Gospel Story Finder

When Kathy and I were married and sealed in the Logan Utah Temple, then-Elder Spencer W. Kimball performed our sealing. In the few words he spoke, he gave this counsel: “Hal and Kathy, live so that when the call comes, you can walk away easily.”
Initially, we did not understand what that counsel meant for us, but we did our best to live our lives in such a way that we would be prepared to leave to serve the Lord when the call came. After we had been married nearly 10 years, an unanticipated call did come from the Commissioner of Church Education, Neal A. Maxwell.
The loving counsel given by President Kimball in the temple to be able to “walk away easily” became a reality. Kathy and I received a call to leave what seemed an idyllic family situation in California to serve in an assignment and in a place that I knew nothing about. However, our family was ready to leave because a prophet, in a holy temple, a place of revelation, saw a future event for which we were then prepared.

William Borrowman never forgave his son for joining the Church. He made sure that the family members never referred to John as brother or uncle. However, John’s stepmother, Helen, corresponded with John through the years. In 1857 she wrote to tell him that his father had died and that he had directed that John be given—as his total inheritance—one halfpenny (the equivalent of a nickel in American coin).

The discipline of daily immersion in the scriptures paid off in my last year of seminary, which was also my 12th and final year of school.
My seminary study habits allowed me to be better organized. While I’m not a fan of reading, I strove to read daily. It allowed me to maintain my relationship—even a fragile one—with Heavenly Father.
That year, I passed my bachelor diploma with honors. I got my driver’s license on my first try. I received my call to serve a mission in Paris. All in all, the hand of God was in my life the whole time I was in seminary and at school.

In another ward, the bishop assigned his two best home teachers to work with one specially selected inactive family. The husband and father had been inactive for many years, even though he held the office of elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. The couple was approached and asked if the special teachers could come and teach them the gospel in weekly visits to their home. The family agreed, and the teachers proceeded to bring gospel lessons tailored to the needs and desires of the family.
The bishop also helped by interviewing the couple every few weeks. The husband usually went golfing on Sundays and had no desire to change his life-style at first. During one interview, the bishop said to the husband, “You’ve got to get going on spiritual matters so that you won’t lose your fine family.” This caused the inactive brother to think deeply about important issues, and within a couple of weeks he asked for another interview with the bishop and said that he had started paying tithing and that he and his wife wanted to set a goal of being sealed in the temple.
As this family became active, their whole attitude changed, and they seemed to be very happy to embrace the gospel principles and make the necessary change in life-style.

She was my best friend, the one I had grown up with and known since that first frightful day of first grade. Since then we had shared everything from doll cradles and humpty-dumpty cookies to high school classes and slumber parties. There was only one big difference between us. You see, she did not yet know the truth and I did.
It took me 12 long years to realize that the gospel belonged not only to me but to her too and that it was through me that she might be able to find it.
I took my problem to our missionaries, thinking I would give the job to them; but I was fooled.
“You ask her and we’ll teach her,” they said.
Teaching her seemed to be no problem. I had the most difficult job of all.
I called her on the phone.
“Hey, how would you like to come and see a movie at my house tonight?” I said. “The new missionaries in our ward are showing it.”
She came. She saw the film and left without saying much about it.
A week later the elders dropped by. “Have you set up a time when she can hear the gospel?” they asked.
“Well, she hasn’t really said much about the movie. I didn’t know whether to ask her again or not.”
“Call her and ask her,” said one. He was the type who hated wasting time. Well, I couldn’t argue with an elder, so hesitantly, shakily, I picked up the receiver and dialed. I’ve always wondered why things like this are so hard.
“Hi, Cheryl,” I said. “I was wondering … well, the elders are here now and … well, I was just wondering if sometime you’d like to come and … learn some more about the Church?”
There was a long pause.
“Well, yeah, I guess so.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “When can you come?”
“Anytime you want me to, I guess.”
“Tomorrow night?”
“Yeah, that’s all right.”
I turned to the elders. “Is tomorrow night all right?”
They nodded enthusiastically. “You bet!”
“Hey thanks, Cheryl,” I said as I started to hang up.
“Just a minute, Patti.” she said. “I want you to know that I’m not going to agree with what they say.”
“Oh, that’s okay. Just come!”
“But I might argue with them, and I don’t want to.”
“If you want to disagree with them, it’s all right. They don’t mind.”
The second step was taken. By the end of the fourth visit she hadn’t argued once. In fact, she had agreed wholeheartedly with everything the elders had told her. That night the younger elder was speaking, and as he closed he looked at her and said, “We would like to set up a baptism for you on Saturday. How about it?”
The older elder gasped. He hadn’t expected it to come so soon. My heart beat faster, and all I could do was hold my breath. There was silence for a moment.
Cheryl nodded and said, “Yes.”
I did not move, but I started to tremble when they asked her to pray.
She prayed, a very simple and beautiful prayer.
I kept my head bowed. I could not look up. The missionaries left in silence.
Then I felt her arms around me, and we both wept together.
“Patti,” she said, smiling through her tears, “thank you.”
She was thanking me for something she could only give herself, thanking me, when she had given me the greatest gift I could ever hope to receive—her acceptance of my most precious possession, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hey, wanna buy a cool pen? It has four different colors.
Where’d you get it? How much do you want for it?
My dad gave it to me. You can have it for a dollar.
Dad did say I could spend part of my birthday money any way I wanted.
Do you know where he got that pen? He saw some kid drop it and grabbed it before the kid turned around. He bragged about it to me.
Later, at afternoon recess …
I don’t want anything that was stolen. Just give me my money back.
Too bad. I already spent the money on nachos for lunch.
What am I going to do with this?
… and it has four colors, and it was a birthday present …
Are you looking for this?
Maybe I lost a dollar, but I get to keep my self-respect.

Did you like that Friend magazine I gave you?
Yeah. My dad liked it too, but he just lost his job, so we don’t have money for things like magazines …
Dad, I know we don’t have a lot of money this year because we had to move, but can we get Audrey a Friend subscription for Christmas? You could take it out of whatever you were going to get me.
In fact, I really don’t need much. Could we just give Audrey’s family most of what you would have spent on me? Without letting them know who it was?
I guess so, if you’re sure that’s what you want.
I was really hoping for that cool new scooter. She’s Mandy’s friend, not mine. In fact, she acts like I don’t exist.
But Mandy looked really happy when she told Dad what she wanted to do.
Dad, I heard what Mandy was saying. Would you do the same thing with my Christmas presents? But don’t tell Mandy. I mean, I don’t want her to think I like her friends.
You know what I mean.
You’re never going to guess what those two kids of ours just did.
Uh oh! Do I want to hear this?
Oh, trust me. You do.

When my family lived in Mesa, Arizona, our one-year-old daughter became ill with viral meningitis. When the doctor diagnosed the illness, he told us that we would know within the next twenty-four hours whether she would live or die. We began to fast and pray for her recovery. She lingered near death for a week, much longer than the doctor had expected in terms of seeing some kind of change.

After that week of struggling, we again fasted, and the ward joined us. When we prayed, fasted, and said to the Lord, “Thy will be done,” a peace as tangible and real as anything we have ever experienced came to our minds. We were not in turmoil, nor were we anxious about the matter. We did not know whether she would live or die, but we were at peace. Happily, she began to recover.

A promising young man has not returned to a prestigious university in the East because he has discovered during his summer break at home that a friend, with whom he had foolishly tampered briefly with an addictive substance which he himself then quit and never touched again, has gone on with the habit and is now addicted. The scholar stays home to help, saying that this is the most important thing he has to do.

On my birthday one Sunday morning, my husband and I were getting ready for church when the phone rang. I answered, and the bishop said, “I know today is your birthday, but could you meet with me in my office in 30 minutes? I would like to talk with you.”
Curious, I hurried to church.
In his office, the bishop said to me, “Sister Cruz, I have a birthday present for you. The Lord is calling you to serve as Young Women president. Will you accept this calling?” I felt overwhelmed, but I accepted the calling. I was sustained and set apart that day.
When I returned home after church, I sat on my bed. The weight of responsibility hit me. I cried and felt inadequate for the work. What a responsibility to guide those young women! I was baptized when I was 22 and had never attended Young Women activities before. How could I be Young Women president?
I did the only thing I knew to do: I knelt and asked Heavenly Father for guidance in this new calling. At that moment I had an experience I will never forget. As I visualized each young woman, I understood that each was a daughter of Heavenly Father. Each needed a president who loved her and could help her understand that God loved her. In my mind I saw the names of all the less-active young women (whom I had never met), and I understood that they were also daughters of Heavenly Father and needed my attention. I felt each one’s potential.
The following months were not easy. I worked hard to get to know each young woman and to understand her needs. Together with the active young women, our presidency helped those who had been less active return to activity. I saw the hand of the Lord at work in many ways.
When I was released from my calling, I worried that perhaps I could have done more. Upon arriving home, I knelt and asked Heavenly Father if my service had been acceptable. I received a sweet feeling that He was pleased.
I thought back on that birthday when I could have turned down the calling because of all my other responsibilities. But I am the one who would have lost most by not accepting the calling. I would have lost the opportunity to learn humility, gain understanding, develop patience, and become an instrument in the Lord’s hands. But mostly I would have failed the Lord in the confidence He placed in me, and I would have failed to learn that the opportunity to serve is a gift.

Ammon Arvidson and Brooke Noble, two youth from the Maitland Ward, Newcastle Australia Stake, were chosen to represent Port Stephens, Australia, at the first World Child Summit, held in Kushiro, Japan, last summer. The theme was “The Natural Environment and Our Future.” To be chosen, they each had to present a 10-minute speech on the environment of Port Stephens, the problems facing the habitat, and their role in protecting the natural beauty of the world.
Speaking of the presentations he made at the summit, Ammon, 12, said, “It makes me very aware of the beautiful world our Lord has created for us to enjoy.” Then thinking about all the people, languages, and cultures created by the Lord, Ammon added, “It makes me look forward to serving a mission wherever Heavenly Father sends me.”

Youth from five different Christian denominations joined for a day of music, faith, and unity on Easter Monday 2025.
The outdoor event took place on the 21st of April at Paofai Park, Papeete, Tahiti.
According to one of the organisers, Hina Brodien, “Despite the rain, over 800 young people participated, demonstrating a powerful collective spiritual momentum. The goal was to strengthen the faith of young people and unite them around Jesus Christ. The concert allowed them to experience a moment of communion beyond denominational boundaries.”
Brodien continued, “Through their involvement in music, workshops, and logistics, they learned to serve together in the Spirit of Christ.”
The event was part of the worldwide “Greater Love” Easter initiative begun by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and supported by members of other Christian denominations.
In Papeete, youth and young adults from the Catholic Church, Ma’ohi Protestant Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Community of Christ participated in the day’s activities. Parents, youth leaders, and other friends came along to lend their support.
“Meeting Tents” organized by spiritual themes (prayer, blessings, praise, testimony, fellowship) welcomed small groups of youth. Each tent was hosted by a different denomination offering opportunities to learn about others’ faith.
Then an interfaith concert brought together the choirs of each church and a shared music group ("Himene Amui"), made up of youth from all denominations.
Despite the sometimes-rainy weather, participants sang and prayed fervently, revealing the strength of their faith.
Over 300 singers and musicians participated in the concert. The audience was made up of more than 1,000 guests including around 800 young people.
Around 50 volunteers mobilized logistics, communication, and security; and 13 coordinators from the five denominations brought everything together.
Young people expressed feelings of gratitude, freedom, and pride in publicly expressing their faith. Many discovered fellow believers in their school environments, breaking spiritual isolation.
The activities encouraged them to speak out, pray, testify, and sing together—creating new friendships and strengthening their Christian commitment.

When I was a teenager, I decided to invite the Savior into my life by being baptized and becoming a member of the Church. My friends were good examples to me. So was my grandmother. She was a temple worker in the Los Angeles California Temple. She would leave our house at 4:00 in the morning to serve the Lord in the temple.
Just two years after I was baptized, I decided I wanted to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary. On my mission, I helped many people learn about the Savior so that they could invite Him into their lives.

This past summer our deacons quorum brought two members into full quorum activity and introduced three nonmembers to the Church. The quorum took a 270-mile bike trip from Kirtland to Dayton, following the path of the Zion’s Camp expedition. The deacons and advisers, the bishop, and many of the parents drove to Kirtland on a Saturday. They attended Church and visited Church historical sites the next day. That evening they had a fireside. Monday they started out on their bikes. It took a week for them to pedal to Dayton. They camped overnight at campgrounds, bicycled in the rain, and contended with traffic. One of the best parts of the trip was that one of the boys who was handicapped pedaled right along with the rest of the group.

I had a great chance to qualify for the London Olympics in 2012, but in the most important competition, I fell off the apparatus. My chance at the Olympics was gone. I was halfway around the world, and my dreams were shattered.
Shortly after that failure, I decided I wanted to go on a mission. I might not have gone if I had made it into the Olympics, but my mission was one miracle after another. I was so grateful for that opportunity.

“Mommy, Mommy, guess what! There’s a robin’s nest in the tree! I was looking for Mr. Squirrel, and I saw the nest, and there are blue eggs in it!”
“That’s exciting, Donnie,” Mommy said. “Let’s hope that Mr. Squirrel keeps away until the eggs hatch.”
“Mr. Squirrel wouldn’t hurt the eggs, would he?”
“Indeed he would,” Mommy said. “Squirrels eat birds’ eggs if they get a chance to.”
All morning Donnie sat in an upstairs window and watched the nest. He loved Mr. Squirrel, but he loved Mr. and Mrs. Robin too. He wanted to make sure that no harm came to their eggs.
At noontime Mommy came up and said, “It’s time for lunch.”
“May I eat here, Mommy? I have to watch for Mr. Squirrel so that he won’t eat the eggs. Please?”
“Don’t worry. Mrs. Robin is sitting on the eggs, and Mr. Robin is around somewhere, guarding his family.”
When Daddy came home, Donnie showed him the robins’ nest with the eggs in it. “Mrs. Robin just left to find some dinner,” Donnie explained. Then he shouted, “There’s Mr. Squirrel! I have to chase him away!”
“Wait, Donnie,” Daddy said. “That’s Mr. Robin’s job. He won’t let anything happen to his family if he can help it. Just watch now, and see what Mr. Robin will do.”
As Donnie watched, Mr. Squirrel streaked through the tree branches toward the nest. Suddenly Mr. Robin darted at Mr. Squirrel, pecking at his head. Mr. Robin circled Mr. Squirrel and pecked at him over and over, until Mr. Squirrel ran away.
When Mr. Squirrel finally stopped and sat on a branch of a nearby tree, he turned and chittered angrily at Mr. Robin. Mr. Robin flew to a branch between the nest and Mr. Squirrel and crossly clicked his beak back at Mr. Squirrel.
After a while Mr. Squirrel scurried up his own tree, and Mr. Robin flew away.
“Mr. Robin’s gone!” Donnie cried. “What if Mr. Squirrel comes back?”
“Mr. Robin hasn’t gone far,” Daddy said. “We may not see him, but he’s there somewhere, still watching over his family.”

Diana Nunes described one thing about the Spirit that everyone seemed to feel but hadn’t put into words. Diana remembered when she had been sent ahead to live with relatives and start school before the rest of her family moved to England. Her father had given her a blessing, promising her that she would have confidence while they were apart. Diana said, “When he finished the blessing, I knew that when I was feeling alone and no one, not even my parents, could help me, the Spirit would be there to comfort me.”

Implication #2: you'll be asked to do hard things, and that is okay.

Each of us has probably heard the sentiment that this world is just so wicked now that for someone to get married and start a family during this time may not be wise. Can't we just wait for the millennium to start so that all the wickedness will be taken away and our children can "grow up without sin unto salvation."[20] Other difficulties in the latter-days can cause us to shrink and wonder if we are equal to the task. Brothers and sisters, it isn't a mistake that you were born when you were. God, who knows all, knows you and the state of the world you are living in. The timing and place of your birth was not a mistake. Those determinations were made by one who "doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world."[21] You can press forward with faith and courage that He knows that you are equal to the task. He knows you. He knows the children He is going to send to your family. He has measured you and measured them and matched you up perfectly.

The Old Testament king, Hezekiah, was asked to do something difficult too. The Assyrian army had marched toward Jerusalem, leaving destruction in its wake. None of the cities were able to withstand the siege of the Assyrians, and smoke from their destruction would have been visible from Jerusalem at that time.[22] Hezekiah knew from a prophet, Isaiah, that they would be put under siege and had already had workers tunnel over 1700 feet through stone to bring water within the walls of Jerusalem, but this wasn't enough to deliver the people. In those dire circumstances, Hezekiah received a letter from the Assyrian king that said, "Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?"[23]

Hezekiah turned to the Lord, took that letter into the temple, and spread it out before the Lord. Please listen to the Holy Ghost as you hear the words of Hezekiah's prayer:

O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou are the God even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the Living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord even thou only. [24]

The same omniscient God who hears and answers our prayers answered this humble plea. Isaiah prophesied that they wouldn't even shoot an arrow into Jerusalem[25] and indeed, an angel smote the Assyrian army before they could destroy Jerusalem.[26]

Brothers and sisters, not only does God know what situations we will find ourselves in, He can do something about it. Though there will be bumps in the road, you are equal to those bumps and can overcome them, which leads us to our final implication: difficulties will come, but the Savior knows perfectly how to see us through them.

Another example was recalled by a man named Jesse Crosby, who one day accompanied a woman on a visit to the Prophet. She felt she had been maligned unjustly by gossip. Regarding such matters, Joseph would say: “The little foxes spoil the vines—little evils do the most damage in the Church.”42 He also said, “The devil flatters us that we are very righteous, when we are feeding on the faults of others.”43 He pointed out, “The Savior has the words of eternal life”—that is, if you really want to prize words, the Savior has the words of eternal life—and “nothing else can profit us.” And then in order to make the point, he added, “There is no salvation in believing an evil report against our neighbor.”44

But this sister had been troubled, and she came and asked for redress: she wanted the Prophet now to go to the person who was the source of the story and properly take care of it. He enquired of her in some detail and then counseled her in terms something like this: “Sister, when I have heard of a story about me [and he could have said there had been many], I sit down and think about it and pray about it, and I ask myself the question, ‘Did I say something or was there something about my manner to give some basis for that story to start?’ And, Sister, often if I think about it long enough I realize I have done something to give that basis. And there wells up in me a forgiveness of the person who has told that story, and a resolve that I will never do that thing again.”45

When I was in junior high school, I would get out of bed on cold winter mornings and head for the heat vent to get warm. The family cat would always beat me there, so I would gently shoo her away and sit down. Soon my mother would tell me it was time to leave for school. I would look out at the icicles on the house and dread going out into the cold, let alone beginning another day of school.

As I kissed my mother good-bye and went out the door, I would look at my comfortable spot in front of the heat vent and find that the cat had repossessed it. How I envied that cat! If that weren’t enough, she would look up at me with heavy eyelids and an expression as if to laugh at me and say, “Have fun in school, Glenn. I’m sure glad I’m not a human!” I hated it when she did that!

However, an interesting thing would happen as the day went on. I would come home after experiencing the joys and sorrows of the school day and see that lazy cat still curled up in front of the vent, and I would smile and say to her, “I’m sure glad I’m not a cat.”