Gospel Story Finder

I have seen how the Holy Ghost can touch a softened heart to protect a humble disciple of Jesus Christ with confirming revelation.

The prophet sent me to confer the sacred sealing power on a man in a small city far away. Only the prophet of God has the keys to decide who is to receive the sacred power which was given by the Lord to Peter, the senior Apostle. I had received that same sealing power, but only by direction of the President of the Church could I confer it on another.

So, in a room in a chapel far from Salt Lake, I laid my hands on the head of a man chosen by the prophet to receive the sealing power. His hands showed the signs of a lifetime of tilling the soil for a meager living. His tiny wife sat near him. She also showed signs of years of hard labor alongside her husband.

I spoke the words given by the prophet: “Under delegation of authority and responsibility from,” and then the name of the prophet, “who holds all the keys of the priesthood on earth at this time, I confer the sealing power on,” and I gave the name of the man and then the name of the temple where he would serve as a sealer.

Tears flowed down his cheeks. I saw that his wife was also weeping. I waited for them to compose themselves. She stood up and stepped toward me. She looked up and then said timidly that she was happy but also sad. She said that she had so loved going to the temple with her husband but that now she felt that she should not go with him because God had chosen him for so glorious and sacred a trust. Then she said that her feeling of being inadequate to be his temple companion came because she could neither read nor write.

I assured her that her husband would be honored by her company in the temple because of her great spiritual power. As well as I could with my small grasp of her language, I told her that God had revealed things to her beyond all earthly education.

She knew by the gift of the Spirit that God had given, through His prophet, a supernal trust to the husband she loved. She knew for herself that the keys to give that sealing power were held by a man she had never seen and yet knew for herself was the living prophet of God. She knew, without having to be told by any living witness, that the prophet had prayed over the name of her husband. She knew for herself that God had made the call.

She also knew that the ordinances her husband would perform would bind people for eternity in the celestial kingdom. She had confirmed to her mind and heart that the promise the Lord made to Peter still continued in the Church: “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” She knew that for herself, by revelation, from God.

We always enjoy the articles in the New Era. They bring an extra lift to our missionary life. We thought “A Merry Missionary Christmas” in the December issue was just splendid. As we looked at the pictures of missionaries, the loneliness left our hearts. We knew there were 26,000 other missionaries serving the Lord and sharing this great message with others throughout the world during this season. The mission field is one of the greatest places to be for Christmas, and we’re happy we were able to have at least one Christmas in our lives here.
Sister Eileen McGarvy, Sister Carol Lee ChristensenIllinois Chicago Mission

Back to that important phone call. If you knew such a call were coming, you most likely wouldn’t stray from your phone unless it were absolutely necessary. With general conference, then, does it make sense to skip a session or two because you’d rather do other things for part of the weekend? What if you decided to go hiking Saturday morning—missing “only” that first session—but it happened to be the exact session you most needed to hear?

The Ancestor Tree by T. Obinkaram Echewa Nna-nna is old, blind, and loved by the village children. When he dies, his Navel Tree is cut down, as is the custom there. The children want an Ancestor Tree planted for him, but that would be against the custom, because Nna-nna has no living children to do it. The village council in this African folktale make a wise decision.

“I’ve missed you”. These were words spoken to Church missionaries by a member of the cast of the Book of Mormon musical.

After the audience had all left, the cast members made their way out. They were excited to see the missionaries and asked to take photos with them. One member of the cast approached and told us he had seen the missionaries outside every venue at which he had performed; but, when COVID hit he had not seen them for a while, and he had missed them.

On Christmas Eve there were only two presents under our little tree. One was for my two-year-old sister, Marycielo, and one was for me. Money was tight, Mama said, so it was all we would have.
That night Mama read a story from the Liahona about a Christmas without any presents. As she read, I felt happy and peaceful. Maybe having only one present wasn’t so bad. Then Mama said, “Instead of playing games like we usually do for Christmas Eve, what if we bring gifts to a family in the ward?”
“But what can we give them?” I asked.
“Well, we have a bit to spare.”
I glanced at our two presents, then at the picture of Jesus on the wall. “I guess Jesus would share what He had.”
We prayed about which family to visit. Many of the families we knew didn’t have much that year. After praying, we felt like we should visit the Córdoba family. They had three children, and their papa had lost his job.
We went to the store and bought panetón (a holiday bread), a baked chicken, and three little presents. We had fun picking them out. Mama spent all the money she had, about 30 Peruvian soles (about U.S. $10).
Once we were done, we drove to the Córdobas’. I held Marycielo’s hand as we walked to the door.
Sister Córdoba saw us and came out to hug us. “What a nice surprise! Come in! Sit down,” she said. As we walked inside, she squeezed Mama’s hand and patted my shoulder. “Rolando and the girls will be so happy to see you,” she told me.
The floor inside the house was made of dirt. There was no electricity, just candles. I was a little sad for the Córdoba family. I wished we could do more to help them. But Mama didn’t seem to notice the dirt or candles. She was just happy to be here with Sister Córdoba.
“We came to wish you a feliz Navidad!” Mama said. “We’re glad we’re friends.” She gave the food and presents to Sister Córdoba, who gave a big smile and said thank you.
Rolando, Madeline, and Raquel ran in from the other room to say hello. Marycielo peeked around my leg and smiled. She laughed when Rolando made a funny face at her. Soon everyone was talking, telling jokes, and laughing.
“This is better than playing games by ourselves,” I thought. I was glad we had come. It didn’t matter that we didn’t have much to share. And it didn’t matter if the floors were dirt. Christmas wasn’t about what we had. It was about being together.
As we got ready to leave, Sister Córdoba hugged us again. “Thank you so much,” she said. Her voice was shaking, and I could see tears in her eyes. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed Sister Córdoba on the cheek.
“Feliz Navidad,” I said.

In his first general conference talk, he revealed a charming self-deprecation that won friends immediately: “I am reminded of a statement made by my first missionary companion when I received a letter of transfer to the European Mission office. After I had read it, I turned it over to him. He read it, and then said: ‘Well, you must have helped an old lady across the street in the pre-existence. This has not come because of anything you’ve done here.’” Despite his high profile as a Church leader for nearly four decades, President Hinckley thinks of himself as an ordinary man who has been given extraordinary opportunities. After 13 years in the First Presidency, he still refers to himself as “Brother Hinckley.”

Sharing sorrow is what has strengthened Lee Hing Chung and his wife, Kumviengkumpoonsup. Six years ago, he lost an arm in an industrial accident. Sick and unemployed, he became despondent. Support from his wife, children, and other members pulled him through.
Today hope shines in his eyes as he speaks of the present and the future, including being sealed to his wife and children in the Hong Kong Temple. “Before we joined the Church, I was primarily concerned with making money,” he says. “Now I have different priorities. There are many people out there who have lots of money, but they don’t have love. We have found that.
“Many people at church are the only members in their families,” he continues. “When I attend church on Sunday with my family, I am so grateful that we are together and that we can be together forever.”
As he speaks, he gestures toward a picture of the Hong Kong Temple hanging prominently on a wall. “One day I was reading the scriptures and looked up,” he relates. “The first thing I saw was that picture, and I experienced such a strong, peaceful feeling from the Holy Ghost. We pray every night that we can be together as a family. The presence of the temple reminds me to be good, to be disciplined, to be worthy.”
Although still unemployed, Brother Lee is at peace with his circumstances. “There are challenges in life, certainly,” he acknowledges. “But I have faith in Jesus Christ. We will be all right.”
In addition to preparing for the temple, the Lee family has been busy doing missionary work. One neighbor family has already joined the Church through the family’s missionary efforts, and a second family is investigating. “The parents told us they were impressed with our children and asked why they were different,” Sister Lee explains. “They said the children were respectful, obedient, and cooperative with each other. We told them it was simply the Church.”

As soon as I returned from the Thanksgiving break during my freshman year of college, my roommate hung golden bells on our door and decorated our bulletin boards. The Christmas season was upon us. A ward dance and residence hall parties were sandwiched in between studies, and a new snowfall created a perfect canvas for the tinsel and colored lights.
Still, despite our decorations, being a freshman away from home for the first time left me feeling like something was missing. The idea of Santa Claus no longer held any excitement. A student budget limited Christmas gifts to the simple and practical. Where was the spirit of Christmas?
The Sunday before we were to go home for Christmas break, I arrived at sacrament meeting early. I was nearly alone in the chapel. After the business of the week before, it was a relief to just sit by myself and relax in quiet.
As I sat there, I noticed the priesthood holders had come in to prepare the sacrament table. Reverently, they spread the cloth on the table. It somehow seemed more white and clean than even the new snow outside. They then brought out the sparkling trays with the bread and water. Finally, they quietly unfolded another white cloth and laid it carefully down over the sacred emblems.
I watched spellbound. The impact of what I had seen hit me full force. This, I thought, is what Christmas is about. The baby in the manger was only the beginning. The real meaning of Christmas is in the sacrifice of the Savior—the Atonement.
Since that day, I have known where to find the spirit of Christmas any week of the year. It’s there at the sacrament table.

Through the desire of my heart, I decided to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary. In Doctrine and Covenants 4:3 it says “Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work.”
When I finished everything that I needed to do to become a missionary, and I received my call, I was assigned to serve in Ghana Accra Mission. It was an English-speaking country, and I was very sad because I didn’t know English at all. The day I left home to begin my mission, I cried so much because I didn’t know how to speak a single word of English. In my mind I kept asking, why, why, why? Why would God send me to Ghana when He knows I cannot speak English.
In my MTC classroom, I was the only person who could not speak English. I spent nine weeks in the MTC and still could not understand any English. My date to go into the mission field was coming up. Elder Prince Siaw was my teacher. He was from Accra Ghana and speaks English and a little French. I asked him “Why are you sending me to the field when I can’t speak English yet?” I then added, “Would it be possible for me to stay at the MTC one more month and then when I can speak English, I can go to the field?”
My teacher said, “No, you have to go to the field because you won’t learn all the English here.”
That answer broke my heart. But Brother Siaw told me that I should not worry, that everything would be fine. That made me feel better and happy.
I had my first interview with my mission president soon after I arrived. I did not understand anything that he was saying, but through God, I was able to make it through the interview. I was sad for the first two weeks in the field.
One day, the Spirit prompted me to go to the gospel library. As I was looking, I saw the Articles of Faith. I started reading them and the seventh article of faith spoke directly to me. It was addressing my challenge. “We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.”
After reading the seventh article of faith, the Spirit told me I should believe in the gift of tongues and so I prayed specifically to God and asked for His help with learning the new language.
Later in the day, I decided to put all my French scriptures aside. I took my Book of Mormon, my Bible, and some of the books that were in French, and I put all of it outside of our bedroom. I put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I thought of a scripture, James 2:17. “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone”.
I put in the work, and I started studying and reading aloud in English. I set a goal to study the whole Book of Mormon in English. When I started studying the Book of Mormon, everything started improving very fast. My English, my testimony, and my teaching all improved in five months in the field. By the time I was a missionary for one year, my English became so good that when I tell anyone I’m from DRC, they always think I’m lying, and some call me a black American.
After listening to the talks of the prophets and hearing them testify of the power of the gift of tongues and of praying for help and fasting, my prayers were answered! My tongue was loosed! I started teaching in a language that was not mine. It’s a miracle that I will never forget.

Song Lee and the Hamster Hunt Song Lee’s hamster is lost, and no one in the class can find him. This story shows how what all the children do helps Yi to be found, safe and sound, a week later.Suzy Kline7–10 years

A dear friend shared how she gained her precious testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She grew up believing sin always brought great punishment, borne by us alone. She pleaded to God to understand the possibility of divine forgiveness. She prayed to understand and know how Jesus Christ can forgive those who repent, how mercy can satisfy justice.
One day her prayer was answered in a spiritually transforming experience. A desperate young man came running out of a grocery store carrying two bags of stolen food. He ran into a busy street, chased by the store manager, who caught him and began yelling and fighting. Instead of feeling judgment for the frightened young man as a thief, my friend was unexpectedly filled with great compassion for him. Without fear or concern for her own safety, she walked straight up to the two quarreling men. She found herself saying, “I will pay for the food. Please let him go. Please let me pay for the food.”
Prompted by the Holy Ghost and filled with a love she had never felt before, my friend said, “All I wanted to do was to help and save the young man.” My friend said she began to understand Jesus Christ and His Atonement—how and why with pure and perfect love Jesus Christ would willingly sacrifice to be her Savior and Redeemer, and why she wanted Him to be.

Everyone in his high school knew Bruce for his leadership as senior class president and his commitment to the Church. He had a way of injecting a big dose of fun and life into just about everything he touched. It might have been getting a bunch of friends together to take the local missionaries out to breakfast. Or planning the first senior class trip to Disneyland. Or yelling “Let’s be the nerd bus!” and herding kids onto the bus when arguments arose over who should go on which bus for a school trip. Or staying up all night to put together the program for a youth conference.
On top of all his activities, he still managed to keep a 4.0 grade point average and win a four-year scholarship to BYU. As one of his teachers wrote when Bruce was applying for a scholarship, “A room full of Bruce Drennans would put any teacher in seventh heaven.”
He was committed to going on a mission and influenced his friends to do the same. “He really encouraged me to go on a mission when I needed the encouragement at a certain time in my life,” said his friend Ed Belliston. “He was always a good example and brought out abilities in me that I didn’t know I had. After I left on my mission and I heard of his death, the memory of Bruce would get me fired up again. He made me work harder.” Dean Teach, another friend, told his friend Lisa Anderson that if it hadn’t been for Bruce, he wouldn’t have gone on his mission.

Where did the homesteaders get the idea of building houses out of sod? Some of them may have heard of the thousands of Latter-day Saint men, women, and children who had passed that way several years before, and of the houses they had built.
When the Saints left Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1846, they inched their way through wheel-deep mud, crossed icy rivers, built bridges, and established way stations where those following them could replenish their supplies. In eastern Nebraska, the Saints stopped and established Winter Quarters. There they waited out the winter of 1847, organizing themselves and preparing to move farther west.
The place they had chosen to build Winter Quarters was the land of the Omaha and Otoe Indians. Brigham Young made a bargain with Chief Big Elk: The Saints could stay for two years in exchange for teaching the Indians how to farm.
The Saints established Winter Quarters in September 1846, and by winter, four thousand Saints lived there. They built at least 538 log homes, many of which had sod roofs and chimneys, and 83 sod houses. Since the Omahas built ceremonial lodges out of sod, the pioneers may have learned how to build with it from them.

Only a few weeks before the earthquake, another group of young adults was giving similar service across the Atlantic. The floods that swept through western Europe in July were the most severe in decades.

When the waters finally receded, one shopkeeper in the riverside district of Ahrweiler, Germany, surveyed the damage and was utterly overwhelmed. This humble man, a devout Catholic, whispered a prayer that God might send someone to help him. The very next morning, President Dan Hammon of the Germany Frankfurt Mission arrived on the street with a small band of missionaries wearing yellow Helping Hands vests. The water had reached up to 10 feet (3 m) on the shopkeeper’s walls, leaving behind a deep layer of mud. The volunteers shoveled out the mud, removed the carpet and drywall, and piled everything in the street for removal. The overjoyed shopkeeper worked alongside them for hours, amazed that the Lord had sent a group of His servants to answer his prayer—and within 24 hours!

When Thelma was 16, she was called to be the Primary president. Our bishop had been trying to find someone to handle the many challenges the Primary organization was facing. The ward covered a large area, and it was difficult and expensive for many families with small children to travel by bus to the church both on Saturdays for Primary and on Sundays. Many of those children were not attending Primary, and no solution had been found. The bishop had been prompted to call Thelma but could not bring himself to do it because she was so young. The prompting continued, and after receiving approval from the stake president, the bishop extended the call to my sister.

This proved to be an inspired decision, and it blessed many children—including me. Thelma magnified her calling by following inspiration, using common sense, and implementing innovative ideas to develop training programs to bring the gospel to the children. She asked her counselors and teachers to hold Primary meetings at several places closer to their homes, and she provided ongoing training for those teachers. This solution allowed members to save time and money and enabled children who were previously not attending Primary to receive the blessings of this wonderful organization.

In the year 1838, 134 years ago and only eight years after the organization of the Church, Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered an address before the senior class of the Divinity School at Cambridge University. In it he asked questions that were then unanswered and are unanswered for many individuals of our time. He said this:
“And it is my duty to say to you that the need was never greater of new revelation than now. … In how many churches, by how many prophets, tell me, is man made sensible that he is an infinite Soul? … It is the office of a true teacher to show us that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake. … Men have come to speak of … revelation as somewhat long ago given and done, as if God were dead.” (See The Complete Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, pp. 37–45.)
That is an interesting statement to have been made nearly a century and a half ago. It has the sound of an echo from some of today’s modern pulpits.

I’m reminded of a war long ago in which three young men were hit by an enemy attack. One was slightly injured, one was critically injured, and the other was killed. For many years, the least injured of the three agonized over why he was spared. He argued with himself about it until he had convinced himself he had sinned somehow by surviving. His feelings of guilt nearly consumed him.
Not until 40 years later, when his own son came home from another war seriously wounded, did the father accept and feel gratitude for having survived the earlier war. Because he was a survivor, he had experienced the same trauma his son was going through. Now he could empathize with and help his son.
Serving his son in this unique way, he finally found peace. He said, “My only regret is that I have been looking backward all these years, instead of looking ahead to the future.” He had blamed himself for something he could not control. And that constant self-blame had prevented him from enjoying life as much as he might have. Now the past was a blessing to him and a great help to his son.

Outside of the airport, a man was waiting with our names and a taxi to take us to the temple where we were going to stay. Before we got there, we stopped by a supermarket to buy some groceries. The following day, my husband received his own endowment, and we did a few more sessions, spending the day at the temple. Then the big day arrived for our family sealing. Everyone there had heard about us and knew what we were there for. On that day we had the temple to ourselves. We got ready, and when we arrived, some missionary couples were there to assist us. When we got to the sealing room, everything was prepared; we were sealed first, and then our two daughters were sealed to us. It was the most wonderful thing, the way that we felt is unexplainable. There was not a dry eye in the room. All the missionaries who were there and the sister who had fed us at the airport was there, and they were all in tears. The Spirit was so strong and was felt by everyone in the room.

I remember so well how my father would talk to the Lord when he used to call us together for family prayer. He didn’t just say a few words and then send us off to the fields. Instead he knelt with us and told the Lord about some of our weaknesses and some of our problems where we had failed.
“Eldon didn’t do exactly what he should have done today. We are sorry that he made this mistake. Kindly forgive him, and we feel sure, Heavenly Father, that he will try to do what is right. Let thy Spirit be with him and bless him so that he can be a good boy.”
In the mornings Father used to pray, “Let thy blessings attend us as we go about our duties so that we may do what is right and return tonight to make a report.” This always gave us greater strength to meet and overcome temptations for we knew that we would be reporting to the Lord at night.
I am going to report to the Lord tonight, I used to think. And this thought helped me to live a better life during the day.