Gospel Story Finder

A little later, school started, and this, for me, was a new bridge to cross. As a preparation for this new experience in my life, leaving the home, my mother told me to listen to my teacher and to be obedient. Again, I trusted my mother’s advice. I decided to be obedient to my teacher and a new code of rules. School therefore became a bridge of knowledge instead of a wall of ignorance.

by Bill Blair
Last summer I was able to participate with approximately 80 other handicapped persons in one of the most exciting experiences of my life—a Muscular Dystrophy Association summer camp. Because I have no use of my feet or legs and very little use of my hands and arms, I felt a great deal of apprehension about being away from my family for a whole week. But my fears were quickly calmed. Even before we boarded the buses to leave, each of us was introduced to the young man or woman who would be our 24-hour-a-day attendant for the coming week. Then, our wheelchairs and crutches were stowed in the luggage compartment, and we headed north to Arizona’s beautiful red rock canyon country near Sedona.
The site of our camp was the Verde Valley School, a private institution for both boys and girls. In that beautiful setting we had the use of the whole school—its dormitories, an excellently run cafeteria, the gymnasium-auditorium, and even the facilities of a nearby private pool. In addition, we were able to participate in football, basketball, and softball with the assistance of our attendants. We even had our own Olympics with a special awards program. There were daily sessions in swimming and arts and crafts and horseback riding for those who could participate. Every evening we had different kinds of entertainment, including a masquerade party, a disco night, and a talent show.
Practically no camper is too handicapped for this camp. One participant was supposed to be permanently confined to a hospital bed but was taken to camp and wheeled around to see and enjoy all the activities.
But to me the greatest part of the whole program was the association with the attendants. Their dedication and unselfishness helped make the camp experience successful for all of us. Attendant Kathy Hansen, one of five LDS attendants, felt that “it was a very beautiful and moving experience to see the attendants and their campers sharing this time and experience together. If any attendants needed assistance, there were always willing hands ready to help.” Kathy is a member of the Phoenix 38th Ward, Phoenix Arizona West Stake, and I am a member of the Glendale Fifth Ward, Glendale Arizona Stake.

Recently, I have been giving serious thought to the role that my wife plays in my life. This contemplation was started by Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve who asked me: “What would you have been without your wife, Ruth?” I could have answered immediately, “Not much,” but he already knew that.
His question penetrated my very soul and I spent the next twenty-four hours thinking about what I would have been without the loving, sweet support and the discipline of my wife. It shocked me a little to even contemplate on what my life would have been without her.
But now, in response to Elder Packer’s question. I would have to honestly answer that without my wife I would have been pretty much a failure. I do not claim to be an expert on marriage; I have only been married once, but thanks to my good wife, it was successful. I do not claim to have a better marriage than anyone else, but I do claim to be married to a great companion.

A friend of eight-year-old Chelsea said that she didn’t like a certain boy because he wasn’t a member of our church. What do you think Chelsea did? What would you do? Chelsea told her friend it’s OK that he is not a member of our church; he is still a good person. We show we know how to follow the Savior when we treat others with kindness and respect.

Talk about ‘note’ worthy, the Beardsmore sisters of Burton-on-Trent Ward, Lichfield England Stake, sing, dance and play almost everything, everywhere.
Olivia, 17, and Clare, 15, often sing duets at stake conference and other events, and they play a number of instruments, including flute, recorder, piano, double bass, and guitar.
Then there’s the stage. The sisters have appeared in major school productions, private drama groups, and pantomimes. Clare has played leading roles such as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
Add dance to their repertoire. They excel in ballet, ballroom, modern, and Latin American dancing. Both have achieved gold-level awards.
Netball, hockey, service, and art round out their interests. “During my spare time, I’m a member of the Burton Crime Prevention Panel,” says Olivia. “We aim to lower the crime rate amongst young people in our town. The panel has asked me to design a poster for them.” The sisters’ lives are most harmonious.

La Verne California Stake
As the 100th birthday of the El Buen Pastor Church in Pomona, California, approached, the congregation had concerns about the state of its building and premises. Looking for a chance to help a neighbor, the youth of the La Verne California Stake decided to pitch in and spruce up the church for its celebration. El Buen supplied the paint and the LDS youth came with a willing attitude, painting the church’s exterior in only four hours. The youth tore out old carpet, sanded and repainted the pews, and landscaped the grounds. Many members of the El Buen Pastor Church were touched by the service, and one parishioner, a member of the Pastor Church for more than 60 years, said she was so grateful to the LDS youth who restored their church to its former beauty.

I have personally verified that concepts like faith, prayer, love, and humility hold no great significance and produce no miracles until they become a living part of us through our own experience, aided by the sweet prompting of the Holy Spirit. In early life I found that I could learn gospel teachings intellectually and, through the power of reason and analysis, recognize that they were of significant value. But their enormous power and ability to stretch me beyond the limits of my imagination and capacity did not become reality until patient, consistent practice allowed the Holy Spirit to distill and expand their meaning in my heart. I found that while I was sincerely serving others, God forged my personal character. He engendered a growing capacity to recognize the direction of the Spirit. The genius of the gospel plan is that by doing those things the Lord counsels us to do, we are given every understanding and every capacity necessary to provide peace and rich fulfillment in this life. Likewise, we gain the preparation necessary for eternal happiness in the presence of the Lord.

Vienna. What a magnificent, historic city, but what a huge place in which to be looking for a missionary companion! Elder Thomas Biesinger, age 39, just off the train from Germany, looked in vain for Elder Paul Hammer, who was to arrive by train about the same time. November 25, 1883. 5:30 A.M. He waited in the railroad restaurant until daylight, then walked outside the station and from an elevation looked out at the Austrian capital. He was awestruck as he thought about his difficult mission, and in his mind he conversed with Vienna:
“Thou City of Vienna, thou boasteth thyself as being one of the proudest cities of the East and the beauties of thy gardens and parks are perhaps not excelled in the world. Thou also containeth many ancient relics amongst the abode of a monarch who sways his proud sceptre over a dominion containing nearly forty millions of inhabitants.”
Vienna, he recalled, had 20 years before expelled one of the most noble and intelligent Apostles of the Restoration, Orson Pratt. “Again God has extended his mercy unto thee,” he warned Vienna in his mind, “and has inspired his servant the prophet to send to thee other messengers. One of these has just entered the city, though much inferior in wisdom and intelligence to the one thou rejected.” The lonely elder then prayed for God to have mercy on Austria, to “soften the heart of the emperor and officers of the land, that thy servants may be permitted to stay and [be] given liberty to search for the honest in heart.”
His prayer, however, would require decades for fulfillment. For Austria-Hungary, an empire old and mighty, was not a land of freedom. In order to keep its different states and nationalities from breaking away, a police state prevented anyone from preaching new ideas, political or religious.
He rented an inexpensive room with cooking facilities, then checked with the Vienna police to see if his companion had registered with them. No sign of him. Because Elder Hammer was the senior companion, Eider Biesinger did not start his actual missionary labors yet, except to enter into conversations with people he met as he went back and forth to the railway station. They finally found each other on December 3 and discovered that for a week they both had been living in different quarters on the very same street!

Young John was also prepared to accept the restoration of the gospel through other spiritual experiences while yet in his youth. As a very young boy he had seen in the heavens an angel holding a trumpet to his mouth. When Elder Pratt announced that God’s angel had indeed restored the gospel to the earth, John remembered this manifestation of his youth and recognized it had been given to him as a sign of the truth he would receive so many years later. And this was not the only spiritual manifestation he had received, for he reported that “often when alone, and sometimes in company, I heard sweet, soft, melodious music, as if performed by angelic or supernatural beings” (Life of John Taylor, pp. 27–28).

On one occasion, I spent a few minutes with a young man who had left high school and entered the military. Now he was trying to decide what to do with his life. I encouraged him to return to finish high school.

I did not provide him with money; the Church had no school for him, not even a scholarship. In those few minutes, I simply taught him that self-reliance which is such a part of our way of life. Even though over age, he returned to finish high school, and now he provides for his family and encourages his children in their search for truth.

President Packer was called as an Apostle in April 1970. He wanted to share his testimony with everyone. He said, “I bear my witness that the Savior lives. I know the Lord. I am His witness.”

Emma Lou Thayne: A poem must just happen. If you’re trying to achieve something, you don’t write a poem. This is not to suggest that craft is not at work, but I think eventually the craft, the playing with words, becomes less important than the impetus behind the poem, the thing that says, “I’ve been moved by something and I need to write it.”
The Ensign asked me to write a poem about Jesus for the Christmas issue a year ago. When they asked me to do that, I realized that no one can write a poem by saying it will be done on August 31, it will be 50 lines long, and it will be about Jesus. It was a strange kind of endeavor. I felt as if I could never write a poem on that subject without some kind of manifestation. It sent me on a reading spree, in particular in John, and one morning up at the cabin I was all of a sudden ready to write about it. But I never could have sat down and said, “Today I will write about Jesus.”

I love being a missionary. It has brought so much joy to my life. But I have to tell the truth. Being in the mission field is tough, and since I’ve been here, I’ve been feeling a little inadequate. One day when I was feeling down, I picked up the June 2000 New Era special issue about missionary work, and I immediately felt the spirit of the MTC come back to me. The Spirit comforted me and gave me a great desire to serve. Having the Spirit, along with hard work, makes a missionary happy. Thanks for helping me when I felt a little down.
Elder Joshua LindsayArizona Tempe Mission

I love the Friend magazine stories because I love to learn more about the gospel and I love reading about all the kinds of things children do. A month after I read an article by Elder Quentin L. Cook called “How Can I Be a Missionary Now?” (April 2010), I told my schoolteacher about the temple. She didn’t know what a temple was. The next day, I brought her a picture of it and told her it is a place where families can be sealed together forever. A couple of weeks later, I got to see Elder Cook at our stake conference. I like being a missionary!

During the translation of the Book of Mormon, Joseph and his wife Emma mourned the death of their infant son. In those days preachers commonly taught that children who died without baptism would be condemned forever. With this in mind, imagine how Joseph must have felt as he translated these words from the prophet Mormon: “Little children need no repentance, neither baptism. … [For] little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world.”14

A family home evening game builds young Devin G. Durrant’s confidence.

Reading the New Era for the first time in 12 years and seeing the Extra Smile helped me laugh and smile a bit. Being disabled and alone gets kind of hard sometimes. It also showed me that young adults can teach the gospel and that we can be a good influence on others.
Brenton F., Oklahoma

John Huss, speaking out fearlessly against the corruption within the church, was taken outside the city to be burned. He was chained by the neck to a stake, and straw and wood were piled around his body to the chin and sprinkled with resin; and he was asked finally if he would recant. As the flames arose, he sang, but the wind blew the fire into his face, and his voice was stilled.

My father was brought into the Church when he was courting my mother. He was ordained an elder and was active for a short period before he fell away from the Church.
He had no formal contact with the Church for about 50 years. He had moved many times. And then, when he was 82, living alone in southern California and failing in health, two men knocked on his door on a Sunday morning. They said, “We’re here to take you to priesthood meeting.”
He was so grateful that somebody would take the effort to befriend him. Those men took my father to church—something his three active sons never could accomplish, except on special occasions. They were good examples of how priesthood quorum members should seek out those in need. My family will be forever grateful to the men of that quorum.Elder Dale E. Miller of the Seventy.

Korihor preached that Church members in his day “durst not enjoy their rights and privileges” (Alma 30:27) for fear that they might “offend some unknown being, who they say is God” (Alma 30:28). Many voices in our day sound similar. For example, a friend asked one student, “Why should we keep the law of chastity since birth control exists?” Another asked, “Why would God make the desire to use procreative powers so strong and then prohibit their use except within marriage? Such restrictions don’t seem fair.”
I asked class members how they would respond to such questions. Among their responses was Alma 30:60, which reminds us that while Satan is quick to hype the immediate gratification and pleasure of sin, ultimately remorse and misery take their place. Korihor called gospel standards “the foolish traditions of your fathers” (Alma 30:27). The Lord calls gospel standards the “strait and narrow path,” which leads us to joy and happiness (see 2 Nephi 31:16–21).