Gospel Story Finder

Following the opening prayer, we were introduced to Brother Corbridge of the stake high council. Brother Corbridge told us that he and his family had just returned from a wonderful vacation trip that included a visit to the Church historical sites, the Hill Cumorah and the Sacred Grove near Palmyra, New York. Then he told us in great detail of his family’s experience while in the Sacred Grove. An unmistakable manifestation of the Spirit had come to them to confirm without a doubt the truth of what had happened there on that early spring morning of 1820 when God the Father and the Savior appeared to Joseph Smith.

The group was also challenged to invite nonmember friends to see their performance and to make it a missionary opportunity. Michael Lee, age 18, took this challenge seriously. “I invited six friends to come, and three of my schoolmates and a schoolteacher came,” he said. Their performances especially left an impression on his teacher. “He said that it was a great experience. He even requested a copy of the For the Strength of Youth booklet. He said that he felt the energy through the many hopeful hearts of the youth.”

Reading Seito no Michi (Japanese) strengthens my testimony that Jesus Christ served us all. When I compare how I was a year ago with how I am now, I can clearly tell the difference. My insecurity has decreased, and my joy has increased. I believe that if Church members will read the Church magazines, they will have stronger testimonies.
Kaori Furukawa,Ogaki Branch, Nagoya Japan West Stake

The last week with Stevo in our house passed quickly. The Saturday morning it was time for him to leave you’d have thought someone died. Tim said he was losing his best friend, and Mom dabbed her eyes and said it felt just like when Rodney went away to college, even though he was going only a few miles to his next host family.

As I drove Stevo to his new home, I realized there was something I wanted to say to him. I had been a jerk. Selfish. My own little room, my kingdom, where I could shut the world out and indulge in self-pity, had been so important. So important I almost shut out something that on some level seemed more important than I knew how to explain. I glanced over at Stevo. His large nose pointed straight ahead, serene, knowing exactly where he was going as he continued his journey through life.

I made my decision. I pulled over to the curb and parked under the bough of a large chestnut tree.

“Something is wrong, Matt?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I have a confession to make.” I took a deep breath. “I didn’t like you at all when you came to live with us. And the first time I saw you I didn’t know what I was going to do with you for the next month. You seemed like trouble and a bother. I didn’t even try to hide it. I’m sorry. I was wrong, and I’m going to miss you and our talks.”

“I will miss our talks too, Matt.”

“Stevo, you have something. People always seem to want to be around you. Why? What is your secret?”

“I don’t know any secret, Matt. All I know is from the time I was tiny my mother told me often that if I treated other people as important as I wanted to be treated, then things would always work out. When we found the Church and discovered Christ, it was easy to see that all children of God deserve to be loved.”

“Even people who are trying to kill you?” I asked.

“Them especially. Easy to love those who treat us nice, my father says. Best part is to love those who hate us. That doesn’t mean we try to put ourselves in a place where they can hurt us. We try to understand so we don’t hate them back.”

Then I said, “I wish I had something to remember you by, Stevo. When I am with you, you make me want to be better. I want to change.”

“Matt, can I give you a gift?”

“I guess so.”

Stevo reached into his flight bag and pulled out the Book of Mormon he read nearly every night. He opened it and wrote in it.

I took the book and read what it said. To my best American friend, Matt: To want to change is the first step to be better. This book makes me want change to every day. Perhaps it can do the same for you. Your friend, Stevo.

I set the book down on the seat, put the car in gear, and headed down the street. We drove in silence. When we arrived at our destination, Stevo’s new host family was out front waiting. I helped him with his bags and then did something I had never done before in my life. I gave a guy a hug. Stevo was out of my room, but I knew he would never be out of my life.

I keep Stevo’s book by my bed and read from it often. Mom and Dad wonder why I treat everyone around here better. I even invited Tim to move in with me.

What shocked everyone most, though, was one Sunday several weeks ago I told them I wanted to go to church with Stevo before he returned to his home. That was, however, only part of the truth. The place Stevo goes every Sunday has a spirit of change, and that’s what I want to do. When I grow up, I want to be like Stevo.

One evening at Christmastime, my wife and I visited a nursing home in Salt Lake City. We looked in vain for a 95-year-old widow, whose memory had become clouded and who could not speak a word. An attendant led us in our search, and we found Nell in the dining room. She had eaten her meal; she was sitting silently, staring into space. She did not show us any sign of recognition. As I reached to take her hand, she withdrew it. I noticed that she held firmly to a Christmas greeting card. The attendant smiled and said, “I don’t know who sent that card, but she will not lay it aside. She doesn’t speak but pats the card and holds it to her lips and kisses it.” I recognized the card. It was one my wife, Frances, had sent to Nell the week before.
We left more filled with the Christmas spirit than when we entered. We kept to ourselves the mystery of that special card and the life it had gladdened and the heart it had touched. Heaven was nearby.

remembering
you
found a credit card,
we were walking on a class field trip.
We voted you should buy candy with it.
You said,
No, honesty is the best.

More than a dozen Primary children from the Fusagasuga Ward, Soacha Colombia Stake, spent a special day at the Bogotá Colombia Temple, learning about the temple’s importance.
In November 2009 the ward Primary presidency accompanied 15 Primary children to the temple. There the children had the opportunity to meet the temple president, Jorge J. Escobar, and ask questions. The children learned why they had to wait until they were 12 to enter the temple to do temple work, why the figure of the angel Moroni on the temple spire holds a trumpet, and why he often faces east.
At the end of the activity, the children shared their feelings about the experience.
Maria Fernanda Sanchez, ward Primary secretary, said it was a spiritual experience. “It was a special, unforgettable day not only for them but for us as their Primary leaders,” she said.

We made the paper lanterns from the December 2014 Friend for part of our Christmas decorations. They turned out pretty!

For years, Gladys and Dionisio Aguilera of Asunción had seen LDS missionaries around town and had wondered who they were and what they were doing. “They never knocked on our door,” Gladys says, “but we wished they would.”
“I told my wife we should help them, because they were very hardworking and were sacrificing for the people of our country,” says Dionisio, an auto mechanic. “Finally, we went after them; they didn’t come after us!”
They invited two North American sister missionaries to their home—and were baptized a few weeks later, in July 1991. Within another couple of weeks, Dionisio and Gladys were the Young Men and Young Women presidents in the Anahí Branch.
“We had been married twelve years and were happy,” Gladys says. “But we always felt we were missing something. After we were baptized, we started seeing new things in our lives, things we had never seen before.” For example, they remember the awe they felt the first time they fasted—and tasted a spirit they had never known before. And they tell of a blessing that healed one of their sons.
“Now our happiness feels complete,” says Sister Aguilera. They are preparing their sons, Eduardo, 9, and David, 7, to serve missions. A new LDS meetinghouse has been built just a block from their home. “I’m not content with the testimony I had at my baptism,” she says. “I am seeing it grow every day.”

Most people don’t start thinking about Christmas until jolly songs play on the radio and festive decor fills the malls. But Rachel H. was thinking about it back in May of 2010. She wasn’t waiting for any physical present; instead, she was preparing to audition for and perform in Savior of the World: His Birth, a musical production depicting the birth of Jesus. When she auditioned for the stake production, she didn’t realize how much of a gift the experience would be.
When the cast list was posted a few weeks later, Rachel was excited to see that she had been given the part of Mary in one of the two casts. “I was so happy to have been chosen to play the part of Mary. I was excited but very nervous,” she recalls. Rachel was just one of nearly 300 youth who participated in the production.

I became engaged to Judy shortly after I joined the Church. We were later sealed in the Alberta Temple. We have six children—four sons and two daughters. My family has been a great blessing in my life. All those years when I had wanted to become a Catholic priest, I could never bring myself to enter the Catholic seminary because I felt it was wrong for a man to live without a wife and a family. My wife has been a great influence for good in my life. Without her faith, testimony, and desire to do what the Lord wanted her to do, I may not have gained a testimony and joined the Church.

After Paul got ready for bed, he sat on Mommy’s lap in the rocking chair in his room. Mommy held Paul close as she told him the news. “The doctor says you need to have another surgery on your ears,” she said. “He thinks your ears will be all better after that.”
Paul fiddled with the buttons on his pajamas. He had had surgery before. The medicine made him feel sick, and he had to wear a big, white bandage around his ears until they healed. With his head bandaged, he couldn’t ride his bike or play on the swings. Paul started to worry, but then he had an idea.
“Mommy, can we ask Heavenly Father to bless me?” Paul asked.
“That’s a good idea,” Mommy said.
They knelt on the floor and Mommy prayed, “Heavenly Father, please bless Paul that he will be comforted during his surgery. Please guide the doctor’s hands so he can help heal Paul. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”
A warm, peaceful feeling filled Paul up inside. He was still a little nervous, but he knew that he would be safe.
A few days later, Paul went to the hospital for his surgery. He put on a hospital gown and talked to the doctor. Paul liked the way the doctor told him what was going to happen so he wouldn’t be as scared. He liked to think of Heavenly Father guiding the doctor’s hands to make his ears better. Paul and Mommy said another prayer, and Paul felt the same warm feeling inside. Mommy still looked a little worried.
“It’s OK,” Paul told her. He gave Mommy a hug. “Remember, we said a prayer.”
Mommy smiled at Paul. “You are right. Heavenly Father will bless you.”
When Paul woke up from his surgery, Mommy was sitting beside his bed.
“Hello, Mommy,” he said sleepily.
Mommy smiled. “Hello, Paul! How do you feel?”
“Pretty good,” Paul said. “Are my ears OK?”
“Yes,” Mommy said. “Our prayers were answered. The doctor said that everything went well, and your ears will get better.”
Paul smiled. “I knew it, Mommy,” he said. “Heavenly Father answered our prayers.”

Masha and her family are a great help to the missionaries. They invite friends to listen to gospel discussions. They invite the missionaries to dinner. And for missionaries needing help with the Russian language, Masha is a friendly tutor.

“She always talks with new missionaries and helps them learn to speak,” says Elder Samuel Drown. “They don’t have to worry about making mistakes around her, because she makes them feel good about themselves.” She teaches them games Russian children use to learn words and numbers. She gave one missionary a kind nickname that included a vowel sound the elder had trouble pronouncing. He appreciated the fun teaching method—and learned to say the sound correctly.

One night early in Paxton’s life, we were in the neonatal intensive care unit of the wonderful Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, marveling at the dedicated, undivided attention given by the doctors, nurses, and caregivers. I asked my daughter how we would ever pay for this and ventured a guess at what the cost would be. A doctor standing nearby suggested that I was “way low” and that little Paxton’s care would cost substantially more than I had estimated. We learned that much of the expense for care given in this hospital is covered by the generous gifts of time and monetary contributions of others. His words humbled me as I thought of the worth of this tiny little soul to those who were so carefully watching over him.
I was reminded of a familiar missionary scripture that took on new meaning: “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.”
I wept as I pondered the limitless love our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, have for each one of us, while learning in a powerful way what the worth of a soul is, both physically and spiritually, to God.

I forgot that winter day, until years later, after Dad had passed away. I had joined the Church, and my husband and I were completing his temple work. As I sat in the Lord’s house, suddenly I could see my dad’s graceful figure on the ice that cold morning. He was smiling at me, coming toward me. Now it was my turn to lead the way, and I could feel my father’s joy.

In 1850, President Brigham Young called George, then twenty-three years old, to serve a mission to the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands. Elder Cannon had great difficulty speaking before large groups of people, but through his faith in the Lord and his great desire to serve Him, he overcame this fear. He never let an opportunity pass to talk to the people and improve his understanding of the language.

When I go to church, I try to find a quiet room to read my scriptures. I feel happy inside when I read the scriptures. My favorite scripture story is when Jesus was born because I feel the Holy Ghost the most when I read it.
Jack W., age 10, Bratislava, Slovakia

Our stake takes charge of providing sacrament meeting at a local care center. One Sunday, while waiting for the meeting to start, I saw an act of kindness I will never forget.
In the few minutes before the meeting, I decided to visit Verna, a resident who didn’t have any family visitors. I approached Verna’s room and noticed her standing in the hallway. Before I could reach her, she latched onto the arm of one of the Aaronic Priesthood boys who happened to be passing by. She looked up into his tanned face and cried, “David, my David, you have come to see me.”
The young man, a stranger, stopped. He didn’t ignore her or give her an awkward pat on the shoulder. He didn’t tell her that he was not her David. Instead, he smiled down at her, gently put his arms around her, held her tightly, and kissed her on the cheek as he would his own mother. While he carefully walked down the hall with his arm still affectionately around her, I heard her exclaim again, “Oh, David, my David.”
Tears sprang to my eyes to witness such a display of unconditional love. I was touched by this young man’s sensitivity and concern. He didn’t know Verna, but he knew her need, her loneliness. His example taught me what it really means to care for another human being.

I thank the Lord for the knowledge He has given me that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God. I have spoken before of the experience I had as a twelve-year-old boy, a newly ordained deacon. With my father I went to our stake priesthood meeting. He sat on the stand as a member of the stake presidency, and I sat on the back row of the chapel. The men of that large congregation stood and sang:
Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.
[“Praise to the Man,” Hymns, 1985, no. 27]
As I heard them sing that hymn with power and conviction, there came into my heart a witness of the divine calling of the boy Joseph, and I am grateful that the Lord has sustained that witness through more than seventy years since then. I am happy that my faith has not been shaken by the writings of critics who never seem to recognize that knowledge of things divine comes by the power of the Spirit and not of the wisdom of men.

At the end of my second year I applied to my university’s graphic design program. I wasn’t accepted, but I was eligible to reapply the following year. I wasn’t thrilled about waiting another year to graduate.
The closest thing to my chosen major was photography. So I prayed about changing my major and felt good about it. I just wanted to get my degree!
At the start of the fall semester, I had classes on film and on the social history of photography. I was excited about both. But as I looked over the syllabus of my film class, I noticed that students would be required to watch many R-rated movies. In my photography class the teacher stated that the pictures we would be studying would be violent, disturbing, and sexual. She said that was what photography was mostly about these days.
My heart sank as I contemplated what to do. I knew that the gospel taught against such things, but these classes were required. I thought of the scripture about being in the world but not of the world (see John 15:19). Could I be in these classes but not of them?
I prayed to know what to do and to have the faith to do what was right. I also counseled with my wife, parents, and brother. As I spoke with my brother, he reminded me of the following verse: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
I knew that education is important, but was I in the wrong field? How could I drop out of school temporarily when the light at the end of the tunnel was so close?
Late one night while I was up with our sick baby, the thought came to me to look up President Thomas S. Monson on the Internet.
Late one night while I was up with our sick baby, the thought came to me to look up President Thomas S. Monson on the Internet. Soon I was watching a general conference talk President Monson had delivered in October 2011. I listened intently as he talked about the deterioration of society’s moral compass, saying that inappropriate and immoral behavior had become acceptable by many.
Then he said exactly what I needed to hear: “We must be vigilant in a world which has moved so far from that which is spiritual. It is essential that we reject anything that does not conform to our standards, refusing in the process to surrender that which we desire most: eternal life in the kingdom of God.”1
These words pierced me with great power. As tears ran down my face, I knew that a living prophet had answered my prayer.
Although I have postponed my plans for graduation, I know that the Lord will bless my family and me as we follow the prophet, reject the views of the world, obey the commandments, and support gospel standards.