about imaginary little creatures who did good deeds and went on a trip to the moon! I could see the moon out of our window at night. It seemed such an important object in the sky. The idea of anybody going to the moon brought many stimulating thoughts to my eager, young imagination.
Another book was a primer describing the coming of the Pilgrim fathers, the establishment of the American colonies, and the development of the nation into which I had been born. I was deeply impressed by it.

There’s an 89-year-old lady in my ward. She’s like the granny of the ward, you could say. So everybody calls her Granny.
One day she told me that the monkeys were coming into her garden and eating all her good fruit because her net had fallen down. In our area of South Africa there are monkeys everywhere, and they make a really big impact on the community.
I said, “Oh, Granny, I would love to come and help you. I’m free this Saturday. I have nothing to do anyway, so I’ll come over and help you build a net.”
Granny and Neo
When I arrived on Saturday, she was sitting patiently on her chair waiting for me. We went out to the garden, and I helped her build the net. I don’t know how I did it, because they’re so complicated, but to this day it still stands up right.
Neo with Granny’s monkey net
For me, it didn’t seem like a big deal to help Granny—I wasn’t doing anything that day. But it was a big deal for her. It taught me that service might be the smallest thing for me, but to the other person, it can be the biggest thing.

Just before the evening devotional, a reception for the Osmonds was held at the meetinghouse in Solihull where Justin reconnected with Richard Grant, who he had worked with during voluntary service to the UK deaf community years earlier. The pair’s previous assignment was part of their mission for the Church.
Justin said, “My heart is full tonight. The UK is my second home with its beautiful green pastures and to reconnect with my hero, mentor and dear friend, Richard, who changed my life.”
Richard said, “It has been 25 years since we last were together. Justin is a fantastic guy. He was when we were serving together, and he is now. He honestly wanted to serve with all his heart, and he has not changed.”

“Brady and I didn’t have a bad relationship. The problem was, we didn’t have a relationship at all. Involvement in school and my friends meant everything. I never took the time. When I heard about the experiment, I immediately thought of Brady, and after praying about it I was sure he was the one. At first it was a chore; then it became a little easier; then I realized he is fun! I just had to make the first move. Now he comes to invite me to do things with him.”—Brittany Brammer

As a new member of the Church, I find that the Tambuli (English) helps strengthen my testimony and my faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is one of the most important factors in my spiritual growth. My heart is touched as I read the testimonies of brothers and sisters throughout the world. Their testimonies and the counsel of the Brethren guide and inspire me as I strive to become a better individual.
I get excited each time I receive a copy of the magazine, and I can’t wait to read it. I like to share gospel truths with my friends of other faiths by lending them this awesome magazine.
Heidi I. PrimeroCamiling Fourth Ward, Tarlac Philippines Stake

The National Gallery in London, England, is one of the truly great museums of art in all the world. During a visit, I was surprised to see displayed magnificent portraits and landscapes which featured the name of no artist. Then I noticed this explanation: “The information on labels on paintings can often affect … our estimate [opinion] of them; and here labeling has been deliberately subordinate [made less important] in the hope that visitors will read only after they have looked and made their own assessment [judgment] of each work.”

And then there’s Natalia Yereskovska. As a 15-year-old exchange student, she left Cherkassy, Ukraine (south of Kiev), for Sleepy Hollow, Illinois (northwest of Chicago). She gave her LDS hosts quite a shock when, on the way home from the airport, she said, “I know God sent me to you.”
She had been praying to be placed with a religious family, “so I could find my spiritual life.” When she read the profile sheet of the Bruce B. and Jean Bingham family, she saw that they didn’t smoke and that they attended church regularly. But she also felt something, a witness that she should listen to the Binghams and follow their example. Natalia spent the next year participating in family prayer, home evening, Young Women, sacrament meetings, and Sunday School.
Her sensitivity to the Spirit grew. She found answers she’d been seeking for years. She took the missionary discussions. She fasted and prayed and received an answer that she should join the Church. Fearful that her parents would never approve, she gathered her courage, made her request, and received permission. She was baptized on January 7, 1996. But soon she faced concern of another kind. She must return to Cherkassy, a town of 350,000, where she would be the only Latter-day Saint.
“I was scared,” she says. “I couldn’t imagine going where there is no church, where I wouldn’t be able to go to meetings or take the sacrament. But on the flight home I remembered what Brother Bingham told me: ‘No matter where you are, you can be a light.’ That gave me some comfort.”
After spending two Sundays studying scriptures, praying, and singing hymns by herself, Natalia heard of an LDS youth conference in Kiev. She went, and there she met President Wilfried M. Voge of the Ukraine Kiev Mission. Together they mapped out the required steps for the Church to be recognized in Cherkassy. The process started with getting signatures on a petition inviting missionaries to come. But the request had to come from adults.
Natalia made friends with a university professor who once stayed with an LDS family in Wisconsin. He agreed to help, prepared an official letter of invitation, got a group of business students to agree to listen to the missionaries, and even arranged a meeting with the mayor of a small town nearby. After Natalia explained about Church standards, the head counselor of her school also signed the petition and requested that missionaries speak to the entire school!
In September 1996, the first missionaries came. In October, Church meetings were held. In January, the first convert was baptized. Then another in February. Then families. Additional missionaries were assigned. Young Women, Relief Society, Sunday School, and Primary were organized. Picnics and service projects were held. Men were ordained to the priesthood. A branch president was called. Natalia led one of her lifelong friends to the Church, and even the professor’s wife was baptized! In short, the branch kept growing and growing. Today, if you visit the Cherkassy Branch and ask for Natalia, five members will turn and say, “Yes?”
When Natalia first thought about establishing the gospel in her hometown, she was nervous. But President Voge said, “Heavenly Father will support you.” That kind of faith has paved the way for others.

I once met a young sailor who was a member of the crew of an atomic submarine based in Scotland. He was the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the crew. The submarine would go on long trips taking many weeks. As this young Church member was assigned to his station on his first cruise, he found that other crewmen had covered the walls in his area with improper pictures of women with very little clothing on. This offended him. He took all the pictures down and destroyed them. He was conscious of the probable reaction of the other men but, nevertheless, had the courage to do what he thought he should. Not one picture was put up again. As a matter of fact, on that first cruise, he began to teach a Sunday School class attended by two or three of the other men. He learned an important lesson—generally speaking, others will show respect for one who has the courage of his or her convictions and isn’t afraid to do what he feels is right.

When Letícia C., age 6, was 3 years old, the Curitiba Brazil Temple was completed. She loved going to the temple and went there every day of the last week of the open house. She still loves to visit the temple and walk through the beautiful gardens. Letícia also loves to draw and swim.

When someone spreads rumors about me, I remember words my mother shared with me, “When someone insults you, remember that Christ, the Son of God, received the greatest insults.”
Martin Apolo,Foz Do Iguaçu Ward, Cascavel Brazil Stake

On an outdoor court by a Church meetinghouse, a basketball curves high in the air against the morning sky—really high—more than 3,800 meters high. A moment later, a volleyball rises to almost the same height before a hand knocks it down to the ground.
Is this a game being played by giants, or Superman? No, but this court is in Puno, Peru, a short distance from the shore of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. The shortest player in Puno stands almost four kilometers higher than the tallest player at sea level.
Lake Titicaca lies between Peru and Bolivia on a broad plateau surrounded by Andean mountain peaks. Puno rises from a bay on the northwestern shore of the lake. The air is clean, and the clear blue waters of the lake glisten in the sun. It’s a beautiful place to live, and it’s home to a thriving district of the Church.
The young women practicing volleyball and the young men practicing basketball are Latter-day Saint youth from the Puno District, along with a few of their nonmember friends. They got together more than a year ago to form El Club Benson, named in honor of President Ezra Taft Benson, a man they have never met but whom they love and respect—a man who used to be quite a good athlete himself. There are no Church teams to compete with, so each Saturday they play other club teams from around the city.
If you ask them, as some have, what basketball and volleyball have to do with religion they can tell you.
Maria Luz De La Torre, age 17, says, “As members of the Church, we’re trying to progress in every part of our lives. We’re trying to develop our talents. The gospel applies to sports the same as to other activities.”
Alfredo Valles, age 15, says, “Sports are a healthy alternative to some of the things going on in the world today that could ruin our lives.”
The air at this altitude is thin, so thin that people from lower elevations often become ill here, but these athletes aren’t even breathing hard as they fight for rebounds and dive for digs. They live the Word of Wisdom and get plenty of exercise through El Club Benson. Placido Melo, age 22, says, “I believe we should stay fit both physically and spiritually. The Savior said that my body is a temple of God, and so I try to keep it healthy through exercise.”
Basketball coach Pedro Nunez says, “Through basketball we fellowship one another, and this fellowship strengthens our ability to resist evil and overcome our vices. We also increase our commitment to the Word of Wisdom.”
One result of this fellowshipping has been increased unity among the youth. Alejandro Lazo, age 19, says, “Every time we get together as a team we are one. We play as one. We fellowship one another and get to know each other better.”
Consuela Corquehuanca, adds, “We’ve grown closer through playing together. When we play with unity, we play with more power. We’ve learned that if someone plays only for herself, the whole team suffers.”
And then there’s missionary work. Ernesto Tamayo, coach of the volleyball team, says, “One of our major objectives is to preach the gospel. There are several nonmember sisters in this group. We hope that someday they’ll be baptized into the Church.”
Melinda Mendoza, 14, says, “We invite friends to our games, and we begin each game with prayer. So we’re teaching our friends about prayer. I believe some of them will join the Church some day.”
In Puno three cultures meet. The Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara languages can all be heard on the streets. Quechua is the ancient language of the Incas, and the Aymaras have always lived around Lake Titicaca.
The Latter-day Saints in Puno constitute a small minority, and El Club Benson helps bridge the cultures. Simon Bernardo Clemente says, “We’re making a real effort to develop good relationships with the teams we play. It isn’t always easy. When we win, our opponents often don’t even want to look at us. And, to be honest, when we lose, it’s sometimes hard for us to congratulate the other team and thank them for the game, but we just make a greater effort to do the right thing.”
El Club Benson has had plenty of chances to congratulate opponents. So far both the men’s and women’s teams have lost more games than they’ve won. They plan to change that, of course, but in the meantime, they’re not complaining.
Maritza Mendoza, 15 years old, says, “We play to win, of course. I can’t imagine anybody playing to lose. But we keep the game in perspective and realize that somebody has to lose. A loss just means that we have to practice harder. The fun is in trying to get better each time we play.”
Richardo Quispe, age 16, agrees. “You can lose and still be a winner. You’re only a loser if you get angry about it.”
Nineteen-year-old Felipe Pareja says, “We can learn from both losing and winning. It’s just that so far we’ve mainly learned from losing.”
Selva Munoz, age 15, adds, “The point isn’t winning or losing. The point is to do our best and play with unity. That’s what we pray for before each game.”
On the shores of Lake Titicaca, Indians fashion beautiful handmade boats from the reeds growing in the shallow water. Offshore, the Uru tribe lives on floating islands made from mats of these reeds. There is a lesson here that the Latter-day Saint youth of Puno understand very well. By itself, each reed is only a little thing, but woven together with others it keeps people afloat.
El Club Benson is only one strand in the lives of the Church youth here, but it helps to keep them spiritually afloat and plays an important role in the righteous and happy lives they live.

Immersing ourselves regularly in the truths of the Book of Mormon can be a life-changing experience. One of our missionary granddaughters, Sister Olivia Nelson, promised an investigator that if he would read the Book of Mormon daily, his test scores on his university exams would improve. He did, and they did.

But the progress Melissa has made in the past six years is inspired. And it’s a change that more and more young women are making happen all around the world thanks to Personal Progress.

“I always thought the worst of myself,” says Melissa, 17, who is about to complete the Young Women program in the Cincuentenario Ward, Panama City Panama Stake. “But the Personal Progress program has helped me realize that I am worth something.”

According to Melissa: “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are, these experiences can help you become a better person. This program is inspired for us. The world changes, temptations and challenges change, and this program is for our time to help us progress to meet today’s challenges.”

Illustration by Stephen Sitton
All through elementary school I did well in academics. But I can’t say the same about athletics. I didn’t feel coordinated or confident when it came to sports or games at recess. I was always picked last for the kickball team. By the time I was in junior high, I had convinced myself that I would never be good at anything remotely resembling a sport.
My family lived in a small town. There were about 30 girls in my grade. During our eighth grade year, at the end of each term, we were required to complete a series of fitness tests that included sit-ups, pull-ups, a flexibility test, and a mile-long timed run. I hated the run most of all. I always finished the required four laps around the track, but I was always one of the last to finish.
One of my close friends, Kathy, seemed to be my complete opposite when it came to athletics. She was a beautiful redhead who was flexible and physically coordinated. She loved to run and was always one of the top two or three who consistently finished the mile in around seven minutes.
On the day of the run, anxiety set in as it always did for me. As we jogged onto the grass area in the middle of the track, I confided in Kathy that I hated all things with the word “gym” or “physical” in them. But as we stretched before running, she kept giving me a pep talk. She told me she knew I could do it and do well. I’m sure she was hoping to make me feel better.
Our teacher divided us into two groups to ensure that she could record our times accurately. I was assigned to run in the first group, and Kathy was assigned to the second. The teacher got out her stopwatch and signaled for us to be ready.
“Four laps,” I thought to myself. “I just have to get through four laps.” I decided to run on the inside of the track, figuring that it was just a little less effort than running around the outside—and that maybe it would even help to lower the terrible time I knew I would get.
Right before we began, Kathy stepped up on the grass beside me. She again encouraged me and told me she believed in me. Then, as our group took off, Kathy took off with me. I couldn’t believe it! She ran along the grass right next to me and stayed with me for the entire four laps. All along the way she told me I was doing a great job. To my surprise, the four laps passed quickly.
With Kathy beside me, I finished my mile in 7 minutes and 18 seconds. Never before or since have I run a mile with a time like that! I was elated. I caught my breath and reveled in congratulations from my teacher and my friends.
Then the teacher called for the second group. It took me only a moment to remember that Kathy was in that group. She had just run a mile with me at a tiring speed. Now she had to run again. I don’t remember what her time was on her second mile that day, but I am certain her score was lower than usual because she had already spent the best of her energy helping me.
I remember that day as a turning point in my confidence when it came to athletics. I went on to spend two years on the dance team, play basketball and volleyball with the young women at Church tournaments, and earn my toe shoes in ballet.
Just before my junior year of high school, my family moved to another town about half an hour away. The following summer, one of my old friends called with the news that Kathy had been killed in a car accident. I was devastated. At her funeral, I reflected on my many memories of her. The memory that I hold most dear, however, is of the day when she ran the extra mile with me.
The Savior taught, “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain” (Matthew 5:41). Kathy’s example reminds me to be aware of others and willingly serve them. When we do so, we truly follow the Savior’s admonition to go the extra mile.

One day I went to the market with my mom, my brother, and my sister. As we were leaving and were out in front of the store, I saw paper money floating in the breeze. I tried to grab it before it blew away, and I called to my mom to come and help. After we had gathered all the bills, we looked around to see who they could belong to. We saw no one, just a van pulling away. We couldn’t find a wallet or a purse. When we counted the bills—five twenties, one ten, and two ones—we realized I had found $112!
Mom reminded me that it wasn’t mine. She said it might belong to someone who needed it to live. After we called my dad at work to hear what he thought, we all decided that my mom would call the manager of the store and tell him we had found some money. We didn’t tell him the amount, but we left our name and phone number in case anyone asked for the money. My mom said that if no one claimed it after two weeks, I could keep it. She put it away in a box.
The very next day, an older lady phoned and explained that she had called the grocery story when she realized she was missing some money. The manager had given her our number. She told us she was missing five twenties, one ten, and two ones. Her husband was in a wheelchair, and they needed that money for food and other things. It was her Social Security benefit. She also said that she had been praying all night that her money would be found by someone honest so that it would be returned to her.
When we pulled up to her small home, Mom handed me the box with the money in it. I got out of the car and took it to the lady. She was smiling. She turned to my mom and dad and said, “Thank you for raising an honest child.”
I was glad that we were the people who found the money so that she could get it back. I felt very happy. I know Jesus would have returned the money if He had found it.

Lucy and her older sisters entered an art contest at their school about making the world a better place. Lucy wanted to paint a heart. She said, “The world be a better place if we have love in our hearts.”
When Lucy found out that her painting won the contest, she told her sister Ruby, “Yours is so good. I wish you would have won instead of me.” Then Lucy couldn’t believe it when she found out her painting won the contest for the whole United States too!

God uses another form of chastening or correction to guide us to a future we do not or cannot now envision but which He knows is the better way for us. President Hugh B. Brown, formerly a member of the Twelve and a counselor in the First Presidency, provided a personal experience. He told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a currant bush that had grown over six feet (1.8 m) high and was yielding no berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small stumps. Then he saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant bush were crying, and thought he heard it say:
“How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.”
President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’”
Years later, President Brown was a field officer in the Canadian Army serving in England. When a superior officer became a battle casualty, President Brown was in line to be promoted to general, and he was summoned to London. But even though he was fully qualified for the promotion, it was denied him because he was a Mormon. The commanding general said in essence, “You deserve the appointment, but I cannot give it to you.” What President Brown had spent 10 years hoping, praying, and preparing for slipped through his fingers in that moment because of blatant discrimination. Continuing his story, President Brown remembered:
“I got on the train and started back … with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. … When I got to my tent, … I threw my cap on the cot. I clenched my fists, and I shook them at heaven. I said, ‘How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?’ I was as bitter as gall.
“And then I heard a voice, and I recognized the tone of this voice. It was my own voice, and the voice said, ‘I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do.’ The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my knees by the cot to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness. …
“… And now, almost 50 years later, I look up to [God] and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’”5
God knew what Hugh B. Brown was to become and what was needed for that to happen, and He redirected his course to prepare him for the holy apostleship.