Gospel Story Finder

Dirk crossed the cobblestone street. Only ten more vranken, he thought, and I’ll have enough. He turned the corner at Kerkstraat and looked down the row of houses and the black iron fences enclosing the small front yards. The terrace houses behind them were typical of many other Belgian houses. They were three and four stories high, all joined together to form one long building.
Dirk opened the gate of house number 27 and rang the bell. Last year when he was here he had to stand on his tiptoes to reach it. But now that he had grown some, he could ring it easily.
The bell tinkled softly inside. A window opened overhead and an old woman called down. “Oh, good afternoon, Dirk. Kom binnen (come in).”
“Good afternoon, Mevrouw Peeters,” he greeted her when he had climbed to the third floor. She handed him a shopping list and some money.
Dirk ran many errands for Mevrouw Peeters to the groentemarkt (vegetable market), to the bakkerij (bakery) and to many other shops. Each week she gave him five vranken. On his errands Dirk usually passed his favorite store, a sports shop, where he stopped to gaze intently in the window.
The shiny, white soccer ball was still there—the one he’d been saving for all year. Winter would soon come to the northern Belgian town where he lived, but that would not stop him from playing his favorite sport. Each time he passed the store he was a little afraid to look for fear the ball might have been sold.
After my errand today I’ll only need five more vranken, he thought.
Dirk delivered the aardappelen (potatoes) and bloemkool (cauliflower), to Mevrouw Peeters. Looking at the coin in his hand, he imagined himself kicking his soccer ball high in the air for a goal.
He rushed home to count his money. Sure enough, two hundred vranken. “Surely waiting until next week to pay tithing won’t make that much difference,” Dirk told himself. He ran down the stairs and out the front door. The soccer ball would soon be his!
But as Dirk skipped along, he remembered how careful Mama and Papa were to pay their tithing the first thing whenever they received any money. “We always manage,” Mama often said. And Papa truly meant it when he said, “We have been blessed in many ways, and we have a good feeling in our hearts when we do as the Lord commands us. We are grateful to be able to contribute our share to help with the Lord’s work.”
Dirk stopped. The sporting goods store was just around the corner. In his imagination he already held the soccer ball. But a feeling even stronger than his longing for the soccer ball made him turn quickly around and run home. He counted out the tithing he owed and put it in an envelope to give to the branch president on Sunday.
Several days later Dirk’s errand for Mevrouw Peeters took him in a different direction from his usual route, so he didn’t pass the sports shop. The following day when he went to Mevrouw Peeters’, she said, “I’ll need some more aardappelen today, Dirk. Will you get them for me?”
Dirk nodded and hurried off to the vegetable market.
Mijnheer Vandecasteele wrapped the two pounds of potatoes in some newspaper. “Do you have enough money saved for your soccer ball yet?” he asked.
“Tomorrow,” replied Dirk with a wide grin, “I’ll have the five vranken I need.”
On the way back with the potatoes, he stopped to look in again at the sports shop window.
The soccer ball was gone!
Tears filled his eyes as he turned away from the shop in disappointment.
When Dirk reached Mevrouw Peeters’ house, she said, “Oh, Dirk, I forgot to have you get me three pompelmoezen (grapefruits). Could you go back to the market for me and I’ll pay you now instead of tomorrow?”
Dirk took the five vranken and started down the stairs. What good is the money now? The soccer ball is gone, he thought as he walked slowly back to the market.
As Dirk neared the sports shop his pace quickened. He started to turn his head away but something caught his eye. There was another soccer ball, a better one than he had ever seen before. And the price marked on it was not much more than the ball he’d been saving for. Before long he would have enough money to buy it.
He was glad now that he had paid his tithing instead of buying the other ball. But best of all was the good feeling he had.
Dirk ran up Kerkstraat so fast that he was almost out of breath when he handed the grapefruit to Mevrouw Peeters. “Boy! I’m glad I waited,” he said, half talking to himself.
“What?” asked the old woman, a puzzled look on her face.
“I have a good feeling just like Papa said,” Dirk explained. And he ran happily down the stairs.

Young Latter-day Saints on the outer islands of French Polynesia wanted to hold a youth conference. But they faced some challenges.
Challenge 1: Location. The islands are far apart, with no regular lines of communication or transportation between them.
Challenge 2: Law. The government requires any youth gathering to comply with approved standards, including supervision by a state-certified director.
Challenge 3: Food. Little edible food grows in the crushed coral soil of the atolls. The diet is based on fish, coconuts, and whatever is shipped from Tahiti.
Challenge 4: Water. There are no rivers or lakes. Rain provides the only source of drinking water.
Challenge 5: Lodging. There are no dormitories, barracks, or even hotels on the outer islands. Where would people stay?
Faced with so many obstacles, it might have been tempting to give up. But the Saints here knew that if they had faith, God would help them find answers. They continued planning their conference. And soon, solutions were found.
Solution 1: Stay close to home. Conference planners decided to hold several small conferences at local levels. This would allow youth groups to gather without lengthy travel or a lot of expense. The first conference was held on Takaroa, one of seventy-seven islands in the Tuamotu Archipelago. Takaroa is a stronghold for the Church in the area—270 of its 396 inhabitants are Latter-day Saints.
Solution 2: Find a willing supervisor. Brother Stanley Brodien, executive secretary in the Paea Tahiti Stake, was the answer. A school psychologist, he spends summer vacations organizing youth gatherings, summer camps, and outings. He already had the proper government certification and was happy to supervise the conference.
Solutions 3, 4, and 5: Use local resources. Takaroa had been blessed with an abundance of rain. Storage tanks were full and could supply needed water. Some food had to be brought along in coolers, but a baker from the nearby island of Manihi, branch president Pitori Faura, provided bread, and local members helped the youth catch fish and gather coconuts as needed. As for lodging, most of the youth stayed in homes with members. Some of the young men brought tents and camped on the beach.
And now, the conference! Most of the seventy LDS youth from the three islands attending the Tuamotu North Youth Conference are involved either directly or indirectly in the pearl industry. The youth are highly skilled in tasks like skin diving and scuba diving, which are required for pearl cultivation.
But besides the pearl farms, the focal point of the island of Takaroa is the century-old LDS chapel, built from coral, with its hand-painted moldings, red tin roof, and bell tower stretching ninety feet above bedrock. It is larger and taller than any other building on the island, symbolic of the Church’s importance in the small community, and a perfect place for the youth to gather.
After their arrival, some aboard a fishing vessel, some by speed boat, the youth were divided into four groups, each with a mixture of participants from various age levels and from the three islands of Takaroa, Manihi, and Takapoto. The youth chose Book of Mormon names for their groups: Ether, Nephi, Mormon—and a popular hero in these islands, Hagoth.
Cynthia Tufariua of Takaroa said, “At first I wasn’t excited about not being with my friends, but after the first day, I thought it was great to get to know kids from the other islands.”
Eric Hio of Manihi said, “I’ve never seen this many Mormons together in one spot.”
Set an example of service. The shining moment of the conference came in the form of service. Except for one very rainy morning, the youth spent several hours each day cleaning different areas of the island—picking up trash, cutting weeds and bushes, removing rocks, hauling away garbage. During the conference, they cleaned beaches along the dock area and tidied up the village cemetery, the church grounds and building, and the local soccer field, which had become little more than a garbage dump and an eyesore.
Mani Terooatea is a Laurel from Takaroa home on vacation from Japan, where she has been studying the technique of pearl grafting (placing tiny pieces of mussel shells inside oysters in order to cultivate pearls). Mani said, “It was super to clean up the field, to see everyone working side by side. It didn’t take long, and I’m glad we could leave the place cleaner than we found it.” Mani brought along a friend who is a member of another faith. The friend, Hina Dexter, developed a new appreciation for Latter-day Saints, as did several other non-LDS participants.
Start with the scriptures. Each morning started with individual scripture study, followed by breakfast and a devotional. Then came the service projects, followed by sports and group activities, including island games such as “The Crab and the Coconut Trees,” “The Dog and the Thongs,” and “The Thief and the Pearl.” To cool off after a hard day of work and play, the youth found that a dip in the pristine lagoon waters among some of the most beautiful coral gardens in the world, myriads of brightly colored tropical fish, and curious but harmless reef sharks, provided a refreshing change of pace.
Besides morning scripture study and devotionals, two firesides and a home evening emphasized spiritual topics such as faith, standards, scripture study, goal setting, enduring to the end, striving for excellence, mission preparation, and seminary attendance. One speaker gave a brief history of the Church in French Polynesia, speaking of sacrifices made by early missionaries and members and challenging the youth to be willing to make similar sacrifices to share the gospel.
End with a testimony meeting. As the conference closed, young people expressed gratitude for new bonds of friendship, strengthened testimonies, and their renewed desire to know and serve the Savior. One young man who had not been very active in the Church expressed his newly gained desire to serve a mission: “I want to get my life in order so I can share with other people the testimony I felt growing during this conference. I want to spread the joy the gospel brings.”
Like a pearl. The youth conference taught the outer islanders another thing as well. They saw that with patience, challenges can be turned into blessings. It reminded them of the black pearls they grow in their lagoons. A little bit of mussel shell is an irritant. But with time and care, the oyster transforms it into a thing of beauty.

About 2 years ago Elder Bednar came home with what he thought was a great proposal. Brother Ed Williams had invited us to accompany him, other colleagues, and students involved in the Natural Science Field Expedition program on a hike to the Teton Glacier.
I wasn’t too keen on the idea at first. Do I look like an expert hiker to you? After checking with several people about the skills required and the physical rigors involved, I reluctantly told my husband I would go with him.
Now that I’ve had time to ponder this difficult yet wonderful experience, I have discovered that many aspects of this hike are analogous to your situation here at BYU–Idaho. Let me explain.
The evening before this most excellent adventure began, President and I drove over to Jackson Hole. The sun was setting, and as I gazed up at the Tetons from the road to Jenny Lake, my heart started to pound as I realized where that glacier was. It was so far up there on the mountainside that I questioned my ability to ever complete the hike. What on earth was I thinking when I agreed to do this?
Well, I didn’t sleep very well that night. Tossing and turning in the motel bed, I could just envision myself nauseous from the altitude, with a twisted ankle, abandoned by the side of the trail, only to be devoured by a hungry grizzly bear.
My 12-hour hike began on a well marked, gently sloped, and easy-to-follow trail that gradually turned into a game trail which zigzagged across the mountain. As the incline became steeper, Brother Williams picked up an old tree branch and gave it to me to use as a walking stick. His helpful suggestion that I stay right behind him and place my steps where he placed his enabled me to keep the pace.
After each rest break, Brother Williams boosted our confidence by saying enthusiastically, “I want you to know we have just finished the hardest part of the hike,” even though we hadn’t. Impressive students continually increased morale by encouraging and assisting one another.
Though my hike was strenuous and exhausting, along the way we stopped to admire the beautiful, blue-green water of glacial-fed Delta Lake, nestled down in the bottom of a deep ravine. We slowed down at times to study the formation and composition of huge boulders that dotted the mountainside. We learned about alpine plants and animal habitats and about the power of glacial ice to carve and create canyon crevices and valley floors. We observed a miniature, rabbit-like pika preparing a pile of greens for winter food storage. I marveled how this determined little creature built this gargantuan haystack grass blade by grass blade.
Above the tree line, my hike became more strenuous and difficult to navigate. The power and force of the glacial ice inching its way down the mountainside had produced a huge moraine in front of it. This ridge of debris and angular rocks stacked on top of one another created a steep and unstable face on which we had to climb to reach the glacier. Members of our group were staggered across the moraine to prevent dislodging a large boulder or rock that could fall and injure a hiker below.
Just so you know, with a few pushes and pulls from my husband, I finally made it to the top of the moraine and the impressive edge of the Teton Glacier. President Bednar and I stood there, surrounded by the stunning and majestic view of the pinnacles of the Grand Tetons. They were so close you could almost reach out and touch them. The joyful feelings I experienced are somewhat indescribable. I perceived that I was standing on holy ground, and I sensed the profound love of our Father in Heaven. I knew I had received assistance from others and strength beyond my own to be standing on the glacier I had seen the night before from the road.

My family was driving down a residential road in France when my father thought he smelled something burning. We pulled over to the side of the road and inspected the car. We couldn’t find anything wrong with the car, but we did find something else: a wallet on the side of the road with money in it!
My initial reaction was that I would be able to buy lots of neat things. I knew, however, that we should be honest. My father drove to the police station, and we turned the wallet over to the police. I felt happy, and I know that honesty is worth any cost.

A mother overheard her son, four, tell his brother, six, “I don’t believe in Jesus.” The brother responded, “You have really hurt my feelings.” Sensing a need, the mother reinforced the younger boy’s understanding of the Savior. She placed a picture of the Redeemer in his room and continued to teach all of her children more about the Master. Sometime later, the younger son commented, “Mom, you’re my best friend—next to Jesus.”

Yearning to find the truth, Wilford Woodruff attended many religious meetings in the area around his home. At one such gathering, permission was given for anyone in the congregation to speak. Young Wilford stood, knowing that 40 or more ministers of various churches were in attendance. He stepped into the aisle and said:

“My friends, will you tell me why you don’t contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints? Will you tell me why you don’t contend for that Gospel that Jesus Christ taught, and that His Apostles taught? Why do you not contend for that religion that gives unto you power before God, power to heal the sick, to make the blind to see, the lame to walk, and that gives you the Holy Ghost and those gifts and graces that have been manifest from the creation of the world? Why do you not teach the people those principles that the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets taught while they were clothed with the revelations of God? They had the administrations of angels; they had dreams and visions, and constant revelation to guide and direct them in the path in which they should walk.”

The people at the meeting must have been surprised to hear such bold language from such a young man. Immediately, the presiding minister tried to discount the ideas Wilford Woodruff had shared. “My dear young man,” he said, “you would be a very smart man, and a very useful man in the earth, if you did not believe all those foolish things. These things were given to the children of men in the dark ages of the world. … Today we live in the blaze of the glorious gospel light, and we do not need those things.”

Unconvinced by this minister’s comments, Wilford replied, “Then give me the dark ages of the world; give me those ages when men received these principles.”3

At the Berlin Olympics in 1936, Hitler declared that Aryans were a master race. America had 10 black athletes, who, much to Hitler’s chagrin, scored more points than any national team. Chief among them was Jesse Owens. At the opening ceremonies, Hitler refused to greet Owens and deliberately snubbed the blacks. Owens simply shrugged, “I didn’t come over to shake hands with Hitler, anyway.” Owens then battled to four gold medals. As he broke the world’s record for the running broad jump, the first to greet him was not a fellow team member but an exuberant German competing in the same event, Luz Long.
“I never see anything like this. You are the greatest of all!” Long exclaimed in broken English.
As Owens took Long’s hand in both of his and squeezed it, the crowd thundered approval. Then the two competitors wrapped their arms about one another and began to walk toward the track. The crowd—in spite of Hitler’s presence—went wild with joy and shouted for many minutes.

The Prophet and some of the other imprisoned brethren escaped on April 14, 1839, and headed for Illinois.
Monday, April 22.—We [the Prophet Joseph and fellow escaped prisoners] continued on our journey, both by night and by day; and after suffering much fatigue and hunger, I arrived in Quincy, Illinois, amidst the congratulations of my friends, and the embraces of my family. …
I have been preserved and delivered out of [my enemies’] hands, and can again enjoy the society of my friends and brethren, whom I love, and to whom I feel united in bonds that are stronger than death; and in a state where I believe the laws are respected, and whose citizens are humane and charitable.

During the visit my wife and I had with Wilford and Alice, Alice told us of a similar experience she had had. I share it with her permission.

Last year she was on an internship in Berlin. While attending a Church meeting one Sunday, she was introduced to a Chinese woman who, after shaking hands, said, “Wait—you served a mission a year ago, right? You are the first missionary who taught me the first lesson!”

Alice did not recognize the woman at first glance, but she soon remembered her face, her name, and how they had met near the Hong Kong Temple eighteen months earlier while Alice was a missionary. She remembered how she and her companion had taught this woman the first lesson. It was a powerful lesson, and they gave her a Book of Mormon, but they couldn’t do more because the woman had to return to her home country the next day.

What Alice didn’t know was that after that initial lesson, the woman had returned home, but she wasn’t able to attend church meetings or learn the gospel because the Church is not recognized there. When she later moved to Germany for her graduate studies, she immediately found the Church in Berlin, was taught, and soon was baptized. And there she was when Alice “randomly showed up in Berlin” (to use her words) because of an internship.

You can wear a yellow Helping Hands vest or t-shirt in time of disaster. Two years ago, serious flooding occurred in Louisiana. Our daughter stayed home in Houston while her husband went to Louisiana to help muck out homes. The next weekend he stayed at home with their three small children while she went to Louisiana to muck out houses. One year later, that training became quite practical as Houston was hit by the devastating Hurricane Harvey. In her role as Relief Society president, our daughter coordinated relief efforts within her ward boundaries. People wept as they saw Church members in Helping Hands shirts come to assist.

Light persuades us to do good; it leads us to Christ. It led my family as it has led yours, and it can and will lead all to him.
Archibald Stewart and his wife, Esther Lyle, are my great-great-grandparents. The Stewart family had learned to face persecution and hardship. Their ancestors had been forced to flee from Scotland to Northern Ireland, where they had been promised protection. But instead of finding peace, they again became victims of persecution at the hands of the Irish Greens. Independence and strong conviction were part of their heritage.
The Stewart family characteristics of love and devotion and a deep religious faith made them receptive to the gospel. When the Mormon missionaries came to the Stewart house, Elizabeth, the third child, immediately felt the truthfulness of their message. She began to study and search for more assurance of the things she felt within. Her feelings and study stirred an immediate response in her old granny, who was the matriarch of the Stewart household. Elizabeth spent many hours telling her granny about the new prophet of God, Joseph Smith, who had brought back to earth the simple, direct message that Christ was alive and had appeared to man. Elizabeth felt a testimony burning within and asked permission to be baptized. Because of the unpopularity of the Mormons, her parents objected. Elizabeth’s granny came to her rescue. “Let the child alone,” she said. “I have read all her books, and I do believe the child is right.”
As Elizabeth left her home to go to her baptism, her granny was at her side. The two walked to the river, where the elders had broken a hole in the ice that wintry March day. When the elders came toward Elizabeth to baptize her, her granny stepped up and said, “Watch your manners, child; never step in front of your elders.”
The elders baptized Granny in her street clothes; she even had on her little white cap. She had brought no extra clothes, so she walked home in her wet, frozen clothes. She did not take cold even though she did not change her clothes until the other family members had gone to bed. She said nothing about her baptism to the family but went about her usual tasks as if nothing had happened. After the others had gone to bed, she hung her clothing around the fireplace. In the morning when Archibald got up, he saw the clothes drying. He began to joke with the others about Granny having been dipped in the river along with Elizabeth. Granny listened to their fun and then said: “Archibald, if you don’t want people to hear, stop shouting so loudly. You can’t talk about Granny now, for she can hear better than any of you.”
Granny had been virtually deaf for twenty years, but a miracle had restored her hearing at the time she was baptized. From that day until her death, she could hear distinctly. Archibald said laughingly that she heard too much.
Most of the family members soon were baptized, in 1841.

Several years ago my husband received a job promotion, and we moved to another state. During the first few weeks in our new home I was often lonely and depressed.
One day a letter came from my former Relief Society president. She wrote that she, too, had been the new sister in several wards and had always found the transition to be difficult. She shared the following ideas with me:
Don’t wait for people sitting next to you to introduce themselves; introduce yourself first!
Tell ward members that you’re happy to be in the area and look forward to getting to know them better. A positive attitude draws people to you.
Look for someone who needs you.
Ask the Relief Society or priesthood quorum leaders for a visiting teaching or home teaching route.
Ask the Relief Society or priesthood quorum leaders for the names of ward members who share your interests. Then introduce yourself.
Take advantage of this lull in your life to do some of those things you’ve never had time to do before.
Don’t forget that you are a child of God and have a lot to offer.
By following these suggestions, I soon became comfortable in my new ward. I will always appreciate my friend’s thoughtfulness in helping to ease my transition.

I converted to the Church as a young boy of 13. One summer day in 1971, my father took me to town for our haircut. While the barber was cutting my hair, suddenly two American ladies arrived at the barbershop. They were introduced by the barber to my father as missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He told Father that they have a good doctrine that he can try investigating. At first, Father was hesitant to accept the invitation but he was finally persuaded to accept an appointment at home.
So we were taught the true gospel of Jesus Christ and were given a copy of the Book of Mormon. My parents read and pondered the sacred book. As they studied its contents, and they felt its power. They decided to be baptized with us their children.
Before becoming members of the true church, our mortal path seemed dark and hopeless, we had no knowledge of God’s plan, and we didn’t know about eternal life. Our motto was “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die,” but when we found the true church, our path became brighter with all the ordinances and the covenants we made with God.
Our baptism into the Church allowed us to enter the covenant path which will bring us back to God’s presence. If we continue pressing forward, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end, we will have eternal life. We can achieve this by making, keeping, and honoring our covenants at baptism and at the temple.

One night, my family and some friends had a family home evening. We had the lesson and the closing prayer, and then had a treat. When it was time for our friends to leave, my mom and I told one of my friends about the Friend magazine. She is taking discussions from the missionaries and hadn’t heard about the Friend, so I let her look through it. She really liked it. I let her have the August 2007 Friend. I’m glad that I can share the gospel with others.

When the South Weber First Ward, Ogden Weber Utah Stake, had an unused field next to the chapel, they put it to good use. The youth of the ward grew tomatoes. They planted 13,000 tomato plants on the 2 1/2 acres of ground. The tomato plot was the result of a challenge given the young people of the ward by the bishop to raise money to support their own activities.
For many, raising the tomatoes was their first experience in gardening. The project, spearheaded by Annette Gardner, had the ward’s teens making arrangements with a local greenhouse for the plants, organizing the plot into rows, and preparing the soil. After the plot was planted, each teen was assigned a row to care for. They were in charge of weeding, nurturing, and harvesting their row. They often spent the time before youth activities each week in the tomato patch, with additional time throughout the week required to properly care for the tomato patch.
“The calloused hands and blisters from the hoes were eye-openers to many,” says Sister Gardner. “The youth are proud of their rows. Some have made signs to identify their rows.”
After the harvest, a party was held to present awards for the best row sign and for the biggest and funniest tomatoes.
The tomato plot had some unexpected side benefits. Often whole families showed up to help their son or daughter with his or her row. Younger brothers and sisters got involved. It turned out to be a good family project and ward members became closer.

In the spring of 1848 they set out for the valley of the Great Salt Lake. Joseph, then a nine-year-old boy, drove an ox team on that long and difficult journey.

One day while on that journey, one of their oxen suddenly stopped, dropped to its knees, and rolled over, apparently dying. Those who looked on declared the animal dead.

His mother searched through her belongings and found a bottle of consecrated oil. She asked the brethren to anoint and bless the oxen. They did so. Miraculously he came alive, gathered up his legs, rose to his full stature, and moved forward as if nothing had happened. (See Nibley, Presidents, 188.)

What better place to first observe and then serve than in the home? An example from the life of Elder Richard G. Scott illustrates:
“One night our little son Richard, who had a heart problem, awoke crying. … Normally my wife always got up to take care of a crying baby, but this time I said, ‘I’ll take care of him.’
“Because of his problem, when he began to cry, his little heart would pound very rapidly. He would throw up and soil the bed clothing. That night I held him very close to try to calm his racing heart and stop his crying as I changed his clothes and put on new bedsheets. I held him until he went to sleep. I didn’t know then that just a few months later he would pass away. I will always remember holding him in my arms in the middle of that night.”13
Jesus said, “Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.”14

An older granddaughter stated, “I have been considering marriage in the near future and have been making some tentative preparations. When Grandfather heard of my plans, he and Grandmother came down to see me, gave me some possible temple dates, offered other suggestions, and in an hour the entire thing was coming together. He said that evening, ‘You need a plan; if it doesn’t happen, you’re out nothing. You can cancel, but you can’t just materialize a wedding. Things just won’t fall into place if you don’t plan ahead.’”

After finishing school, Emmeline began teaching in Orange, Massachusetts, for $1.50 a week. However, her teaching career was soon cut short. Fearing that her daughter, standing alone, might not be able to withstand the persecutions against the Church, Diadama arranged a quick marriage in July 1843 between Emmeline and James Harris, a son of the local branch president. The youngsters were both fifteen years old at the time.
In April 1844 Emmeline left Massachusetts with her husband and his family for Nauvoo, Illinois. Upon their arrival in Nauvoo, Emmeline had the privilege of meeting and shaking the hand of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was cruelly martyred just a few months later.
Times were hard for the Saints, and James’s parents wanted to leave the Church. They entreated their son and his pregnant wife to join them, but the young couple refused. Emmeline and James’s child, a son, was born in September 1844, but he died several weeks later. After losing their child, James left to find work and never returned.
Grieving and alone at the age of sixteen, Emmeline decided to remain in Nauvoo and teach school. She became acquainted with Bishop Newel Whitney, and on February 14, 1845, they were married. In 1848, Emmeline traveled with Newel and his family to Salt Lake City, Utah. Within two weeks of their arrival in the Valley, Emmeline gave birth to a girl.

Some years ago, Elder ElRay L. Christiansen told about one of his distant Scandinavian relatives who joined the Church. He was quite well-to-do and sold his lands and stock in Denmark to come to Utah with his family. For a while he did well as far as the Church and its activities were concerned, and he prospered financially. However, he became so caught up in his possessions that he forgot about his purpose in coming to America. The bishop visited him and implored him to become active as he used to be. The years passed and some of his brethren visited him and said: “Now, Lars, the Lord was good to you when you were in Denmark. He has been good to you since you have come here. … We think now, since you are growing a little older, that it would be well for you to spend some of your time in the interests of the Church. After all, you can’t take these things with you when you go.”
Jolted by this remark, the man replied, “Vell, den, I vill not go.” But he did! And so will all of us!