Gospel Story Finder

On a vacation, I was traveling by ship down the Volga River in Russia, far from any LDS chapel. That Sunday I had planned to read the Book of Mormon alone in my cabin.
My plans changed when I found out the ship was leased for summer tours to a Latter-day Saint family. With permission from their Church leaders, they had scheduled a worship service for LDS passengers, including several Russian Latter-day Saints traveling on the ship. I was asked to bless the sacrament. I wondered if I would bless the sacrament alone and if I would be the only teenager there. I hoped not.
Later that morning when I entered the music salon where the meeting would be held, my anxious heart quieted as I saw other young men in ties and young women in dresses. I looked around for something resembling a sacrament table. To my right, I noticed that a white tablecloth from the dining hall had been spread over the piano bench. The bread and water trays sat on the white linen. The brother who had asked me to bless the sacrament introduced me to a young man.
“This is Sergei,” he said. “He will bless with you.”
Sergei, from Moscow, had just completed his service in the militia. He had met two missionaries in the subway. That eventually led to his baptism.
“Dobray Dien!” I said, practicing what little Russian I had learned.
“Dobray Dien,” he responded with a chuckle.
“Minyah Savoot, William,” I said, introducing myself.
“Minyah Savoot, Sergei.”
“Do you speak English?” I asked.
“A little.”
He pulled out a sheet of paper—tattered from use—and unfolded it. It contained LDS religious terms with their definitions. He pointed to the word sacrament as if to communicate our role in the worship service. I nodded. He next pointed to the word bread and then to himself.
“Me?” he asked.
Then he pointed to the word water and then pointed to me, I understood. He would bless the bread. I would bless the water.
“Da,” I said in Russian, agreeing with his plan.
The music began, and a young man, Vladimir, led the congregation in “Come, Come, Ye Saints.” The curtains of the room had been drawn aside, and through the windows we saw a panoramic view of Russia’s countryside.
Sergei’s copy of the Book of Mormon was well used. He thumbed through its pages for the sacrament prayer.
We stood and broke the homemade Russian sourdough bread. I could hear the congregation singing “I Stand All Amazed,” half singing in Russian and the other half in English. No one had hymnbooks, so we sang from memory. I was impressed to hear the combination of Russian and English as if our voices were creating a new language.
When the hymn ended, I knelt with Sergei. As we knelt on the floor, I could feel a slight rocking of the ship. The congregation bowed their heads. Sergei began saying the prayer in Russian.
I felt the Spirit of God enter my heart and burn through my chest. Here we were, Sergei and I, on a ship far from our homes and families, two people from different continents and speaking different languages—but feeling the same Spirit. I understood the words he spoke, clearly and peacefully. I felt solemnity fill my mind.
After wiping a few tears from my eyes, I stood with Sergei. We passed the bread trays to three young priesthood holders, who then passed the bread to the congregation.
A few minutes later, I blessed the water in English, saying the prayer with more conviction than ever before. I felt as if I were actually speaking to the Lord. My heart swelled with joy as I said amen and stood to serve the water trays.
That day, Sergei and I had come together to do the Lord’s work. We had blessed the emblems Christ instituted just before his death and sacrifice. Sergei had spoken Russian. I had spoken English. But for all of us who were present, the language spoken was the Spirit.

House Build C:
In this family are Roberto (father), Micaela (mother), Gloria (daughter, 13), Esther (daughter, 10), and Abraham (son, 8). Roberto works as a cook six days a week. Micaela raises her children and makes foam flowers to sell to stores and schools.
Two years ago, Roberto started going back to church with his family. He felt God’s love and felt the need to serve and love others, so each Friday he would bring hundreds of burritos and flavored water to migrant groups from Central America. He feels that God always blesses him for his service and that his new home is one such blessing. But he was even more excited about the incredible gratitude, love, and unity he felt among the youth.

Let me share an experience about responding to prophetic words from the life of President Russell M. Nelson:
In 1979, five years before his call as a General Authority, Brother Nelson attended a meeting just prior to general conference. “President Spencer W. Kimball challenged all present to lengthen their stride in taking the gospel to the entire world. Among the countries President Kimball specifically mentioned was China, declaring, ‘We should be of service to the Chinese. We should learn their language. We should pray for them and help them.’”
At age 54, Brother Nelson had a feeling during the meeting that he should study the Mandarin language. Although a busy heart surgeon, he immediately secured the services of a tutor.
Not long after beginning his studies, Dr. Nelson, attending a convention, unexpectedly found himself sitting next to “a distinguished Chinese surgeon, Dr. Wu Yingkai. … Because [Brother Nelson] had been studying Mandarin, he began [a] conversation [with Dr. Wu].”
Dr. Nelson’s desire to follow the prophet led to Dr. Wu visiting Salt Lake City and Dr. Nelson traveling to China to give lectures and perform surgical operations.
His love for the Chinese people, and their love and respect for him, grew.
In February 1985, ten months after his call to the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Nelson received a surprise phone call from China pleading for Dr. Nelson to come to Beijing to operate on the failing heart of China’s most famous opera singer. With the encouragement of President Gordon B. Hinckley, Elder Nelson returned to China. The last surgical operation he ever performed was in the People’s Republic of China.
Just two years ago, in October 2015, President Russell M. Nelson was once again honored with an official declaration, naming him an “old friend of China.”
Then yesterday we heard the now 93-year-old President Russell M. Nelson speak of President Thomas S. Monson’s plea to “each of us [in last April’s conference] to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day.”
Just like he did as a busy heart surgeon, when he hired a Mandarin tutor, President Nelson immediately took the counsel of President Monson and applied it to his own life. More than just reading, he said that he “made lists of what the Book of Mormon is, what it affirms, what it refutes, what it fulfills, what it clarifies, and what it reveals.”
And then, interestingly, just this morning, as a second witness, President Henry B. Eyring also spoke of his response to President Monson’s admonition. Do you remember these words? “Like many of you, I heard the prophet’s words as the voice of the Lord to me. And, also like many of you, I decided to obey those words.”
May we see these as examples for our own lives.
I promise that as you hear the voice of the Lord to you in the teachings of this general conference, and then act on those promptings, you will feel heaven’s hand upon you, and your life and the lives of those around you will be blessed.

After I graduated from high school, I pondered the words of the Book of Mormon in Enos 1:15, “Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it.” I called the temple to put my name on the temple prayer roll and continued to pray personally, asking my Heavenly Father to help me find a job that would allow me to save up money to pay for my mission and also to touch the hearts of my family members so that they could be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before I left to start my mission.
My desire was to go on mission in 2017.
A few weeks later, Heavenly Father began to answer my prayer. In November 2016, I found a job. It was really difficult at first, but then it became easy. I saved up money to help my mother AND to pay for my mission.
In February 2017, I invited my family to our stake conference, and in April, my mother, one of my sisters, and two nephews were baptized into the Church. What a blessing: four members of my family baptized within a month!
In September 2017, I received my call to serve a two-year mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa Mission.
Through this experience, my testimony has grown. I know that our Heavenly Father loves all His children, He lives and knows us all individually, and He knows our desires. The Book of Mormon is the word of God—the name of Jesus Christ is quoted 558 times in it, which strengthens my belief that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ because I read it.

The scriptures can also be a source of comfort in times of trial. Hazel Hunt’s husband, Bill, died shortly after he received a blessing that he would be healed if he and Hazel had faith. After his death, Hazel worried that she hadn’t had enough faith.
“Please tell me why my husband was taken,” she asked her home teacher. He turned to Doctrine and Covenants 42:48: “He that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed.”
“There was the answer to my question,” Hazel says. “I could accept Bill’s appointed time to return to his Heavenly Father.”

My extended family has a fun tradition. For holidays, reunions, or other special occasions, we like to take my uncle’s boat from Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga, to a beautiful outer island called Pangaimotu. There, we spend the whole day playing volleyball or pool, kayaking and, of course, eating and swimming.
On arrival to Pangaimotu, our boat is anchored just outside its lagoon, and a smaller boat ferries the adults to shore. The kids—my cousins and siblings—never like to wait for transport. They prefer to swim from our big boat to the shore, and then, at the end of our day-long excursion, they would all swim back.
When I was younger, I’d always want to join them, but that swim was difficult for me because the water near our boat was deep. It scared me to not be able to touch the ground with my feet—I was sure something would grab me and pull me down. Plus, the distance between the shore and the boat seemed so far. What if I got tired before I got there?
My dad knew how important it was for me to make that swim.
As the sun began to set on yet another Pangaimotu day, he called me over to him. He was going to help me to get from the shore to the boat.
Dad walked with me past the shallows and into the deeper water. As soon as I could no longer feel the ground under me, I got scared and tried to cling to him, but he wouldn’t allow it. Frustrated, I shed a few tears, but my dad just stayed beside me and encouraged me to keep swimming.
At one point, as much as I flailed my arms and kicked my legs, I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere. I was so tired! My dad gently suggested that I change my swimming position.
I concentrated so closely on his voice, on my breathing and on just moving, that I barely noticed we had arrived at the boat—much sooner than I had expected.
A warm feeling of accomplishment came over me after I climbed on board, and I realized that somewhere along that journey—as I focused on my swimming and on my dad—I lost my fear of the ocean.
Over the years, I have made that swim, back and forth, many times without fear. What once seemed so difficult has now become so easy.
I think about how my dad guided me on my first successful swim out to the boat. He was kind, but firm. He let me experience difficulties for myself, but he stayed close beside me the entire journey. At times I panicked and protested, but he continually encouraged me with patience and love.

Before the queen’s death in 1974, Sri went to see her in the hospital. All of the ladies-in-waiting sat on the floor around the queen’s bed in order of their class. “The queen, who was in great pain, raised up to see me when I entered,” says Sister Sri. “She said, ‘Come to me.’ I stood near her. She said, ‘I still love you.’ I will always be grateful to the queen. Because of the many things I learned while living with her, I was able to read the Book of Mormon and accept the gospel. Because of her, I learned to write and speak in proper Thai language—the language into which the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants are translated.”

Luis Ricardo da Silva can answer that question. At one time he considered himself too unimportant for the Lord to pay attention to him. “I felt, why would God pay attention to someone of no importance like me? But now I know that Jesus loves me. I feel His Spirit, and I know Heavenly Father listens to my prayers.”
He knows because he has had prayers answered. He speaks quietly of times at home and school and church when the Lord has responded to his prayers. One experience stands out: “I was in the temple with friends one day doing baptisms for the dead. We decided to have a prayer in the dressing room of the baptistry. While we were praying we felt something special, as if a light had filled the room and someone else was with us. I had been praying to know that God really lives, and this was my answer. The feeling that I had was powerful. I just knew. Prayer is sacred.”

Many people in today’s world are seeking guidance and direction in their lives. A few years ago, while serving in the Philippines, I was assigned to reorganize a stake presidency in Northern Luzon. At the Sunday general session of stake conference, I asked the wife of the newly called stake president to bear her testimony.

She told of being raised in a good, religious home not of our faith but with wonderful, caring parents. She told how her father and mother would call the family together every day and read from the scriptures. As they read of the prophets of old, she asked her parents why the Lord did not have prophets on the earth today. They answered that God had spoken through the scriptures and that a prophet was no longer needed.

At the parochial schools she attended, she would ask her teachers why there were no prophets on the earth today. Again, she received the same answer. She could not understand why God would give some of His children prophets and not give them to others. When she reached college age, her parents sent her to Manila to study at one of the finest universities. She asked her instructors there the same question, and again she received the same answer.

One day while eating lunch at a small fast-food establishment near the university, she noticed two young men come in and sit down not far from her. She could see the name of Jesus Christ on the black badges that they wore. She boldly stood up and approached the young men.

She asked, “Are you ministers?”

“Yes,” was their reply. “We are missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

“Then may I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” was their response.

So she asked, “Does the Lord love the people today as much as He loved the people in biblical times?”

“Yes, He does,” they answered. “God loves all of His children equally. He is no respecter of persons.”

“Then why does not God send prophets to us today as He did to them?”

Well, you can imagine the excitement of those two missionaries: “He does! He does! We do have prophets on the earth today. Can we tell you about them?”

They taught her the six discussions, her questions were answered, and within a short time she was baptized. A year later she was serving as a missionary, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others and telling them about the Lord’s prophets. She faithfully served an honorable mission, came home, and later married the young man who had been called to serve as the new stake president.

“… both Presidents Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow had prophesied that Joseph F. Smith [the father of President Joseph Fielding Smith] would sometime become president of the Church. Thirty-seven years earlier in the Hawaiian Islands when President Snow, then a member of the Council of Twelve, nearly lost his life by drowning, he declared that the Lord made known to him ‘that this young man, Joseph F. Smith … would some day be the Prophet of God on the earth.’ President Woodruff was once relating to a group of children some incidents in the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith. ‘He turned to Elder Joseph F. Smith and asked him to arise to his feet. Elder Smith complied. “Look at him, children,” Wilford Woodruff said, “… He will become the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I want everyone of you to remember what I have told you this morning.”’” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., and John J Stewart, The Life of Joseph Fielding Smith [Deseret Book Co., 1972], p. 124.)

As this day happened, I had a chance to reflect on how far we had come together. The journey had not been very smooth but in every hardship that we faced, the Lord made a way for us. Our journey began from the day I took Joanita’s hand for her baptism in 2017 in the waters of Makindye Ward where we all started our journey on the covenant path.
A few days later, I stood at the door of our meetinghouse and watched her as she cleaned the chapel. I loved that moment, and I remember imagining her as my wife but I didn’t pay any attention to it. Under the leadership of Gerald Baryamujura as our bishop, I had a chance to serve as a ward clerk and participated in the ward councils. At this point in time, Joanita had traveled outside Uganda for work, and we had never exchanged phone numbers and were not close. For some reason her name never went out of my mind whenever we discussed members that were no longer attending church.
In 2019, I invited members to a Christmas devotional using the Church email system and she was one of the few members who replied to that email. The long search had come to an end. Unfortunately, I didn’t see this email until February 2020 and promised to minister and follow up with her even during my time when I was on mission.
Does it sound more like a dream? Was it a sign of revelation received for a woman who was to be my eternal companion?
With my desire to go and serve the Lord burning bright, I left for my mission on September 2, 2020, and she never stopped writing every week to me for two years. Was this the sign? I had not thought about it yet, but I could feel that there was a strong connection growing between us due to the time she invested in writing and asking more about the plans I had after my mission. Close to the end of my mission, we wrote about the possibility of having a physical date. We tried to schedule time for it, but this didn’t seem like something possible though we still hoped for the right time.
As my head battled thoughts of how to marry and when to do so, I had no job, was scared of starting a family and surviving was still hard for me as an individual since I was almost on my own. On the day when I returned home, in his counsel, Bishop Baryamujura emphasized that when I get married things will work out for me. I heard it, but where could I start from? The Lord knew that I was thirsting for His righteousness and kingdom, and He prepared a way for me. This was manifested through the leaders that I had, my bishop and my stake president, to whom I made myself accountable from the day that I dated Joanita. I remember sitting down for a moment and not understanding how things would work out. I was scared but she turned to me and asked what the problem was. I replied, “I do not know what the future holds for us.”
From this point I started to feel that things were to work out when she turned to me and said that the Lord was to provide a way for this relationship and that I should not worry. It is true, life was hard for a returned missionary as I was in Africa, but I knew that this is what our Heavenly Father wished for all of us and it is a commandment for our exaltation.
Eleven months passed from the day that I returned from my mission when we were legally married on August 5, 2023. We helped each other overcome our weaknesses, and we counseled together on matters pertaining to our family’s temporal and spiritual affairs. Our greatest goal and desire was to have an eternal family and it was from the day that we decided to get married and grew each day as we got to understand each other better in our relationship as husband and wife. To this joy was added the joy of expecting a child. For these blessings bestowed upon us as a family, I truly had reason to shed tears of joy in the celestial room as we waited to be led to the sealing room. The long wait was over, my heart became closer to hers as we sat and reflected on these experiences and how far the Lord had brought us.
My eyes felt as though they had been translated to see her eternal beauty. Indeed, there was no one that my heart and my entire life desired to commune with at this moment other than my wife. This feeling sparked and boosted all the desire that I had to have her and to be only hers forever. As we knelt at the altar, the promise of being a husband that would preside over his family in meekness and love unfeigned was followed by other blessings and I uttered a “yes” that was firm and unwavering. I could feel her faith too and her face shone to manifest this.

Almost four years ago, I went to live with my father, a faithful member of the Church for 20 years. I had not been attending church at all and knew little about the gospel.
Gradually I began going to church. Then one Sunday at stake conference, I heard Elder Adelson de Paula Parrella, an Area Authority Seventy, give a talk about tithing. Although I didn’t understand much about this law, Elder Parrella spoke with such confidence, faith, and spirit that I decided to pay tithing from that day forward.
When I began to pay tithing and offerings, something marvelous began to happen in my life. The Spirit began to fill my heart, and like the prodigal son, I was guided to return to the true gospel path. The Lord even blessed me so greatly that I was able to serve as a missionary in the Brazil Fortaleza Mission.
I know that when we are faithful in paying our tithing and a generous fast offering, the Lord can bless us temporally and spiritually.
Rafael Barcellos Machado, Parque Pinheiro Ward, Santa Maria Brazil Stake

As a young elder, I had been called to the old Primary Children’s Hospital on North Temple Street … in Salt Lake City. There were children to be blessed. It was the Christmas season. I had never been in a children’s hospital before.
As our group entered the foyer, we noticed an attractively decorated Christmas tree, with beautifully wrapped gifts beneath its boughs.
A feeling of sympathy welled up within me as I noticed these tiny children, many with legs or arms in large plaster casts. Some were ever so weak and pale.
A young lad called out to us, “Will you give me a blessing?” Of course the blessing was given. I shall ever remember placing my hands on the … head of that faithful boy who was desperately ill. As we left his side, he looked up into my eyes and said, “Thank you, Brother Monson.”
We walked away, only to hear him call out, “Oh, Brother Monson, merry Christmas to you.” I could scarcely see him for the tears in my eyes. He had that glow about him that comes only at Christmastime. That boy trusted in his Heavenly Father. He acknowledged the priesthood of God. His faith was unwavering. I felt I was on holy ground.
What made the glow emanate from the presence of this faithful boy? It was the Christmas spirit.

Many years ago, while living in another part of the country, I became acquainted with a fine Latter-day Saint young man. He was a superior athlete, but he had never attended a cultural event. Living in the same community was a lovely young LDS sister. She spoke French as well as English. She played the violin. She presented herself as a refined daughter of God. One day the American Ballet Theatre came to our town. A group of us decided to attend, including this young man and young woman.

Now and then I glanced at the young man during the ballet. His eyes were riveted on the stage. Windows of new appreciation were opened. After the performance he approached me privately and said, in reference to the refined young sister, “Where have I been all of my life? This is what I want in my home. This is what I want as the mother of my children. Until now I thought only physical appearance mattered.” I gently reminded him that she would likely be drawn to one of refined nature, like herself, and it was time for him to look within.

We can illustrate the importance of harmony to the presence of the Spirit with a story from the life of Joseph and Emma Smith. David Whitmer recorded the following:

One morning when he [Joseph Smith] was getting ready to continue the translation, something went wrong about the house and he [Joseph] was put out about it. Something that Emma, his wife, had done. Oliver and I went upstairs and Joseph came up soon after to continue the translation but he could not do anything. He could not translate a single syllable. He went downstairs, out into the orchard, and made supplication to the Lord; was gone about an hour—came back to the house, and asked Emma’s forgiveness and then came upstairs where we were and then the translation went on all right. [In B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Century One (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1930), 1:131]

Joseph Smith lost his spiritual vision because of contention. He was told to resolve the conflict, and then his “vision” was restored. Thus we see the spiritual impact of contention and how its resolution leads to a restoration of our spiritual sight.

A few years ago we would regularly receive on our home phone a number of sales or solicitation calls. I remember answering three of those calls in one day. At the conclusion of the third call I placed the phone on the receiver rather energetically and remarked to my wife that if salespeople were going to interrupt me on a regular basis, I was going to teach them the gospel.

A few days later I answered a sales call and thought, “Okay, here we go.” After politely declining the sales offer, I said, “I would like to ask you a question. Do you believe in Jesus Christ?”

The saleswoman replied, “Why, yes, I do.”

I then asked, “Have you ever heard of the visit of Jesus Christ to America after His death and resurrection in Jerusalem?”

“No.”

“Well, 600 years before His birth, God directed a small group of people to leave Jerusalem and travel to the Western Hemisphere. These people were taught by prophets whose words were written on gold plates. Their words have been translated in our time in what we now know as the Book of Mormon, and this record describes the visit of Christ to them.”

She said, “That is the most wonderful thing I have ever heard.”

A few days later I got another call. I’m on a roll!

After the initial sales pitch, I replied, “I don’t really want what you are trying to sell me, but I would like to ask you a question. Do you believe in Jesus Christ?”

The salesman replied, “No, I’m a Muslim, and besides, I am not supposed to talk about personal things, so I better hang up.”

I said, “Before you do, let me say one thing. Do you have a family?”

“Yes.”

“Do you care about them?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Before you hang up, I want you to know that I may be the only person you will ever talk to who can tell you how you can have your family after you die.”

He replied, “What’s that?”

I said, “I thought you said you had to hang up.”

“Oh, no, I want to hear about this.”

Sometimes you get a little surprise in these kinds of situations. A saleslady gave me her spiel, and then I asked her if she believed in Christ and knew of His visit to America. She replied, “Yes, I read the Book of Mormon every day with my family. I’m an LDS mom in Las Vegas.”

To explain how this university blesses lives, I would like to begin my remarks by sharing a story about a young boy who grew up in the boundless, large, flat, and unforested grassland, known as steppes, in Mongolia.

On the far eastern edge of Mongolia, in a vast steppe where the horizon seems to stretch endlessly, a little boy grew up. In that wide-open land, when he was just seven years old, he began attending a school located 13 miles from his home. With no means of transportation other than his horse, he was required to ride to school through fierce snowstorms and bitter cold temperatures, sometimes reaching ?22°F and taking more than two hours to arrive.

Once at school, he lived in the school dorms, away from family, until the weekend, when he would ride home again. This continued for four years, until he was forced to leave school to help his parents herd livestock.

During summer breaks from school, the children from nearby families would come home, and joyful moments were shared with play and laughter—but these times always seemed far too short. When autumn arrived and school resumed, the neighboring children would return to the town to continue their education. Silence once again would settle in, and the boy would realize the endless loneliness of life in the middle of the boundless steppe. With no other choice, he learned to adapt to a nomadic life.

With no friends except sheep and horses, he spent his days with the herd, enduring wind and storms and protecting the herd from wolves. Yet, like other children, he imagined himself attending school, laughing and playing with many friends. For that dream, he offered prayers to a Higher Power—God.

He entered school shortly after Mongolia transitioned to a democratic society. Under the new government’s policy, the Cyrillic alphabet, which had been used for 50 years, was abolished, and the traditional Mongolian script was revived and taught to all children. However, soon after he left school, the policy changed again, reverting to Cyrillic. As a result, he suddenly found himself illiterate. It felt as if the door to his dream of returning to school had slammed shut before him.

Rather than giving in to despair, he decided to teach himself the Cyrillic alphabet. After long days of hard labor, by the dim light of a candle, he copied letters from newspapers, and during the day, while herding sheep, he practiced writing letters in the air. In this way, he continued to educate himself. Seven years after leaving school, at the age of eighteen, the boy passed the entrance exam for high school and reopened the door to his dream.

God promised in Joshua 1:5: “…I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” [1] Just as the Lord led Moses and the Israelites through the wilderness; He likewise guided the boy and blessed him far beyond anything he could have imagined.

After graduating from high school and moving to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, to attend college, he met missionaries, accepted the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and at church, found his closest friend—his eternal companion. That little boy who grew up in the endless steppe now stands before you. My life is a clear testimony of how deeply Heavenly Father loves His children and how He blesses and guides us.

After learning about BYU–Hawaii and the IWORK program, my growing passion for education motivated me to set a new goal—to pursue higher education abroad in a safe and supportive environment. As a newly married couple and a young parent, meeting the university’s requirements and becoming financially prepared required sacrifice, patience, and faith. The preparation process took five years before I was admitted.

Obtaining an American visa tested our faith even further. By then, our family had grown to four, and we were denied at our first interview. With limited resources but renewed trust in the Lord, we paid the visa fee again and reapplied. One week before orientation, our visa was finally approved—a tender reminder that God’s timing is always perfect, even when the path feels uncertain.

The journey to BYU–Hawaii was not straight or easy, but it was guided. Looking back, I see the hand of the Lord shaping us through every delay, rejection, and sacrifice, strengthening our faith and preparing us for the blessings that lay ahead.

After Joseph Smith allowed Martin Harris to take the 116 Book of Mormon manuscript pages, which Martin lost, the plates and Joseph’s gift to translate were taken from him. After repenting and humbling himself in prayer, the plates were returned to him with a promise that someone would come to help him with the translation.
On the 5th day of April, 1829, Oliver Cowdery came to my house. … He stated to me that [while] teaching school in the neighborhood where my father resided, … [my] family related to him the circumstance of my having received the plates, and accordingly he had come to make inquiries of me. Two days after the arrival of Mr. Cowdery … I commenced to translate the Book of Mormon, and he began to write for me.
Whilst continuing the work of translation, during the month of April, Oliver Cowdery became exceedingly anxious to have the power to translate bestowed upon him, and in relation to this desire the following [revelation was] obtained:
“Ask … that you may translate and receive knowledge from all those ancient records which have been hid up, that are sacred; and according to your faith shall it be done unto you” (D&C 8:11).
Oliver Cowdery translated a few words, but was not able to continue. The Lord revealed the reason why:
“Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.
“But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.” (D&C 9:7–8.)
About the same time an old gentleman came to visit us … Mr. Joseph Knight, Sen., … who … very kindly and considerately brought us a quantity of provisions, in order that we might not be interrupted in the work of translation by the want of such necessities of life; … he several times brought us supplies, a distance of at least thirty miles. …
Shortly after commencing to translate, I became acquainted with Mr. Peter Whitmer, … and also with some of his family. In the beginning of the month of June, his son, David Whitmer, came … and brought with him a two-horse wagon, for the purpose of having us accompany him to his father’s place, and there remain until we should finish the work. It was arranged that we should have our board free of charge, and the assistance of one of his brothers to write for me, and also his own assistance when convenient. … There [we] resided until the translation was finished and the copyright secured.
Our translation drawing to a close, we went to Palmyra, Wayne county, New York, secured the copyright, and agreed with Mr. Egbert B. Grandin to print five thousand copies for the sum of three thousand dollars.
I wish to mention here that the title-page of the Book of Mormon is a literal translation, taken from the very last leaf, on the left hand side of the collection or book of plates, … and that said title page is not by any means a modern composition.
Oliver Cowdery made a copy of the entire manuscript for the printer so that the original translation could be kept safe. The printer was given only a small number of pages at a time. When manuscript pages were delivered to the printer, whoever was taking them was accompanied by a guard. The guard also guarded the house where the manuscript was kept. All these precautions were taken so that the manuscript wouldn’t be lost or tampered with again. In March 1830 the printing was completed and copies of the book were available for sale.
(See History of the Church, vol. 1, pages 32–76.)

In 1899 there was not enough water in southern Utah. For more than two years there had been no rain. The streams and wells around the town of St. George had dried up. There was no water for the crops, so the plants died. The cattle died too. Many people began moving away.
Nell was a little girl living in St. George at that time. Her father told her their family would have to move away soon.
In June, Nell and her mother went to a Church conference in St. George. President Lorenzo Snow, the prophet at that time, was going to speak. Nell’s father stayed home to pack for their move. Nell listened carefully to what the prophet said. After the conference, she hurried home. She told her father that President Snow had promised if the people would pay their tithing and plant crops, it would rain and they would have food for the coming year.
Nell’s father explained that their family couldn’t survive another year if the crops didn’t grow. Nell reminded him that her grandfather had talked about how the people in his day were blessed by doing exactly what President Brigham Young (1801–77) asked them to do. Grandfather had promised Nell that if she followed the living prophet, she would be blessed too. Nell believed her grandfather, and she offered to give her father her own savings to help pay their family’s tithing.
The next morning, Nell saw her father plowing the fields, getting ready to plant. Her family stayed in St. George and did exactly what the prophet asked them to do. During the hot, dry weeks that followed, the people of St. George paid their tithing, planted their fields, prayed, and watched the cloudless sky for rain. They were grateful when two months after the conference, it began to rain. The crops grew in abundance that year!

Priests who are 16 years old can also assist in missionary work, something that Reuben, Randy, and Ethan recently had the opportunity to do.

Ethan says that going out with the missionaries taught him the importance of being a hard worker. “We would be walking down the street, and the missionaries would talk to perfect strangers. They would say, ‘Hello,’ or, ‘Would you like to hear this message we have?’” Ethan says. “A lot of people would ignore the missionaries or say, ‘No, thank you,’ but the missionaries would keep on trying. It was a real lesson to me that I need to be persistent when I serve a mission.”

Helping with missionary work was also an eye-opener after visiting less-active members in the ward. “It’s nice to know that there are people who come to church every week, but there are many people who don’t come. And knowing they’re out there really makes me want to try to help them come back to church. It’s increased my awareness,” Ethan says.