Gospel Story Finder

I love President Hinckley. His quiet dignity makes me feel at peace and reassures me that I am being led by a man of God. When I saw him, I couldn’t help but smile and feel thankful.

Candice M., 15, New Zealand

Joseph Daynes helped his father unload the small pump organ from their wagon. It was June 1862, and they had just arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Their family and friends wanted to celebrate. They wanted some music, and Joseph, although just eleven years old, had been asked to play.
As Joseph began playing, people from all over camp came to listen. In the middle of a song, Joseph stopped playing when he noticed that the crowd was turning toward a man who had just stepped down from his buggy. It was President Brigham Young! He had come to greet the newest pioneers in the valley.
President Young walked over to Joseph and asked him to keep playing. Greatly impressed with the boy’s musical ability, he may have wondered, Could this be the person whom the Lord is providing to be trained to play the great pipe organ that Joseph Ridges is building for the Tabernacle?
President Young didn’t forget young Joseph’s musicianship. In 1864 he asked Joseph’s parents if they would allow their son to study with Professor Raymond, a fine musician from the East, who was now living in the Salt Lake Valley. Joseph’s parents agreed.
After considerable musical training, Joseph Daynes became the first Tabernacle organist. For many years he gave organ recitals and accompanied the Tabernacle Choir. He also wrote a number of hymns that were sung regularly in Church meetings.

Temples have been part of this dispensation from its earliest days. Elijah committed the keys of sealing authority to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple. The fulness of the priesthood was restored in the Nauvoo Temple.

Until his martyrdom, Joseph Smith continued to receive revelations that furthered the restoration of the endowment and sealing ordinances. He recognized, however, that further refinement was needed. After administering the endowment to Brigham Young in May 1842, Joseph told Brigham, “This is not arranged right, but we have done the best we could under the circumstances in which we are placed, and I wish you to take this matter in hand and organize and systematize all these ceremonies.”

Following the Prophet’s death, President Young oversaw the completion of the Nauvoo Temple and later built temples in the Utah Territory. At the dedication of the lower stories of the St. George Temple, Brigham Young vigorously declared the urgency of vicarious temple work when he said, “When I think upon this subject, I want the tongues of seven thunders to wake up the people.”

Frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required. As a bishop I felt prompted one day to call on a man whose wife was somewhat active, as were the children. This man, however, had never responded. It was a hot summer’s day when I knocked on the screen door of Harold G. Gallacher. I could see Brother Gallacher sitting in his chair reading the newspaper. “Who is it?” he queried, without looking up.

“Your bishop,” I replied. “I’ve come to get acquainted and to urge your attendance with your family at our meetings.”

“No, I’m too busy,” came the disdainful response. He never looked up. I thanked him for listening and departed the doorstep.

The Gallacher family moved to California shortly thereafter. Many years went by. Then, as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, I was working in my office one day when my secretary called, saying, “A Brother Gallacher who once lived in your ward is here in the office and would like to talk to you.”

I responded, “Ask him if his name is Harold G. Gallacher who, with his family, once lived at Vissing Place on West Temple and Fifth South.”

She said, “He is the man.”

I asked her to send him in. We had a pleasant conversation together concerning his family. He told me, “I’ve come to apologize for not getting out of my chair and letting you in the door that summer day long years ago.” I asked him if he was active in the Church. With a smile, he replied: “I’m a counselor in my ward bishopric. Your invitation to come out to church, and my negative response, so haunted me that I determined to do something about it.”

Harold and I visited together on numerous occasions before he passed away. The Gallachers and their children filled many callings in the Church.

Thanks for a wonderful magazine. While I was still learning about the gospel, a close friend of mine lent me some of her favorite issues to read. I wasn’t terribly interested at first but soon found myself reading them from cover to cover. In them I found answers to my many questions. Reading the New Era brightened my day. My friend found out I enjoyed the New Era and gave me a subscription. I was 16 then. Now I am 19 and have been a member of the Church for almost three years. I’m still reading this great magazine from cover to cover.
Laurie ZamoraOgden, Utah

When President Russell M. Nelson invited us sisters to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year (“Sisters’ Participation in the Gathering of Israel,” Oct. 2018 general conference [Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 69]), I decided to try. I finally finished reading the Book of Mormon (for the first time on my own!) at 11:55 p.m. on December 31. Then I asked Heavenly Father if it was true. I didn’t really feel anything different, but I shrugged it off.
As time went on, though, I started getting a bit worried about not receiving an answer. I thought that eventually, I’d feel a KABLAM, and I’d just know it was true—but I never got that mind-blowing feeling. I finally reasoned that I might as well read the Book of Mormon again and see what happens. So I went back to 1 Nephi and started over.
At that time, I was a captain on my robotics team. When I’d sit down to read my scriptures, I was often worrying about some aspect of our team. But as I read the Book of Mormon, I began to see how it applied to my problems, and I started to recognize a pattern of the Lord’s hand helping me. It was a huge faith-building experience. I really did know the Book of Mormon was true; I just hadn’t realized it before.
Now I’m reading the Book of Mormon again. As you read it, you can come to know it’s true as well.
Katy B., Rhode Island, USA

So, what are the benefits? Julie and I have been ponderizing a verse a week for more than three years now. Initially, we set a 20-year goal. She told me recently: “When you first invited me to ponderize a scripture every week for 20 years, I wondered if I could do it for a month. I don’t have those doubts anymore. I can’t believe how fun it has been to put a scripture on the fridge each week, and just by ponderizing it each time I see it, it lifts my spirit.”

Like many returned missionaries will tell you about their time serving the Lord, I absolutely loved my mission. For me, it was two years of almost nonstop spiritual experiences and blessings, watching and helping people come closer to Christ and overcoming periods of trial and homesickness. It was amazing, and I wouldn’t trade my mission for anything.
But my experience right after my mission was not what I had imagined. I came home and felt like I was suddenly facing all kinds of expectations about where I should go, what I should do, and how I should act. I felt blindsided by questions from others about my dating life and my career, and I didn’t have solid answers. And along with these extra expectations came increased temptation. Much like Nephi in the Book of Mormon, I felt “encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me” (2 Nephi 4:18).
I never stopped going to church or trying to fulfill my callings. I even got married in the temple. Still, I knew that there were parts of my behavior that were not the way they should be. I kept going back and forth between the testimony I had shared on my mission and the way I was behaving now. I knew that Heavenly Father and the Savior loved me, but even with that knowledge, I questioned why—why would They love a person like me who kept making such silly, easily avoidable mistakes? Or, for that matter, how could They love a person who made even more serious poor choices?
Eventually, I realized I needed to find answers to my questions. So I began to really study more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and ponder the things I read and how they applied to me.
Moses 1:39 teaches that God’s purpose is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” I knew that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is what makes the whole plan of salvation possible, and that it was through His Atonement that Christ took upon Himself “the pains and the sicknesses of his people” (Alma 7:11). During the agony of His suffering in Gethsemane, Christ suffered for all my sins and pains. He knows everything I have done and knows that I will fall short in the future. The suffering was so painful that He even asked God to “remove this cup from me.” And yet, even while suffering for the sins of all mankind, even after asking for the pain to go away, He still said, “Not my will, but thine, be done.” (See Luke 22:42.)
Studying Christ’s Atonement helped me understand that Heavenly Father and the Savior love me despite my shortcomings and my sins, but I still struggled to understand why They love me the way They do.
I finally found my answer after pondering Doctrine and Covenants 18:10: “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” This verse wasn’t new to me—I’d heard and read it dozens of times. However, this time the Spirit helped me understand that this verse did not just mean that it is God’s opinion that souls are valuable, as I had always interpreted it before. No, “the sight of God” means so much more.
In my limited sight, I was only seeing my poor choices in the moment. I was imagining myself making those same choices throughout the rest of my life. I was not seeing through God’s sight; He sees not only my current situation but also my potential.
Both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know perfectly well that I have made and will make many mistakes. And through Their heavenly eternal perspective, They also see the total worth of my soul—They see what I can become. This is why Christ paid the price for my sins in Gethsemane and on the cross, even after understanding all the wrong that I would do.
Now, I know I’m not perfect. I will continue to fall short as I learn to be more like Christ. However, now I understand that when He said, “What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27), being “even as He is” includes having the heavenly vision to see my potential. Reaching that potential won’t be immediate. It likely won’t even be in this life. But I know by embracing the gift of repentance and focusing on Christ, I can look past the mistakes I make each day to see myself even as He is—even as I can become.

Some time ago I was at a gathering in Frankfurt with Church leaders from all over Europe, preparing for a large event, which we would later need to postpone to 2021 because of the pandemic.
At this meeting, Elder Massimo De Feo, counselor in the Area Presidency, concluded his teaching, and the entire meeting by showing a video, a piece of music with the Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø and The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square called “Slow Down.” This is from a concert she held with The Tabernacle Choir in 20192, but I had simply not seen or heard this, even though I am also from Norway.
I was indeed not prepared for what I experienced when Elder de Feo started the video. Just seconds into the performance, it was as if I heard Him in a way that I perhaps never had heard Him before. My emotions completely overpowered me, and I cried like a child. I tried to not let my body shake too much and I looked down so it would not be apparent that I was weeping. I was afraid it would ruin the moment for all others present. The piece of music prompted me to experience God‘s grace, love, and forgiveness through the Savior Jesus Christ for me personally, that all my mistakes in life were mixed with all the demanding experiences life had offered, could be healed and taken away. I felt a glimpse of heaven, a taste of a celestial existence.
Later, I went online and read some of the comments others had left on the video. The following are two comments:

In the Bamburi Branch of the Kenya Nairobi Mission, Relief Society sisters donated the money they would have spent on an activity and instead purchased kitchen utensils and other items the branch needed. After thoroughly cleaning the local meetinghouse, the sisters of the ward assembled for a time of reflection on the creation of Relief Society in 1842, using and discussing resources from Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society.
“The thought of being part of this worldwide organization of Relief Society is special,” said Irene Kioi, second counselor in the Relief Society presidency. “It gives me the assurance that [Relief Society] is ordained of God and not men.”

Christmas was almost here. Amalie was excited. Soon she could unwrap the presents under the tree!
At family home evening it was Mom’s turn to give the lesson.
“Why do we give presents at Christmas?” Mom asked.
“Because it’s Jesus’s birthday!” Amalie said.
“Then shouldn’t we give a present to Him?” Mom said.
Dad helped Amalie’s brother Noah read a scripture. It said that when we serve other people, we are serving God (see Mosiah 2:17).
“Is serving others giving a gift to Jesus?” Mom said.
Noah nodded.
“What else is a gift for Jesus?”
“Keeping the commandments,” Amalie said.
“Being nice,” Noah said.
“Great ideas!” Mom said. “Now let’s play a game. I’ll say a gift someone gave to Jesus. Tell me if you know who it was. Here we go. This person gave out Christmas cards at the care center.”
Noah raised his hand. “Amalie did that!”
“This person went home teaching.”
“That’s Daddy,” Amalie said.
Soon they had named lots of gifts they had already given to the Savior.
“We can give gifts every day,” Mom said.
The next morning it was time to clean the house. “Oh no,” Amalie groaned. But then she remembered. Serving others is a gift! If she helped Mom, it was the same as helping Jesus. She found a cloth and wiped the counters until they sparkled.
The next day Amalie earned some money.
“Your tithing is eight cents,” Mom said.
Amalie remembered again. Tithing is a commandment, so paying it is a gift. She put eight cents in her tithing jar.
Later that week Amalie helped pick up pillows. Her baby brother had thrown them off the couch. “Another present for Jesus,” she said.
On Christmas Eve, Mom and Dad told Amalie they were proud of her. “You’ve been giving gifts to Jesus all week long,” Dad said. “That’s like having a little bit of Christmas every day.”

Koki, who is serving as a ward missionary, has seen rewards for being diligent off the court as well. He helped organize movie nights, campouts, and sports activities in order to interest two young men in his ward who hadn’t attended church for some time. “At first we’d have to go get them, or they wouldn’t come,” he says. “Now they come on their own. It took a little time and a lot of visits, but they’re coming regularly now.”

One day, 14-year-old Mosiah Cooper of Tokoroa, New Zealand, was a busy teachers quorum president. The next day, due to a diving accident, he was completely paralyzed—barely able to blink, and breathing only with the help of a machine. It was doubtful that he would live, but with the fasting and prayers of his fellow Scouts, ward, and family, Mosiah survived.
Not only has he survived, but thrived. He can get around on his own in an electric wheelchair. He studies, learns, and designs on a computer he operates by blowing into a special instrument attached to his head. Seminary is held in his house so he can easily attend.
Mosiah will always be grateful to those who have done so much to help him. Members of the community have cooperated to provide him and his family with special equipment for his special needs. He feels that his faith in God, and the faith of others, saved him and made his life as full as it is today.

As children, my younger brother, Luke, and I were always excited for our father to return home from work. We would wait in our pyjamas and rush down the stairs to greet him in the garage when he arrived. Our father always let us know how excited he was to see us. He would refer to us as his “main men”. He would ask us how our day had been and how our mother was.
Sometimes our father would not return home until after we were tucked up in bed by our wonderful mother. On those occasions, he would come visit us in our rooms. We would always ask him to share a bedtime story with us. We loved his bedtime stories. They were always about us, Jared and Luke. Most importantly, the stories would always end in the same way: Jared and Luke would grow up to be good men and to serve missions.
These stories had a profound effect on us as growing boys. Through these stories, our father reinforced to us that our identity centred around the gospel of Jesus Christ, being good men of character, and being able to do whatever we set our mind to. When we travelled together as a family, our parents would emphasize we were children of God and that we could be successful at whatever we focused on in life.
I am convinced that these stories helped build our self-esteem and emotional resilience. By teaching us who we were and about our divine potential, our parents prepared us to be successful and to overcome adversity and challenges in life.

Twenty-four years ago, our tiny newborn son struggled for his life in the intensive care unit of a hospital. His lungs were not fully developed because of his premature birth, and he desperately fought for each breath of air. He was so small but with so much will to live. As young and inexperienced parents, my courageous and ever faithful wife, Jan, and I prayed that the Lord’s hand would reach out and somehow help our baby boy continue to breathe. As I put my trembling hand through the small opening into the isolette, I felt so inadequate and powerless. I took hold of the tiny but perfect hand of our newborn son, and there was a powerful spiritual connection never to be forgotten. Two fingers from each of my hands covered his tiny head as I administered to him.

Our desire for him was pure, but we knew that his earthly experience rested in the Lord’s hands and not in ours or in the medical team who cared for him. I then humbly realized that my quivering hands held power and authority well beyond my own. My fingers on his head symbolized the placing of God’s hands and power upon our son. Following that blessing, in a moment of emotional peace, my eternal companion and I looked at each other across the isolette, feeling the spirit of renewed hope and comfort born of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the personal effect of His Atonement. It was a powerful witness of His love for an infant son who had just left His presence. We were then better prepared to accept His will for our son. We truly felt we had placed our hands in the hands of the Savior. It was as if the Savior’s own hands provided the critical respiratory aid, allowing our son to breathe and gain sustenance. With each breath and with each incremental bit of progress, we expressed prayerful thanks. Today our healthy son and his indebted parents continue to be so grateful for the Savior’s willing hands.

Most weeks, I attend sacrament meeting in our ward and partake of the sacrament to renew my baptismal covenants and receive a remission of my sins. Often, I find it’s easy to let this sacred ordinance become a routine, something I go through without much thought. But every so often, the Lord blesses me with a powerful spiritual experience that stays with me.
One such experience happened during a ward conference in the Park Ridge First Ward of the Brisbane Australia Beenleigh Stake. At the time, I was serving as an assistant stake clerk, responsible for recording information for the stake history. I had come to the meeting with my notebook, ready to fulfil my assignment, but I left with a renewed sense of purpose and courage.
As the congregation sang hymn number 191, “Behold the Great Redeemer Die,” we came to these words:
“Father, from me remove this cup.
Yet, if thou wilt, I’ll drink it up.
I’ve done the work thou gavest me,
I’ve done the work thou gavest me;
Receive my spirit unto thee.”
Suddenly, these words pierced my heart.
My mind turned to the trials that my wife and I had faced over the years. Decades ago her health took a dramatic turn after a near-death experience, leading to long-term physical challenges that eventually confined her to a wheelchair. For the past decade, I’ve been her full-time carer, helping her navigate these challenges while also managing my own health issues. Together, we have borne many burdens, including the heartache of seeing some of our children and grandchildren step away from the gospel. At times, my “cup” felt more than full.
It hit me that we all have a work to do in this life. Each of us has been given our own cup to drink. Whether it’s as a father, mother, child, or in our work, school, callings, or family responsibilities, we all face challenges that can test our resolve. Sometimes, that cup feels almost impossible to take.
I thought about those who might be facing physical challenges, the loss of a job, struggles at school, addiction, or the heavy responsibility of caring for an aging, sick, or disabled family member. These trials, as hard as they are, are part of the work the Lord has given us. They are opportunities to prove our love for Him and for those around us.
At that moment, I asked myself a sobering question: “Am I ready to ‘drink it up’?”
The Savior’s example came to mind. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He too struggled under the weight of His own cup, pleading, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup.” And yet, in perfect submission, He added, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).
This realization gave me a renewed courage to press forward with faith. I thought about the day I hope to stand before the Lord and hear the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). To reach that day, I know I must continue to drink the cup the Lord has given me, even when it is bitter.
The Savior’s example has taught me that the trials we face are not meant to break us but to refine us. I’ve come to understand that the “cup” the Lord gives each of us is not only a test of our faith but also an invitation to rely on His Atonement more fully and to trust in His eternal perspective. Like Job in the Old Testament, I’ve drawn courage from the knowledge that God knows what I need to refine me, even when I don’t. And while my burdens have often felt heavy, I can say without hesitation that they are nothing compared to the suffering the Savior endured for us.
These experiences have deepened my love for my wife and strengthened my resolve to be a better example to my children. They have also taught me to see the sacrament with new eyes, as I ponder the Savior’s broken body and blood and remember how His perfect obedience made it possible for me to endure my own trials. I have cried many tears, especially in the solitude of night, but in those moments, I too surrendered and said, even through the pain: “Not my will, but Thine, be done.”
At 76 years of age, I have done my three score and ten. I don’t know how many more years I have, but I hope to be found faithful to the end. Whatever “cup” the Lord still has in store for me, I will drink it willingly, knowing that the Savior has already drunk the bitterest cup for us all. Because of Him, we don’t have to do it alone.

In many areas, there are more individuals and families to visit than there are active members who can reasonably handle that responsibility. In the Fort Payne Branch, Chattanooga Tennessee Stake, there are only three active priesthood holders, including branch president Roman Lilly. Yet the three men are responsible for home teaching 48 families—and they usually visit at least 45 of them.
“We spend two Saturdays a month home teaching, and we each go with our wives—they do the visiting teaching at the same time,” President Lilly explains. This practice of couples visiting members where a special need exists in a family and when implemented with a bishop’s or branch president’s approval can be reported as both a home teaching visit and a visiting teaching visit (see Melchizedek Priesthood Leadership Handbook [1990], 5).
“We leave in the morning and usually return by afternoon. Sometimes we’ll set an evening aside to visit the families we aren’t able to see on Saturdays, and on rare occasions we’ll visit with someone after or before church. Our ward boundaries cover about 115 kilometers, but we understand the opportunity and responsibility of home teaching.”
As is demonstrated in the Fort Payne Branch, the need for husbands and wives to visit together as both home teachers and visiting teachers is unusual. Priesthood leaders in some areas have taken a different approach.

The youth of the Liverpool First Ward, Liverpool England Stake, wanted to start their own sports team, dubbed the Ward One Warriors.
They selected volleyball since boys and girls could play on the same teams. They worked hard and were anxious to find other teams to play. They played games against local teams, but they could not participate in leagues because they would have been required to play on Sunday.
The Ward One Warriors then decided to take a week’s tour of other wards in the British Isles and play a schedule of games. Although the scheduling was difficult, they combined their sports schedule with a trip to the London Temple to do baptisms for the dead.
The Warriors have continued their sports team and encourage competition from other wards’ youth groups. They have found that the team is an excellent way to generate a feeling of closeness and concern for each other and to encourage each other to stay true to the Church.

As Latter-day Saints we have been taught to strive for perfection. I think my parents must have been aware of the potential for discouragement that a quest for perfection can bring. They told me on many occasions, “This doesn’t have to be perfect, only sufficient.” That gave me comfort and caused me to be more determined.

When spring came, my deep depression lifted, and I no longer needed medication. We moved to a sunny city. I thought all was well and that I would leave my mental illness behind. But I was not completely healed. Feelings of guilt arose for my previous thoughts, feelings, and urges. I disliked that my teenagers had figured out that I had been suicidal. I felt like I had wasted more than a year of my life.
Also, I was scared—especially when the shorter days in September arrived again. I experienced intense daily flashbacks and feared I would suffer acute depression again. But I could see the Lord’s hand in my life as I was led to a wonderful doctor and started therapy. I learned that I also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With my doctor’s guidance, I dealt with PTSD.