Gospel Story Finder

It isn’t always easy to reach a Book of Mormon reading goal, so the young women of the Hemet Third Ward, Hemet California Stake, set up a study buddy program where each person drew the name of partner to help encourage each other to read their two pages a day.
At the end of the nine-month program, more than half of the girls and leaders finished the entire book, and it was time for a celebration. They held a “Book of Mormon Fest,” with games like “Get the Gadiantons,” where the girls threw darts at balloons labeled with the names of Book of Mormon bad guys, and “The Mock Walk,” where the girls had to walk a beam representing the straight and narrow path while being mocked with laughter.

Maria Mazaretti Loves Spaghetti by Robert Kobayashi In the first of two stories, Maria the butcher finds a hungry mouse in the house! In the second story, a neighbor gives her an amazing plant that grows and grows.

When we noticed that many of the hymnbooks at church were tattered, we set up a family Hymnal Hospital. In the church library, we use a hymnal repair kit with rubber cement and tape to carefully mend each hymnal “patient.” We then return the hymnals to the chapel. We love helping put the hymnals back together!
Caleb, Calvin, Sadie, and Liberty H., ages 8, 10, 11, and 2, Georgia, USA

I had just settled into my comfortable chair to watch my favorite television news program when the doorbell rang. “I’ll see who it is,” my wife said.
“Who would be coming to visit us at this hour?” I asked myself. “It always happens. The program I enjoy most is always interrupted!”
“It’s the home teachers,” she said. “I forgot to tell you that Brother Higgins called this afternoon. He made an appointment to meet with us early this evening so that he could see us before he goes out of town tonight.”
As I arose from my chair, I already knew what Brother Higgins was going to say. He always said the same things—“How are you? How are things going? It has been a good day, hasn’t it? Is there anything I can do for you?”
Sure enough, that’s how he began. I kept thinking, “I’m missing the news report!”
But when Brother Higgins asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?” the thought entered my mind, “He can help. Give him a chance.”
“Yes, there is something you can do for us,” I said, “You know that our son, Mikhail, has just returned from a mission. He has been unsuccessfully searching for work and is very discouraged. I have been unable to help him. Do you know of any job openings?”
“Oh, that is a tough problem,” Brother Higgins responded. “I don’t know of any openings for work, but I’ll check to see what might be available.”
I really didn’t think Brother Higgins would have a solution to the problem. But I had forgotten that home teachers are entitled to receive inspiration to help the families to whom they are assigned. Whether or not Brother Higgins could help, it made me feel better to have shared our problem with our home teachers.
Two days later, Brother Higgins telephoned me. “Tell Mikhail to go down to the Read Company tire store and ask to speak with a Mr. Hogge,” he said. “He has a job opening.”
Mikhail was excited, as he had been searching for a job for a long time. But an hour later, when he returned, I could tell, by the way he walked in, that he had been unsuccessful.
“I can’t believe it!” he exclaimed, as he entered the house. “Mr. Hogge asked me, ‘Who sent you here? I don’t have any job openings. Even if I did, your request would be at the bottom of this pile of applications!’ I was so embarrassed—I was sorry that I had even gone to apply.”
I felt Mikhail’s disappointment and tried to encourage him. But I couldn’t help wondering why our home teacher had told us about a job opening when there wasn’t one.
The next day, when I answered the telephone, the voice on the other end said, “This is Mr. Hogge. Is Mikhail there?”
Mikhail came to the telephone, and Mr. Hogge said, “Come down to the store. I was impressed by your sincerity and willingness to work, and I can use you after all. I’ll need you this afternoon.”
When Mikhail arrived at the store, he found that he not only had a job, but he could also choose the hours he wished to work. He was able to arrange his work hours so that they did not interfere with his class schedule at college—another answer to sincere prayers.
As I thought about the sequence of events that led up to Mikhail’s new job, I suddenly realized that Brother Higgins must have known about Mr. Hogge’s job opening even before Mr. Hogge had known about it!
When Brother Higgins next visited our home, I told him what had happened. He simply replied that he had prayed that he would be able to help Mikhail find a job, and he had called us when he knew of one.
It was obvious to us that the Lord had known of our family’s needs and had used our home teachers as instruments in meeting those needs. They had prayed for guidance, and the Lord had answered their prayers.

Rory helps his family clean their house. He thinks washing the dishes is fun. “Mummy can be really busy looking after five children and studying for her university degree,” Rory says. “So if I do something she normally would do, she can have a rest.”

Medgine takes obedience seriously. Brother Atus says Medgine likes to laugh, but she can also be very strict, especially when she sets up “school” for her younger sisters, Christie, 6, and Ann, 5. Medgine likes order. And it has paid off! She has taught both her sisters to read and write. She has also taught singing and dancing classes.

Old Father Frost had a son, Little Frost, who was an impossible braggart. My father has grown so old that he can hardly do his job anymore, the youngster decided. But I’m young and strong. I can freeze people better than anyone! No one can escape my icy nip or equal the mighty force of my hoary blasts. I can conquer all!
The first thing Little Frost saw when he went down the road was a gentleman riding along in a fine sleigh pulled by a sleek, well-fed horse. The gentleman was stout, and he wore a warm fur coat. He had a thick blanket draped over his lap to keep his legs nice and toasty.
Little Frost whispered, “No matter how tightly you wrap your warm things about you, nothing will save you from my chilly fingers.” He slipped under the blanket and crawled up the sleeves of the warm fur coat. Then he curled himself under the collar and tweaked the poor fellow’s nose.
The fine gentleman ordered his servant to hurry the horse along. “Otherwise I’ll freeze!” he cried.
Little Frost’s cold became even more bitter. He wore down the rich man’s resistance, tweaked his nose even harder, turned his hands and feet icy, and made the air too cold to breathe.
The gentleman was now too cold even to shout. In fact, by the time they reached his house, he had to be carried in from the sleigh; he was barely alive.
Little Frost flew back to his father and began to brag about what he had done. “See what a fine boy I am!” he boasted. “See what an important gentleman I’ve frostbitten! Look what a warm winter coat I managed to get through!”
Old Father Frost laughed and said, “So you think you’ve done something really fantastic, eh? See that peasant over there wearing the tattered coat and leading the skinny nag? He’s on his way to cut firewood in the forest. If you can make him freeze with cold, then I’ll really believe you’re strong!”
The peasant reached the forest, took out his ax, and started to chop down the trees. My how the wood chips were flying! Little Frost grabbed him by the hands and feet and even slipped under his collar. But the harder Little Frost tried to freeze the woodcutter, the faster the peasant swung his ax. He warmed himself so well with his work that he even took his mittens off.
That was a great surprise to Little Frost, and he thought, “Well, I’ll just slip inside these mittens and fill them so full of cold that they’ll turn to ice! Then he’ll sing a different tune.” So Little Frost crouched inside the mittens while the peasant chopped away.
When the sleigh was filled with firewood, the peasant declared, “Now I can go home.” He picked up his mittens and tried to put them on, but they were frozen as hard as steel.
“Aha! What are you going to do now?” Little Frost chortled.
The peasant grabbed his ax and started beating the mittens with the back of the ax head. All the while he whacked away at the mittens, Little Frost, who was trapped inside, howled and roared with pain. Then the peasant started home with the firewood.
Little Frost limped back to his father, moaning all the while.
As soon as Old Father Frost caught sight of Little Frost, he asked, “How is it that you’re limping along so, Son? And why are you moaning so pitifully?”
“That peasant really wore me out,” answered Little Frost. “And he gave me a working-over besides.”
Old Father Frost burst out laughing and said, “Let that be a lesson to you, my son. It’s easy enough to get the best of an idle man. But you can never freeze a fellow who stays busy—he’s got his work to keep him warm!”

As you grow a little older, there is another opportunity which will come to you in priesthood service. You will come to know your fellow quorum members well. You may have played basketball or football or shared some youth activities and service projects. With some you will have become close friends.

You will have come to recognize when they are happy and when they are sad. Neither of you may be in a position of authority in the quorum. But you will feel responsible for your fellow member in the priesthood. He may confide in you that he is beginning to break a commandment which you know will do him spiritual harm. He may ask for advice because he trusts you.

I can tell you from experience that if you succeed in influencing him away from a dangerous path, you will never forget the joy which came from being his true friend. If you do not succeed, I promise that when his grief and sadness come, as they will, you will feel his pain as if it were your own. Yet if you tried to help, you will still be his friend. And, in fact, for years he may talk with you about what good things there might have been and how grateful he is that you cared enough to try. You will comfort him then and invite him again, as you did in your youth, to come back to the happiness which the Atonement still makes possible for him.

What an uplift President Kimball’s August message on testimony was to me. I have been a member of the Church all my life but never have I enjoyed such an upliftment. I have spent the whole summer in the hospital, so I have not been able to attend my meetings like I always do. The meeting I have missed the most is testimony meeting. This meeting seems to do me the most good. I grow so much from others’ testimonies. However, as I lay in my bed one day, I had a strong urge to bear my testimony. I felt a strong feeling that my Heavenly Father was with me, so I poured out my heart to him. I shared my testimony with my best friend. I lay there and cried because I knew that my testimony had been heard. It needed to be shared, and my Heavenly Father knew it.
I am still in the hospital, but I know God lives and I know that we have living prophets guiding us today. The gospel is so marvelous, and this is a wonderful time to live. I have felt lonely at times in this hospital room, but I have learned many lessons, and the Lord has always been with me.
The power of the priesthood has also been an uplift in my life. My dad and my brother have brought the sacrament to me with my bishop’s approval.
The gospel is marvelous and has been such an inspiration in my life. Thank you, President Kimball, for your most beautiful article. It was one I needed right now in my life.
Jo HendricksApple Valley, California

After graduation, I worked for the government for eight years. I was guaranteed a lifetime job and a very good pension. It looked as if my life was comfortably laid out before me. Then the Church’s Presiding Bishopric asked me if I would be willing to move to Frankfurt and work as the area representative for Europe. I would have to give up my secure job and future pension. But when my wife and I prayed about it, we felt that it was the right thing to do. From then on, my life went in a different but very blessed direction.
My government training had prepared me for many of the things I dealt with in my new responsibility. And taking this job allowed me to serve later as a mission president, something I would never have been permitted to do if I were still working for the government.

Wisdom, courage, and faith are exemplified in the life of another young woman from another country. She had achieved outstanding success in her profession. She was slightly older than what is usually considered the marriageable age. She had made the decision at a young age that if she were to marry, she would marry only in the temple. In her area single young men who were members of the Church were almost non-existent. I suppose she despaired of ever being married. However, one day she met a young man. Although he was not a member of the Church, she dated him. They fell in love. He proposed. She told him she would marry him but would do it only in the temple. He agreed to take the missionary lessons and was converted and baptized. They waited a year and kept themselves worthy for temple marriage. I met her on her wedding day. I think I have never seen a more lovely, happy bride. She had determined years before the eternal blessings she was willing to live for and on this day realized the wonderful feeling of having achieved this most important, eternal goal, in spite of almost impossible obstacles.

Jazlyn E., age 6, Washington, USA
I was scared to take swim lessons. I said a prayer to help me be brave enough to learn to swim. The Holy Ghost is the best!

The Church introduced the Light the World program with this same idea of doing things for others. This program brought tremendous joy into my life as each good act was unwrapped every day. I was curious and excited for what the next act would be.
Day 6 challenged us to donate and while I donated blood in the hospital, I remembered my mother who passed away from cancer at 30 years old, leaving behind her three precious children. I did witness the struggle of my father to arrange for blood as her body was running short of it. While I was carrying out this act of donation, I thought to myself that someone will not have to struggle to save a life as my father did with this single act of mine.

Recently, I had surgery to remove my tonsils. What I remember most about the experience is the blessing that my dad and another worthy priesthood holder gave me in the hospital before my surgery. Before the blessing I was scared, but after the blessing I was brave and my fear went away. I have faith in Heavenly Father and know He uses priesthood blessings to encourage, heal, and strengthen His children.

I recently read an interesting concept about exercising. I read that if you get up early in the morning, put on your exercise clothes, and think, “I will just wear this, go outside for a walk, and if I feel good, I will start jogging,” you will likely get a good workout before you even realize it. Coming up with a simple plan like this can help you develop good exercise habits and care for your body. For many people, getting started and being consistent are the most difficult parts. If you remember that exercise blesses not only your body but also your mind and intellect, it will help you have the desire to become more physically fit. As you exercise, you will become an energized person who feels strong, confident, alert, and secure.

As a skier and a snowboarder myself, I was deeply impressed with the “four-minute” silver medal-winning performance of Australian LDS athlete and snowboarder Torah Bright in the half-pipe competition. She dazzled the world as she finished a virtually flawless run culminating in a backside rodeo 720. However, even more impressive and surprising to the world was the way she reached out and demonstrated Christlike love to her competitors. She noticed that American snowboarder Kelly Clark, who had a bad first run in her final round, appeared to be nervous about her second run. “She gave me a hug,” Clark recalls. “She just held me until I actually calmed down enough and I slowed my breathing. It was good to have a hug from a friend.” Kelly Clark would later join Torah on the winners’ podium as a bronze medalist.
When asked about this unusual act of kindness toward her opponent, which could have put her own silver medal at risk, Torah simply said, “I am a competitor—I want to do my best—but I want my fellow competitors to do their best, too.”

Illustration by Truina Dalziel/Lilla Rogers Studio
I was interested in learning about my Italian ancestors, so a few years ago I began researching my genealogy. A day did not go by that I did not do some research to find them. Eventually, I found the birth record of my third great-grandfather from Italy. Finding his record touched me in such a way that I felt I should continue searching for my ancestors.
As I did, I found many ancestors I had never even heard of. I also met a young woman through social media named Ingrid Zanini. We suspected that we might somehow be related because we share the same last name. During our conversation, Ingrid told me that she was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She talked to me about the Church, and said she would send me a copy of the Book of Mormon. As soon as the book arrived, I began reading it.
One day at work, a young woman named Erika noticed that I had the Book of Mormon with me. I will never forget the expression on her face—she was so happy and excited. She asked if I was enjoying the book and if I would like to go to church with her and her brother. Two weeks after receiving the Book of Mormon, I attended church for the first time.
The lesson that day in Sunday School was on baptisms for the dead and the importance of family history. I was very interested. I met the missionaries and attended a meeting about family history that afternoon at the stake center. As I investigated the Church, I could feel the presence of my ancestors, and I felt encouraged to learn more.
When the missionaries invited me to be baptized, I paused to think about everything that had happened since I began doing my family history. Being introduced to the gospel and learning about the eternal importance of family history could not have been just a coincidence. I accepted the missionaries’ invitation to be baptized.
I still do family history, and I am grateful to know that my efforts in searching for my ancestors can now bring eternal blessings to them because I found the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It was during one of your performances that I found the real spirit of the Bicentennial. On the evening of July third, with the Tabernacle Choir centerstage, surrounded by noted personalities from sports, politics, stage, screen, radio, and television, and in the presence of our prophet and the president of our country, seated side by side (which seemed so significant and appropriate on the eve of our 200th birthday celebration), I witnessed a performance I will never forget. Down the right aisle came a patriot soldier to tell us of the faith and courage required of him to give birth to the land of the free. Down the left aisle came a Mormon pioneer woman announcing herself to be Eliza R. Snow. She told of the industry and sacrifice required of her in building a nation.

The theme had been forged to guide us through the next hundred years of glorious history. First, to exercise faith in God our Eternal Father and to place our trust in Him as a foundation for all things; second, to have courage to uphold righteousness and be a part of preserving it; third, to be industrious and build for the future; fourth, to learn to sacrifice willingly for a brother or sister in need.

Sister Nomawethu Dingaan from Mdantsane Ward 3 expressed her gratitude for the initiative because it helped her invite a friend to church, and she was later baptized.
“I shared [with her] the Book of Mormon story of how faithful Nephi was, and today she is a member of the Church. She has a calling and next year she is going to the temple. I am really grateful for the pass along cards and scriptures that I got to share with her,” said Dingaan.

He did many activities in school, including football. Years later when he became a doctor, he operated on his high school football coach.