Gospel Story Finder

I was living in Helaman Halls as a new freshman, and as finals approached, it seemed like everyone was getting sick or stressed out. One good brother in our hallway asked several of us for a priesthood blessing. As a new elder, I was grateful to participate. I felt a sweet spirit in that ordinance and returned to my room and knelt in prayer to offer thanks to my Heavenly Father. As I prayed, a thought came that there might be others who needed a blessing. So, I asked. I received an immediate strong impression, “Yes,” someone did need a blessing. But who? I wondered if I was being overly dramatic, but the Spirit and the impression remained.

As I pondered who might need a blessing, I thought of my cousin, Julia, who was living nearby. So, I gave her a call. This was clear back in ancient times when we had landline phones. Julia’s roommate answered the phone. I’ll call her Emily. I barely knew Emily; we had met briefly once or twice. I asked her if Julia was there and she said that she wasn’t, but it sounded from her voice like Emily was upset, and I had just had an answer to my prayer! So, I simply asked, “Emily, would you like a priesthood blessing?” There was a long pause. “Yes,” she replied. I was stunned. I told her I’d grab someone and be over soon. I put my tie back on, got another brother to come with me, and off we went.

As I recall, we found a little utility closet and, without saying much, Emily sat in a chair and I began to give her a blessing. I initially thought she might be stressed out from finals, but impressions came to my mind and heart that there was more. I blessed her as I felt impressed by the Holy Ghost, and I felt the power of the Lord’s love for Emily in the trials she was facing. When I concluded, Emily was weeping with her face buried in her hands. Through her tears, she said, “How did you know?” I could only honestly reply, “I didn’t. The Lord knew.” I felt I was on sacred ground in that little closet. We walked away and I felt this was a miracle, the kind that comes to those who are in the service of Jesus Christ.

I have to tell you that I hesitated to share this story. Having steadfastness in Christ isn’t about having marvelous manifestations. It’s about consistent, everyday discipleship. Yet, when we follow the Spirit and consistently look to the Savior, there are times when the Lord manifests Himself in power and when we are blessed to partake of His love.

In the Rose Bowl football game of 1929, a player named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble and ran almost the length of the field toward the wrong goal line. He was tackled and brought down by one of his own teammates, thus preventing a score for the other team. He had lost his sense of direction in a moment of stress. His mistake cost his team a victory. He was a great player, but ever afterward he was remembered as the man who ran the wrong way.

The children also had a special opportunity to make a rug that would be used in the temple’s cornerstone services. They first participated in a drawing contest for the rug’s design. From the winning designs, a lovely rug with six colorful panels was created. Each child was able to take a turn stitching a part of the rug. Their finished handiwork was exhibited at the temple during the cornerstone service.
The children will never forget their experience of making a rug for the dedication of the San Diego California Temple. That rug is now displayed in the children’s center inside the temple, where many will see their labor of love.

Illustration by Greg Newbold
A couple of months ago, I was talking to a friend about some struggles in my life. She was kind and listened to me, but after I told her everything, she asked me three questions: “Are you reading your scriptures daily?” I said no. “Are you praying daily?” I said no. She told me this was part of my problem and challenged me to read the Book of Mormon with an open heart and to pray about my questions before I read. I accepted her invitation to read and pray every day. Then she asked her third question.
“What do you see when you look in the mirror?”
I didn’t know how to respond. I finally said, “I see a naïve, lost boy.” That’s what I thought I saw, but she said I was wrong.
Every day for the next few weeks, I thought about that question. It bothered me that she said I was wrong. About what? I realized that I could figure it out if I had regular scripture study with meaningful prayer. It took me a while to establish a schedule where I was reading and praying on most days of the week, but I did.
A few weeks later, some thoughts came to me while I was mowing the lawn. They taught me about the real person I see in the mirror:
I see a young man who decided to come to this earth to face the fiercest evils and the darkest nights. I see a son of God, a child of Heavenly Father. I see a disciple of Jesus Christ, who will always help His followers. I see a young man with family and friends who will stand beside him.
I may feel lost and confused sometimes, but I don’t have to live life alone. Satan may try his hardest to succeed, but in the end he will fail. And in the end, I can see myself walking up to Heavenly Father and hearing Him say, “You have served me well, my son. Welcome home.”
When I had these thoughts, I immediately pulled out my phone and recorded what I’d felt, because I thought I’d forget by the time I found a pencil and paper. For the rest of the day, I couldn’t help but smile.
I told my friend what I had found out, and she was happy I had found the answer. I now understand my relationship with Heavenly Father and know that I never have to be alone.

Some of the bricks in the tabernacle were damaged and needed to be replaced. N. J. Meacher, who is not a member of the Church, donated a beautiful old home whose bricks matched those of the tabernacle. Matt Foley was assigned to supervise tearing down the house and salvaging the bricks. His three grandsons, Greg (7), Corey (10), and Dallen (11), volunteered to help him. The bricks had to be removed one at a time and carefully cleaned and tested for strength. The Foleys, along with many other volunteers, were able to save sixteen thousand bricks, which are now in the temple walls and the walls enclosing the grounds.
When the temple was completed, Greg attended the open house. “The Spirit was so strong!” he said.
“I’m eager to go back to the temple when I’m twelve,” Dallen stated. “I can’t describe how good it feels to know that we actually helped to build a temple.”
Their cousin Corey agreed. “It was a great experience, preserving the bricks for a temple. It’s a very special building that will help people for a long time.”

I am Brother Bassa N’Da Germain Eby, from Cote d’Ivoire, Anonkoua Stake, Avocatier Ward. I served in the Liberia Monrovia Mission, and returned home in March of this year. Before going on my mission, I graduated from the university in accounting and finance. I had worked in a company for eight months. Life after my mission was like a puzzle as I did not know what to do.
I met with my bishop and explained my circumstances to him. He counseled me to meet with the WSRS manager. My encounter with him was a new dawn in my life. He introduced me to the WSRS tools. Following that, I participated in an orientation for returned missionaries. That was an eye-opener, because I was able to set goals and to identify resources that I could use to achieve them. I also attended an accelerated job search training. I regularly received one-on-one coaching from the WSRS manager. He helped me to develop a very good resume.
My job search effort yielded results when a company I contacted, Perfect Communication, gave me an offer as a trainee. I devoted myself to the training so much that after a month I was given a full-time appointment. Just about the same time, I got a better offer from another company including opportunities for career growth. I chose the latter. I have been working with Olam International, a rubber factory, since July.
It is indeed a blessing to secure a job in these difficult times when companies are downsizing because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am grateful to the Lord for His providence. I owe the WSRS manager loads of gratitude for his support. I am still learning from life’s experiences and I know I have embarked on the journey to become self-reliant. I encourage every returned missionary to participate in the WSRS group meetings. They will open the door of opportunity to them.
I know that God lives. He loves us. We are His children. He cares for our growth, so He always prepares the way for us to obtain every needful thing to be happy.

When l think about my conversion, I find comfort in knowing that lasting joy can only be found in choosing to follow Jesus Christ.
I was born into a family of eight children with loving parents. We were not rich but lived happily together. When we embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ, we began to live according to divine principles.
My perception of others changed. I was filled with joy as I embarked on a mission. I had wonderful experiences on my mission.
I saw lives change because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. (See Doctrine and Covenants sections 15 and 16.)
I am married to a beloved daughter of our Heavenly Father and we have four children. The first child has served a full-time mission. I am grateful for our lives and the fruits of the Spirit we enjoy (See Galatians 5:22), even amidst trials. We have the peace the gospel of Jesus Christ brings because we strive to obey Him, and our joy is centered on eternity.

One day at school before I was eight, they were inspecting our hands and nails to see if they were clean, and the principal saw my CTR ring. After the principal checked the rest of my row, she came back to me and said, “Rebeca, come with me to the principal’s office.” Then she said to my teacher, “Can I take Rebeca for a while?”
In her office, she asked me what the ring meant. I said, “Choose the right.” I explained that at church they teach us to do good, pray, and read the scriptures. She asked which church I went to, and I said, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Then she asked me what that church was about, and I told her about Joseph Smith going into a grove to pray and seeing the Father and the Son. I told her about going to the temple to be sealed to my parents and that I would be baptized when I was eight. She said, “You can tell me more later because you need to be in math class right now.”
Later I took the principal a copy of the Book of Mormon with my testimony inside.
I have a goal to be a missionary when I grow up. But right now I am trying to share the gospel with my friends.

Let me share with you a personal experience I had as a teenager while our family was attending church in Frankfurt, Germany.

One Sunday the missionaries brought a new family to our meetings whom I hadn’t seen before. It was a mother with two beautiful daughters. I thought that these missionaries were doing a very, very good job.

I particularly took notice of the one daughter with gorgeous dark hair and large brown eyes. Her name was Harriet, and I think I fell in love with her from the first moment I saw her. Unfortunately, this beautiful young woman didn’t seem to feel the same about me. She had many young men who wanted to make her acquaintance, and I began to wonder if she would ever see me as anything but a friend. But I didn’t let that deter me. I figured out ways to be where she was. When I passed the sacrament, I made sure I was in the right position so that I would be the one to pass the sacrament to her.

When we had special activities at church, I rode my bike to Harriet’s house and rang the doorbell. Harriet’s mother usually answered. In fact, she opened the kitchen window of their apartment on the fourth floor and asked what I wanted. I would ask if Harriet would like a ride to church on my bicycle. Harriet’s mother would say, “No, she will be coming later, but I will be happy to ride with you to church.” This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but how could I decline?

And so we rode to church. I must admit I had a very impressive road bike. Harriet’s mother sat on the top tube bar just in front of me, and I tried to be the most elegant bicycle driver over roads of rough cobblestone.

Time passed. While beautiful Harriet was seeing many other young men, it seemed that I could not make any headway with her.

Was I disappointed? Yes.

Was I defeated? Absolutely not!

Actually, looking back I recognize that it doesn’t hurt at all to be on good terms with the mother of the girl of your dreams.

Years later, after I had finished my training as a fighter pilot in the air force, I experienced a modern miracle in Harriet’s response to my continued courting. One day she said, “Dieter, you have matured much over these past years.”

I moved quickly after that, and within a few months I was married to the woman I had loved ever since I first saw her. The process hadn’t been easy—there were moments of suffering and despair—but finally my happiness was full, and it still is, even more so.

The Prophet Joseph Smith provides us with a wonderful example. He acted on the powerful feelings that came to him when he read James 1:5 in the New Testament. He recorded in his history how he felt and what he did about those feelings: "Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know...
"At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to 'ask of God,' concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture." [5]

When Primary general president Cheryl C. Lant was sent to visit with children in South Africa in 2005, she worried about whether she could emotionally handle the living conditions of some of the children. When she actually met with them, though, her reaction surprised her.
“I did see children in terrible conditions, and I knew I could do nothing to change it,” Sister Lant told students during a February 2006 devotional at Brigham Young University. “But I also felt an overwhelming love for them and a sense of God’s love for them.”

One day the sister missionaries knocked on my door and my mother answered. I remember her telling them, “Well, I am not interested, but my daughter would be. Wait, I will get her.”
When I started to talk to them, I could feel the Spirit telling me to listen. After a few months of listening and learning, I knew that this was what I had been looking for. Even though it didn’t feel like it to begin with, my decision to be baptized helped me to come not only closer to the Lord and but also closer to ending my ongoing battle against loneliness.

Thinking we can’t help can have devastating results. “I can’t remember my bishop ever asking me about my son’s condition and how I am handling this situation in my life,” says a father. “This is especially strange, because I am his executive secretary. My home teachers haven’t mentioned the problem with our child, either, and my high priests group leader has avoided talking with me about it.

“If my bishop, home teachers, and high priests group leader were insensitive or uncaring, I would be able to understand. But they’re all good men. As I review the situation, I realize that they are just people who do not know what to do.”

I have thought often about the priest and the Levite in the parable of the good Samaritan. When they saw the wounded man by the roadside, why did they cross over to the other side? Perhaps rather than being evil or bad people, they were simply afraid. Perhaps they didn’t know what to do. Perhaps they didn’t care enough. They allowed their ignorance, apathy, or fear to overcome the feelings of charity to which they should have responded.

It was the Samaritan, a political adversary, who, “when he saw him, … had compassion on him.” He did what he could for the man and then enlisted the support of others to give the necessary care. (See Luke 10:29–37.)

Like the Samaritan, we can help if we want to. All we really need is the awareness and the desire. Try to think of individuals with disabilities as exactly that—individuals who happen to have disabilities. They have the same needs as the rest of us; they want to be loved and recognized, to participate, to experience the same joys we experience.

It is difficult to involve people with special needs because there really aren’t that many things they can do.

There are as many ways to involve them as there are people with disabilities.

We need to remember that the Church exists for the individual—not the individual for the Church. Adapting Church programs to the needs of the individual requires sensitivity and inspiration.

I know a bishop who presides over his ward from a wheelchair, and intellectually impaired Relief Society sister who serves with great pride in the nursery, and a woman with hearing impairments who teaches Sunday School. Another young man, completely paralyzed except for his head and neck, completed a full-time mission where he had part in the conversion of more than two hundred people!

A high councilor says: “I am blind, yet I’ve had major callings in the ward and stake. People relate to me as a person—the handicap doesn’t get in the way. This wasn’t always so; it’s taken a few years for people to learn to understand.”

Whether a person with a handicap is called to serve as stake president or as the helper who turns off the lights after the meetings—he or she can feel the joy of serving in the Lord’s kingdom.

I sympathize with those who have special needs, but I honestly don’t have the time to take on any more projects.

Assisting those with special needs usually means new attitudes rather than new programs, more caring rather than more time.

Several years ago our family attended a Latter-day Saint Scout Training Camp. Our older children joined in the activities and were having a wonderful time. However, our nine-year-old autistic son, Brian, was having a difficult time. The Cub Scout events were not designed for someone with social and language impairments. I felt hurt, humiliated, and brokenhearted as I observed the intolerance and impatience directed toward my normal-appearing but handicapped son’s inappropriate behavior. He was as miserable as his peers.

So at a Relief Society meeting at the camp I took a few moments to explain Brian’s disability and share some of the challenges we were facing in rearing him. After that, the sisters began explaining the situation to their families. Within an hour the entire camp had learned about Brian.

Never have I seen such a complete reversal in attitude, nor felt such an outpouring of love and acceptance. It confirmed my belief that the Church is made up of wonderful people who will respond in a Christlike manner when they understand others’ needs. They’ll not only respond, but they’ll also be better because of it.

“Kurt is a Down syndrome Scout who also has coordination problems,” says a priesthood leader. “He went with our Scout troop on a hike of about thirty kilometers. After sixteen kilometers, he lost his walking rhythm. But with his dad in front of him and his Scoutmaster behind him, he walked every step. We waited hours for him to finish.

“When Kurt and his helpers finally appeared, a spontaneous cheer went up, and Kurt proudly ran the last part, crying, and saying, ‘I did it, I did it! They are cheering for me! They thing I’m good!’ Everyone had tears in their eyes. We will never forget that lesson.”

Jesus said: “Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither … for I have compassion upon you.” (3 Ne. 17:7.)

This same merciful Savior still lives and loves each one of us, regardless of our disabilities or our weaknesses. May we walk in his footsteps and follow his example. May our desire to serve his special children increase. May we have the compassion to overcome our own fears and love them, teach them, and work beside them in the Lord’s kingdom.

With new awareness and genuine fellowship, let us invite those with special needs to come unto Christ. More often than not, we may find they are leading us to Him!

“What’s up, Coach?” DeLyle said.
“Come in,” Coach Gardener said. “Sit down.”
DeLyle Condie walked into his coach’s office and pulled up a chair. He held his red basketball jersey in his hands. It was almost time for practice.
“I hear you’re going on a mission,” Coach said. “Let me show you something.” He turned on the projector.
DeLyle blinked in surprise. Coach often showed films of other teams playing. But these were pictures of palm trees and beaches.
“This is Hawaii,” Coach said. “The team’s going there next year. You’re going to miss it.”
“I know. But I’ve already decided,” DeLyle said. “A mission is the right thing to do.”
“Suit yourself,” Coach said. “But if you go, I don’t think you’ll ever play basketball again.”
DeLyle looked at his jersey. “I love basketball,” he said, “but some things are more important.”
“Good luck, then.” Coach sighed. “Now get to practice. You’re not a missionary yet!”
A few months later, Elder DeLyle Condie got on a ship in San Francisco, California, USA. It was 1955, and missionaries often traveled by boat back then. Three weeks later the ship arrived in Sydney, Australia. There, Elder Condie took an overnight train to Melbourne. Two elders were waiting for him.
“Wow! You’re a tall one!” Elder Johnson said. “You’d have been a great Mormon Yankee!”
“What’s that?” Elder Condie asked.
“More like what was that,” Elder Johnson said. “Missionary teams used to play in local basketball leagues. It was a way to help people get to know about the Church. One of the teams was called the Yankees. But we don’t do it anymore.”
“That’s OK,” Elder Condie said. “That’s not why I came on a mission.”
“Well, let’s get to the office,” Elder Johnson said. “It’s time to meet President Bingham, our mission president.”
President Bingham assigned Elder Condie to Tasmania, an island near Australia’s southern coast. There weren’t many Latter-day Saints there. In fact, in all of Australia, there were only about 1,200 Church members.
Elder Condie soon met lots of friendly Australians. But most weren’t interested in discussing the gospel. What they did want to talk about was the Olympics.
“Why are so many people interested in the Olympics?” Elder Condie asked.
His companion grinned. “The games are coming to Melbourne next year,” he said. “It’s a chance to put Australia on the map. Besides, lots of people are sports crazy already. I think that’s why the Mormon Yankees were so popular. I wonder if they’ll ever do that again.”
At the same time, 200 miles away in Melbourne, two men were discussing exactly that.
The coach of the Australian Olympic basketball team sat across the desk from President Bingham. “We need your help,” he said. “I know you used to have teams called Mormon Yankees. Some of your missionaries were pretty good. With the Olympics coming, it’s a long shot that Australia will win any games. We need to practice against players with talent and experience. Some friendly practice games will help people know more about your church, and they will help us get ready for the Olympics. Can you put a Mormon Yankees team together one more time?”
After the meeting, President Bingham found one of his assistants. “Bring Elder Condie back to Melbourne,” he said. “Missionaries will still be missionaries. But we’re going to help Australia prepare for the Olympics. And I’ll need Elder Condie to help choose a team.”
To be continued …

Some of these feelings of joy and gratitude connected with repentance are expressed in a letter one of my ward members sent to me several years ago. He wrote the following:
I feel much better about myself and my future. I’ve got a couple [of] low-paying job offers, and tomorrow I’ve got two more interviews. I’m going to take one so that I can have some money coming in. Thanks again for the blessing. It’s very helpful and comforting to have one. It had been such a long time. I think I’ve finally got those problems licked. That is not to say I’m going to drop my guard, but I’m going to maintain it and my worthiness even more and at all costs. More than anything, I want to get back to the temple soon. Now that I’ve put those wrong behaviors behind me, I find myself desiring to follow our Heavenly Father’s commandments to the utmost. I also feel grateful for being forgiven for my sins, and that makes me want to serve my Father in Heaven.
This letter describes a young man whose soul is now full of hope, where before it was filled only with despair.

I confess that when I left on my mission, my testimony was limited to knowledge about the plan of salvation and the Book of Mormon. I recognized that my testimony lacked the depth I wanted it to have, and as a result, I felt inadequate as a missionary.
Like most French members of the Church at the time, I had never attended a broadcast of general conference. We had always attended rebroadcasts, where we listened to conference in French through an interpreter. Now, as a missionary serving in Wales and speaking English, I was going to hear the voice of the prophet, President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), firsthand.
When the session started, the local congregation sang with the members present in the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. I also sang and was quickly taken aback by an overwhelming feeling of joy and belonging. These feelings testified that I was a member of Jesus Christ’s Church.
While I was sitting there, an idea came to mind: “What if I asked the Lord to confirm to me that President Benson is His prophet?”
I knew that I could “ask God” (Moroni 10:4), but I was afraid that somehow I would offend Him with my questions. After a minute of reflection, I decided to try anyway. I bowed my head and asked the Lord to testify to me that the man who was going to speak was His prophet, seer, and revelator. Before long an intense feeling of peace and happiness entered my heart. I raised my head, opened my eyes, and listened to President Benson testify of the Book of Mormon.
From that moment on, I knew for myself that the Lord leads the Church through a chosen prophet. As a result of that testimony, I left conference with new goals, and I knew that it was up to me to reach them. I changed the focus of my mission and looked forward to attending future general conferences. I also eagerly awaited the arrival of the Church magazines so that I could read the sacred words of the Lord’s servants.
Thierry Hotz, France

Two young women stood before the audience at a youth conference in Santiago, Chile. One, Beatriz Aravena, had been fellowshipped by her Mutual class years earlier and had returned to full activity in the Church. The other, Brenda Acevedo, had been the president of the class that encouraged Beatriz to return to Church.
“One day about five years ago,” said Beatriz, “a group of girls came to my house. I was surprised to see them because it was such a cold day. They brought me a basket of cookies and a letter. I’ve kept that letter ever since. This is what it says:
“‘Dear Beatriz,
“‘We would like to tell you that we are Beehives and we have a special mission to fulfill—to be young women who look for the truth, try to live it, and help others know about it.
“‘In our class, you will make new friends you will learn to like. Remember that you were chosen by Heavenly Father to live in these times and in this place.
“‘We hope you have enjoyed our message. We hope to see you in Mutual where you will learn and have fun and good times. We meet on Wednesdays at 7:30 P.M. and on Sundays at 9:30 A.M.
“‘Sincerely,
“‘The Beehive class
“‘ Brenda Acevedo, Yendery de la Barra, Macarena Tello, and Sister Patricia Grandón’”
“That was a special day for me,” continued Beatriz, “because I was waiting and hoping for someone to be concerned about me and to come looking for me. Because of those girls and their letter, I am here today.” Turning to Brenda, she said, “Thank you for coming to look for me. Thanks to you, I have learned that I am a special daughter of Heavenly Father and that I need to endure to the end.”
Then Brenda addressed the group, telling her side of the story:
“In 1994 I was president of the Beehive class in our ward. We had a class meeting and decided to go find the girls who were not attending church. We made a list and thought about giving these girls some cookies. We went to work and made the cookies at my house and put them in baskets we had made ourselves. Then we made a card for each girl and went out to find them. It was a very cold winter day, but we were filled with courage and love.
“The girls we visited were very pleased to see us and made us welcome. One of them said, ‘Thank you, but I am not interested in coming back to church.’ So we went on our way.
“But one girl, Beatriz Aravena, was very happy to see us; we could see in her eyes the gratitude she felt for our visit. We invited her to Mutual, and she didn’t say no. We were happy because we felt the Lord was blessing us.
“For a few times, we went to get Beatriz and took her with us to our meetings and activities. Soon she began to feel strong enough to come on her own. Since then, she has been active in the Church. She is participating in seminary and is a very faithful girl. She started a great work, and now—thanks to her perseverance—she has brought the gospel to her parents and to all her family. Her brother is now serving a full-time mission in Osorno, Chile.
“Thanks to the help of Heavenly Father and to a little time and dedication, today we are enjoying the harvest—the fruit of this simple activity.”

As a child living in the suburbs of Taipei, Taiwan, I never knew about the missionaries. So the first time I came in contact with them, I was curious about their message. It didn’t take long before I was eager to follow their teachings and put the gospel into practice in my life. I felt that this was a way for me to find out if there really is a God.
Within a month, I had been taught the gospel and the commandments that are taught before baptism. Peace came to me through prayer, I received personal revelation from studying the scriptures, and I never missed a Church meeting. I decided that I should be baptized.
The biggest challenge I faced at that time were problems that had emerged in my relationships with some of my friends because they opposed my involvement with the Church. I prayed a great deal about these problems, but our relationships seemed to only get worse.
I invited my friends to my baptism, but they completely disregarded my invitation. I really did not know what to do. Before my baptism, I sat alone on the sofa in the foyer of the chapel, praying that my friends would miraculously appear so I could tell them about the positive changes I had made in my life and prove to them that I was making the right decision by being baptized.
My friends never showed up, but while I poured my heart out to God, I felt an impression. At that point, I felt great love from my Heavenly Father. I knew that He was there and had truly listened to my prayer.
I originally wanted to be baptized simply because of all the wonderful things happening in my life, but at that moment, I came to understand the purpose of my baptism.
The impression I received was like the voice of the Lord speaking tenderly and directly to me, saying, “You don’t need to prove anything to anyone. You just need to prove to me that you are willing to come unto me and stay true to my gospel for the rest of your life.”

When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to travel with a school group to Germany. One evening, after a long day, a few friends and I asked our teacher if we could take the subway, known in Germany as the U-Bahn, to buy some snacks. He agreed, but not without caution. He gave us very specific instructions: which train to take, where to transfer, and which stop to exit. Then he added one critical warning: the trains would soon stop running for the night, so we needed to follow the plan exactly and not delay.
At first, everything went according to plan. We reached the station, found the convenience store, bought our snacks then headed back in the direction we came from. But a few stops in, we realized that none of the station names looked familiar. We checked the map; nothing matched. We got off, switched trains, rode a few more stops, but we were still on the wrong train.
That’s when the pressure set in.
Every delay mattered. Every wrong decision eliminated options. We knew that missing one correct connection could mean not making it back before the system shut down entirely.
We tried asking a ticket agent for help, but the language barrier was too great. So, we guessed again and got on another train. Within minutes, we realized we were still headed in the wrong direction. The clock was ticking and three young American girls were suddenly very aware of how little margin for error remained.
This was back before cell phones with GPS and international calling plans were a standard staple in a teenager’s pocket. If we didn’t get on the right train soon, we wouldn’t make it back at all.
In that moment of desperation, I quietly said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father for help. Almost immediately, a young man wearing a gray Ohio State sweatshirt stood up, walked straight to me, and said in perfect English, “Do you need help?” I had never been so relieved to hear someone speak English! I quickly explained our situation and showed him on the map where we were trying to go. He looked at it carefully and then said something I’ll never forget: “The trains are about to shut down. You must follow these steps exactly. One mistake, and you won’t make it back in time.”
He then laid out, in precise detail, two specific train changes—no alternates, no shortcuts, no substitutions. Every step depended on the one before it. We followed his instructions exactly, boarded the correct trains, made the exact transfers, and as we pulled into our final stop, the trains shut down for the night.
We made it!

I’ve been in the air force for about two years now and receive the New Era as a gift from my father. When I read the article “High Mountain Magic” in the June New Era, it brought back memories of some of the best weeks of my life. Once a year the young men in our ward (14 and older) would go on a 7-to-10-day excursion. Two of those trips were up in the high Uintas. I will never forget the 10-to-15 mile treks from camp to camp. Sunday was a day of rest. In the morning we would hold priesthood meeting and Sunday School, and then in the afternoon we would attend a special fast and testimony meeting. The closeness I felt with my friends and God is a feeling I will always cherish. I wish that everybody could spend some time in the many wilderness areas created by the Lord. I know that these trips have helped strengthen my testimony.
A1C Roger A. HoffmannLoughlin AFB, Texas