Gospel Story Finder

As Sister Simpson and I walked along lower Queen Street in Auckland, New Zealand, the other day, we came to a particular place not far from the wharf. There we paused for a few moments as I related to her the incident that took place at that very spot during my first mission.
I could still see in my mind’s eye a very old Maori couple who stood at the curb with thousands of others waving farewell to the Maori Battalion as they marched down to their troop transport and off to war.
The old couple became very excited as one young soldier glanced their way with a big smile. From their Maori conversation, it became apparent that this was their great-grandson going off to war.
His would be an atomic war with sophisticated equipment capable of killing by the thousands—so unlike the Maori wars of the late 1800s that the old Maori had participated in as a young tribal warrior.
Soon the boy was gone from view, and it was then that the old man turned to his wife and said (perhaps a little cynically), “Katahi kua pakeha tatou,” which in effect means, “So now we are civilized.”

That afternoon I climbed to one of the observation points in the national park I was visiting. As I walked, I tried to put my life into perspective. I found that the climb, which was very difficult and strenuous in places, was comparable to the trials in my life. Because I pressed on and reached the end of the climb, I could look down at the beauty of creation and feel exhilaration.
The spirit of rebellion was not completely gone from my heart, but I was starting to feel the hostility melting away. I began to experience feelings of love—new, beautiful, and strange to me. I also began to learn that I could be loved. I knew I needed to change my life, to truly repent.

Estonia was dedicated by Elder Russell M. Nelson in the spring of 1990. On June 29, the Estonian government officially recognized the Church.
The laws of the land required that an Estonian church member who did not hold a position in the Estonian branch presidency be designated as president of the Church in Estonia. That person must sign the petition for the Church to become recognized.
President Mecham asked Jaanus, “Would you consent to be the Church spokesman to testify before the Minister of Religion and sign the petition as president?”
Jaanus was puzzled. “There are many people who could do that.”
“We would like you, Jaanus, to be the authorized person to sign the document because you have demonstrated such leadership.”
Jaanus testified before the Minister of Religion that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a legitimate church working in the country to help people and that the programs were not contrary to any laws of government.
Then Jaanus picked up the pen, remembering that he had been at the first meeting of the Church in Estonia, had attended the first official sacrament meeting, and was one of the first youth to be baptized. Twenty others signed their names below his signature.

A passage from the novel Les misérables illustrates how priesthood holders can treat those individuals viewed as strangers. Jean Valjean had just been released as a prisoner. Exhausted by a long voyage and dying of hunger and thirst, he arrives in a small town seeking a place to find food and shelter for the night. When the news of his arrival spreads, one by one all the inhabitants close their doors to him. Not the hotel, not the inn, not even the prison would invite him in. He is rejected, driven away, banished. Finally, with no strength left, he collapses at the front door of the town’s bishop.
The good clergyman is entirely aware of Valjean’s background, but he invites the vagabond into his home with these compassionate words:
“‘This is not my house; it is the house of Jesus Christ. This door does not demand of him who enters whether he has a name, but whether he has a grief. You suffer, you are hungry and thirsty; you are welcome. … What need have I to know your name? Besides, before you told me [your name], you had one which I knew.’
“[Valjean] opened his eyes in astonishment.
“‘Really? You knew what I was called?’
“‘Yes,’ replied the Bishop, ‘you are called my brother.’”7

We have been with thousands of these wonderful people in South America. We recently flew from Asunción, Paraguay, to Guayaquil, Ecuador, over the high and forbidding peaks and narrow valleys of that vast area. Everywhere there were Indian villages and small cities. Our missionaries are working with these good people, bringing the light of the everlasting gospel into their lives. Many years ago Sister Hinckley and I took the little train that runs from Cuzco, Peru, to Puno on Lake Titicaca. In Puno we met with a little handful of native members, the first General Authority ever to do so. Today we have two stakes of Zion in Puno, their stake presidents and bishops drawn from their number.

At times these gifts are associated with spiritual promises the Lord will fulfill. A former stake president from Brazil shared with me this experience:
“A faithful single mother with four teenage children was struggling economically. I asked her, ‘Sister, are your children attending seminary regularly?’ She replied, ‘I have many challenges and live far away from the chapel. It is dangerous.’ At that moment, I felt a strong prompting to counsel and promise her. I said, ‘If you don’t have the money, you need to walk the kilometers with them. Go with them; sit in class with them. If you will do that, you will save your children, and all will marry in the temple.’ I was startled by what I had said but could not deny the powerful inspiration.
“She accepted the counsel and for many years walked with her children to seminary. Her promise has now been fulfilled. All are married in the temple, and her son is serving as bishop in his ward.”

The message of the parable is clear: when we serve others, we serve God; when we don’t, we disappoint. He expects us to use our gifts, talents, and abilities to bless the lives of Heavenly Father’s children. The divine impulse to serve others is illustrated in a poem written in the 19th century by the Finnish poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg. My siblings and I repeatedly heard the poem “Farmer Paavo” throughout our childhoods. In the poem, Paavo was a poor farmer who lived with his wife and children in the lake region of central Finland. Several years in a row, most of his crops were destroyed, whether through the runoff from the spring snowmelt, summer hailstorms, or an early autumn frost. Each time the meager harvest came in, the farmer’s wife lamented, “Paavo, Paavo, you unfortunate old man, God has forsaken us.” Paavo, in turn, stoically said, “Mix bark with the rye flour to make bread so the children won’t go hungry. I’ll work harder to drain the marshy fields. God is testing us, but He will provide.”

Each time the crops were destroyed, Paavo directed his wife to double the amount of bark that she mixed into the flour to ward off starvation. He also worked harder, digging trenches to drain the ground and decrease his fields’ susceptibility to a spring runoff and an early autumn frost.

After years of hardship, Paavo finally harvested a rich crop. His wife exulted, “Paavo, Paavo, these are happy times! It is time to throw away the bark, and bake bread made only with rye.” But Paavo solemnly took his wife’s hand and said, “Mix half the flour with bark, for our neighbor’s fields have frosted over.” Paavo sacrificed his and his family’s bounty to help his devastated and destitute neighbor.

Years later, Joseph was painfully imprisoned in Liberty Jail for many months. When he prayed for relief, the Lord told him that “all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 122:7).

I am a newcomer to the New Era. I would like to say thank you to Mr. and Mrs. N. K. Rasmussen and Elise for a wonderful baptismal gift—a year’s subscription to the New Era. I got my first issue, January-February, on Valentine’s Day. I started to read it. I fell in love with it. I’m looking forward to the March issue. I like your feature articles the most. They help me understand the gospel and be a worthy Latter-day Saint. They also help me in the office of a priest in the Aaronic priesthood. I enjoyed the Message “Why Now? Why Me?” by Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone in the January-February 1984 issue. It helped me understand the role the missionaries have in the Church. I love my Heavenly Father, and I love the New Era. In the years to come, the New Era will be in my home. I’m 21 years old. The New Era makes me feel younger. Soon I will have been a member four months. It’s so wonderful that I have found the gospel in my life.
Steve MorrisonSparks, Nevada

A little over a year earlier, this kind of work would have been impossible for Peyton. At that time he was battling a dangerous infection that threatened to paralyze him. On top of that, his family had just moved to Idaho from Oregon, USA, and during the months he was stuck in bed and making daily hospital trips, he relied on his new friends and his trust in God to get him through.
Just before Peyton’s junior year of high school, his dad got a new job in Idaho. The family packed up everything and started the drive. “It didn’t really hit me until we started driving that we were actually moving,” Peyton says. “Then I really got scared.” Peyton’s mom remembers him quietly crying through a lot of the drive. “In fact, it was one of the only times I’ve seen him cry,” she says.
After the move Peyton joined the school soccer team. Although Peyton met a lot of new people, he had a hard time connecting with them. “It was all scary because everything was new,” he says. “The first couple of months were super hard.”
But his new friends kept reaching out to him. And it made a difference.
“There wasn’t a specific day where everything magically changed,” Peyton says. “It just happened slowly and over time as they kept inviting me to hang out with them. I slowly grew closer and closer to all of them.”

As I meet the wonderful members of this Church—both young and old—I am encouraged and filled with gratitude for the faithfulness of those who have heard the call of the Savior and have followed Him.

For example, a steelworker follows the Savior. Day after day, over a period of more than three decades, he pulls out his scriptures to read during lunch break as his coworkers chide him. The 70-year-old widow who is confined to her wheelchair and who, to everyone who visits, cheers their spirits and never fails to tell them of how fortunate she is, follows the Savior. The child who seeks through prayer to commune with the Master of the universe follows the Savior. The wealthy member who gives so generously to the Church and his fellowmen follows the Savior.

In Kirtland, Ohio, one of the incredible things that happened was the building and dedication of the Kirtland Temple. The dedicatory prayer, which Joseph received by revelation, appears in the 109th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. In that prayer he asked the Lord to accept the Saints’ workmanship and sacrifice in building the temple.

One week after the dedication of the temple, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery had another vision. This occurred on Easter, which was also Passover. The Lord came in vision and accepted the house. He told the Saints that they should rejoice for having, “with their might, built this house to my name” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:6). After that vision closed, three ancient prophets appeared: Moses, who restored the keys for the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth; Elias, who committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham; and Elijah, who restored the keys of the sealing power (see Doctrine and Covenants 110:11–16).

The restoration of those keys was absolutely essential to accomplishing the Lord’s purposes. We needed not only the Book of Mormon but also those keys and temple ordinances. Those keys have never been more important than they are now.

I have had the privilege of bearing testimony in ninety-eight general conferences of the Church from this pulpit and I have written a book that is being used almost all over the world containing my testimony, and that testimony I obtained in my youth through the Holy Ghost whom I received by the laying on of hands by those who had authority to convey it upon me. And it made such an impression upon me as a boy that it has been a guiding star to me all my life, and I could hardly wait until I was old enough to go on a mission.

The football was improvised from a bunch of socks. The opposing team was the furniture. Young Kalin faked left, then went wide around a wall. He slipped the tackle of a kitchen chair, and made a flying leap into the end-zone couch on the far side of the living room. But the cheers of the crowds were only in his mind. As an only child being raised by a single mother working the swing shift, Kalin Hall spent a lot of time alone.
Growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada, Kalin didn’t foresee a future for himself that included college, a career, or membership in the LDS church. In fact, he didn’t even see football in his future despite his success in his own living room.

Illustration by Carolyn Vibbert
I was left half-blind when a truck knocked me off my bike. A little over four years later, during the Christmas season in 2011, I felt prompted to ask a brother I had known in a previous ward for a priesthood blessing. I saw this brother only from time to time, so I didn’t understand why I should ask him. I knew there were other worthy priesthood holders I could ask instead.
In the weeks that followed, the feeling that I needed a blessing became stronger. I was serving as a temple worker in the Frankfurt Germany Temple, so I decided to ask one of the brethren there for a blessing.
After I made this decision, the brother I had been impressed to ask entered the temple. I immediately knew this wasn’t a coincidence—Heavenly Father wanted me to ask this brother specifically. I worked up my courage and asked to talk with him after his session. He agreed.
Later, I explained that I didn’t know why, but I felt I needed a blessing from him. He said he would be happy to help. He invited another brother into the room and then began giving me a blessing. As he finished, I was confused. The blessing was nice, but there was nothing particularly special about it.
Then I opened my eyes.
When I opened my eyes, I could see the whole room almost clearly. I couldn’t believe it! I asked the brother if he knew why he was the one who needed to give me this blessing. His response humbled me.
“I don’t think this blessing was only for you,” he said. “It was for me too. I’m giving my niece a blessing tomorrow because she is getting baptized. Our family is not active in the Church, and she is the first family member to be baptized in almost 20 years. Many in our family will attend the baptism, and I wasn’t sure my faith was strong enough to give the blessing. Now I know I can do it.”
In the days that followed, my vision improved enough that I no longer needed my white cane. I wrapped it and gave it as a Christmas gift to this brother along with a letter. “I know this is not the staff of Moses,” I wrote, “but I hope it reminds you of the priesthood power that you hold.”
Heavenly Father loves us and delights to bless us. This blessing at Christmas not only restored my sight but also gave a humble priesthood holder confidence in his priesthood service.

My father never made much money, but my parents were honest and hard working, and they taught these values to their children. My father worked at a copper mine. He didn’t earn enough money to send his sons and daughters on missions or to college, so my parents bought 1,000 chickens for us to raise so that we could sell the eggs. They also contracted to deliver a large number of newspapers each evening to our neighbors.
Most of the money from the eggs and delivering newspapers went into the bank to help pay for our education and our missions. Five of the children used the money to serve missions and all seven graduated from college. The lessons of value that my parents taught me on honesty, hard work, the Word of Wisdom, the law of chastity, and many other things continue to bless my life.

My name is Allison S., and I live in Nashville, Tennessee. I am eight years old, and I was just baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Some of my family members came to my baptism. My little sister, Abigail, and my brother, Daniel, were there. My grandparents came all the way from Utah. My mom helped me get dressed, and my dad baptized me. I was baptized in the same dress that my mom wore when she got baptized when she was a little girl.
I invited some of my friends to come to my baptism too. Some of them were from school and some were from Girl Scouts. None of them are members of the Church, but I knew they would want to be there on my special day.
All of my friends believe in the Bible, so we have that in common. I asked my friends to write down their favorite Bible verses and bring them to my baptism. After my baptism, I underlined the verses is my own Bible and wrote my friends’ names in the margins. My friend Katie gave me Proverbs 17:17, which says, “A friend loveth at all times.” Another friend, Molly, brought Romans 8:28. It says, “all things work together for good to them that love God.”

Dear Journal,
Today as I was leaving for school, I looked at the picture of Jesus on our wall. It reminded me that I was trying to be more like Him, so I decided to do something nice for someone as soon as possible. At school I saw a new girl wandering around looking lost, so I smiled and asked if she needed help. She said that she was just waiting for a friend, so I smiled again and walked on to class. I searched all day at school and all the way home afterward, but I didn’t see anyone to help.
When I got home, Mom was on the phone, and I could tell that she was talking to her friend Mary. When Mom talks to her, they’re on the phone a long time. Mom told me once that Mary was going through tough times and needed someone to listen to her.
I was on my way to my room when I remembered that I still hadn’t done something nice for someone. My nose told me that the baby needed a diaper change, and I decided that I could be like Jesus right in my own home! I was getting the diaper stuff so Mom could keep talking while she changed Annie, when I asked myself, What would Jesus do? I knew the answer. Jesus taught us to go the second mile, and He loved little children. I took Annie out of the playpen and changed her diaper myself.
It was so smelly that I almost took her to Mom, after all, but I didn’t. Mom saw me and gave me a huge smile that lit up her whole face. Annie grinned and cooed at me! I felt so good that before Mom got off the phone, I picked up Charlie’s toys in the living room and put them away.
Tonight when I was getting into bed, Mom came in and gave me a big hug and a kiss and told me how much she appreciated what I did for her. I felt a warm feeling in my heart as I hugged her back. I’m glad that I listened to President Hunter and tried to be a little more like Jesus. I can’t wait for the next general conference—I’m going to listen even better.

During her first year at school, when she lived with four roommates, Fleur had a hard time finding time alone to pray and study scriptures. “There wasn’t much privacy to pray, unless I got in the dorm early. The other option was to pray in the bathroom. It wasn’t the greatest place, but it was private.”

Fleur makes time for gospel study because, she says, “reading the scriptures daily for seminary helps me to live Church principles away from home.” Fortunately, this year Fleur has her own room, making it easier for her to pray and study.

Have expectations for your children. We had a curfew and told our sons that the Holy Ghost goes to bed at midnight. When they didn’t come home, a few times the Holy Ghost told me to go out and find them. That surprised a few of their dates! We laugh about that now—but I must admit, laughter comes easier as they have grown older.