Gospel Story Finder

The most famous maze comes from Greek mythology. In a Greek myth, Minos, the king of Crete, orders an architect named Daedalus to build a place to confine a terrible beast called the Minotaur. Daedalus constructs the Labyrinth, a maze with blind, twisting paths. The Minotaur is placed inside the Labyrinth, and each year fourteen Athenian youths are sacrificed to this awful beast. Once inside the Labyrinth, the youths cannot find an exit to escape from the Minotaur. Finally the Minotaur is slain by an Athenian lad named Theseus, who finds his way out of the Labyrinth with the aid of a ball of thread.

Those who serve as stake presidents do not seek the office they hold. All are humbled and some are overwhelmed when they are called. As I called a stake president in Europe who had been a member of the Church only about 10 years, he gasped, “Oh no, no, not me. I cannot do it.” Fortunately, his wonderful wife, who was at his side, put her arms around him and said, “Honey, you can do it. I know you can.” She was right, and he served very well.

While serving as matron of the Stockholm Sweden Temple from 2009 to 2012, Bonnie Lee Green Oscarson saw Latter-day Saints from Sweden, Norway, and Latvia sacrifice to worship in the house of the Lord.
She didn’t know then, however, that the lessons she was learning from these “very humble, extremely dedicated and committed” members would help direct her focus as the Church’s Young Women general president.
“Since many young women are now choosing to serve missions and attend the temple at a younger age, I hope that my experience working in the temple will help me understand how to help them prepare,” she said.

Brad Sorensen of the Rose Park Seventh Ward in the Salt Lake Rose Park North Stake learned important lessons about service when he was growing up. His elderly neighbor, Sister Sparks, had some health problems, and whenever she worked in her yard, his mother noticed and persuaded him to go over and help. At first he didn’t understand why he had to stop what he was doing to go help his neighbor.
“During those years I spent helping Sister Sparks, I learned that there are two different ways to serve others. The first way was when I felt forced, or compelled, to serve. I learned that this is not a good way to serve. Maybe you say, ‘I’ll do it as fast as I can so I can come back and watch TV.’ But the love for the person you are serving is not present. There is no joy in this kind of service. This is how I was at first.”
But then Brad learned about serving with love. “It came to the point that I would go to her house every week and mow her lawn without being asked. I know this was a big help to her, but it was a big help to me, also.
“I found this to be a much more satisfying way to serve. Serving with love is pure, whole-hearted, and full of unselfish concern for the person you are helping. The feeling of accomplishment and love for the person you served cannot be found in any other way. It is an all-around good feeling.
“My acts of service were nothing big, but they were done with love. If you do an act of service with love for the person you are doing it for, you will be much more satisfied with the results. I learned that it doesn’t matter how big or small a service project is; it is still important.”

The words took on a deeper meaning when the young men actually stood at Hole-in-the-Rock, where in 1879 colonizers dropped down into Glen Canyon through a narrow gorge to cross the Colorado River.
“If you ever come this way it will scare you to death to look down it,” wrote one settler, Elizabeth Morris Decker. “It is about a mile from the top down to the river and it is almost strait down, the cliffs on each side are five hundred ft. high and there is just room enough for a wagon to go down … They put the brake on and rough locked the hind wheels and had a big rope fastened to the wagon and about ten men holding back on it and then they went down like they would smash everything. I’ll never forget that day. … [My son] looked back and cried and asked me how we would get back home” (Miller, David E., Hole-in-the-Rock, University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1966, p. 116).

Little chipmunk, do you know
The cold is near? Soon it will snow.
It’s time to gather nuts and seeds
And store them well for winter’s needs.
Stock your tunnels, pile them tight
To keep you warm each frosty night.
Fill your pouches, scamper your feet,
Get ready to nap—and eat and eat!

Some of the young men helped pour new concrete steps in front of the school. It was the first time they had ever tried their hand at pouring concrete. Of course, they had plenty of expert supervision, and they weren’t shy about getting into it up to their elbows when holes needed to be filled or excess moved from one place to another.

Jax was super nervous about performing his talent, Irish dancing, at the FSY variety show. “I was really, really terrified. Like I’m-in-a-pit-of-snakes terrified,” he says. “I said a little prayer before I got up there. I was still terrified, but then the music came on. I pretended no one was there. And I just started dancing.”

Jax hopped and moved his legs in traditional Irish fashion. But seeing Jax’s cheery face, most people probably wouldn’t guess that it was quite the journey to get there.

“In 2020 I was really stressed and even suicidal,” Jax says. “I was in a mental health hospital for a month. I found out I had pediatric brain inflammation and learned I was autistic. It was really, really hard.”

Once Jax had received some treatment for his mental health, his mom encouraged him to find a physical outlet to help manage his stress. He decided to seek personal revelation about what he could do.

“I prayed about it and asked for help,” he says. “And I remembered that my aunt was teaching Irish dance. So I started the class right before our big Christmas show. I had to learn like five dances in two weeks, so that was fun,” Jax jokes. Soon, Irish dance became a huge blessing in his life. “It really helped with my stress levels and dark feelings,” he says.

At FSY, Jax’s company asked him if he had a talent he could share in the variety show. So he danced on the sidewalk for them. When they told him he should perform, Jax’s first thought was, “Oh, no.” But he decided to share his talent even though he was afraid.

Now that Jax has seen videos of himself performing at FSY, he can’t help but laugh. “I had a completely straight face for the first part,” he says. “But then people started cheering, and I started smiling.”

For youth who are struggling, Jax gives this advice: “It’s better to talk about it with someone than hide it like I did. The Lord knows who you are, and He’ll be there for you. The Lord wants to help you.”

Overall, Jax feels that learning Irish dance has been a blessing from Heavenly Father.

Before my eighth birthday I fasted and prayed to Heavenly Father to know if I should be baptized. The answer was yes! After I was baptized I felt a wonderful warm feeling of happiness. I was grateful to be confirmed and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Since my baptism I have tried to keep the commandments, be kind to my family and friends, and always set a good example.Huia K., 8, Victoria, Australia

There is another benefit from this work that relates to the living. It has to do with family life and the eternal preservation of it. It has to do with that which we hold most sacred and dear—the association with our loved ones in our own family circle.
Something of the spirit of this can be sensed as I quote from a letter from my own family records. I quote a letter dated January the 17th, 1889, Safford, Graham County, in Arizona. It concerns my great-grandfather, who was the first of our line in the Church, and who died a few days later, Jonathan Taylor Packer. This letter was written by a daughter-in-law to the family.
After describing the distress and difficulty he had suffered for several weeks, she wrote:
“But I will do all I can for him for I consider it my duty. I will do for him as I would like someone to do for my dear mother, for I am afraid I shall never see her again in this world.”
And then she wrote this: “Your father says for you all to be faithful to the principles of the gospel and asks the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob upon you all, and bids you all goodbye until he meets you in the morning of the resurrection.
“Well, Martha, I can’t hardly see the lines for tears, so I will stop writing. From your loving sister, Mary Ann Packer.”

This experience is familiar to those who have been involved in translating the scriptures from English into other languages. It happens over and over:
A young Armenian holding a copy of the Book of Mormon only recently translated into his language approaches a member of the team who assisted with the translating: “Thank you,” he says. “I have read the Book of Mormon in English. I have read the Book of Mormon in Russian. I have read it in Ukrainian. But until I was able to read it in Armenian, I did not truly understand it. When I read it in Armenian, it finally made sense. It was like coming home.”

By the time I got to 3 Nephi, I noticed I was thinking about Jesus Christ more often. I found myself wondering what my Savior would think about what I was reading or doing. Thoughts of Him came as a gift, and I began to understand how I could “always remember Him.” Alice M. John, Ogden, Utah, USA

Relating his mother’s sorrow at his rejection of the Buddhist faith for the gospel of Jesus Christ, Elder Komatsu said that he “promised her that if she would permit me to be baptized and later found that through my behavior I had caused her any embarrassment—or committed some shameful or dishonorable act, then all she had to do was ask me to stop going to Church, and I would, without question, obey her will.”
If, however, he were to become a better individual, he asked for permission to continue to attend because it was “the place where I [could] gain an education for an eternal life.” He added, “It is my testimony today that I never had to leave the Church nor cause my mother any concern about my behavior.”

Dear brothers and sisters, I join with you in expressing my love and sustaining support to President Eyring and his family. President Hinckley extended this call to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve late Thursday afternoon. I cannot possibly articulate the kaleidoscope of feelings I have experienced since then. There have been sleepless nights and much prayer. My spirits have been buoyed, however, by the knowledge that President Hinckley is the prophet and that the membership of the Church will be praying for me and my family.

by David Forbes
On the 22nd anniversary of the date President David O. McKay organized the first stake in Scotland, 250 youth from the country’s five stakes—Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Paisley—participated in a regional convention.
The fun-packed program included such events as competitive swimming, an arts and crafts workshop, a table tennis tournament, and a crazy olympic games.
Young men and women joined together in a stake five-a-side football (soccer) contest which proved surprisingly worthwhile for one team. That team, sporting mostly girls, beat the other all-boys teams to take second place.

One Saturday night, Mama told how
you crossed the Atlantic with only a
sister for company, another result of
family struggling to send each
child to Zion. Diverted by her
best of voices I scowled only
slightly while she finished
rolling my hair for lank Sunday curls.
My sister and I later quibbled over
who toed the line that
divided our bed into suddenly
remote hemispheres. Then I dreamed of
you blown together in a
rowboat, destined for those
hardbound adventures that
crowded Little Golden books on my shelf.

Along the Nile River in Africa, fierce crocodiles make their home. Feared by man and beast, their powerful jaws are lined with rows of sharp, white teeth. However, a small bird called the Egyptian plover, or crocodile bird, walks safely among them. The plover is the crocodile’s dentist.
When the crocodile opens its jaws, the bird hops into the huge mouth, acting as a feathered toothbrush. This dainty bird walks safely up and down the rows of teeth, cleaning out particles of food. The patient crocodile waits for the dental work to be completed before closing its jaws. When finished, the crocodile bird has a full stomach, and the crocodile has free dental care.
After the dental work is done, the plover often jumps on the crocodile’s back for a free ride. In return, it lets out a loud chirp if danger is near.
The crocodile and the Egyptian plover practice symbiosis, a Greek word that means “life together.” Their particular kind of symbiosis is called mutualism, which means that each partner gains an advantage from the teamwork. Though very different, they help each other live more comfortably.

My school has about 475 students. The only LDS kids are myself and members of my family. The only time I see Church members is on Sunday or at other LDS activities. My classmates and teachers know about my religion. My nonmember friends have not tried to pull me the wrong way or asked me to do anything I shouldn’t. I am next to the youngest of 13 children. Our family has always tried to be a good example for the Church and let our friends see our actions. In my case I can do something positive for my friends by living my religion.
Joanna Shoaf, 15Hope, Indiana

• Sealings. Former United States senator Jake Garn was reluctant to remarry following the death of his first wife, Hazel, in 1976, but he soon realized he could not be both a father and a mother to his children. When he began dating Kathleen Brewerton, who would become his second wife, questions soon arose about how his first wife would feel should he become sealed to a second wife. The couple took their questions to President Spencer W. Kimball.
“He said he did not know exactly how these relationships will be worked out, but he did know that through faithfulness all will be well and we will have much joy,” Brother Garn later recalled. “Kathleen told him that she was afraid of offending Hazel. President Kimball’s demeanor seemed to change. From being somewhat hesitant in his earlier answers, he now became sure and spoke with firmness. He looked right at Kathleen and with a tear forming in his eye, he said, ‘I do know this: you have nothing to worry about. Not only will she accept you, she will put her arms around you and thank you for raising her children’” (Why I Believe [1992], 13).

I dressed up in my armor of God from the “Come, Follow Me Activities” (Oct. 2023). I learned I can always be spiritually ready to follow Jesus Christ.