Gospel Story Finder

At one service project to help a family in the branch, “we all participated,” says Lourdes. “The children, the youth, the adults, the Relief Society, the missionaries. The experience was very edifying. I know that when we ‘are in the service of [our] fellow beings [we] are only in the service of [our] God’ [Mosiah 2:17]. When I serve, it is like I am doing it for Jesus Christ. That’s what the kingdom is about.”

One of Willis’s naval assignments was aboard a minesweeper operating off the east coast of the United States. As far as he knew, there were no other Church members among the crew.

When the ship put into port at New Bern, North Carolina, for repairs, Willis looked up the address of the local branch and attended services. He found out that the next Saturday there would be a dance at the branch. Excited at the prospect of going to a dance, Willis asked two of his shipmates, Kenneth Kinzel and John Archer, to go with him. The two liked the idea of going to a social function where there would be some single girls, so they accepted the invitation.

They attended the dance and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Ken was particularly impressed that they had such an enjoyable time without drinking and without the other activities usually associated with “hitting the beach.” He wanted to know more about a church that would sponsor that kind of activity and asked Willis how he could learn more. Willis contacted the missionaries. They taught Ken and John, and in a few weeks both were baptized.

Thanks for sweeping the front walk so quickly after I asked you to.
Huh? I didn’t do it. I was going to do it right after my homework.
Down the street at Mrs. Foster’s house—
Huh? I don’t remember taking the trash out to the street.
Back in his bedroom hideaway, our hero slips out of his disguise. Once again he becomes simply Matt Cooper, ordinary kid.
Thanks for keeping my secret, trusty sidekick.
Sidekick? Do I get a cape too?

Two of my good friends were my older brothers, Mike and Bill. They never minded having me tag along when they went to play basketball, baseball, or football, and if their friends didn’t want me to play, Mike and Bill wouldn’t play either. Playing sports with my brothers and their friends was hard because I was younger than they were, but it paid off in the long run. I always had to work harder to compete with them, but that extra effort made me a better athlete. By the time I was in high school, I was ahead of most guys my age, and that edge later helped me earn an athletic scholarship that paid my way through college.

Primary children sang for President Gordon B. Hinckley when he arrived to dedicate the Aba Nigeria Temple.

A few years later, Elder Harbertson played softball for a commercial team. “And when we went into the state tournament and the national tournament,” he recounted, “games were scheduled on Sundays. I went to the manager and said, ‘I’m sorry, but I won’t play on Sunday.’ I thought I would be dismissed from the team, but I was allowed to play in the state tournament. I played every game but the one on Sunday, and we won the state tournament. Then, as we were preparing to go to the nationals, the coach came to me and said, ‘We let you play in the state tournament and miss the game on Sunday, but we can only take twelve players to the nationals, and we have to have you play on Sunday.’ I said, ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t play on Sunday.’ I thought, There goes my dream of playing in the national tournament. But the team had a meeting, and they decided to let me go, and I played every game but the one on Sunday! Heavenly Father always blesses you when you choose to do right!”

Subject: Lisa (Elizabeth)
Age: 16 years
Event: A ride home with Larry Hill, local football hero
“Did you see Friday night’s game?” Larry asked as he helped her into the car.
“Oh, sure. You were wonderful!”
“Thanks.’”
“I bet you have to practice hard to get so strong and fast. Just watching you run around the other team is so exciting.”
“Things have always come easy for me. ‘Natural talent’ is the way the paper describes it.”
“But you must train hard.” “No,” he answered, “training is for people who don’t have natural talent.”
“Are you going to play in the pros?” she asked.
“Oh, sure,” he answered confidently. “I’m going to be a legend in my own time. Someday you’ll see me on TV and you’ll tell people that you knew the great Larry Hill and that he gave you a ride home from a school pep assembly practice.”
“Okay,” she smiled, “I’ll do my part if you do yours.”
“It might be a nicer memory if you’d sit a little closer,” he suggested. Turning on his four-track stereo to mood music, he casually put his arm over her shoulder. “You know, Lisa, I was watching you tonight. I think I could really fall for you.”
She sat forward, leaving his arm dangling in the air. “Larry, do you know where I live? It’s on Fairmont.”
“Sure, I know.”
“Then where are you driving?” “I thought we could go up on the hill overlooking town and look at the moon … and talk.”
“You can see the moon really well from my house,” she suggested.
He looked at her suddenly with a puzzled expression. “You’re joking? You don’t want to go up there with me?”
“I’ve got to go home. My parents will be worrying.”
He angrily flipped off the music, made a U-turn in the middle of the block, and sped back toward her house. “I’ll tell you one thing, “he finally said, “there are not many girls in our school who’d turn down attention from me.”
“Really? Maybe I’ll be a legend in my own time, too.”
“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”
“Larry, you’ve got the whole world telling you how great you are. Isn’t that enough?”
“Why won’t you go up there with me and talk?”
“I’ll talk with you in our kitchen over popcorn. Why do you want to go there?”
“I might want to kiss you.”
“And parking up there has worked with other girls?”
“Look, who else ever pays any attention to you? I’m doing you a favor.”
“You sound so sorry for me,” she said. “Is a kiss from you such a prize?”
“Other girls think so,” he answered crisply.
“Suppose I just let them have my share.”__________

Recently the two wards in our city were split to make three wards. I was a little nervous about going to a new Primary. But after a few Sundays, I knew I didn’t need to feel nervous because the Holy Ghost helped me feel calm and relaxed. I have even made new friends!
Morgan A., age 9, Indiana, USA

Jimmy Anderson is intent on directing films and has already had a taste of working on a few as a production assistant. Choosing this career was hard for him and for his wife, Mary, though. They did not know if he could support his family in this line of work. But they turned often to prayer and their patriarchal blessings, and now they feel good about Jimmy’s career choice.

“It was actually a lot less glamorous than I thought it would be,” admits Jimmy, smiling.

But Jimmy isn’t in this line of work for the glamour: “I’ve always wanted to do productions that are not only good films but that would also help people and maybe help them see the light of the gospel.”

During the early days of the Great Depression, six stake presidents from the Salt Lake Valley joined together to grapple with the darkening clouds of poverty and hunger that threatened to overwhelm so many members of the Church.1 Although the economic crisis affected people everywhere, Utah in particular had been devastated.2
At that time, Church leaders had few resources to help those in need. They could use fast offerings, of course, but the chronic need dwarfed anything they had ever experienced. Under the direction of the Presiding Bishopric, a Deseret Employment Bureau had been founded in the early 1900s. But it was not adequately equipped to handle such massive need.
These six priesthood leaders knew that if the people of their stakes were to be helped, they could not wait. They would have to take immediate action. They began by putting people to work. They organized the men and took them to fields where they could harvest crops. In exchange for their labor, grateful farmers generously donated food to the men. The surplus was taken to a storehouse and distributed to others who were hungry. As donations grew, the Saints began canning food to preserve it. This was the beginning of the modern-day welfare program.

My family and loved ones saw this downward spiral, and they tried to help. I often spent time on Sundays in the bishop’s office, and just as many days trying to avoid the bishop. He showed a lot of support and interest in me, looking into the things I believed in so that he could better understand me. My parents kept trying to help, but they didn’t know what to do. There were times when my dad and I were near tears trying to talk about our differences.

When Sasha Strachova was 13 years old, she began to feel a yearning to know God. For months, she prayed, “Heavenly Father, I want to know thee more.”
The Lord answered her prayer. One day, two missionaries were invited to speak to the students in her school class in St. Petersburg, Russia. Something they said caught her by surprise and riveted her attention: “Men are, that they might have joy” (2 Ne. 2:25). What an unusual concept that was! “But I believed it,” says Sasha. “I felt they knew how we could have joy in life.”
Excitedly, she hurried home to share her discovery with her mother. But her mother, recently divorced and feeling burdened with life, dismissed her news and her excitement. Sasha begged for permission to attend Sunday meetings at the branch, even though it was far from where she and her mother lived. “Mama said, ‘Why do you have to travel so far?’ But I said, ‘Mama, I will go to this church.’”
The next Sunday, Sasha traveled alone by bus and subway to reach the branch. “I felt love there,” she says. “I felt life in the people. I was just starting to know about God, and I wanted very much to feel what they were feeling.”
Soon she was asking her mother if the missionaries could come to their apartment. “My mother said, ‘No, we don’t need missionaries.’ But I told her, ‘Mama, I will wash the floor every day. Please let them come.’” After a month of washing floors, Sasha convinced her mother to let the missionaries come. When they arrived, they were surprised to find the apartment crowded with 13-year-olds. Sasha had invited her entire school class! Three months later, she and two of her friends were baptized.
Sasha wanted her mother to enjoy the blessings of the gospel. “I fasted and prayed for her,” she says. “Every night I put notes on her bed. I wrote: ‘My dear mommy, God loves you so much. Please pray to him. He will certainly bless you today.’” Sasha has family home evening with her mother and still hopes she will eventually be baptized.

Grandma
sends her love,
my mother said
as she leaned over
to kiss me.
She’ll be here
in a week.
As I wiped
mom’s lipstick
off my forehead
I wondered
how grandma
could put
love
in an envelope.
Grandma’s
in the kitchen,
mom said
as I raced in
the front door
with a
finger painting
in my fist.
I found grandma
behind the counter
wearing an apron,
her hands white
with flour.
I love you,
she said
handing me
a warm
cinnamon roll.
I smiled
a thank-you
and finished
my roll
so I could give
grandma
a hug.
But inside
I was anxious
to talk
to my mother.
I had to tell her
that grandma
couldn’t have
sent her love
in a letter.
She brought it all
with her
and put it in
the cinnamon rolls.

This story happened in the Romania.
Patrik stared up at the ceiling as he lay sprawled on his bed. He was bored. He had already read his animal books, jumped on the trampoline, and rode his bike around the neighborhood. What could he do now?
Patrik got up and walked to his older brother Daniel’s room. “Will you play with me?” Patrik asked.
“Sorry, I can’t. I have to study,” Daniel said. He didn’t even look up from the book he was reading.
Patrik felt his heart sink. Daniel was always studying. Couldn’t he take a break?
Oh well. Daniel was busy, but Patrik could ask his other brother, Simion. “I’m bored. Can you play with me?” Patrik asked.
“No, not today. I’m going out with friends.” Simion put on his jacket and walked out the front door.
Patrik was so mad! His heart beat faster. His older brothers were always too busy for him. He ran to his bedroom and slammed the door.
It’s not fair! Patrik thought.
He stomped his foot and flopped onto his bed. His chest felt tight. He was so bored! But he felt too mad to think of something to do.
Then he remembered something he learned at school. His teacher taught them that taking deep breaths could help them feel calm.
“It’s hard to fix anything when you feel angry,” she had said. Maybe if he was calmer, Patrik could think of a way to solve his boredom problem.
So Patrik took a big, deep breath. Then he took another. After a few more, his chest didn’t feel so tight anymore. But he still didn’t know what to do.
He sat up and looked at the picture of Jesus Christ on his wall. What would He want Patrick to do?
Patrik got down on his knees. “Heavenly Father, please help Daniel as he studies,” he said. “Help Simion to have fun with his friends. And please help me to not be so bored.”
When he finished his prayer, Patrik had an idea. He raced down to Daniel’s room.
“Daniel, when you’re done, can we play together?”
Daniel looked up from his book at the clock on the wall. “I can take a break in about 30 minutes. Then we could go outside. Do you want to do that?”
“Yes!” Patrik smiled and ran back to his room. He found an animal book about tigers he liked looking at. After reading it for a while, he played with blocks. Soon the time had passed, and he and Daniel headed toward the woods near their house.
“Do you want to play warriors in space or explorers in the jungle?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t care. I’m just glad we can spend time together. It’s a lot better than being bored,” Patrik said.
Daniel grinned. “Well, playing with you is a lot more fun than studying for a test.”
Patrik felt happy as he and Daniel crawled through the grass. Calming down had helped him to think more clearly so he could solve his problem. And Heavenly Father had helped him to be more like Jesus Christ. It was turning out to be a good day after all.
Illustrations by Linh My Nguyen

Your best friend invites you to hang out this Friday, but you have a Church dance that night. Instead of just rejecting his invitation, you invite him to the dance!

In family home evening we studied the 13th article of faith. We learned that “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” Then we talked about the kinds of movies and television shows we watch. We decided that our family would not watch movies rated R or PG-13. Then a movie came out that I really wanted to see. I had seen the first three movies in the series, but I told my mom that we shouldn’t see the fourth because it was rated PG-13. She said it would be my choice. Even though I really wanted to see it, I decided that I wouldn’t. I felt that it might not be “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.”

As members of the Church, we are invited often to sustain people in callings to serve. Years ago an 18-year-old student showed me what it means to sustain the Lord’s servants. I am still blessed by his humble example.
He had just begun his first year in college. He was baptized less than a year before he left home to begin his studies at a large university. There I served as his bishop.
As the school year began, I had a brief interview with him in the bishop’s office. I remember little of that first conversation except that he spoke of his challenges in a new place, but I will never forget our second conversation.
He asked to see me in my office. I was surprised when he said, “Could we pray together, and may I be voice?” I was about to say that I had already prayed and expected that he had as well. Instead I agreed.
He began his prayer with a testimony that he knew the bishop was called of God. He asked God to tell me what he should do in a matter of great spiritual consequence. The young man told God he was sure the bishop already knew his needs and would be given the counsel he needed to hear.
As he spoke, the specific dangers he would face came to my mind. The counsel was simple but given in great clarity: pray always, obey the commandments, and have no fear.
That young man, one year in the Church, taught by example what God can do with a leader as he is sustained by the faith and prayers of those he is called to lead. That young man demonstrated for me the power of the law of common consent in the Church (see D&C 26:2). Even though the Lord calls His servants by revelation, they can function only after being sustained by those they are called to serve.

Elder Carlos E. Asay, an emeritus member of the Seventy, shares an experience he had as a missionary with this gift. He and his companion visited a branch torn by divisions. His companion was asked to speak at the meeting held to deal with the conflicts. After fasting and prayer, his companion “stood with confidence and worked the miracle. He spoke with the tongue of an angel. That young, inexperienced elder’s words healed wounds festering in the hearts of men much older than he, prompted confessions, and literally saved a branch of the Church” (Ensign, April 1988, 17).

He never sought Church positions, however, or felt that calls ought to come to him. When Elder Mark E. Petersen of the Council of the Twelve came to Palo Alto to reorganize the stake presidency in 1951, David Haight had served as a bishop’s counselor and was the junior high counselor. He felt sure he did not have the qualities the Lord required in a member of the stake presidency. But the next day he was sustained as stake president.

I approached the doors to the church with one clear thought in my mind: “If I don’t find a friend at church today, I’m never coming back.” I had attended church with a friend a few times before, but this was the first time I attended as an investigator by myself and for myself. I felt I needed to join the Church, but I had several fears and concerns.
When I entered the church, I was greeted by a young adult with a big smile and a hearty handshake. He introduced himself as Dane McCartney. I had seen Dane before, when he had tried out for the college football team I played for. My anxiety vanished when he invited me to sit with him during the Church meetings. He also invited me to his parents’ home for dinner afterward. I never had a chance to feel alone that day. Dane and his family reached out to me and helped answer many of my questions. I joined the Church a few weeks later.
Had Dane just been friendly to me that day, I probably would have left church after sacrament meeting and given up, thinking that I had given it a shot but that church just wasn’t for me. While it’s certainly important to be friendly, being a friend involves more than just being nice. The McCartneys’ love and support was important to my conversion.