Gospel Story Finder

The winter of 1845–46 was a difficult one for the Saints in Nauvoo. Many of them were forced to leave their homes and businesses. Yet the work of completing the temple and doing temple ordinances continued along with the work of building wagons and gathering provisions.
On 3 February 1846, assuring the assembled Saints that the temple had served its purpose, President Brigham Young suggested that they pack their wagons and leave Nauvoo.
President Young left the temple, and after walking some distance, he turned and looked back. No one had followed him.
Like the Savior in Nephite times, who took pity on the crowds that pleaded with him to stay, President Young turned around and walked back. He found the temple “filled to overflowing,” and, he recalled, “We continued at work diligently in the House of the Lord.” That day, 295 Saints received temple ordinances (History of the Church, 7:579).

Marci dropped her sleeping bag on the kitchen floor. “I was trapped!” she wailed to her mother. “Just trapped. What else could I do?”
“You really had no choice,” said Mother. “Anyway, I agree with Hoa and her parents. If you had Hoa spend the night with you, then you should be willing to spend a night with her.”
“But, Mom,” groaned Marci. “That’s different. They live in a one-bedroom apartment. Hoa, her little sister, and I will be sleeping in the front room. And that’s part of the kitchen!”
Marci didn’t expect an answer. She could hear the car in the driveway and knew Dad was waiting. Sighing, she picked up her sleeping bag. “Well, I guess I have to go. Hoa would be very hurt if I didn’t.”
As Marci entered the apartment where her friend Hoa lived, Hoa’s mother turned from the stove. “We are most glad you came, Marci. We thank you.”
Marci smiled and put her sleeping bag under the kitchen table. Hoa was pouring rice into a pot. “What are you doing,” Marci asked.
“I always fix the rice for dinner,” answered Hoa. A small face peeked from behind her legs. “This is my little sister, Truc.”
Marci knelt down and touched the little girl on the arm. “Hello, Truc,” she said. “I’ve wanted to meet you.”
Truc waved a few fingers at Marci, and Marci reached for her hand.
“She’s cute,” said Marci. “I would baby-sit her any day.”
Hoa’s mother turned around and asked, “What is ‘baby-sit?’”
“I would watch Truc for you,” answered Marci.
The mother smiled. “No need,” she said. “Where I go, Truc goes or Hoa watches her.”
“Vietnamese do not use baby-sitters,” explained Hoa. She winked at Marci. “But you baby-sit me. I always have to ask you what to do.”
Marci laughed. That was true. She had been explaining different things to her new friend for six months now, ever since Hoa had come to her school.
When the father came home, they sat down for dinner. Marci thought it was very quiet, not like dinner at her house. Everyone spoke softly, and Marci could feel her voice become quieter.
“Does your name have a meaning, Marci?” asked Hoa’s father.
“I don’t understand,” said Marci.
“Vietnamese names have another meaning,” explained Hoa. “Mine means flower. Truc means bamboo.”
Marci studied Hoa. She does look like a flower. Marci looked at Truc. She wasn’t sure she resembled bamboo. “I wish my name did have another meaning, but I don’t think the names of many people in the United States do.”
After dinner, Hoa’s mother began cooking again.
“What are you making, Mother?” asked Hoa.
“For Marci I would like to make pho,” she replied. “We will eat it in the morning.”
“Oh, good!” Hoa smiled and turned to Marci. “Pho is like a soup. It is made with beef and egg noodles. You will like it.”
Marci nodded. She was sitting on the floor and Truc was on her lap. Marci looked around the room. There were no toys. A small television set was perched on a low table, but no one seemed interested in turning it on.
“Truc, have you ever heard the story of Peter Rabbit?” asked Marci.
Truc shook her head, and Marci began the story. Then she told her the story of Cinderella. After that, she related some tales about Daniel Boone and Paul Revere. Hoa and her parents listened too. They had never heard the stories either. When Truc fell asleep, Marci looked at her watch. It was ten o’clock! Hoa’s mother took Truc away to get her ready for bed.
Hoa’s father stood up and bowed. “You are most welcome, Marci. We liked the stories. I hope you have a good time here. Goodnight.”
Marci stood up and made a slight bow back to Hoa’s father. “This is one of the best times I have ever had,” she said.
Hoa yawned and brought out a mat to spread on the floor. Marci pulled her sleeping bag from under the table and put it next to Hoa’s mat. After the girls were ready for bed, Marci crawled into her sleeping bag and looked at Hoa. The warm smell of pho filled the room. “Thank you for asking me,” she whispered. “I’m really glad I came.”

While living in Winter Quarters, she and her brother went down the Missouri River to purchase provisions and clothing. They had two wagons, each having two yoke of oxen. Camping for the night, they discovered in the morning that their two best oxen were gone. Young Joseph and his uncle spent the entire morning looking for the lost animals. They found nothing. Disheartened, he returned to tell his mother. Their situation was desperate, terribly so. As he approached, he saw her on her knees praying fervently, speaking with the Lord about their problem. When she arose to her feet, there was a smile on her face. She told her son and her brother to get their breakfast and she would look around. Following a little stream of water, and disregarding the words of a man who was in the area, she went directly along the bank of the river.
Pausing, she called to her son and brother. She pointed to their oxen, which had been tied to a clump of willows growing in the bottom of a deep gulch. The thief, who had tried to misdirect her, lost his prize and they were saved.

Mary’s faith imprinted itself in her son’s boyish heart. He never forgot it. He never doubted her closeness to the Lord.

Reading about the LDS clown with the Greatest Show on Earth prompted me to write about my experience with a touring show. I am a British Saint of five-years membership. I was working on costumes for an ice show when contacted to join a show called “Disney on Parade” as wardrobe mistress. They were at that time in Milano, Italy. The show was experimental, the first European tour of Disney, and the cast was European. My bishop gave me a list of all the wards and branches of the Church and wished me luck.
Off I went to Italy to the Milano Hilton and eight months of being the only member of the Church in a company of 80. Touring with heavy wardrobe containers, training a local wardrobe staff, not speaking their language, visiting a new country every two weeks, packing and unpacking, and getting into and out of sports stadiums has been quite a challenge. I’ve learned about people from all over the world. In the company we have Dutch, German, Swedish, Australian, Danish, South American, Austrian, North American, French, Swiss, English, and South African cast members and workers. I’ve learned to respect their different ways of life. The backstage crew have pulled my leg about being LDS but respect me enough not to swear near me. I’ve had to approach people carefully about the gospel in order not to appear to be a religious fanatic or seem to be ramming religion down their throats. I’ve used example more than preaching. Theater people can be a wild bunch at parties and on days off, so I’ve had to pick my social ties carefully. Sometimes it is lonely, but I always think of my Lord and am greatly comforted.
I’ve found reading scriptures and studying to be quite difficult because of the pace we live at, but if I haven’t learned much of the scriptures, I’ve seen the Saints building the Church and learned a lot from them. Since I’ve been in South America a friend and I have been able to stay with a member family, and what a choice family they are. Their example helped my friend to accept the gospel. She was baptized two days ago in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
I know that my way of life as a member of the Church is choice, that our teachings are uncomplicated, and that this truly is Christ’s church.
Miss S. J. BenninaLeigh-on-Sea, Essex, England

Illustration by Joel Castillo
“Do you believe in God?” one of my new co-workers asked me.
“Yes, why?”
“Because Mr. Lee* doesn’t,” he said. “Whatever you do, don’t get into an argument with him about the existence of God. You’ll lose.”
It was my first day on the job at a drive-in movie theater in Arizona, USA. I’d just graduated from high school and wanted to make some money for my education and my mission, not get in a debate with an atheist boss. I took my co-worker’s advice.
My co-worker and most of the other employees, on the other hand, did believe in God. But that didn’t stop them from swearing, eating food from the snack bar without paying for it, and smoking marijuana after work.
I never joined them in any of those activities, and it didn’t take long before they wanted to know why. I told them I was a Latter-day Saint, I told them about the Word of Wisdom, and I told them I was preparing to serve a mission for my Church. They didn’t make fun of me, but they did start to call me “The Reverend.”
One night when Mr. Lee was off, another employee and I ran the cash register at the snack bar. That night after the snack bar had closed and we’d added up all the money from the register, the assistant manager told us we had $100 more than what the cash register receipts said we should have.
“There’s no record of this $100,” he said. “So it looks like we each make an extra $33 tonight.”
I didn’t feel right accepting the cash, but I put it in my pocket anyway. The longer the money stayed there, the worse I felt. About half an hour later I approached the assistant manager.
“The money may be unaccounted for,” I told him, “but it isn’t mine.” Then I handed it back.
The following week Mr. Lee called me into his office. I was hoping he didn’t want to talk about God, but actually he did. He asked some questions about the Church and my beliefs. After I’d answered, he said something that surprised me.
“You appear to be the only worker at the drive-in I can trust,” he said. “I’d like to ask a favor, and I’d like to give you some extra work.”
He told me that the other employees were, in his words, “stealing me blind.” He asked me to keep setting a good example for them and to encourage them to be honest. Then he gave me some extra after-hour security duties he didn’t trust the other workers to do. Those extra duties meant more money for college and my mission.
I didn’t ask Mr. Lee if the money I’d been given the week before was a test. But obviously, the assistant manager told him what had happened. I was just glad I’d been honest. I was also glad my boss knew that my belief in God and my participation at church had influenced my actions.
Through that experience, I learned for myself that “being honest will enhance your future opportunities and your ability to be guided by the Holy Ghost” (For the Strength of Youth [2011], 19).
I quit the drive-in job at the end of the summer and left for college. When I returned home during Thanksgiving vacation, I went to the drive-in one night to watch a movie and to say hello to my former co-workers. During the movie, one of them announced over the drive-in speakers: “Reverend Morris, please report to the snack bar. Reverend Morris, your congregation would like to see you.”
We had a fun reunion, and I was glad I’d left everyone with a positive impression. I’m especially grateful, though, that my honest behavior had made a believer out of my boss.

Brenna Reaney is just one of the Young Women in the Redondo First Ward, Torrance California Stake, who donated hair. For Brenna, the sacrifice of her long hair represented something concrete she could do to help Jessica James, one of her friends from the ward. Jessica, 17, had been diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a life threatening illness that would require chemotherapy treatment. At first, the girls were upset that Jessica would lose her beautiful long hair. But after Jessica had a brain hemorrhage and sank into a coma, they quickly realized that they had not understood the full spectrum of what was important. As Peggy Kirts, a member of the ward, said, “It’s been a very helpless couple of months, with everyone wanting to help and not really knowing what to do or how to do it.”
The girls would visit Jessica in the hospital as she struggled to awaken from the coma and learn again to communicate. While there, they saw many little bald children in the same area of the hospital undergoing treatment. They read to Jessica and sat with her, but they felt that they wanted to do more.

When I was 10, I was introduced to the gospel by my friend Stephen Bulleigh when we played together on the same little league baseball team. My parents were divorced, and my kind and wonderful mother was left to raise three children. Realizing the need for male role models in my life, my mother insisted that I participate in sports. There I made friends and grew particularly close to an LDS family, the Bulleighs.
I sometimes spent the night at my friend’s house. There I met Stephen’s family: his father, Roger; mother, Juli; and their eight other children. I saw the happiness and love that they had, and I wanted the same in my own life.

I was humbled and overwhelmed to be called as an Assistant to the Twelve Apostles 33 years ago. A few days later President Hugh B. Brown counseled me that the most important thing I should do is to always be in harmony with my Brethren. President Brown did not elaborate. He just said, “Stick with the Brethren.” I interpreted that to mean that I should follow the counsel and direction of the President of the Church, the First Presidency, and Quorum of the Twelve. That resonated as something I wanted to do with all my heart.

I just had to write and tell you of the most fantastic thing that has happened since Prince Charming kissed Sleeping Beauty and woke up the whole town. I’m a full-time missionary (have been for 21 months now), and I’ve had the usual share of ups and downs, neat experiences, and even baptisms during my mission.
Well, having been out in the mission field so long, I found things becoming sort of routine, and I wanted to “give it my best shot” these last few months. But I didn’t know how. One night right after my companion and I had said our prayers and were about to retire to bed, it happened. I saw the August and September issues of the New Era. I couldn’t help myself—I took them into my room and read and read and read until my eyes were bloodshot. I finished devouring both issues before the sun came up the next morning.
During the night, a miraculous transformation had taken place. I was so different, even my companion didn’t recognize me at the breakfast table. I was smiling! He ate his breakfast warily, keeping an eye on me. Then we went out to work. It must have become contagious, because everywhere we went that day, others caught it too. Now many more people in this small Iowa town are smiling (and they don’t even know why). All because of the New Era!
A MissionaryIowa Des Moines Mission

My husband is a furniture maker. Although it has often been difficult to find employment in the Philippines, the Lord has blessed us.
One day when our finances were very low, my husband was working in a furniture shop making tables and chairs. I met him at work and told him we had nothing at home to eat. He told me to meet him at the market that evening when he got off work. He would ask his employer for an advance payment so we could buy some rice for dinner.
When we met that afternoon, he told me he had been advanced 50 pesos, just enough to help us get by. But when we tried to pay for the rice, he could not find the money in his pocket. We went back to the furniture shop to look for it, but nobody had seen the money. As we walked home without food or money, my husband was angry and frustrated. I tried to help him calm down, telling him to trust in the Lord. That night I prayed the Lord would help us find the money.
The next morning as my husband and daughter, Jennilyn, walked out the front door, Jennilyn saw something on the doorstep—it was the 50 pesos. I was overjoyed and grateful to Heavenly Father for making it possible for us to eat. I know if we do our part and then trust in Him, Heavenly Father will be merciful and show compassion to us.

The second key to increased learning is to have love for each other that comes from great faith. I am not sure which comes first, but both always seem to be there whenever there is great and rapid learning in the priesthood. Joseph Smith taught that to us by example.
In the early days of the Church in this dispensation, he received a command from God to build strength in the priesthood. He was directed to create schools for priesthood holders. The Lord set the requirement that there be love for each other among those who were to teach and to be taught. Here are the words of the Lord about creating a place of priesthood learning and what it was like for those who were to learn in it:
“Organize yourselves; … establish a house … of learning, … a house of order. …
“Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege.”
In section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants, in verses 123 and 124, the Lord stressed love for each other and not finding fault with each other. Each gained entry into the priesthood school established by the Lord’s prophet by making a covenant with uplifted hands to be a “friend and brother … in the bonds of love.”

During my childhood, I stayed with my grandmother, who taught me about the existence of Heavenly Father and His love for us. I had challenging times during my childhood, but what she taught me continues to echo, anchoring my belief that Heavenly Father loves me.

The doors are locked; the borders are sealed. Though thousands of our dedicated missionaries labor to save souls in the lands that allow them to enter, there are many nations—over half the world’s population!—where the message of the restored Church cannot yet be taken.
And yet, we are commanded to take that message to “all the nations of the earth.” How can we do it? As President Spencer W. Kimball has counseled us, finding a way to open those locked doors will require diplomacy and the faith of the Church’s leaders and members. “Somehow, brethren, I feel that when we have done all in our power that the Lord will find a way to open doors. That is my faith.” (Ensign, Oct. 1974, p. 7.)
The Church is not trying to break down those doors with great hammer-blows. Rather, the Lord’s representatives are moving slowly, carefully, in order to convince wary and prudent national leaders that the Church will be a real benefit to their people; that the gospel of Jesus Christ does not provoke dissent, but rather a spirit of cooperation; that Mormon missionaries will not undermine local culture, but will strengthen it by strengthening the home and the family.
Most of us, though, are not directly involved in this delicate work. Can we do anything to help? Yes!
President Kimball led the way by launching a “prayer campaign” with the other General Authorities, asking all the Saints to join them “in a serious continuous petition to the Lord to open the gates of the nations and soften the hearts of the kings and the rulers to the end that missionaries may enter all the lands and teach the gospel in the approved way.” (Ensign, Oct. 1975, p. 70.)

Dark days followed the establishment of the Savior’s Church as apostasy entered in among the membership of the Church. Priesthood authority was removed from the earth because of the unrighteousness of the people.
Light returned to the world through Joseph Smith when he received the First Vision in 1820. For a decade, the Prophet Joseph Smith was carefully prepared to reestablish God’s Church. He received priesthood authority—first the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist, then the Melchizedek Priesthood from Peter, James, and John. Revelations were given to Joseph as God’s voice was heard from the heavens. A communication link between God and His prophet was restored.
As a small congregation gathered on April 6 of 1830 to organize the Church, the Prophet Joseph Smith asked those present if they were willing to accept him and Oliver Cowdery as their teachers and special advisers. Those present raised their hands in support.
“Although they had previously received the Melchizedek Priesthood, [Joseph and Oliver] then ordained each other to the office of elder. They did this to signify that they were elders in the newly organized church. The sacrament of the Lord’s supper was administered next. … Joseph and Oliver then confirmed those who had previously been baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ and bestowed upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Church History in the Fulness of Times, 67–68).

This story happened in Zimbabwe.
The sun was shining, and Lynn ran outside to play. The other children in the village were playing kickball. They had made their own ball by crunching up papers and wrapping them tightly with plastic bags.
Lynn hurried to join them. But then something made her stop.
Sitting under a nearby tree was a girl named Awesome. Some other children pointed at her and laughed. But Awesome didn’t laugh. Instead, she covered her face with her hands. Big tears rolled down her cheeks.
Soon the others joined the kickball game and left Awesome alone.
Lynn looked at the children having fun. Then she looked at Awesome. She wanted to do what Jesus Christ would do.
“Are you OK?” Lynn asked. She smiled at Awesome.
Awesome wiped her tears and nodded.
Lynn picked up two small sticks and handed one to Awesome. “Want to draw with me?”
“Sure.” Awesome took the stick and drew a circle in the dirt.
“That looks like a sun,” said Lynn. “The sun always makes me happy.” The girls giggled as they drew more pictures. Lynn liked Awesome.
Then Lynn had an idea. “Would you like to come to church with me tomorrow? We’ll sing songs and learn about Jesus Christ. It’s really fun.”
“OK,” said Awesome. “Let me ask my mother.”
As Awesome ran to find her mother, Lynn felt a little nervous. She knew some people in their area had bad feelings about the Church.
But soon Awesome came running back. “My mother said yes!” She gave Lynn a big hug. “I told her you are my best friend ever!”
The next morning, Lynn and Awesome went to church. It was a long walk. Lynn taught Awesome some Primary songs as they walked.
On the way, they saw other children walking with their families to church. Some of them were the ones who had been mean to Awesome.
“Are they coming to church too?” asked Awesome nervously.
“Don’t worry,” Lynn said. “It will be OK.” Lynn said a little prayer in her heart that the others would be nice to her new friend.
When they walked into Primary, the other children smiled at Lynn. But when they saw Awesome, some of their smiles faded. They seemed a bit worried and nervous too.
Sister Moyo read a scripture. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.”* She looked up. “We can share our light by showing love to others. Can anyone share how you helped someone feel loved?”
No one spoke. Some of the children shuffled their feet under their chairs.
At last, one of the boys said, “Uh, Awesome, we were not very kind to you. We are sorry we made you cry. Can you forgive us?”
Lynn looked at Awesome. What would she say?
Awesome nodded slowly. “Yes,” she said. “I forgive you.”
Sister Moyo smiled. “That was brave and kind of both of you. I know you’ve made the Savior very happy.”
The next day, Lynn and Awesome sat under the tree and sang songs they learned in Primary. Soon the other children heard them singing and joined them. Music filled the air they all sang.
Lynn felt like sun was shining in her heart. She was grateful she had shared Jesus Christ’s love with her friend.
Awesome kept going to church with Lynn. Later, she was baptized!
Illustrations by Katie Rewse

Vai Keodara didn’t even speak English until she was 11 years old, yet she was chosen as salutatorian and speaker for her class at Morse High in San Diego, California. Vai was born in Laos, forced to flee that country with her family, and lived in a Thai refugee camp for three and a half years before her family made it to the United States.

When she started school in California, she was in the lowest reading group in the fourth grade. For two years she struggled, but with hard work, she finally made it to the top of her class and skipped a grade. “I never made a goal to get straight A’s,” she said, “but I did make a goal to do my best.”

“My parents were always encouraging me, and I also give a lot of credit to the Church, for it inspired me to accomplish good things and to realize that knowledge is important in this life and in the life to come.”

Vai serves as chorister for sacrament meeting in the 22nd Branch of the San Diego California East Stake. For a Laurel project, she taught Laotian children to write and speak their parents’ native language so their culture could be preserved. She plans to study medicine in an effort to continue helping people throughout her life.

Abby and Sophie are going on a walk!
Come on, Sophie.
Look! Pretty.
Yeah, it’s pretty. But let’s keep walking!
Birdie!
What is it now?
It’s shiny! For you.
Thanks, Sophie!
Puddle!
Want to play in it?
How was the walk?
Pretty!
It was more like a wander than a walk. We didn’t even make it to the mailbox.
I never knew so many of God’s beautiful creations were right in our own front yard!

Curt says traveling has also provided an opportunity for missionary work. He was invited to a party in Boston for 50 top athletes. When asked why he wouldn’t drink, he had the opportunity to share the gospel.

Our son has a small toy robot. It can walk and perform other simple functions. Should it fall, it can, with some difficulty, right itself. It performs its programmed functions mechanically, without feeling. Yet, it has no capacity to grow or to alter its destined course. It responds immediately to any external force that satisfies its needs, and ceases to function when its internal spring is spent. Satan would have all of the children of Father in Heaven behave like robots.

This verse helped me when I was at a party that turned into an environment I knew I shouldn’t be in. I politely told my friends no when they asked me to drink or smoke. This verse gave me the strength I needed to stand up for my beliefs.