Gospel Story Finder

Years ago I had responsibility for our work in Asia. I visited Okinawa many times when there were American servicemen stationed there in large numbers. Some of them had cars, and I noted that most of those cars were badly rusted. There were holes in the fenders. There were holes in the side panels. Whatever paint was left was dull. All of this was the result of corrosive ocean salt which was carried by the wind and which ate through the metal.

That is the way pornography is. This sleazy filth is like corrosive salt. It will eat through your armor if you expose yourselves to it.

This story happened in Slovenia.
Maja sat on the steps of her house and rested her chin in her hands. The sun was shining bright, warm rays of light through the tall trees. The air smelled like fresh pine needles.
Mami came out and sat next to Maja. “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m supposed to share my favorite scripture in Primary,” Maja said. “But I don’t have a favorite. And I don’t know which one to pick.”
Mami nodded. “Choosing a favorite scripture is hard.” She looked out at the trees, then stood up. “I have an idea.”
Mami went back inside. When she came back, she was holding her scriptures. “Let’s start with a story. What’s your favorite scripture story?”
Maja thought about it. “I like when Jesus visited the Nephites.”
Mami flipped through the pages in the Book of Mormon. “That story starts in 3 Nephi.” She pointed to the page. “Let’s take turns reading and pick out verses we like.”
Maja nodded and listened as Mami read. She read about Jesus Christ calling His disciples. She read about peacemakers and prayer.
Then it was Maja’s turn. When she finished one of the verses, she paused. She felt like the sun was shining bright enough to fill her heart.
She looked up at Mami. “I like that one.”
“Me too. What do you like about it?” Mami asked.
Maja shrugged as a smile spread on her face. “It’s about Jesus. And it just makes me feel happy.”
Mami smiled back. “That’s a great way to know you’ve found a favorite scripture. Do you want to share that one in Primary?”
Maja nodded excitedly. “Will you help me learn it?”
“Of course!” Mami said.
Mami and Maja practiced one word at a time. While they worked, the birds chirped in the trees, like they were learning too.
All week, Maja kept practicing her new favorite scripture. On Sunday morning, she was a little nervous. She practiced saying her scripture on the long drive to church.
There were only a few kids in Maja’s Primary. But as she walked into the classroom, Maja felt like butterflies were flying around in her stomach.
When it was her turn to share, Maja stood and took a deep breath. “Behold, I am the law, and the light,” she said. “Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.”
When Maja was done, she sat down and smiled. She did it! The nervous butterflies were gone, and the warm, sunshiny feeling was back. She knew her favorite scripture would bring that feeling whenever she needed it.
The scripture Maja learned for Primary still brings her feelings of sunshine and comfort today! What’s your favorite scripture?
Illustrations by Chloe Dominique

I will tell you of an experience I had before I was a General Authority that affected me profoundly. I sat on a plane next to a professed atheist who pressed his disbelief in God so urgently that I bore my testimony to him. “You are wrong,” I said. “There is a God. I know He lives!”
He protested, “You don’t know. Nobody knows that! You can’t know it!” When I would not yield, the atheist, who was an attorney, asked perhaps the ultimate question on the subject of testimony. “All right,” he said in a sneering, condescending way, “you say you know. Tell me how you know.”
When I attempted to answer, even though I held advanced academic degrees, I was helpless to communicate.
When I used the words Spirit and witness, the atheist responded, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” The words prayer, discernment, and faith were equally meaningless to him. “You see,” he said, “you don’t really know. If you did, you would be able to tell me how you know.”
I felt, perhaps, that I had borne my testimony to him unwisely and was at a loss as to what to do. Then came the experience! Something came into my mind. And I mention here a statement of the Prophet Joseph Smith: “A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas … and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.”1
Such an idea came into my mind, and I said to the atheist, “Let me ask if you know what salt tastes like.”
“Of course I do,” was his reply.
“Then,” I said, “assuming that I have never tasted salt, explain to me just what it tastes like.”
After some thought, he said, “Well, I, uh, it is not sweet and it is not sour.”
“You’ve told me what it isn’t, not what it is.”
After several attempts, of course, he could not do it. He could not convey, in words alone, so ordinary an experience as tasting salt. I bore testimony to him once again and said, “I know there is a God. You ridiculed that testimony and said that if I did know, I would be able to tell you exactly how I know. My friend, spiritually speaking, I have tasted salt. I am no more able to convey to you in words how this knowledge has come than you are to tell me what salt tastes like. But I say to you again, there is a God! He does live! And just because you don’t know, don’t try to tell me that I don’t know, for I do!”
As we parted, I heard him mutter, “I don’t need your religion for a crutch! I don’t need it.”

Sister Baddoo, a substitute teacher in the Langata Branch (Kenya) Relief Society, began her lesson. She held up the “Light the World” poster and explained how it was easy last year to do something each day and it would also be easy this year. For day one, the scripture was “Freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). She explained what fun her family had making cookies—sugar and chocolate chip cookies.
The two youngest enjoyed rolling the dough in little balls and smashing them flat on the baking pans. All four children were involved in the baking process. The family took them to neighbors to surprise them and make them smile. The following day Sister Baddoo smiled because her children helped her pull weeds in the garden without being asked. The family discovered that making others smile is not only fun but contagious.

Perhaps the highlight of their visit was a tour through the Kirtland Temple. The temple had to be abandoned by the early Saints and is now used as a meetinghouse by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Although the temple no longer functions like LDS temples, it is still a place to be treated with great reverence. It was in the Kirtland Temple that the Prophet Joseph and Oliver Cowdery witnessed one of the most significant visions recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants:
“We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber. His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters” (D&C 110:2–3).
Brother Anderson had promised the young people that if they went to the Kirtland Temple with the right spirit that they would know that great things had happened there. In the youth conference’s closing testimony meeting, Cindy Penry of the Columbus Fourth Ward said, “I could feel that special things had happened in the Kirtland Temple. It was amazing just knowing that Joseph Smith had been there and what he saw.”

From a forest ranger this letter came:
“In one day 500 of your young adults picked up litter, rocks, debris, and painted over 400 camp and picnic tables, bridges, and toilets. Twenty-seven stakes participated in this project. It was a monumental success. The enthusiasm, vitality, and giving spirit showed by this group of hard-working young people is exemplary of the finest traditions and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Each week after the Twelve and First Presidency have met in the temple to take care of current business, we take turns reporting where we have been and what has been accomplished in the way of stake divisions or reorganizations, or missions visited, regional conferences attended, and so on. One week I remember among the Twelve we had been almost everywhere around the globe. President Kimball listened to all of us and then gave his report: “I spent Saturday and Sunday visiting the sick and the homebound.” The rest of us who thought we had had a busy and productive weekend realized that a man of God had again taught us a lesson.

I have been trying to think of the ways in which my life has been influenced by the youth organizations. I cannot remember when I began, but it seems to me like I can remember going to the old Robinson Hall in Thatcher, Arizona, almost as early as I could walk. It was only two blocks from our home, and we could walk to and from it, and we crossed the Union Canal time and again. This big Robinson Hall was a brick building of rectangular shape, and an all-purpose building for the community dances, for the Sunday School and Primary, for all Church services, for the funerals, for celebrations, and for everything that went on in our little rural town.
One night this great building caught fire, and I remember the lighted sky and the columns of smoke and the consternation and excitement for all of us, for a big fire like this attracted the entire town and all came hurrying with their buckets to help put out the fire. We had no fire department, but all men and their sons rushed across the town at the earliest call of “fire.”
He who gave the leadership sent all the men and boys to the canal bank and lined them back to back toward the burning building. Standing on the bank of the canal, the first man drew a bucket full of water and handed the full bucket to another man and he to another and back to the crackling flames in the building. The last man doused the bucket of water on the flames. Many buckets of water were thrown on the fire, but the fire was gaining and finally the walls stood out as blackened sentinels, and we returned to our homes saddened and defeated. It was many years before the fire department was organized in our little town.

Joseph Smith continued to visit the Knights in Colesville, to preach in their homes, and to share the Book of Mormon with them as it was translated. One day after a gospel discussion in Colesville with Joseph Smith, Newel Knight retired to the woods to pray. Newel found himself overtaken by an evil spirit that seemed to almost take control of his body. Distorted and distraught, Newel returned to his home and sent for Joseph. The Prophet came immediately and cast out the evil spirit, using the power of the priesthood. As a holy spirit filled Newel, he was literally lifted from the floor in a great spiritual experience. Many family members and neighbors witnessed this event that Joseph Smith referred to as the first miracle in the Church.

Marsha Conrad, 18, of the Ramah Second Ward, Gallup New Mexico Stake, has been doing more than just learning and performing ballet and jazz; she’s been passing on her talents by organizing classes for 4–7-year-olds. She taught three-month classes, ending with a recital, to 21 children divided into three groups.
Marsha conducted a youth choir that sang in sacrament meeting, and participates at school in volleyball, cheerleading, and track.

After the New Era printed “Walk Tall, You’re a Daughter of God,” our stake gathered together a special group of young women and taught them the song. My daughter and I heard them sing it at a stake Mutual event. This song touched Shannon deeply. She heard it again at girls’ camp that year. At the close of that camp an event took place which I shall remember as long as forever. We closed camp testimony meeting singing this wonderful song. As we sang “Walk Tall, You’re a Daughter of God,” Shannon and I embraced each other, crying and singing all at once. Thank you for that memory! I had less than a year left of holding my daughter. At the last she was in too much pain to be touched, and finally she was paralyzed so she couldn’t hug me anymore either.

In April 1970, a little over 50 years ago, the headline of Cumorah’s Southern Messenger shouted the news: South Africa Forms Stake! It was the first stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organized on the African continent and a momentous and memorable event for Church members then living within the boundaries of the South African Mission.
Cumorah’s Southern Messenger was a monthly publication of the mission—and contained news of everything from baptisms and baby blessings to mission “conventions,” now called conferences.
Missionaries had been anticipating a visit by Elder Marion G. Romney (1897-1988), of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to their March 1970 convention, but none of them who attended the convention meeting was prepared for Mission President Howard C. Badger’s introductory message. He read a letter from Elder Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985), then Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, announcing that Elder Romney had come to Johannesburg with instructions to form the first stake.
The unnamed Messenger editor wrote, “A spirit arose among all of us and we felt great happiness in the wonderful news that all of us here in the South African Mission have been striving for since the missionaries first came to this land in 1853.”
Louis P. Hefer was called as the first president of the new Transvaal Stake, which was formed in the Johannesburg area from the Transvaal District. President Hefer’s counselors were Ben de Wet and Olev Taim. Each of these three priesthood leaders was a convert to the Church of between 8 and 12 years, and each had served in numerous leadership positions during that time. Twelve other prepared and qualified men were chosen as high councilors.
Five of the branches in the former district were reorganized into wards at the same time the stake was created, and the branch presidents were ordained as bishops. The new wards and bishops included: Krugersdorp Ward (Bishop Daniel Cherrett); Johannesburg 1st Ward, (Bishop George Samuels); Johannesburg 2nd Ward (Bishop Johann Brummer); Pretoria Ward, (Bishop Michael Blight); and Springs Ward (Bishop Kenneth Armstrong). The Transvaal Stake also included the five remaining branches: Germiston, Vereeniging, East Rand, Klerksdorp and Carletonville.
During the 1970 missionary convention, President Badger assured his missionaries of the continuing growth that would take place in the Church and urged them to serve the Saviour with all their might, mind and strength, which missionaries throughout the following decades have also done.
It had been 117 years from the time the first missionaries arrived in Cape Town with the good news of Christ’s restored gospel until the creation of this first African stake. At the time there were approximately 6,000 members on the continent, most in South Africa and present-day Zimbabwe. But since the Transvaal Stake was created, the Church has seen phenomenal growth. Today there are more than 685,000 members in 34 African countries. They meet and worship together in 180 stakes and 98 districts.
During the missionary convention, Elder Romney delivered messages that are as pertinent now as they were then. He told his listeners to be patient in afflictions, and to strive to know God. “Happiness,” he said, “is finding the way the Lord is going and [going] the same way.”

Many of us have had the opportunity of visiting Temple Square in Salt Lake City. On the west wall of the Temple are several items of interest. One of these is a representation of the constellation Ursa Major. Its symbolism was explained by President Harold B. Lee in an address given before a mission presidents seminar on Sunday, July 2, 1961. In introducing his talk President Lee explained that during the construction of the Salt Lake Temple, the architect, Truman O. Angell, had been asked by Brigham Young to write an article for the Millennial Star in hopes that this would help the Saints abroad sense the need for contributions to the building project. In his article Brother Angell described the symbolism of some of the exterior parts of the Temple. President Lee further described Brother Angell’s article by saying:
“There are the sunstones to represent the celestial, the moonstones, and the stars. Now you have all seen those, and there are other things there; but there is one other thing that he mentioned that has particular significance that I ask you to think about here. He said that on the west end of the Temple, underneath the tower or the battlements as they are referred to, just underneath the square of the Temple, there will be depicted the constellation which the astronomers would call Ursa Major—we call it the Dipper—where the pointers will be pointing to the North Star; that was to symbolize and suggest to the mind ‘that, through the Priesthood of God, the lost may find their way.’”

But Greek comedy and Roman satire depict with agonizing frankness the irresistible success of Pluto’s program in a decadent world. In Aristophanes’s last play, the Pluto, Hermes the messenger of Zeus comes to earth as a prophet to denounce mankind for having turned from the worship of heaven to the worship of wealth or Pluto: “You have all committed a great sin,” he says, “and must be destroyed.” But seeing how well the people are living he soon decides to change sides and asks for a job with the establishment; next, the high priest of Zeus, finding himself unemployed, is forced to apply to Pluto for a job; what is his surprise when he finds none other than Zeus himself now working in the front office of Pluto Inc.!49 The cynical conclusion is that no one can resist Satan’s bargain, and in the history of the world very few people have.

Howard R. Driggs tells of an incident in the life of the poet Longfellow that illustrates the concept I would like to stress:
“It happened that, while the poet, at over eighty years of age, was still teaching at Harvard, one of his appreciative students asked him, ‘How do you keep so perennially young, Professor Longfellow? We never get tired of your classes. You always have something new and interesting to give.’
“‘I’ve never had that question put to me before,’ returned the poet. Then, looking out of the window, he said, ‘Do you see those two apple trees in the yard?’
“‘Yes.’
“‘Do you observe any difference between the blossoms on the older tree and those on the younger one?’
“‘No,’ replied the student, ‘they look just alike to me.’
“‘How do you account for the fact that the old apple tree flowers out as beautifully as does the young one?’ persisted the teacher.
“‘I can’t explain it.’
“‘Let me tell you the secret. That old tree managed last year to grow enough wood to put forth its new blossoms. Blossoms, you know, always come on the new wood.’
“‘Oh, I see,’ said the young man, ‘to keep young one must keep growing.’
“‘Yes,’ came the quiet response” (in Especially for Mormons, comp. Stan and Sharon Miller, Provo, Utah: Kellirae Arts, 1978, 4:2–3).

5 You are at a party and your friends begin to tell stories and jokes that give you a bad feeling. What would you do?
Listen and laugh with your friends so they’ll think you like their stories.
Change the subject or think of a game that would be fun to play.
Tell them you’re going to leave the room and that if they keep telling those kinds of stories, you’ll call your parents to come and get you.
If you have chosen the following answers, 1. c, 2. a, 3. b, 4. c, 5. b, you have strong convictions, know how to stand up for what you believe is right without hurting the feelings of others, and can be a good missionary by your example.

Remember the May 1992 Mormonad? It depicted a basketball player, quite a bit shorter than his teammates, holding the MVP trophy. The coverline read, “Don’t Sell Yourself Short.”
Well, Ty Church hasn’t.
At about the time he posed for that Mormonad, Ty, at only five-feet-two inches tall, broke into the starting lineup as a sophomore on the Olympus High School varsity basketball team in Salt Lake City. During his three years as a starter, Ty never missed a game, and was instrumental in the Titans’s successful 1993–94 hoop season. As a senior, Ty was the second leading scorer in the state tournament, he broke a Utah high school record by scoring 21 points in the first quarter of a game, and he helped Olympus to a second-place state finish. But now the basketball heroics have been put aside for a couple of years.
These days, Ty is known as Elder Church. After graduating from both high school and seminary, he became a full-time missionary last September. With an eight-week stay in the MTC behind him, Elder Church, 19, is now serving in the Czech Republic Prague Mission.

Recollecting times of fervent prayer during her childhood, Sister Smith continued: “The day I was to be baptized, my mother was delayed trying to find a place to park the car, so she sent me into the Tabernacle by myself. The sisters there helped me get ready, and I went into the baptistry and sat down. My mother wasn’t there yet. I was so nervous I could hardly sit still. The only thing I could think to do was to pray that Heavenly Father would make sure my mother would soon come to be with me. While I was praying, in she came, and I knew that my prayer had been answered.”

She learned it’s important to forgive others. For a while, Wiew had a problem with her leg and couldn’t participate in some of the school activities. Because she couldn’t spend as much time with her best friend, the best friend started being better friends with another girl. One day Wiew smiled at her best friend, but her friend did not smile back. Wiew was hurt, and the next day she asked the girl why she wasn’t her friend anymore. The best friend replied, “Oh, I didn’t see you!” Wiew forgave her friend and didn’t feel sad anymore.

One group of ward presidents lamented that they’d gotten off to a great start, but now, after being a few weeks into experimenting on the word, they needed a “shot in the arm.” This is where the “great diligence” part comes into play. We must continue to plan with a purpose activities that center on the scriptures. And even stay involved with the scriptures ourselves! Among one group of ward leaders who had committed themselves to read, a Young Women leader commented, “I hate to admit it, but you know, this really is hard for me.” Others in the group obviously appreciated her honesty as they then expressed some of their own struggles and need to set realistic goals. Surely the young women in that ward will find empathy and very practical helps from leaders who have wrestled to find patience and diligence themselves.