Gospel Story Finder

Our vacation was ending. Over waffles that morning, we planned how to make the most of our time at the hotel before enduring the five-hour drive home. My husband decided to take our three young daughters for a final escapade in the pool. I would take advantage of a treadmill in the workout room.
The treadmill I chose faced a wall-sized window overlooking the swimming pool. Shortly I saw a family, my family, make their way to the pool. Towels, shoes, and T-shirts flew everywhere as the girls excitedly prepared to jump into the water. Normally I would be following behind them, gathering up clothes and shoes and, quite honestly, being a bit annoyed by it all. Instead, I saw this family from the outside looking in, as though the giant window before me was a movie screen. As my feet pounded a rhythm on the rotating belt beneath, I watched.
I saw how happy everyone was, laughing and playing together, and I thought about the times I had become discouraged by the petty arguments that inevitably arise in a family, by the uneasy feeling that, despite my best effort, I was failing to teach my children to love each other. But as I watched, I saw people who were happy together. I discovered that I wasn’t failing to teach them to love one another; I was just failing to notice that they could.
I watched one of the girls jumping from the pool’s edge over and over again into her daddy’s arms. I thought about all the big jumps she would make throughout her life and hoped she would trust Heavenly Father to catch her each time. I knew that with each jump she was learning to trust and that being part of our family was a safe way to learn that trust.
Another daughter sought to perfect a swimming skill. I saw how her family’s encouragement kept her trying. There would be times in her life when she would need that same support in the face of more difficult challenges.
And then I watched as our third daughter was accidentally bumped into the pool. Upset and angry, she sputtered her way out of the water and into a chair. Immediately her family noticed she was missing. I watched each one lovingly encourage her to rejoin them. She eventually did, and I thought of her future, of all the times she would be hurt and feel like giving up. I hoped she would always find in the love of her family the strength to endure.
Suddenly, the realization hit me: our families can be a key to our ability to learn, understand, and live the gospel. Nephi noted that “by small means the Lord can bring about great things” (1 Nephi 16:29). And so it is with families. Yes, parents struggle. But every effort to teach and train and love, no matter how small, matters.
My little movie drew to a close. As I turned off the treadmill and watched my family gather their clothes, I felt renewed determination to keep going, to keep doing all the little things that I sometimes worry don’t make a difference.

My senior year in high school brought a challenge I wasn’t expecting. Shortly after school began, our speech teacher assigned me to participate in debate. We studied, practiced, and competed, and I humbly learned many valuable lessons.
Months later and four weeks before the state speech competition, my teacher casually informed me that he had also just entered my name to compete in extemporaneous speech. He began explaining that on the first day I would be required to deliver at least three different seven-minute speeches in front of a panel of judges.
And there was another catch—the speech topics were randomly assigned contemporary issues, with only 30 minutes to prepare. I was stunned; I had never even witnessed an extemporaneous speech.
Preparing in the remaining weeks, reading as many articles on contemporary issues as I could, I still felt overwhelming self-doubt and anxiety. On the day of the competition, I asked the officials, “I’ve already drawn my topic, but may I go in and listen a couple of moments to someone who’s actually giving his talk?” They replied, “You’ve only got 30 minutes. If you want to spend it listening, that’s up to you.”
That very first time, I went in and listened for a few precious moments. I knew I needed to be alone and pray to my Heavenly Father. I noticed a secluded grove on the university campus next to a pond where I could be alone, on my knees.
I pleaded with Heavenly Father for help. It wasn’t a prayer to win—it was an earnest prayer for the assistance of the Holy Ghost so that I would be able to do something I had never done before and make it through this challenge. I realized I needed God’s help.
Heavenly Father answered my prayer. I remembered what I had studied and was able to connect facts and impressions. With every new topic drawn, I would first leave to pray. Then I would go to work. The next day surprisingly brought me to the final round.
My faith in God was developing into my testimony, and my faith grew stronger as I felt Him near. I thanked Heavenly Father for the help I had received, for after doing all that I could do, He made more of me than I could ever have done myself (see 2 Nephi 25:23).

Last summer a group of young women from Alpine, Utah, decided that they would become “more fit for the kingdom.” They determined to focus on the temple by walking from the Draper Utah Temple to the Salt Lake Temple, a total distance of 22 miles (35 km), just as one of the pioneers, John Rowe Moyle, had done. Brother Moyle was a stonemason who was called by the prophet, Brigham Young, to work on the Salt Lake Temple. Each week he walked the distance of 22 miles from his home to the temple. One of his jobs was to carve the words “Holiness to the Lord” on the east side of the Salt Lake Temple. It was not easy and he had many obstacles to overcome. At one point, he was kicked in the leg by one of his cows. Because it would not heal, he had to have this leg amputated. But that did not stop him from his commitment to the prophet and to work on the temple. He carved a wooden leg, and after many weeks he again walked the 22-mile distance to the temple to do the work he had committed to do.6
The young women in the Cedar Hills Sixth Ward decided to walk that same distance for an ancestor and also for someone who was their inspiration to remain worthy to enter the temple. They trained each week at Mutual, and as they walked, they shared what they were learning and feeling about temples.
They began their walk to the temple early in the morning with a prayer. As they started out, I was impressed with their confidence. They had prepared well, and they knew they were prepared. Their eyes were set on their goal. Each step they took was symbolic of each of you as you too are preparing now to enter the temple. Your personal training has begun with your daily personal prayers, your daily reading of the Book of Mormon, and your working on Personal Progress.
As these young women continued to walk, there were distractions along the course, but they stayed focused on their goal. Some began to feel blisters forming, and others felt knees starting to protest, but they kept going. For each of you, there are many distractions, hurts, and obstacles along your path to the temple, but you too are determined and keep going. The route these young women took was mapped out by their leaders, who had walked and driven the course and determined the safest and most direct way to go. Again, your course is marked, and you can be assured that the Savior has not only walked the course but will again walk it with you—every step of the way.
Along this journey to the temple there were fathers, mothers, family members, and priesthood leaders acting as guardians. Their job was to ensure that everyone was safe and protected from danger. They made sure each young woman stayed well hydrated and had enough nourishment to maintain her stamina. There were aid stations provided by their priesthood leaders, with places to rest and to drink water. Young women, your fathers, your mothers, your bishops, and so many others will be your guardians as you walk your path to the temple. They will call out cautions and direct your course, and should you become injured or hurt or get off course, they will help you.
I was impressed that in the final miles of their walk, brothers, other young men, and friends came to support these determined young women and to cheer them on. One brother lifted his sister, who had large blisters on her feet, and carried her on his back the final distance to the temple. As these incredible young women reached their goal, tears were shed as they touched the temple and made a silent commitment to always be worthy to enter there.

Once or twice a year the Wagners drove from their home in Evanston, Wyoming, to the Church Distribution Center in Salt Lake City. Every trip was full of alphabet games and Primary songs. Today’s trip was even more fun. Heidi’s sister, Amanda, was getting married soon, and the family planned to do some extra shopping. Between today’s games, they talked about the wedding, which was going to take place in the Salt Lake Temple.
Heidi loved to listen to her father and mother talk about the temple. “You can each set a goal to go to the temple,” Dad said. “Even Heidi, as young as she is, should make that one of her most important goals.”
“Every time I go to the temple, I feel Heavenly Father’s love and know that He will bless me and watch over me,” Mom added.
Heidi wasn’t completely sure that she understood everything that her parents were saying, but she knew that she wanted to go to the temple someday.
The Wagners visited the Distribution Center, then drove downtown. As they went past the temple, Heidi had goose bumps when she looked at the beautiful building.
After lunch they all went shopping. Dad and Daniel went to a sports store, and Heidi followed her mother and sister to a department store, where Amanda tried on dress after dress. Amanda will never pick one, Heidi thought. Tired and bored, she found a nearby nook and settled down on her coat. Soon she was asleep.
At first when she woke up, she didn’t know where she was. Then she remembered—shopping! She looked all over for her mother and sister. They were gone! She couldn’t even find a clerk to help her.
Heidi’s heart began to beat faster and faster. Her face felt hot, and she wanted to cry. Then something caught her attention. Was that her mother’s coat going down the escalator? “Mom,” she called, running toward it. But when she reached it and started down, the woman in the coat was gone.
As Heidi wandered through the store, she saw someone wearing a jacket like her sister’s. Heidi yelled, “Amanda,” but the person kept going and went out the large main doors. Heidi ran after her. She looked up and down the street but didn’t see anyone she recognized. Tears began to fill her eyes. Where was her family?
She looked at the people waiting for a traffic light to change to “Walk.” That’s when she saw the spires of the temple. She remembered her mother’s words, “Every time I go to the temple, I feel Heavenly Father’s love and know that He will bless me and watch over me.” That sounded like what she needed right now!
The light changed, and Heidi crossed the street with all the other people. A young man and woman, who were carrying little suitcases like her mom and dad did when they went to the temple, were going into Temple Square toward it, so she followed them. They went past flowers and trees and interesting buildings, one of which had a statue of Christ that Heidi wanted to see. She didn’t dare stop to explore now, though, but followed the young couple out of Temple Square and along the wall until they came to a tall, black, wrought-iron gate. The man turned as Heidi came through the gate behind them. “Hi,” he said. “Are you coming in here too?” He seemed surprised.
Heidi nodded, “I need to go to the temple.”
“What’s the matter?” asked the woman. “Are you lost?”
Tears again filled Heidi’s eyes, and she nodded again. “I need a big blessing, and Mom and Dad always said they get blessings by coming to the temple.”
The couple took Heidi through the gates and to the doors where a woman dressed in white came to help. She looked like Heidi’s grandma, and Heidi felt better. “She says she needs a temple blessing,” the man explained. “We think she’s lost.”
“You’re a little young to be coming to the temple alone, aren’t you?” The lady smiled and took Heidi’s hand, Heidi felt warm and safe. Turning to the couple, the older woman said, “She’ll be all right. You go ahead.”
The couple went down some stairs, and the lady took Heidi into a room near the door. She invited Heidi to sit on a chair. “I’m Sister Chumn,” she introduced herself.
“What’s your name?”
“Heidi Wagner.”
“And why is it that you came to the temple today?”
Tears built up again in Heidi’s eyes, but she tried to not cry. Sister Chumn picked her up and sat down with Heidi on her lap. “It’s all right. Just tell me, and we’ll see what we can do.”
“I got lost from my mommy. She told me that if I go to the temple, Heavenly Father will bless me.” Tears ran down Heidi’s cheeks. “I want my mommy.”
Sister Chumn smiled and hugged Heidi tightly.
“Where were you before you came to the temple?”
“Across the street, in a mall with lots of stores.”
Sister Chumn reached for the phone and dialed a number. After talking to someone for a minute, she hung up and turned back to Heidi. “That was a man who will find your family. I imagine that they’ve been looking everywhere for you. We’ll just sit here and wait until they come.”
When Heidi’s parents arrived, she ran to them. After long, happy hugs, her parents turned to Sister Chumn and thanked her, and Heidi gave her a big hug. “I’m so glad I came to the temple today. It’s a wonderful place!”
Sister Chumn smiled at Heidi. “When you get older, you come back and I’ll show you just how wonderful the temple really is. Your mommy is right—the temple does bring blessings from Heavenly Father, and today He blessed you and me and all of us.”

Many years ago the old country fair in parts of England was, besides being the place of exhibition for farm products, [the place] where employer and employee met. . . .

Farmer Smith wanted a boy to work on his farm. He was doing some interviewing of candidates. A thoughtful looking lad of about sixteen attracted him. The boy was confronted with a rather abrupt question from the gruff old agriculturist. “What can you do?” The boy swung back at him in the same style, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

. . . Notwithstanding he didn’t particularly like the answer to a civil question he got from the teenager, there was something about the gray eyes of that fellow that got under his skin.

He approached the lad again with the same question, “What did you say you could do?” Again the same answer bounced back at him, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

Mr. Smith was still disgusted with such an answer and went to other parts of the fair to look into the faces of other youngsters who might want a job on a farm, but there was something about that answer he got that stuck to him like glue. First thing he knew his feet were carrying him back to meet the steady gaze of those deliberate eyes of the boy with such strange language.

“What did you say you could do?” for the third time he thundered at the farm help. For the third time, too, the farmer got the same answer. . . . “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

“Get into the wagon—we’ll try you out.” . . .

One night Farmer Smith was waked about 2:00 a.m. with what might be a cyclone. It seemed that gusts from the north in only a few minutes developed with intensity to threaten the roof over his head. The trees cracked and noises outside turned the nervous system of our friend upside down. The speed he used to jump into his trousers was only outdone by the lightning as it broke up the darkness outside. With shoes half-laced he rushed out into the farmyard to see if anything on the premises was still intact, but he would need the services on a wicked night like this of that new boy. He called up the stairs of the attic where the latter slept, but the response was the healthy lung heaving of a healthy lad. He went half the way up the stairs and thundered again, but only a snore echoed back. In excitement he went to the boy’s bed and did everything but tear the bed clothes from the youth, but the lad slept on.

With a mixture of desperation and disgust he faced the gale, and out into the farmyard he plunged. He first approached the cow barn. Lo and behold, the milk producers were peacefully chewing their cuds, and the inside of their abode was as snug as a mouse under a haystack. It didn’t take him long to discover how the boy had chinked up the cracks of the cow abode and reestablished the locks and hinges. In the pigpen he found the same tranquility, notwithstanding the forces at work that night.

He turned to the haystack. As he felt about in the darkness, it didn’t take him very long to determine again the preparation of the lad with the gray, steady eyes. Every few feet on that feed stack wires had been thrown and weighted on each side. With this construction the alfalfa was peacefully under control and laughing at the elements.

Our farmer friend was stunned with what revelations he had in a few minutes of that cyclone night. He dropped his head. His mental maneuvers shot like lightning to the boy snoring in the attic. Again, the peculiar answer of a few weeks ago slapped him in the face: “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

Yesterday morning the Presidency of the Church, President Benson, Elder LeGrand Richards, and myself went to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. President Kimball is a most dynamic prophet, and I guess my purpose in telling you some of the things that happened this weekend would be to give you a little closer personal look at President Kimball.

We boarded the plane to Calgary for the purpose of going up there to attend a solemn assembly. President Kimball has instituted, and there will be held in various parts of the United States in the months to come, several solemn assemblies. As you may or may not know, most of the solemn assemblies are convened in the temples. Now, we have had solemn assemblies in the Tabernacle when we sustain new Presidents of the Church, and you’re familiar with those. But, because there aren’t enough temples in the world yet and because there are priesthood brethren that need to be instructed, the President has outlines a very ambitious schedule of solemn assemblies.

The solemn assemblies are for the purpose of instructing the priesthood. Those who are invited to come need a temple recommend and a ticket; there are men placed at the doors, just as you would find if you were to go to the temple here in Provo, who check recommends and tickets.

We arrived in Calgary yesterday, right after noon. As we came off the plane and were walking through customs, President Kimball reached over to carry Elder Richards’ briefcase for him. (President Kimball is eighty, while Elder Richards will soon be ninety.) Unless you’ve been associated with President Kimball, you’ve never seen a more thoughtful, humble, unpretentious, unimposing man—one who doesn’t try to stand above anybody else.

We were driven to the stake center where we were to have the meeting. As we came, I saw the lawn covered with about five hundred little Primary children who had assembled there to sing to the prophet. They sang, concluding with that wonderful primary hymn, “I Am a Child of God.” There aren’t many things that make the President lose his composure, but this touched his heart. He spoke to those wonderful little children. We then went inside, and there were over nine hundred brethren, priesthood leaders—elders quorum presidencies, bishoprics, high councils, stake presidencies, and seventies and high priests leaders—from the nine stakes in Alberta and the mission districts. It was a great experience to sit there for four hours. We partook of the sacrament first. Elders quorum presidencies passed the sacrament; the presidencies of the stakes administered to it. It was a great experience. All of these brethren had come fasting for one purpose: to be in tune with the Spirit as they were instructed by those assigned, particularly the prophet. I appreciated all that was taught by the great men who were there. But there was a difference when the prophet stood up to teach the priesthood. There was a spirit about it that I’m sure you can imagine, but it was unusual. For one hour President Kimball, with a few notes but without a prepared script, instructed the priesthood. This was a thrilling experience.

Afterwards we had a fireside. I was assigned to speak at the fireside with some young people. As we were having dinner before, President Kimball asked me, “Bishop, do you think it’d be all right if I came to the fireside for just a few minutes?”

I said, “I’m sure it’d be all right, if you want.” So he did. He didn’t come in right at the beginning because he had some other duties, but we were right in a break when I saw him come in. I went to the microphone and said, “If you young people want to have a great thrill, look back and see who just walked in the door.” And five hundred of them looked around. When they saw President Kimball had come in, both the girls and the boys started wiping their eyes. They were thrilled by a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Having a prophet come in and give them a blessing and speak to them.

He really is a prophet. There’s no question about it. You have every right to know, as do we who work so closely with him, that he is a prophet. How fortunate we are that we can feel the security of knowing that we have a real prophet leading us! He is a very human individual, too. One of the people was surprised to see that he ate his soup with a spoon, like the rest of us, and that he liked pie and other things that we all like.

I’ll just tell you one more thing. This morning, as we gathered at the airport in Calgary, many of the families of the stake leaders were there to bid President Kimball goodbye. They brought their little children, of course, and waited outside by the sidewalk, where we were shaking hands and saying goodbye. Presently the plane was about to leave, so we hurried inside and started down toward the plane. One of the Brethren commented that President Kimball was missing. We were told that the President had seen a young lady, the daughter of one of the stake leaders, and said, “I forgot to tell her goodbye.” So he had gone back outside and shaken her hand. We thought the plane would have to wait for him, but he didn’t want to dismiss anyone. He’s sensitive to everyone.

I don’t know, brothers and sisters, if you’ve ever shaken his hand. Those of you who have, and those who have looked into his eyes, have gotten a special feeling. I remember the first time it happened to me. As he shook my hand, he didn’t say anything except hello, but he said it with a love that overpowered me. We’re fortunate to have a prophet leading us today. May the Lord bless us to recognize him as such and to listen and obey the things he tells us to do.

“I used to go to the pool and then go home before going to school,” Elizabeth remembers. Of course that was before she became a member of the Church. And it’s Heath’s, uh, fault Elizabeth added an extra hour to her already-busy schedule.
“You know how a lot of guys cuss?” Elizabeth asks. “Well, Heath wasn’t like that. And he was really nice to everyone. He was just different from any guy I’d ever met. But I didn’t know he was a Mormon at first.”
She soon found out. And before long, Heath was inviting Elizabeth to ward parties and dances. Then one Sunday Heath took Elizabeth to the Dutch Fork Ward sacrament meeting because his mother was singing. “I liked church a lot. I liked how members would bear their testimonies, and how the congregation would give the sermons. I eventually started going with him every Sunday,” Elizabeth says.
The more she heard and saw, the more interested she became. Eventually, Elizabeth requested that Heath arrange for her to be taught by the missionaries. After listening to the missionary discussions for several weeks, Elizabeth asked Heath, who had just been ordained a priest, if he would baptize her.
“When Elizabeth got baptized, it was probably the most spiritually uplifting experience I’ve ever had,” Heath says. “It was too great to describe when I baptized her. And I know Elizabeth knows this Church is true. It’s a great feeling to know I introduced her to the Church because of the way I acted.”

Nine-year-old David O. McKay sat cross-legged on the floor in front of a cozy fire in the front room of the McKay home in Huntsville, Utah. Sitting next to him on a handwoven rug was his seven-year-old brother, Thomas, and his sisters, Jennette, four, and Annie, two. The children were thrilled to have their father home for the first evening in over two years. David McKay, after whom David O. had been named, had just returned from serving a mission in Scotland—the land of his birth—and the children were anxious to hear of their father’s adventures in that far-off land. This was the first time that little Annie had even seen her father, because she had been born ten days after he left for his mission.
As David told the children about Scotland, describing the music of the bagpipes, the fields of heather, the castles, and the thousands of sheep dotting the hillsides, one of the children asked him if he had seen any miracles while he was on his mission. David’s eyes met those of his wife, Jennette, and he replied as he put his arm around her, “Your mother is the greatest miracle that I have ever seen on this earth.” The McKay children remembered those words the rest of their lives, and they were taught by their father to love their mother and to appreciate the many things that she did for them each day.

This past week I received a letter from our daughter concerning our 14 year old granddaughter, Zoe, and the impact on her life of starting at a new school with an outstanding group of teachers. Let me just share a portion of that letter

"As you know, we've been very worried about Zoe. Last year she didn't seem to learn much at school, never seemed to have homework, and didn't feel challenged at school. We were afraid that she might just be turning into a lazy teenager. So this fall we put her in a new school, and wow, what a difference. They have incredible teachers who are focused on teaching not just the disciplines but ethics and community as well. And now all of the sudden, Zoe loves going to school, she's learning a ton, she's doing hours of homework every day without any complaining, and she's turned into a responsible, grown-up, careful student. It's an incredible transformation. I think you'll notice when you see her."

“Since I am the oldest with all sisters, we have lots of dolls without too many doll clothes. I started designing and making doll clothes for my sisters. Then for this project, I decided to try to make a dress from a pattern. I made a pink dress for my littlest sister, Molly Sue, with a fluffy skirt that she can twirl. It turned out really well and made me feel good about trying. I wanted to know that I could do it to increase my feelings of individual worth.”
Stephanie HowardNephi Utah Stake

One day my twin sister, Maddie, our younger brother Nathan, and I wanted to do something together. Since we were really busy that week, we hadn’t had much time to be together. We all chose to do service. Our mom suggested that we do a service club! We all agreed and turned the room under our stairs into a meeting room.
For our first service project, we made a list of people around our neighborhood that we appreciated. We decorated cards and wrote letters that thanked them and told them we love and appreciate them. We signed the letters with a big question mark.
The next day we rode our bikes all around the neighborhood to our friends’ houses and stuck the letters on their front porches. By the time we had delivered all the letters, we all felt really happy. We had so much fun being together and—even better—serving!
Later that week we were at our summer cooking class. We had given our teacher a letter. We saw that same letter hung up on her bulletin board! We all felt excited that she had felt our love.
We continued the service club and also started making delicious treats to give to people we love. We gave a treat we called “The Butterscotch Supreme” to a lady in our ward who had gotten a concussion. Our mom got a text saying that the lady loved it and appreciated our kindness. That led to more baking for friends.
I am so glad that we can show people we love them. It makes me feel good to know that I am serving Heavenly Father when I serve others.

Years later, at the age of 15, the Prophet’s nephew Joseph F. Smith was called to serve a mission in Hawaii. You will remember that he was only five when his father, Hyrum, was martyred. His mother, Mary Fielding, died when he was just 13. Upon arriving on the island of Maui, young Joseph fell gravely ill. Despite these and other adversities, he wrote to Elder George A. Smith: “I am ready to bear my testimony … at any time, or at any place, or in whatsoever circumstances I may be placed. … I am ready to go through thick and thin for this cause in which I am engaged” (as quoted in Joseph Fielding Smith, comp., Life of Joseph F. Smith [1938], 176).

An elder told of traveling from Vietnam and arriving at a Seattle, Washington, refugee camp. While he was trying to learn English so he could enter the United States, someone gave him a small card with a picture and address on it. He kept it for some reason, and when he was later asked where he wanted to live, he showed this card to the customs official. “I can’t send you there,” he was told “but I can send you to a place nearby.” He was sent to an LDS family in Salt Lake City. He learned about the Church. As he finished telling me this story, he reached into his wallet and showed the card. It was a picture of the MTC. “I am here, President,” he said. Like the others, he thought it was a privilege to go on a mission.

Years before my military experience, I served a mission in the British Isles. I always had planned to serve, but the decision became more challenging when I met this beautiful girl in college! Sound familiar to anyone here?! We dated. We fell in love. We even discussed the possibility of eventual marriage. But I had a mission to fulfill; and, to her everlasting credit, she agreed that was what I should do. But it wasn’t easy, and other young men in our university ward made no effort to conceal their delight that I was going to be away for a couple of years.
Nevertheless, I went. My heart was very sad as I bade her goodbye. In my day, there was no MTC. Instead, newly called missionaries would attend a one-week orientation in what was then called the Mission Home, which was located on North State Street in Salt Lake City. I entered the Mission Home with a desire to serve but with a heavy heart. Then, a miracle happened that changed my life!
On the very first morning there, Sister Richards, the wife of the Mission Home president, arose to address us. I shall never forget her words! “Now, you missionaries,” she declared, “I want to talk to you about those girls at home.” She had my undivided attention! Then, she spoke another one of those sentences that deserves heart-engraving: “Do you think—do you really think—that if you go out and serve the Lord with all your heart for two years that He will let you down in the most important decision you will ever make in your life?” In that moment, dear brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit filled my soul from top to toe! I felt as if I was the only other person in the room! Of course, I thought! She was not promising that a particular girl would be waiting, only that when the season for marriage came the Lord would help me and the right girl to find each other. The burden was lifted! But that witness came only after the trial of faith!
From that moment, I left the matter in the Lord’s hands. I really tried to be a good and faithful missionary. She dated and participated fully in school and institute activities. We wrote weekly. The weeks turned to months. Then a year. A year and a half. Still, we were writing. And when the day of return finally arrived, there she was with my parents and siblings as I stepped off the plane. The next evening, I proposed. And here she is today, my beautiful eternal companion, Pat, as we are now in our 62nd year of marriage! Of course, not all pre-mission romances turn out as did ours; and not every missionary’s sacrifice involves romance. But that isn’t the point! The point is that when we don’t shrink and move forward along our own customized path of discipleship, the Lord’s reassuring witness inevitably follows in due course.

My family moved near Manti, Utah, in my sophomore year of high school. We lived at a place called Crystal Springs. By then, it was only a skeleton of more prosperous earlier years, when it had been a popular resort and, thereafter, a large dairy farm operated by my grandfather Giles and his family, including my folks.
We moved to Crystal Springs after my father had a heart attack and lost his job. We didn’t have much in those days, so it was necessary for my father to work as much as he could and for me to take employment as a plasterer’s helper to supplement the family income.
Although my parents were less active in the Church, my mother’s family, also living at Crystal Springs, fortunately were very active. They provided the critical support I needed to stay active in the Church at that time.
Of those high school days, I can remember many nights sitting on the edge of my bed, looking out at the Manti Utah Temple through my second-story bedroom window. I realized that, regardless of whether my folks had ever been there, the temple was a place I wanted to be able to go someday. The temple became a standard for me to measure everything else against.
It was during this time in my life that I began to feel the need to serve a mission. The promises made in D&C 31:5 began to play upon me: “Therefore, thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your back. … Wherefore, your family shall live” (emphasis added). The two key promises in that verse became increasingly meaningful to me.
I made up my mind that I was going to serve a mission. I needed some method of showing the Lord that I truly did love Him in spite of my sometimes foolish youthful actions.
So, with the temple as a standard and a desire to serve a mission, I started to plan for a mission. Not long after that, my father had another heart attack and died. I was still in my first years at the university. With the death of my father, I suddenly realized that if I were to go on a mission, there would be no one to take care of my mother, grandmother, and two sisters.
I was torn between my sense of obligation toward my family and my obligation to Heavenly Father. I wasn’t even sure I could save enough money to get started on a mission, but I was determined that, if it were possible, I would go. I made a decision based totally on my faith in the Lord’s promise: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33).
Not long after, I received an offer to work at a very good job as an engineering aide in Oregon, in the western United States, which permitted me to save for a mission and send some money home. Still, it wasn’t easy. But as I pondered D&C 31:5 and Matthew 6:33, the Spirit said to me, “If you will seek first my kingdom (a mission), I will take care of your family.” I didn’t know how that would be possible, but I believed the Lord’s promises with all my heart.
When the time neared for me to leave, I still didn’t have all the money I would need to support myself, so I went to my bishop and explained my predicament. He said, “All the help you need you’ve got right at your fingertips.”
“What do you mean?” I said.
He told me to talk to my relatives, even to nonmembers and less-active members, to see if they would help me. “Go bear your testimony to them,” he said. “Tell them you want to serve the Lord, and ask for their help.”
I didn’t know how I was going to do that, but I did, and all those I asked said they would help a little. The high priests group in my ward helped me with the rest.
I was soon on my way to the Spanish-American Mission, based in San Antonio, Texas. After I got into the mission field, the things that took place, both there and at home, clearly confirmed that I had made the right decision. My family was being taken care of as well or better than if I had stayed home, and the joy of missionary service had changed my heart and the direction of my life.
My mission became the great turning point in my life. I could tell myself and my family at home that I knew I was doing what the Lord wanted me to do and that, although I didn’t know how everything was going to work out, I knew it would work out the best for all of us.
During the time I was in the mission field, my mother began to come back to church. And when my sweetheart and I married after my mission, my mother was able to be in the temple with us. Many of those who assisted in financing my mission also drew closer to the Church.

Meanwhile, World War I broke out. To help connect women with each other during that challenging time, the Church published its Relief Society Magazine, which became an important resource for the sisters in Melbourne. They discussed its articles, poetry and stories as they gathered to knit socks and prepare parcels for soldiers in Europe and the Middle East.

Elizabeth’s two grandsons had enlisted to serve in the war. Her son Horace also enlisted and was sent to the Middle East as part of Australia’s Light Horse regiments.

Church attendance dwindled as more brethren were called to military duty. Soon, it was up to the women—Elizabeth and her friends—to keep their small branch together. The sisters looked forward to their weekly meetings for spiritual renewal and social and personal upliftment.

By the end of the war, almost every family in their area had lost a brother, a husband, a son or grandson. For Elizabeth, it was her grandson William Wallace Cameron Butler who died in the Battle of Fromelles. The bond amongst the sisters in the branch grew even stronger as they supported each other through the heartbreak. Then they began rebuilding their lives.

Most recently, my husband taught our children about the story of Moses. I said, “I think the faith of Moses’s mother is amazing! She sent him down the river and prayed that Heavenly Father would keep him safe. Can you imagine the great faith it took for her to trust Heavenly Father with her baby?”
Lucy asked, “Mom, do you have that much faith?”
It was a profound question. I thought about it for a moment and then shared a few experiences that I have had when I successfully relied on the Lord with faith. The discussion that followed was edifying for the entire family. Her question comes to my mind all the time. It is strengthening to know that I can have faith like Moses’s mother.

Not all who marry outside the Church are so fortunate. One sister recalls the serious problems she encountered with her in-laws, strong in another religion, when they learned she was an active Latter-day Saint. They threatened to end any relationship with her. Her husband took their side, and she did not attend Church meetings for several years. But when this sister and her husband were no longer living with his family, a caring Relief Society president and loving sisters in the ward helped bring her back. Now she serves in a leadership calling, trying to reach out to other sisters.

There are still difficulties in the home, however. Working hard to support the family, her husband feels he is fulfilling all the obligations of a husband and father. But his influence has been absent in some areas where it is badly needed, his wife says. Their son is becoming rebellious, and the father is beginning to see that he needs to change in order to help their son. One particular missionary has touched the man’s life, helping him make progress, and he and his wife are working through issues of religion in the family. This sister expresses gratitude for gospel teachings that help her understand “we can work the problems out.”

The importance of not mistreating others is highlighted in an anecdote about Hillel the Elder, a Jewish scholar who lived in the first century before Christ. One of Hillel’s students was exasperated by the complexity of the Torah—the five books of Moses with their 613 commandments and associated rabbinic writings. The student challenged Hillel to explain the Torah using only the time that Hillel could stand on one foot. Hillel may not have had great balance but accepted the challenge. He quoted from Leviticus, saying, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Hillel then concluded: “That which is hateful unto you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole of the Torah; the rest is commentary. Go forth and study.”

I remember my husband telling our teen-age daughter "I taught high school for a long time, and I can't ever remember one righteous girl turning around a whole group of unrighteous friends. Too often, the one who is trying to keep her standards high begins to relax, then accept, then embrace the talk and dress and attitudes of the world." Based on that counsel, our daughter made some different choices concerning who she associated with, and when she enrolled at BYU–Hawaii, she created strong bonds with an excellent peer group who shared her values and eternal goals. We believe those decisions made all the difference in instilling a desire to serve a full-time mission. Hermana Kammerer is now serving in the Texas Fort Worth Mission, where she is finding great joy in her journey despite the inherent challenges of missionary service.