Gospel Story Finder

For Edie Coats, 17, it was a time of gratitude. “We just moved here from Virginia, and I was a little bit scared. But the first Sunday, everyone was so friendly to me. They were coming on this trip the next Saturday, and they wanted me along! I think by coming on the trip, I really got to know the girls in my ward.”

Elder Renlund’s visit to the Dominican Republic February 9–13 coincided with the beginning of the observance of the 40th anniversary of the Church in that country. Over 130,000 Church members live there.
An unusual kind of celebration, the observance will include service projects, increasing of spiritual growth, and promoting interfaith relationships, said Elder Renlund.
“It was wonderful to be in Santo Domingo to meet priesthood leaders in a leadership conference, members at a special stake conference, Church employees, missionaries, and Relief Society sisters at a special devotional,” he said.
“These faithful Saints are mature and strong in the gospel. As a result, they are not only establishing the Church on a firm foundation but are building a stronger country.”

When our son Matthew was five, he fell from the top of the high diving board at our neighborhood pool. He hit the concrete deck and suffered a fractured skull and a brain concussion. He was rushed by a Life Flight helicopter to the Houston Medical Center for emergency treatment. I needed priesthood assistance immediately. Our home teacher and our priesthood leader were both worthy and prepared at that moment. They helped give Matthew a blessing, and he completely recovered.
We must be ready at any time. As we say in Scouting, “Be prepared.”

Lorraine and Janet Fisher of the Worcester Ward explained how they handle going to parties. “We go to our friends’ parties, but it’s never been a problem. One friend brings his instant chocolate and another brings the milk. Never once have I ever been pressured into doing anything I didn’t believe I should. And they admire us. Our friends used to drink at parties, but now they don’t. They stopped drinking because they saw we had a better time. They found out you don’t need to drink to have a good time.”

The closeness of the family now is in contrast to the separation that employment forced upon Brother and Sister Khanakam after they were married in 1981. “A month after our marriage, we were sealed in the Tokyo Temple. When we came home, I returned to Chiang Mai, where I had a good-paying teacher’s position, and my wife returned to her family home in Mahasarakham 830 kilometers away. We lived that way for about a year. But the full-time missionaries would keep asking me, ‘Wisit, do you have the faith the Lord will bless you if you keep your temple covenants? You need to be with your wife.’
“So I quit my job in Chiang Mai and found one in Mahasarakham. I was earning less than half what I had made in Chiang Mai. That’s when we learned to apply welfare principles in our family. We learned how to budget our income, to work with our hands, and to raise a family in the gospel.
“I was called as president of the Mahasarakham branch, and my wife was called as Relief Society president. I was the only male member in the branch. It took a couple of years for the membership to grow. Now they have a chapel of their own—not because of anything we did, but because of the love and unity that the people there have.”

“After the Church members weren’t allowed to meet any more, the police came to our house very often and took all the gospel books and materials we had,” she said. “But I was able to preserve one book. I have been reading it all these years, and it has helped me and preserved me. It tells how the world should be. I hope it will be like that one day.”
Then she took a book from her table and showed it to me. It was the Czech translation, published in 1938, of The Articles of Faith by Elder James E. Talmage, who served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve from 1911 through 1933. I was amazed. I had never read the book, but I had a strong testimony of the good it had done in this woman’s life.

I have been an investigator of the Church for one year. The New Era has been a wonderful source of Church teachings and touching articles. The nearest chapel is 20 miles away in Olean, New York, so I have been somewhat cut off from the Church except for Super-Saturday seminary lessons and the New Era. The articles in the New Era have helped open my eyes to the fact that I have been blessed with many clothes that meet Church dress standards. Now I can reorganize my wardrobe in the best way possible. The articles in the New Era have also strengthened my faith, hope, and testimony in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Kerry HoneySalamanca, New York

During the summer, the children often went swimming in the river. A wooden pier came out partway on the deep side of the swimming hole. Those of us who couldn’t swim well would enter the water from the shallow side and play there. One time I thought that I could make it out to the pier. I was wrong. I got out to where I couldn’t touch bottom and started floundering. I remember feeling a hand lifting me up. It may have been one of the older kids, but I can still feel that hand lifting me, and I think that Somebody was watching over me.

Understanding the Atonement. Sister Bayelita Carmen Ituza Casa of Perú, attending the Perú MTC: “In our class, we had an assignment to sketch an outline explaining the Atonement. But I had never clearly understood the Atonement, so I couldn’t do it—and I wasn’t the only one. When our outlines were due, our teachers helped us. I could tell we were more important than the assignment. We studied D&C 19:16–19, and I was able to understand the great love Jesus Christ has for us.”

A few decades later the world groaned under the burden of the Great Depression. It was during that time, on April 6, 1936, that President Heber J. Grant and his counselors, J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay, announced what would later become known as the welfare program of the Church. Interestingly, two weeks later Elder Melvin J. Ballard was appointed as its first chairman and Harold B. Lee its first managing director.
This was no ordinary endeavor. Although the Lord had raised up remarkable souls to administer it, President J. Reuben Clark made it clear that “the setting up of the [welfare] machinery is the result of a revelation by the Holy Ghost to President Grant, that it has been carried on since that time by equivalent revelations which have come to the brethren who have had it in charge.”
The commitment of Church leaders to relieve human suffering was as certain as it was irrevocable. President Grant wanted “a system that would … reach out and take care of the people no matter what the cost.” He said he would even go so far as to “close the seminaries, shut down missionary work for a period of time, or even close the temples, but they would not let the people go hungry.”

Jackie didn’t like Mrs. Baxter very much.
When Jackie and her friend Tara played in the street, Mrs. Baxter shouted at them to be quiet. She chased Tara’s kitten away with her newspaper. And when Jackie’s Frisbee landed in the grumpy neighbor’s window box, she wouldn’t give the Frisbee back.
So when Jackie and Tara saw Mrs. Baxter come out of the grocery store and something flutter from her open purse, they didn’t run to pick it up for her.
“She’s mean,” Tara said.
“The meanest lady in town!” agreed Jackie. “She wouldn’t even listen when I said I was sorry that the Frisbee broke her flowers.”
They watched Mrs. Baxter put her sack of groceries on the hood of her car and rummage in her purse. She pulled out her keys, unlocked the car, put the groceries in the trunk, and drove away.
“She doesn’t know she dropped anything!” Tara exclaimed, watching the big black car turn the corner.
Jackie ran to see what Mrs. Baxter had dropped. “It’s a five-dollar bill!”
“Too bad for her!” Tara said. “Finders, keepers—losers, weepers!”
“We can’t keep it!” Jackie looked at her friend in surprise. “We saw her drop it. We have to give it back!”
“What about your Frisbee that she kept?” Tara said. “She owes you for a new one! It isn’t stealing!”
“Wellll …” Jackie looked at President Lincoln’s picture on the five-dollar bill. He seemed to be looking back at her. Quickly she stuffed the money into her pocket. “I guess it wouldn’t be stealing if I get a new Frisbee with it. Come on, let’s look for one.”
There was a sports store nearby. The girls squeezed past a display of gleaming bikes and headed toward the Frisbees.
“I wish she’d dropped a five-hundred-dollar bill!” whispered Tara. “Then we could both get new bikes!”
That would really be stealing, Jackie thought. Keeping five dollars is a lot different from keeping five hundred dollars! Or is it? She tried to ignore the tight feeling in her stomach. Of course it wasn’t stealing—Mrs. Baxter owed it to her.
“How about this one?” Tara held up a fluorescent pink Frisbee.
Jackie put her hand in her pocket, twisting the five-dollar bill around her fingers. She thought about President Lincoln. He was known as “Honest Abe.” What would he think of her if she spent the money?
Tara was waiting for her answer. “I’m not getting a Frisbee,” Jackie said. “It’s Mrs. Baxter’s money.”
“Wait—”
Tara tried to say something, but Jackie didn’t listen. She knew that her friend was saying that it was stupid to give the money back.
Hurrying out of the store, Jackie unlocked her bike and rode off. As she turned into her street, she saw Mrs. Baxter climbing the two front steps to her apartment building, struggling to get out her key with one hand while still clutching the grocery sack.
Jackie hesitated. She’ll probably just yell at me, she thought. Maybe Tara’s right.
Mrs. Baxter was inside by the time Jackie set her bike down and walked slowly toward the door. As she passed the window box, she noticed the broken geraniums. They had been propped up on sticks and tied in place with green yarn. Mrs. Baxter may not like children and kittens, but she loves her flowers.
Jackie stared at the doorbell. Slowly she lifted her finger and pushed. Was that thumping sound her heart pounding, or was it Mrs. Baxter’s footsteps? It was Tara running up the path to stand beside her. Jackie smiled at her friend.
The door opened two inches and Mrs. Baxter peered out from behind the security chain. “What do you want?”
“You dropped this by the supermarket.” Jackie held out the five-dollar bill. As she passed it through the gap in the door, Mrs. Baxter grabbed it, then slammed the door.
She didn’t even thank me for returning the money! She’ll probably always chase the kitten and shout at us and keep our Frisbees, Jackie thought.
Jackie still didn’t like Mrs. Baxter. But she liked herself. Mrs. Baxter may not like me, but I’m glad that I returned the money. She was sure that Heavenly Father was pleased with her, too, and that was what mattered.

Photograph courtesy of the author
A few months after my husband and I returned from serving a humanitarian mission, I started reminiscing. Why was our mission still so meaningful?
When we are asked to speak about our experiences, it’s like a waterfall of goodness washes over me and the current transports me back to the time and experiences we shared with the wonderful people of Laos.
I remember a silly song we used to sing with them. It’s called “The Hokey Pokey,” and the last verse includes the phrase, “You put your whole self in, and you shake yourself about.” When we sang the song, the people would gleefully join in. They would shake and dance, and then they would clap their hands in happiness.
I think that song encapsulates our feelings about our mission—we put our whole selves into the Lord’s work. We soon learned how blessed we were to join in Laotian culture. As humanitarian missionaries, we got to help them by teaching English. We talked, danced, and whirled our way through our classes. But our payback was sweet. We found that as much as we loved them, they loved us back.
Our mission became a special time of our lives that we could really call our own. It put a shine on our golden years. We spent a lifetime raising our children, earning a living, buying a home, and doing all those things that seem so important along the way. Then came retirement and the question, “What do we do now?”
My message is that if you want to find some lasting happiness, get out and help somebody along the way. That’s where true joy comes from: service. And the wonderful surprise is that while you are giving, you are also getting in abundance. We found that many of the Laotian people didn’t have a lot of material possessions. But they were rich in the joy of living, a joy they freely shared with us. They increased our ability to rejoice.
Illustration by Carolyn Vibbert
So, don’t be afraid to “put your whole self in,” even if it means you have to “shake yourself about.” Sing and dance with another culture and you too will find that a waterfall of goodness will wash over you. That’s one of the secrets of the humanitarian missionary effort—you both give and receive. I thank my Heavenly Father every day that we were blessed to be part of such a wonderful opportunity, to spread the spirit of the gospel with our brothers and sisters in Laos.
The author lives in Utah, USA.

When our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, announced during the October 2020 general conference that Port Vila, Vanuatu, would have a temple, I felt so much peace.
I won’t forget the tears of joy I shed. Because He loves and is aware of His children, He still “remember[s] those who are upon the isles of the sea” (2 Nephi 29:7).

I now would like to share another experience. In January of 2019, my wife, Debbie, and I were invited into the office of President Nelson. He had positioned a chair close to us, and we sat almost knee to knee. After extending to us our current calling, President Nelson turned to Debbie and focused on her. He was kind, loving, gentle, and full of joy, like the perfect father or grandfather. He held Debbie’s hand and patted it, reassuring her that it would be OK and that our family would be blessed. It seemed to us at that moment that we were the most important people to him and that he had all the time in the world for us. We left his office that Friday afternoon feeling reassured, loved, and joyful.
On Monday we saw the news. During that same day that President Nelson had spent with us, one of his daughters had passed away from cancer. We were stunned. Our hearts were full as we mourned for him and his family. Our hearts were also full of gratitude for his Christlike attention to us while mourning for his daughter who was suffering.
As we pondered this experience, we asked ourselves, “How could he be so kind, loving, and even joyful at such a difficult time?” The answer is because he knows. He knows that Christ has been victorious. He knows he will be with his daughter again and will spend an eternity with her. Joy and eternal perspective come through being bound to the Savior by making and keeping covenants and through Christlike discipleship.

Upon his first visit to the Church, Ramón Abreu of Santo Domingo noticed that “it was not a church with the rich on one side and the poor on the other, like I had noticed in other religions. Everyone was together, just how I always imagined the Lord’s church to be.”

A short time later we had our own opportunity to be receivers of service. After living in a community for only one month, it became necessary for me to stay completely down for two months while expecting our eighth baby. Our first reaction was that we could handle this challenge all alone. The children were used to helping and had regular jobs around the house. However, we soon recognized that despite careful planning and added responsibilities, we needed help.
Even after years of teaching and hearing lessons on serving others and accepting service, we found that to actually let someone help us was difficult to do. But, as we allowed them to help us, we soon found our hearts full of thanks for their thoughtfulness.
A retired couple came by and picked up the youngest children for a morning outing. Our bishop organized a sacrament meeting and brought it in our home. Several busy sisters came by regularly just to chat, because they knew that I enjoyed adult company. A couple prepared and brought in a candlelight dinner to share with us for a date night. A batch of white shirts disappeared and then reappeared, freshly ironed.
The phrase “Call me if I can do anything” took on new meaning. We learned that you will rarely take someone up on such an offer. Instead, we witnessed people who came by saying, “Is it the kitchen you want cleaned, or would you rather have me vacuum?” Many were good examples to us as they not only thought of helpful things to do, but did them.
Another thought came forcefully to mind. Any time service was rendered they could probably have been doing the same thing for their own family at home. Yet a large family brought a canister of homemade ice cream to us. A lovely lady made our daughter’s eighth grade graduation dress. A sweet friend brought fresh loaves of homemade bread by the armsful each week, insisting that our family was used to homemade, not store-bought, bread. One of our grandmas left her home and came to stay with us for two weeks.
A line from my journal says: “If only I can remember the same gift of kindness to others when I am well.” Service had become a living principle, and we felt an overwhelming desire to be able to serve others.

High in a tree
In the April snow,
A little bird sang
Of things that grow.
He sang about flowers
And grasses and trees.
He sang about honey
Growing in bees.
The little bird sang
And I thought about spring.
I thought and I thought
And I started to sing.

Elder Ronald A. Rasband and his wife, Sister Melanie Rasband, visited Cape Verde. It’s a beautiful country made up of 10 islands off the coast of Africa.
Elder Rasband visited a school for young children. Many don’t have parents to care for them. They lined up to shake his hand. Elder Rasband loved that because he and Sister Rasband have 27 grandchildren!
They also visited a farm. Members of the Church are learning to raise pigs and other animals there so they can support their families.
People were excited to hear Elder Rasband speak. It was the first time an Apostle had visited their country. A temple is now being built in the capital city, Praia!
“God loves you. The Savior loves you.”
—Elder Ronald A. Rasband

I’m trying to be a missionary, like you said, but it’s hard. When I went to the mall with Mom, I waited on a bench while she was in a store. A man sat next to me. He was smoking. I told him that smoking is bad and that Heavenly Father didn’t want him to smoke. He laughed at me. He said that I shouldn’t tell him what to do. I think that I’ll wait to be a missionary. I’m not ready yet.

Three sisters who live on an island near Tavira, Portugal, are so committed to attending Church meetings that each Sunday finds them walking half a mile to a waterway, where they are rowed across, then walking another five miles to the chapel. Sister Pereira is 62, Sister Neves is 73, and Sister Jesus is 84. These sisters get together every day to read the scriptures and strengthen each other spiritually.