Gospel Story Finder

Over a year ago, as I was walking through Temple Square, one of the sister missionaries approached me and asked, “Do you remember me? I am from Florida.” She told me her name, Sister Aida Chilan. Yes, I remembered meeting her and her family. Her stake president had suggested we visit her family. It became apparent that we were there for their daughter Aida, who had not been baptized. After our visit and more than a year of teaching and fellowshipping, Aida was baptized.

After we visited on Temple Square, she wrote me a letter. She said: “I know with all my heart that Heavenly Father knows each of us and that He continues to place us in each other’s paths for a reason. Thank you for being one of my missionaries, for reaching out to me and finding me five years ago.” Aida also sent me her conversion story recounting the “divine coincidences” which have taken place in her life that have led to her baptism and confirmation, serving a mission on Temple Square, and her recent temple marriage.

Was it a mere coincidence that the stake president had steered us to the Chilan home or that she and I would later meet on Temple Square? Aida’s testimony bears record that this was all part of God’s “divine design.”

Bishop Webb remembers last year’s tithing settlement with Sage and her family. “I asked Sage, ‘Are you a full tithe payer?”
“She said, ‘No.’
“I asked if she had some tithing to pay to be a full tithe payer.
“She said, ‘Yes.’ Then she pulled out an envelope with some money and pushed it across my table.
“‘Do you want me to fill out your receipt for you?’ I asked.
“‘No,’ she said. ‘You hold the paper, and I’ll write it.’”
And placing a pencil between the stubs on the ends of her arms, she laboriously filled out the receipt.
The bishop knows, as do others close to the family, just how difficult Sage’s healing has been. At times, the pain has been almost more than she could bear. Once when she was undergoing some therapy at home, she begged her mother not to hurt her anymore. Denise told her about a little girl who cried so much that her parents stopped giving her therapy. Now that little girl can’t walk.
Sage wept. “I wish I could give my body so that little girl could walk again.”
And in a way, she has. Sage’s story has been published throughout the United States. “Since the articles started coming out, we get letters from all over the country,” Michael says. One was from a lady dying of cancer; she had cut a picture of Sage from a magazine and put it where it could be easily seen. “Now when I hurt,” she wrote, “I look at that and say, ‘You foolish woman, what have you got to be sad about?’”
Another wrote to tell them he had been so inspired that he had decided to become active in the Church again after many years.
“I believe that part of Sage’s mission is to show people that you can accomplish things with your life no matter what,” Michael says. “She will be a wonderful missionary. She already is.”
Faith in Sage’s future wasn’t easy. During those first terrible days, Michael and Denise faced the agonizing possibility that Sage would die. “We mourned for the Sage we had known,” they say, “and then we faced the challenge of accepting the new Sage. Spiritually and emotionally, we were healed as she was healed.”
The support from fellow Saints and neighbors was a vital part of that healing. Ruth DeBuck stayed with Denise those first few nights in the hospital. They lay on separate beds pulled together, their heads touching, holding hands.
“We talked through the night, working through the nightmare,” Ruth says. “We talked about what it would mean if Sage died, and what it would mean if she lived. All a mother feels and wants for her daughter had been suddenly ripped away, and Denise had to deal with that loss. Those first few days, we had to let the old dreams go, then dream new dreams.”
Ruth has seen those dreams blossom. “We see Sage some time in the future being married in the temple,” she says. “Some young man, kind and pure, who can see through the physical to her spiritual beauty, is with her. We see her with children of her own, living a life in the gospel, taking the joy offered, living beyong the burn.”
“When bad things happen, some people will lean on the Lord,” fellow ward member Kirk Wood says. “Others will become bitter and lose that opportunity. The Volkmans have relied on the Lord and have grown spiritually because of it.
“The whole experience has been difficult and wonderful for all of us,” he says. “It’s hard to describe a tragedy like this as wonderful, but it has shown us what really matters. It has stripped away the nonessentials.”
Michael humbly explains, “We’re luckier than most. We have the gospel.”
Denise smiles. She gazes at Michael, at Avery and Sage, then says simply, “The gospel heals.”

Easter was going to be different this year. There would be no Easter dinner at Grandma’s, no Easter baskets, and no dyed eggs. My parents were going on a cruise to the Caribbean. My brother was staying in Arizona, and my sister was at BYU. I was going to visit friends in Minnesota. I hadn’t seen them since we moved to Illinois six months before.
“This spring break is going to be great,” I thought. I hadn’t made many friends at my new home, so I was ready for some fun, even though I was still disappointed that I wouldn’t have a traditional Easter with my family.
On Easter Sunday I lazily flopped out of bed to get ready for church. It didn’t seem much different from every other Sunday until sacrament meeting. As I sat listening to the testimonies, I noticed the family sitting in front of me was one I used to babysit for. The kids were always fun to watch, and it was good to see them again.
Simeon, their young son, got up to bear his testimony. When he spoke, I could hear his voice shaking from fear, but he still went on. He bore testimony that Easter was not about eggs and candy, but it was about how Jesus Christ gave His life for us. He expressed his love and gratitude for the Savior and His sacrifice for us.
As the tears welled up in my eyes, pangs of guilt tore at my heart. I had forgotten what Easter is all about!
I didn’t get a chance to thank Simeon for his testimony, but as I drove back to my friend’s house, I continued to think about his words. “How many others learned this lesson today?” I thought.
I pulled off to the side of the road and prayed in gratitude for the Savior. I asked forgiveness for my shortsightedness. As I started driving again, I knew I would never forget what a little child taught me about Easter.

I want to share with you a time that I lost the physical light and had to rely on patience and faith to endure that trial.

Eight years ago, I lost my eyesight in one eye because of a condition called “optic neuritis.” This caused me to go completely blind in my left eye, and it forced my right eye (which is my lazy eye from birth) to see. This was terrifying for me. I am a single mom to three kids, and I work full time in the Accounting Office. My job is paying invoices for the university, and it is important to do that job accurately. I work with numbers and spreadsheets with rows and columns of data. There is no room for error when you work with numbers! I was told by my neurologist that over time the optic nerve would heal, but there would be damage, and while my vision may return it would never be the same.

Over a period of 18 months, I did gain back about 75 percent of my vision, but I found I am also partially colorblind in that eye. I have had to learn to adjust my life to compensate for what I have lost by being careful about what situations I am in visually. Darkness in a room can be good when my eyes hurt, but hard to see tricky objects like shoes on the floor, doorjambs, or my children’s dogs when they are at my house playing. It takes the right amount of physical light for me to see my computer monitor, read a book, and drive my car. Even today while speaking in devotional I was able to work with the audio-visual and broadcast team so that I could see the words on the teleprompters. I have used the light from a physical and spiritual source to prepare this devotional, and as you can probably guess, I am a visual person who likes to see things.

I learned this truth in a profound way as a young mother when I was diagnosed with a rare and debilitating illness while expecting my youngest child.

There were days I begged Heavenly Father for relief. I pleaded for the protection and life of my unborn baby. I wondered if I could endure.

My prayers for healing were not answered in the way I wanted them to be, yet I was carried, carried by tender mercies and by small, quiet acts of service, most of them anonymous.

I will never forget one day that was particularly challenging. A soft knock on my front door led me to find a simple decoration someone had left on my porch. No note. No recognition. Just love. Done for me, because of Him.

It was a reminder that the love of God transforms the way we love one another.

One day a young woman came to my office wanting help with a problem. I asked what it was. She said she was pregnant but not married. Furthermore, she did not want to be pregnant or be married. She wanted an abortion. She claimed to have prayed a lot about what she should do, but didn't seem to get any answers to her prayers. I told her the answer to her prayer was in my file cabinet. I took out a statement by the First Presidency and read to her what the Lord thinks about His children aborting their children. The Lord had already revealed through His prophet the position of heaven on that subject. All she needed to do was to trust Him and thereby avoid the resultant regrets and sorrow that always accompany decisions that are contrary to the Lord's teaching. When she finally decided against the wisdom of having an abortion, she began at that same moment to build on the only sure and safe foundation.

The story of Lorenzo Odone, a six-year-old boy who developed adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a rare fatal genetic disease, powerfully portrays the connection between family and questions of the heart.

The story opens when Lorenzo begins having trouble at school. Teachers meet with Lorenzo’s parents, Michaela and Augusto, and explain that Lorenzo is often unresponsive in the classroom and should be placed in a special education program. Unconvinced that Lorenzo has a problem, the Odones argue that with the proper attention, Lorenzo will do fine in the regular classroom. But then Michaela notices some of the behavior problems at home. Lorenzo begins having accidents around the house, and when he plays outside with his friends, he seems to have difficulty at times controlling his arms and legs.

The Odones begin to worry that something is seriously wrong with their child, but when they take Lorenzo in for a medical examination, the physicians are unable to identify the problem. After a series of frustrating visits to the hospital, Michaela and Augusto finally find a physician who diagnoses Lorenzo’s disease as ALD, a disease that strips away the myelin—the insulating tissue that surrounds the nerve endings. The doctor explains that there is no cure for the disease, that the medical profession is just beginning to understand what it is. The Odones plead with the doctor; they tell him that they will take Lorenzo anywhere for special treatment—anywhere they can find someone who is working on a cure. But the physician cannot help them. He looks over his desk at them and simply shakes his head, indicating that neither he nor anyone else can provide the help Lorenzo needs.

The next day Augusto goes to the local library and begins reading about ALD. He finds that the disease often leads to death within two years of diagnosis and that before the child dies, he gradually loses control of bodily functions, often experiencing blindness, deafness, and complete loss of speech and mobility. Augusto and Michaela cry out for help; they begin searching for answers to their son’s problem. They seek help from God, as well as from the medical profession.

The Odones know that their time is short. They know that if they do not respond quickly, Lorenzo will die. As they continue to study the disease, they find that ALD makes it impossible for the body to digest fatty acids and that the rise in fatty-acid levels gradually destroys not only the body’s myelin but all of the vital organs. The Odones’ question becomes “How can we lower Lorenzo’s levels of fatty acids?” After months of intensive study and personal prayer, they light upon the idea of using oleic acid, an extract from olive oil. When they administer the oleic acid to Lorenzo, they find that his fatty-acid levels indeed decrease, but the decrease plateaus at the halfway mark.

They watch in anguish as Lorenzo’s condition deteriorates. Michaela, his mother, devotes herself so completely to his care that she begins to forget her own physical needs. At a point of deep discouragement, Augusto convinces Michaela that she must continue on and that they must extend their search for a cure to Lorenzo’s illness.

Augusto returns to the library, studying all the scientific literature he can find on long-chain fatty acids. His search is intense; he thinks about Lorenzo’s problem day and night. When his research fails to yield what he is looking for, he becomes frustrated and knows that he needs help from others who are seeking a cure for ALD. He and Michaela begin working with a medical researcher who is conducting studies on ALD; they appreciate his help but do not believe that he is bold enough to try new approaches. Augusto returns to the library again and again; the librarian becomes an important resource for Augusto, supplying him with scientific studies on long-chain fatty acids. Augusto begins building models of the fatty acids so that he can visualize what is happening inside Lorenzo’s body.

After months of research, Augusto hypothesizes that an extract from rapeseed oil might be effective at reducing Lorenzo’s fatty acids to normal levels. But then he finds that this oil is not approved for human consumption in the U.S., so he is unable to convince an American firm to produce the substance for him. Finally, he finds a chemist in England who agrees to help him. He is close to retirement but agrees to extract the substance from rapeseed oil so that Augusto can try it with Lorenzo. When the Odones receive the oil from the British chemist, Lorenzo’s condition has already deteriorated significantly. They try the oil nonetheless and find that it indeed reduces Lorenzo’s fatty acids to normal levels.

Then there is so much fun in Church service. I remember one hot summer evening when we were engaged in a ward building-fund project. We had contracted to supply the food service at a state fair. I was assigned to the dishwashing detail along with Bay Hutchings, another member of our ward. We were working across the counter from the customers who were enjoying our delicious food. There was a call from the cashier’s cage: “Dr. Hutchings, the hospital is calling you.” Suddenly all the forks were suspended in midair. The customers turned one to another and exclaimed, “A doctor washing dishes?” We had to immediately explain that this was a Church building-fund project. No one was being paid for his services. The waiters, cooks, dishwashers, and busboys were doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs—all having one great time working together for our project. We must never forget that the wealth, the strength, the security of the Church is our ability to labor together. Let us be a righteous example of this fundamental principle in our homes, our places of employment, our neighborhoods, our communities, our states, and our nations.

Soon after young Gordon was ordained a deacon, his father took him to stake priesthood meeting. To open the meeting, the men sang “Praise to the Man” (Hymns, number 27), a wonderful song about the Prophet Joseph Smith. Of that experience, President Hinckley said: “Something happened within me as I heard those men of faith sing. There came into my boyish heart a knowledge, placed there by the Holy Spirit, that Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet of the Almighty” (“Joseph the Seer,” Ensign, May 1977, 66). Throughout his life, Gordon B. Hinckley has borne powerful testimony of Joseph Smith.

Sharing the gospel on my mission was such a rewarding experience for me that I wanted to continue doing it after I got home to Peru. But I soon realized that I didn’t have the time I needed to reach all the people I wanted to, like I did on my mission.
So I turned to social media.
I created a blog to share my mission experiences, my thoughts from my weekly Come, Follow Me study, and other gospel-related insights with others. And as I shared my blog, I started receiving sweet messages from friends thanking me for sharing. I didn’t expect that! So then I thought: “Why can’t I do more on social media?” And that’s how my path to creating a gospel-sharing platform on Instagram and YouTube began.

And love endures through the hardships of life. The Apostle Paul taught: “Charity suffereth long. … [It] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth” (1 Corinthians 13:4, 7, 8). I watched a mother’s enduring love for her alcoholic son. She never gave up praying for him and being available for him. In his later years, he finally “came to himself” (Luke 15:17), kept a respectable job, and used his mechanical skills to fix up his mother’s house.

Months later, I was experiencing turmoil in my own life. Pressures at work, a baby on the way, and an upcoming move overwhelmed me. I found myself frustrated, anxious, and afraid.
I prayed earnestly about my worries, sins, and frustrations. As I prayed, the Spirit testified of the Savior’s importance in my life. It was as if He said to me:
“Don’t worry about all the things that could happen. That’s my job! It’s what I’m here for. I suffered all things to know what to do about this. Have faith in me, and we’ll get through this together. If you’ll follow my instructions, you can again be whole. Trust me and let me take those spiritual burdens. Then you can focus all your efforts on becoming your best self.”
With this realization, my worry, guilt, and frustration were lifted. Faith in Him removed unproductive feelings that blocked my progress. I could focus on the things in my control. I could live the gospel and turn to the Savior in my challenges.

Soon my 12th birthday came. I was ordained a deacon. Around this time, my family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, USA. I missed my friends, but I was excited to make new ones. Madison was much bigger than Manti. My new school was large. There weren’t many members of the Church. One day some popular kids invited me to a party. But the party was on the same night as a Church activity. I had learned from my experience in Primary that good things happen when I am faithful in attending my Church meetings. I thanked them for inviting me, and I explained why I couldn’t come.
The day after the party, everyone at school was talking about it. They had been drinking alcohol at the party, and everyone who went got in a lot of trouble! I was so grateful that I had been where I needed to be.

1. That morning for breakfast, each family member had only a half-piece of bread. Six-year-old Elizabeth noticed Mother’s worried expression.
2. Mother gave Father the last piece of bread, spread with lard, for his lunch. “I’m sorry, Joseph,” she said, “that I can’t give you more. But food is scarce, and people haven’t enough for themselves, let alone for the temple workers.”
Father smiled and said, “I know that whatever you fix is done with love, and I appreciate you.”
3. Although Elizabeth was hungry, she didn’t want Father to have to stop his carpentry work on the Manti Temple to earn money for food. She knew how important temples were to the Lord’s work.
4. Elizabeth rocked Baby Sina while Mother mended clothes with neat, fast stitches. When the baby fussed, Elizabeth bounced her gently and sang “Come, Come, Ye Saints” to her.
5. There was only enough flour for one more batch of bread, so Elizabeth and Mother knelt down together to ask Heavenly Father for help.
6. That night, after having only one small piece of bread each for supper, they went to bed early before the hunger pangs started again. Elizabeth thought that her stomach was resting on her backbone, but pioneer girls were too brave to complain.
7. Sunbeams were already resting on her quilt when Elizabeth awoke the next morning. Just as she finished dressing, Aunt Matilda came.
8. “Last night,” Aunt Matilda said, “I dreamed that you were hungry and desperate for something to eat. So I got up early to bring you some fresh eggs and milk, flour, and dried apples and berries from my farm.”
9. “Thank you, Heavenly Father,” Elizabeth whispered, as her grateful father hugged his sister.

While in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sister Yee learned about and saw so many incredible examples of sisters acting according to those sympathies as they sought to meet a local need.

One such sister was Sister Pulido, who saw a need at a local hospital to help families and individuals who came from far away and needed food and clothing while they waited for treatment. She gathered 120 Relief Society sisters, several missionaries, and others in the community to find donations of food, water, blankets, and clothing. About 1,500 people donated goods, and the sisters and others prepared lunches and food for nearly 1,200 people. The goods were given to those who were waiting their turn for treatment at the hospital.

This sister said she was doing this because she had compassion for these people. With tears in her eyes, she humbly explained that she had been one of those individuals waiting in the hospital as her husband came and went for cancer treatment. She said her greatest blessing and desire is to minister as the Savior would.

Another story I would like to share is about our friend and neighbor at TVA, Mi Jeong Lee. She and her husband, Yoon Ha, and daughters, Han Sol, Han Bi, and Emma, were also our neighbors while living in TVA. Mi Jeong and Yoon Ha came from South Korea and took the giant leap of faith to move to Hawaii leaving behind family and friends, as well as employment. Mi Jeong and Yoon Ha would come to BYU–Hawaii and learn English as a second language, while being immersed in a new culture, and earning their bachelors’ degrees. An accomplishment that is no small feat, and that many of you are familiar with. During their time at BYU–Hawaii we were fortunate to make many fond memories together. Our children enjoyed playing, while the husbands’ activity of choice was night diving, and last, but not least, we all enjoyed Mi Jeong’s incredible pastries and Korean pancakes.

Mi Jeong has shared that the value of their time at BYU–Hawaii was beyond measure. During her experience she strengthened her faith and testimony, learned English, earned a bachelor’s degree, and made lifelong friends. Mi Jeong has shared that through a Church calling in her ward she overcame her fears through study and faith. Mi Jeong’s first calling in her new ward at BYU–Hawaii was one that she really did not want to take. Mi Jeong was called to be a Relief Society teacher, and she felt very strongly that her English was not good enough to do this calling. Mi Jeong said yes anyway. Through much study and practice, Mi Jeong put in hours to prepare for her Relief Society lessons. Mi Jeong even wrote a script to follow that was over ten pages long. One Sunday when she was teaching, Mi Jeong felt inspired to go off script and to share what was in her heart and mind. She testified that she was able to say all the things she wanted to through the Spirit of the Lord and likened her experience to the following two scriptures:
D&C 33:8 “Open your mouths and they shall be filled, and you shall become even as Nephi of old, who journeyed from Jerusalem in the wilderness.”
D&C 8:2 “Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.”
Through this Church calling Mi Jeong said she learned that through study and faith the Lord works miracles and can even make weaknesses into strengths.

Since graduating from BYU–Hawaii, Mi Jeong’s husband, Yoon Ha, has worked for the Korean Government Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. Recently, he managed transportation to carry athletes from accommodations and stadiums to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018. In April of this year, he led his team to sign an MOU with the Utah Transit Authority introducing a light rail traffic system in Korea.

As for Mi Jeong, she majored in TESOL and taught English for several years after graduation. She then returned to school and earned a master's degree in counseling. Mi Jeong currently works at a juvenile facility helping at-risk teens who deal with mental illnesses and serious traumatic events in their lives.

During their years at BYU–Hawaii Mi Jeong and her family were able to earn their college degrees, develop meaningful and impactful relationships with others, and gain invaluable experiences and skills which have blessed their life’s journey in ways that cannot be measured.

I first discovered that a BYU campus existed in Hawaii when I was 13-years old and instantly knew this was where I wanted to attend college. I had never been to Hawaii but I knew I was destined to be here. Thankfully I was accepted and when the time came, I was excited and nervous to move to Hawaii. I arrived in Honolulu late at night and was picked up by the “Coconut Express” shuttle sent by BYUHSA along with 3 other students. I just remember sitting in that van watching the city lights turn into pretty much nothing but a blur of bushes and darkness on the long ride to campus. I wondered about the sanity of my decision to come here for I felt completely isolated and desolate at first but the Holy Spirit reassured and helped me get through it and now, 26 years later I’m still here and loving my island home.

Since I was determined to work hard and pay my way through school without incurring any long-term debt, one of the first orders of business once I got here was to get a job. I applied for several jobs on campus and at the Polynesian Cultural Center and was turned down for all of them. I had lots of previous job experience and was a dependable worker so it just wasn’t adding up for me. The last straw was when I was denied a custodial job at PCC. I thought that I must be beyond hopeless if I’m not qualified to scrub toilets for minimum wage. As in when Nephi broke his bow of fine steel, I had to humble myself and work harder to find a way to support myself. I was just lucky I didn’t have to deal with starvation and murmuring family members like he did. Several weeks into the semester a job opened up at the School of Business. I was more suited to this position than any of the others I had applied for and was offered the job. I felt humbled at my impatience and lack of trust in my Heavenly Father’s plan for me.

The School of Business was a wonderful job and I learned many valuable skills but I had to prove myself before the blessings started to come. My supervisor spoke fluent pidgin and not much else so I had to quickly learn how to decipher “da kine” multiple times in any given sentence. I was blessed with the gift of tongues and learned how to listen to and understand her instructions. We became good friends and I worked there as a student secretary for nearly 4-years.

Brad’s approach to football illustrates this attitude. The summer before his sophomore year he had the man who makes his artificial legs throw together a makeshift kicking leg out of a wooden block on the end of an old “fishing leg,” a sort of plastic peg leg that Brad uses for swimming and showering. He then hit the practice field with an armful of footballs, his family, and half the neighborhood kids to help retrieve balls. Then he kicked and kicked and kicked and kicked, and when the kids had become tired of it and gone home, he kicked some more while his father held for him. He kicked, and learned to allow for wind, and kicked, and got his timing down, and kicked some more. Even with the ad-libbed leg, his aim was deadly.

That fall he was suited up and kicking field goals and PAT’s for the sophomore team, with a brand-new, made-to-order kicking leg. This year, as a junior, he was the starting place kicker for both the varsity and junior varsity teams.

“He’s a real competitor,” his football coach says. “He’s always emotionally ready to play. He’s a hard worker, and he has a good positive attitude. Those things are important for any position.”

Brad’s entry into the football scene wasn’t an easy one. He had to miss several games his sophomore year because of a rule dispute about artificial limbs, and he had to earn his assignment in the face of some talented competition.

“The kids on the team don’t look at Brad as someone who’s handicapped; they just think of him as a valuable player,” his coach emphasizes. “He’s the best kicker on the team. He had to compete with another very fine kicker for the position, and Brad just plain beat him out. He’s the best kicker I’ve had in my years of coaching. I’ve always made it clear to Brad that he’s got to make the team on his own. He’s not going to play just because he’s handicapped. He’s got to be the best, and he is the best.”

In a notable talk on administering to the sick, President Spencer W. Kimball said: “The need of faith is often underestimated. The ill one and the family often seem to depend wholly on the power of the priesthood and the gift of healing that they hope the administering brethren may have, whereas the greater responsibility is with him who is blessed. … The major element is the faith of the individual when that person is conscious and accountable. ‘Thy faith hath made thee whole’ [Matthew 9:22] was repeated so often by the Master that it almost became a chorus.”11

President Kimball even suggested that “too frequent administrations may be an indication of lack of faith or of the ill one trying to pass the responsibility for faith development to the elders rather than self.” He told about a faithful sister who received a priesthood blessing. When asked the next day if she wished to be administered to again, she replied: “No, I have been anointed and administered to. The ordinance has been performed. It is up to me now to claim my blessing through my faith.”12

by Sandi Poulsen
The phrase “today is eternity” has an extra amount of meaning for the youth of the Kinston North Carolina Stake who recently presented a stake musical by the same name. Said one participating Laurel, “The role I played in ‘Today Is Eternity’ helped me to a great extent. The play made me realize how important all decisions are and how careful and prayerful you have to be in making them.”
In preparation, more than 50 young men and women (including four non-Mormons) traveled to the stake center to rehearse lines, dancing, vocal solos, and choral music. A basic script was sketched by the adult stake drama and dance specialists, after which it was given to the youth for revisions and final copy. Since the play provided parts for every youth who desired to perform, many found themselves doing things they had never done before—including dancing, acting, and singing solos.
The play revolved around the struggles in the lives of the three oldest children in a large LDS family. The oldest daughter had to decide whether to marry a young man who could not marry her in the temple; the nearly nineteen-year-old son had to decide between a football scholarship and a mission; and the sixteen-year-old daughter faced the choice of maintaining her standards or joining with her peers in a more wild way of life. By the end of the play, because of sincere personal efforts and help from family members and leaders, all three had reached the right decisions.
Many favorable comments and reactions followed the production. One seminary teacher said, “The play was really a review of those things we studied in seminary last year. But I feel that seeing these decisions and problems enacted on stage has brought them to life and touched some of our youth in a way they never had before.”
The young woman who played the part of the girl deciding to wait for a temple marriage agreed. “There was no doubt in Mandy’s mind that she was to marry in the temple. It is the same with myself. But I learned that simply deciding that you will marry in the temple is not enough. You must start before you meet your sweetheart, before you even start to date. You must take necessary precautions now to guard yourself against falling in love with someone who can’t take you to the temple.”
Parents gave their wholehearted support throughout the preparations and presentation of the play. Several mothers voluntarily offered to take a makeup class to assist in this area. One mother commented afterwards, “I know the play helped my children. But I feel it helped me just as much if not more as I listened to the loving counsel given in song and word. It makes me more determined than ever to have that type of relationship and atmosphere in my own home.”
A great emphasis was also placed on missionary work, as stake members took seriously their stake presidency’s charge to bring nonmembers to the play. One non-Mormon who was in the play bore the following testimony afterwards: “For you to stop in the middle of rehearsal and explain that material [the Book of Mormon] to me made me stop and think of how much I meant to you. I was shown how much enthusiasm the Mormons have in presenting a demonstration of their faith. I believe that such interest in a church has got to be a revealing sign the Church is true.”
The dedication and hard work of the youth was rewarded by two nights of overflow audiences. But more important than that was the love and unity and testimonies that were strengthened throughout the whole Kinston North Carolina Stake.