Gospel Story Finder

Just recently he met with the first lady of The Gambia in his office and humbly handed her a Book of Mormon. He did not stop there. He opened its pages to read with her, to teach and testify of Jesus Christ, His Atonement, and His love for all God’s children—everywhere.

There are other ways as well by which one might lift and serve. On one occasion, I was speaking with a retired executive I had known for a long time. I asked him, “Ed, what are you doing in the Church?” He replied, “I have the best assignment in the ward. My responsibility is to help men who are unemployed find permanent employment. This year I have helped 12 of my brethren who were out of work to obtain good jobs. I have never been happier in my entire life.” Short in stature, “Little Ed,” as we affectionately called him, stood tall that evening as his eyes glistened and his voice quavered. He showed his love by helping those in need. He restored human dignity. He opened doors for those who knew not how to do so themselves.

When I finished telling this story in the Sunday School class, a member who had recently returned from his mission asked me where I had served.

“In the Japan Sapporo Mission,” I answered.

“Was it in Asahikawa that you helped this child?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answered.

Then he said, “The child in your story was baptized by my companion. One week after the baptism, I was transferred to Asahikawa and I met him. He mentioned that a missionary had saved him from drowning in a river.”

The Lord guides us in miraculous ways. It was not mere chance that my companion felt inspired to work in a distant area that afternoon despite his difficulty with walking or that we walked along the river at just the right moment.

Now the young man who was saved wants to be a missionary, just like the one who saved him. I thought I had completed my mission 14 years ago, but when this young man goes on a mission, in a sense my mission will continue.

A few years later, my father passed away. Although his departure left a great void, the knowledge of the gospel that we had acquired helped us overcome this great loss. I knew that I would see him again and enjoy his love in eternity.

Take it to heart!
That sentence has a brand-new meaning for the Young Women and the Young Men of the Delta Utah Stake. After a Saturday of learning that physical fitness is fantastic, they can quite literally ‘take it to heart’ by improving their individual levels of fitness, especially their cardiovascular systems (the heart and lungs).
The approximately 80 youths were only part of those who attended the special conference. All members of the stake were invited to participate in workshops conducted by Dr. Larry Hall, an exercise physiologist at BYU and member of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness; Dr. Phyllis Jacobson, chairman of Brigham Young University’s women’s physical education department; and other BYU physical education students and instructors. Among them they coached over 600 individuals who had been divided into age groups in different buildings.
Why such an extensive physical fitness program? The reason is simple according to stake president Merlin Deloy Christensen and high councilor Dennis Lamb, a former All-American baseball player for BYU and chairman of the stake’s physical fitness campaign. President Christensen feels that youth should be counseled to go on missions, marry in the temple, attend to their other Church work, and become physically fit so they can do it all in good health. He wants the youth to be active adults and knows continuing programs of physical fitness are the only way to achieve this goal.
Dennis Lamb added that the Saturday activities were only one phase of an on going attempt to teach and motivate all stake members. Practicing physical fitness is especially essential for Mutual-age people, however, because “they are a choice generation with special missions. They must be in good physical and spiritual shape to build the kingdom of God the way they are supposed to.”
Both men stressed that youth leaders are going to be very much involved in future stake events, including other super Saturdays just for them. “We have great youth in our stake,” President Christensen emphasized. “We have confidence in them.”
So did Dr. Larry Hall, who ran them through a battery of exercises in a ward cultural hall. Dr. Hall explained that sticking to an exercise program is important. “It takes the body four to six weeks of exercise before improvement is shown. It’s also necessary to exercise while you’re trying to lose weight. If you don’t, you’re losing 75 percent weight and 25 percent muscle tone.”
While arms pumped up and down as everyone did pushups, Dr. Hall continued to explain. “From puberty on, people put on weight. The habits they develop at a young age follow them throughout life. If regular exercise continues, the body doesn’t need to deteriorate as people get older. In fact, one can grow healthier as one grows older.”
Sit-ups began, and several of the group were a little weary. “If you think you’re tired,” quipped Dr. Hall, “remember your parents!” He added: “People function better when they’re physically fit. Grades can even improve because there is a high correlation between mind and body.”
After trying a number of good flexibility and strengthening exercises, the class experimented with aerobic dance, locomotor exercise steps set to music. Jumping, hopping, skipping, or running around the hall, everyone from Beehives to priests had a chance to make up her or his own routine.
Most planned to begin an individualized physical fitness program after their day of exercise. Leeann Sorensen, a second-year Beehive, said she wanted to begin because “it will make me feel better and stay thin.” Thayne Atkinson, a member of Delta High’s junior varsity basketball team, commented, “Exercise is good for you.” Shellie Morris would like to “get in shape to run track,” while Kendall Topham, a Scout, just “wants to be stronger.”
The young men and young women in west central Utah are on their way to better physical conditioning. Some who live in the community of Oak City, outside Delta, even get off the school bus several stops too soon and jog home. Bicycling, tennis, and walking to school are bound to become more popular, too, because, after all, the youth of the Delta Utah Stake have “taken it to heart” in more ways than one!

I am now married to a wonderful husband and have two sweet children. About a year ago I came across a book in the public library about the history of the Church, and I checked it out. I was very touched by the book’s description of the hardships the pioneers endured; they were willing to go through many things because of the gospel. Reading the book revived my testimony. I knew the Church had to be true!

Great was their surprise when I told my friends that I wanted to be baptized. Ans and I shed many tears of happiness after my baptism. Angela could not be there, but I felt her support and encouragement.

William M. Allred, one of his followers, stated that some straightlaced people had problems with the Prophet Joseph playing ball with the boys. Said Allred, referring to the Prophet:
“He then related a story of a certain prophet who was sitting under the shade of a tree amusing himself in some way, when a hunter came along with his bow and arrow, and reproved him. The prophet asked him if he kept his bow strung up all the time. The hunter answered that he did not. The prophet asked why, and he said it would lose its elasticity if he did. The prophet said it was just so with his mind, he did not want it strung up all the time.” (Juvenile Instructor, 1 Aug. 1892, p. 472.)

Concern for home and farm and business must have weighed heavily on the minds of the Virginia representatives as they sat listening to the tall, lean lawyer. His speech was short, passionate. With flashing blue eyes he implored the delegates to understand:
“We shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations. … The battle, sir, is not to the strong, alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. …
“Gentlemen may cry peace, peace—but there is no peace. The war is actually begun. … Why stand we here idle? … Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” (“Patrick Henry,” World’s Best Orations, Fred P. Kaiser Publishing Co.: Chicago, 1923, p. 17.)
Patrick Henry’s legendary oration, spoken at the Virginia Convention shortly before the Revolutionary War, stirred the souls of his listeners. The delivery was powerful, and the other delegates responded by passing his resolution to arm the Virginia militia and prepare for war with Great Britain.
The speech stands as an eloquent example of effective discourse—it not only captured the attention of his listeners, but it made them feel. And once inspired, they were moved to action.

Reese: “I’ve had trials in my life, but they all just started going away as this celebration started kicking it up. They all straightened out, and I found the strength to get rid of them.”

Anna Sewell died a year after the book’s publication on April 25, 1878, of a painful lung infection. When the horse-drawn hearse arrived at the door, her mother looked down from an upstairs window and saw that the horses had bearing-reins [checkreins]. “Oh, this will never do!” she exclaimed and hurried to order the cruel, restricting reins removed. This loving mother thereby performed one more service for her daughter and for her daughter’s friends, the horses.

We will have opportunities throughout our lives to share our beliefs, although we don’t always know when we will be called upon to do so. Such an opportunity came to me in 1957, when I worked in the publishing business and was asked to go to Dallas, Texas, sometimes called “the city of churches,” to address a business convention. Following the conclusion of the convention, I took a sightseeing bus ride through the city’s suburbs. As we passed the various churches, our driver would comment, “On the left you see the Methodist church” or “There on the right is the Catholic cathedral.”

As we passed a beautiful red brick building situated upon a hill, the driver exclaimed, “That building is where the Mormons meet.” A lady in the rear of the bus called out, “Driver, can you tell us something more about the Mormons?”

The driver pulled the bus over to the side of the road, turned around in his seat, and replied, “Lady, all I know about the Mormons is that they meet in that red brick building. Is there anyone on this bus who knows anything more about the Mormons?”

I waited for someone to respond. I gazed at the expression on each person’s face for some sign of recognition, some desire to comment. Nothing. I realized it was up to me to do as the Apostle Peter suggested, to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.” I also realized the truth of the adage “When the time for decision arrives, the time for preparation is past.”

For the next 15 or so minutes, I had the privilege of sharing with those on the bus my testimony concerning the Church and our beliefs. I was grateful for my testimony and grateful that I was prepared to share it.

Soon after the end of the cross-country season, Doug was called to serve a mission in El Salvador. His track career was a little shaky at best, and he had no particular reason to think that a two-year absence would improve it much, but his desire to follow the counsel of the General Authorities was strong. As he served the people of El Salvador through his calling, he began to change in many ways. He began to have a different perspective on sports and life in general.
“When you look at a high school athlete, he grows up with sports. He eats it and drinks it. That’s his life—everything. As you grow up a little more, you find out there’s a little more to life, and then you go on a mission and find out you don’t have to run and compete to be successful and to feel important as a person. Then your emphasis changes, and running isn’t necessary anymore. Many times sports are a means by which individuals can gain self-confidence and self-esteem. Many people go through an identity crisis. How important are they as an individual? As you go on a mission you realize that the Lord loves you and cares about you and is concerned with your being a good person regardless of how you are athletically. You come to realize that your relationship with people, school, your church callings, a number of things—all are important, not just athletics. You become a little more aware of life.
“I was always very small in high school and had little self-confidence, but now my confidence is in the Lord.”
The two years in El Salvador proved to be a blessing athletically. Even though Doug had little opportunity to run in the mission field, his body had a chance to mature. He returned stronger and faster than when he left. He was the 23rd American finisher in the NCAA cross-country championships that year, earning all-American honors. He was also part of a distance medley team that took second in the nation.

On the following day, June 29, the bodies lay in state in the Mansion House while thousands of Saints silently filed past the coffins, grateful but sobered to see their beloved leaders one last time. Mary Ann Phelps’s father took her to the Mansion House early in the morning, before the bodies were prepared for the public viewing.

“I went down, saw them, and laid my hand on Joseph’s forehead,” she said. “The sheet that was around him was stained with blood. Still he looked very natural.”7

Of these women, the only one I had known was my cousin Olga.
Olga, who was from Italy, married at a very young age, but sadly, her husband was violent and unfaithful to her. With the help of her father and her brother, Olga decided to escape when she was expecting her fifth child.
She went to live with her parents and brother. After the birth of her child, Olga passed away. Olga’s parents never recovered from the shock of her sudden death.

Because of hard circumstances, for nearly four decades the Relief Society ceased to function as a Churchwide organization. But in 1868 Brigham Young called Eliza R. Snow to assist bishops in organizing Relief Societies. She was called as the second general president of the Relief Society in 1880. The record of Relief Society shows that when the leaders approached the sisters across the Church to begin again formal Relief Society work, they found that charity in their hearts was undiminished. They had continued to reach out in mercy to those in need. For those who stayed faithful to their covenants, the gift of charity, the pure love of Christ, had endured. It was still theirs.

This will be the first temple in Nicaragua.
In 2012 Elder Russell M. Nelson visited Nicaragua and urged the people to prepare for a temple. He said, “I promise you that when you are ready, the Lord will do His part so that you have a temple” (see Liahona, June 2012, 77).

“Come out, Lazarus!” our tour guide called. The tour guide thought that this reenactment of the Bible story of the Savior raising Lazarus would make a visit to the tomb more dramatic and memorable. He had asked Mary to play the part of Lazarus. Wrapped in a white sheet, Mary crouched low and stepped out of the tomb.

Mary remembers her thoughts as she waited in the dark of the tomb. “I touched the walls and wondered what it would be like to be dead and hear the Savior call your name and to be alive again. But that’s what will happen to all of us someday, isn’t it?”

Eighty-eight-year-old Brother Thomas Coelho is a good example of one who saw with his heart essential things. He was a faithful member of our high council in Paysandú, Uruguay. Prior to joining the Church, he had an accident while riding his motorcycle. While he was lying on the ground unable to stand, two of our missionaries helped him stand up and return to his home. He said that he felt something special when the missionaries came to his rescue. Later he experienced strong feelings again when the missionaries taught him. The impact of those feelings was such that he read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover in just a few days. He was baptized and served tirelessly from that day forward. I remember him riding his motorcycle up and down the streets of our city, even in the cold and rainy winters, to bring others to church so they could feel, see, and know of a surety as he did.

Mystery of the Phantom Pony There’s no such thing as a phantom pony—or a phantom anything, of course. Susan knew that. But she didn’t know where the pony came from or where it went. She just knew that she wanted to ride it again.Lynn Hall7–9 years

Many things changed for me the year I turned 17. I was advancing to a new school and moving on to my third year of seminary. Not only that, but I also had a new seminary teacher: my mom.
Did I mention I was the only student in her class? Since the school I was going to attend was an hour’s train ride from where I lived, my mother decided to teach me early-morning seminary at home so I would be able to reach school on time. I was fortunate to have her teach me every day, but it was also a little nerve-racking. I had to give her my fullest attention, which was especially a struggle at 5:30 in the morning.
When we were studying the Book of Mormon, we came to Moroni, a prophet I really admire. However, I’ve always wondered: Why was Moroni alone? Why didn’t Heavenly Father send someone to accompany him? Why didn’t he complain when the Lord left him all alone to finish the Book of Mormon?
My mother explained that because of his righteousness and faith in Heavenly Father, Moroni knew that he was not alone. He had Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to help him complete the Book of Mormon. I realized then that Moroni didn’t need anyone to be physically there because he knew that someone was spiritually there, watching over him. He knew that Heavenly Father would never leave his side.
That had a huge impact on me. I now know that whenever I think I’m alone, I’m not spiritually alone since I have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, who helps me feel closer to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that as long as I have faith and trust in the Lord, I will never walk alone.
This particular lesson made an impact on my faith and my testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Although I was worried about having seminary at home, I’m now grateful because it has given me special learning experiences with my mom.