Gospel Story Finder

When Church leaders told Jirí in 1988 that renewed effort on his part could change the government’s decision to grant the Church official recognition, he did not hesitate. Although he was putting at risk his family’s safety, his job, his freedom—possibly even his life—he said, “I will go! I will do it!” Embracing his wife, he said, “We will do whatever is needed. This is for the Lord, and his work is more important than our freedom or life.”

After Brother Snederfler submitted that request, the suspicion and persecution he and other Church members had endured for so long became even more severe. However, “the Saints continued in courage and faith,” says Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who, accompanied by Elder Hans B. Ringger of the Seventy, had made repeated requests over several years for formal recognition. Elder Nelson adds, “Ultimately, after periodic fasting and prayer and complete compliance with all requirements, that glorious announcement of recognition came. How I admire the Snederflers and all these stalwart members who endured so much interrogation and risk!” (Tambuli, May 1992, 14–15).

Over the next few years, Jirí renewed efforts to gain official recognition for the Church. And all active Church members in Czechoslovakia contributed their faith, fasting, and prayers. For two years, the Czechoslovak Saints had two monthly fast Sundays: they fasted on the first Sunday of each month, along with Church members worldwide—and they also fasted on the third Sunday of every month for freedom of religion.

During a visit with the Communist government’s secretariat of religious affairs in 1987, Elder Russell M. Nelson was informed that the official leader of the Church in Czechoslovakia—the Church’s official liaison with the government had to be a Czech citizen. Elder Nelson and Elder Hans B. Ringger called Jirí Snederfler to be that Czech leader.

Of course, Jirí was more than willing to accept the assignment; he had already made countless petitions to the government over the years and had been regarded as a troublemaker and an enemy of the state. Now, by the secretariat’s own decree, he—a Czech citizen—would officially represent the Church in the eyes of the Communist government.

When accompanied by Elder Nelson and Elder Ringger, Jirí was received kindly. But when he was invited to come alone to a meeting in December 1988, “the officials of the secretariat showed their true faces,” he says. “They tried to intimidate me into withdrawing the Church’s petition for official recognition. They even used threats, telling me what might happen to the Church members if we continued to pursue it.”

At that moment, Brother Snederfler fearlessly opened his mouth and expressed his outrage at the way the Church had been treated during the preceding four decades. “I lost my patience and told them they had only two alternatives in order to get rid of us: either grant us official recognition and permission to worship publicly—or eliminate, lock up, or kick all of us out. I knew I could have landed straight in jail for saying that! But surprisingly they started to treat me with courtesy. Perhaps they were afraid the Church would publish in the free world how the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia was illegally oppressing religiously inclined citizens. Be it as it may, I know I was under the protection of God.”

For the next year, Jirí found himself near the top of the secret police’s list of people dangerous to the state. “I had grown used to that for the past 40 years anyway,” he says. But although he was interrogated monthly by the secret police, he now also dealt monthly with the secretariat for religious affairs. He used those frequent opportunities “to let them get used to the idea that we would not withdraw our cause.” On 17 May 1989, he submitted a renewed official request for recognition. When he received no reply, he wrote letters of complaint and began making weekly visits to the secretariat.

Then came that remarkable day of 17 November 1989—the beginning of the nationwide “velvet revolution” against the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. “That was a signal to us to intensify even more the pressure regarding our petition. The secretariat for religious affairs referred me to the ministry of culture, who referred me to the state department, who claimed not to be able to do anything without a decision of the cabinet. There was chaos. Nobody knew anything; nobody was responsible for anything. Then the secret police ceased to exist, the secretariat for religious affairs was eliminated, and the power of the Communists was broken.”

In January 1990, Brother Snederfler submitted the Church’s petition to the new administration’s minister of culture, who was overseeing the registration of churches and religious societies. After hearing Jirí’s account and reading the documents, the minister of culture “immediately wrote a petition recommending that the government grant the Church official recognition and permission for public activity as soon as possible. He wrote that the new government had a moral duty to rectify the injustice done to our Church by the Communist regime, which had ‘illegally and criminally abolished the activity thereof.’”

On 6 February 1990, Elder Russell M. Nelson, Elder Hans B. Ringger, and Brother Snederfler met with the vice chairman of the new government; that afternoon they retraced Elder John A. Widtsoe’s steps up Priests Hill near Karlstejn Castle, and Elder Nelson reaffirmed the dedication of Czechoslovakia for the preaching of the restored gospel.

On 21 February 1990, the new administration passed a resolution granting the Church’s request, effective 1 March 1990. The news was broadcast nationwide in newspapers and on radio and television. “Finally, 40 long years of struggle for official recognition and public activity in Czechoslovakia had come to an end!” says Brother Snederfler.

As the date of our divorce hearing drew near, my husband sent me a 16-page letter evaluating our marriage. Despite priesthood counsel to the contrary, I began to believe my husband’s assertions that the problems in our marriage were my fault—that I was even the cause of his infidelity.
Torn with doubts, I turned to the scriptures. There I found hope and understanding in the Savior’s words. I reflected on how His words had already blessed and lifted me. I wrote in my journal: “The tides of self-pity, self-reproach, and self-destruction rage against my shore. And at my shore the Savior is ever there, building—shoring up—protecting against the onslaught—telling me I have value—telling me to believe in myself. His is the voice I prefer to hear, the voice I must heed.”
I was blessed with opportunities to rebuild belief in myself. Priesthood counsel and blessings offered me divine comfort. Through the Savior’s great love, strength and courage returned.

Even as we strive with all our might to fulfill our mission, we will all have experiences we would rather avoid. But these experiences, as unpleasant as they may be, can be most helpful to us. My next area of mission service was made up of sixteen small islands. Because the mission was so short of missionaries, I had no companion. My only instructions were that I should preach the gospel and build up the Church in my area.

Often I took members of the Church on some of those islands, and I often took them with me on preaching trips. We mostly traveled by small sailboat. One day as we were sailing to our home island, the weather became very rough. Suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of a tropical storm which was very dangerous. As two huge waves came toward us, the captain shouted to the six of us on board the boat, “Abandon ship!”

We dove into the sea as those waves smashed our tiny boat, leaving us struggling for our lives. Exerting all our efforts, we headed for a small island we had passed earlier. After swimming for about one hour, we finally made it to the shore, exhausted but alive. The storm passed rather rapidly, but we were still stranded on the island for several days before we were able to make our way home over much friendlier seas.

How much more I appreciated life and solid ground than I had before. We don’t begin to understand or appreciate life as we should until we sense the closeness of death. This whole experience gave me a new outlook and appreciation for life.

While I would not have chosen that experience in the sea or some other experiences I had, much of my subsequent happiness and joy can be traced back to some of those so-called “unwanted” experiences. We don’t need to seek these experiences. They find us more often than we may desire. All we have to do is try with all our might to live the way we should, remember on our goal, and leave the rest to the Lord.

President Brigham Young also knew the power of the written word and the importance of women in the Church. In September 1876 he met with Emmeline in his office and said to her: “I want to give you a mission, and it is to save grain. … I want the sisters to save the grain and I want. … you to begin by writing the strongest editorial that you can possibly write upon this subject.”
In 1876 Emmeline’s first editorial encouraging all women to save wheat appeared in the Woman’s Exponent. A central grain committee was established with Emmeline as chairman. Money was raised to buy wheat, fields were gleaned, and wheat was saved. Children helped the sisters too. During the first year of the program over 10,000 bushels of grain were saved! In subsequent years the wheat was given to the poor as well as to people in southern Utah who suffered from a drought. Flour was sent to San Francisco after the earthquake and fire in 1906, and a year later China received help from the Church during a famine. During World War I, the Relief Society sold more than one hundred thousand bushels of wheat to the United States government.

In middle school, my friends told me many times that I was weird for not saying bad words. They made fun of me for it. I was starting to think that maybe they were right and that I was supposed to use those words because everyone else used them.
I wanted to be different from my friends, but I was scared that I would be alone. On Sunday, one of the speakers in sacrament meeting spoke about choosing the right no matter what. A phrase of his talk caught my attention: “Sometimes we may feel alone when we do the right things. But you’re never alone, because God is always with you.” That answered my question, and I decided that I wasn’t going to use bad language.
The next day one of my friends was using bad language. I told him that he could talk that way if he wanted to, but not in front of me. After that, he stopped using bad words when I was around. Some other kids told me that what I did was brave, and I realized that I wasn’t the only one who was uncomfortable with his language. What the speaker said was true—I wasn’t alone!
I’ve decided that if I don’t like the language someone is using, I will say something. I know that it can be hard to do what is right, but the blessings we receive from making good choices are powerful.
Tony F., Chihuahua, Mexico

I always joyfully await the Sabbath day. On this day I feel the great love of our Heavenly Father. On the Sabbath, all the hardships in my life are forgotten. When I partake of the sacrament, my mind turns to the great sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us. I remember the awful suffering He endured so that we can be with our Heavenly Father again. My heart is filled with charity. I want to share this feeling with my neighbors, especially those who are not members of the Church.Anna R., 20, Ukraine

Lyssa carefully walked from the bus stop to her classroom. The freezing Canadian wind whipped her hair across her eyes, but Lyssa didn’t mind—the wind had brought snow as deep as her knees.
Lyssa loved snow. It made the world quiet. It dressed up the trees. It left icicles on the roof. And it tickled her face when it fell. When it snowed, Lyssa sledded. When it snowed, Lyssa built snowmen. When it snowed, Lyssa drank hot chocolate for breakfast.
Once inside the toasty classroom, Lyssa slowly took off her scarf, her hat, her mittens, her coat, her sweater, and her boots. Dressing warmly enough for the snow was a lot of work, but Lyssa didn’t mind. She put her snow clothes in her cubby. “I’ll be back at recess,” she whispered to them, and she hurried over to her desk.
After math and social studies, Lyssa quickly put back on her boots, her sweater, her coat, her mittens, her hat, and her scarf. She joined her best friend, Caitlin, in line to go back outside.
It was snowing again! Lyssa rushed out the door and looked up at the sky, letting the snow fall—tickle, tickle—on her face.
“Let’s play snow tag! Last one to the fence is It!” Caitlin called, and Lyssa’s classmates sprinted for the far field. Lyssa turned to join them until she saw Kevin sitting on a bench outside the classroom.
“Aren’t you going to play, Kevin?” Lyssa asked.
“No. The new snow filled up the paths, and it’s too hard to get to the field. I’m just going to sit here,” Kevin said.
Lyssa looked at Kevin’s legs. They were strapped to braces. Kevin didn’t walk very well even in the classroom. She guessed it would be hard for him to walk in the snow.
“Come on!” Caitlin called as she sprinted past Lyssa. “We’re all having fun!” But Lyssa just looked at Kevin, who stared at his shoes. “Aren’t you coming?”
“I’m going to play with Kevin today,” Lyssa said. Caitlin opened her mouth in disbelief.
“You’re playing with Kevin?” She said it so loudly that everyone stopped playing and looked at Lyssa. Two girls started whispering.
Lyssa swallowed. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll see you later.” Caitlin shrugged and jogged off, and Lyssa turned to Kevin. He was smiling. “So do you want to play with me?” Lyssa asked. “I’ll help you with the snow.”
“OK,” said Kevin.
Lyssa knelt down in the snow and started crawling. She crawled with her knees and elbows so she could flatten the snow for Kevin. Pretty soon, Kevin was walking slowly behind her in the path she had made.
Lyssa turned right. Kevin followed her path to the right. Lyssa turned left. Kevin followed her path to the left. Suddenly, another path was in front of Lyssa. She was back at the beginning!
Kevin started to laugh. “We’re going curvy!” Lyssa started laughing too.
The laughter seemed to make clearing the path easier, so Lyssa kept laughing. She crawled faster and faster, carefully making a path for Kevin. A couple of times he fell down, but Lyssa helped him get up again.
They played all through recess. When the bell rang, Kevin asked, “Can we do that again tomorrow?”
“Sure!” said Lyssa. “It was fun. The only thing better than snow is snow with a friend!”

Mia Maids Kate Hancock and Charmaine Davison, from the Sydney suburbs of Revesby and Gymea, have been friends since they were very young. Even though they live about 45 minutes apart, they go out of their way to do things together. They like the same music, they enjoy spending time together (especially at the beach), and sometimes they even like the same boys.
That closeness became even more precious last year when tragedy struck Kate’s family.
“My nephew, Ben Innis, died just before Christmas, and Charmaine helped me through it,” says Kate. “She always reminds me to go to the scriptures when I feel bad about it. She helps me remember that we know where he is and that he’s all right.”
But it was more than just Charmaine’s good advice that kept Kate going. It was also her willingness to listen, to sympathize, and to care that helped Kate through a very rough time.
“My grandfather had died some time previously,” says Charmaine. “I was just devastated. He died during school holidays, so I had heaps of time to read the scriptures. It helped me so much, and I knew it would help Kate, too.”
So now when Kate and Charmaine list the kinds of activities they like to do together, they not only include things like shopping, talking on the phone, and sports, but they also remember things like studying the scriptures and attending the temple.
“When you do temple work for a member of your family, and you feel really worthy to be there, it helps you feel closer to people who are gone,” says Charmaine. “It’s such a good feeling.”
And, not surprisingly, Kate couldn’t agree more.

I made a pillow with a picture of Jesus Christ because it was one of my goals. I am thankful that I was baptized. I like to keep a notebook where I can write down my goals. I like to do things, and I watch my mother and always do what she does.
Miriam C., age 8, Mexico

This story happened in the USA.
Dominic climbed in the car and buckled his seat belt. “Where are we going?” he asked Mom.
“We’re going to serve someone,” Mom said. “A family needs help getting some food.”
They drove to a big gray building. Dominic had never been there before.
“What is this place?” he asked. “I thought we were going to the store to get food.”
Mom closed the car door. “It’s called a bishops’ storehouse. It’s kind of like a grocery store, except you don’t have to pay for the food here.”
Dominic’s eyes got big. “It’s all free?”
“Sort of,” Mom said. “When we fast, we can pay a fast offering, just like how we pay tithing. That money helps buy the food that goes into this storehouse. Then when someone from church doesn’t have enough money, they can ask the bishop for help and come here to get what they need. In places that don’t have a storehouse, the bishop has other ways to help.”
Dominic walked up to the door with Mom. “So the family we’re helping today doesn’t have enough money to buy food?”
“Not right now,” Mom said. “But that’s why we’re helping! All the members of the Church help each other, so none of us go hungry.”
Dominic nodded. “I’m glad they’ll be able to get food.”
“Me too. Now, let’s go! I’ll show you how it works.”
Dominic and Mom walked into the storehouse. It had rows of shelves with different things on them, like a store.
Mom pulled a paper out of her bag. “This is called a ‘food order.’ It’s a list of things the family needs. Our bishop and Relief Society President worked together to help them make the list.”
“You always use a list when you shop too, Mom!” Dominic said.
“That’s right! We’ll make sure to get everything on the list so the family has what they need.”
Mom got a shopping cart. Then a volunteer helped them find the things on the list. Dominic pushed the cart while Mom put the things inside it.
“OK, I think we’re done!” Mom looked at the list again. “Let’s make sure we have everything. Did we get bananas?”
“Yes!” Dominic said.
“Bread?”
“Yes!”
When they were done, the volunteer helped them put the food in their car. Dominic waved goodbye.
“How do you feel?” Mom asked as they drove home.
“Great!” Dominic said. “But also . . . not great.”
Mom looked surprised. “Why do you feel not great?”
“Because seeing all that food made me hungry! Can we have lunch when we go home?”
Mom smiled. “Of course! A hard worker like you needs food too.”
Dominic smiled back. He felt good inside for helping someone today.
What can you do to help people in need?
Illustrations by Dagmar Smith

This past month the Canada Toronto Mission held a mission-wide seminar. I was asked to sing a song but couldn’t find one that fit our mission program, which we call SOAR (S—sacrifice; O—obedience; A—attitude; R—rededication). I prayed about my problem, and I was directed to the August 1976 New Era, which was buried in a pile of magazines. There I found the song “Let Me Soar.” I sang this for the seminar. It was a definite answer to prayer.

Ask somebody to read the following story by President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008). As they read the story, light the candle.
“Many years ago I worked for one of our railroads. A switchman was aimlessly strolling about the platform one day. I asked him to move a car to another track. He exploded. He threw his cap on the pavement and jumped up and down on it, swearing like a drunken sailor. I stood there and laughed at his childish behavior. Noting my laughter, he began to laugh at his own foolishness. He then quietly climbed on the switch engine, drove it over to the empty car, and moved it to an empty track.”1

7. Joseph Smith’s vision of the celestial kingdom: the first specific revelation on salvation for the dead. The day is January 21, 1836. The place is one of the upper rooms in the Kirtland Temple. Among those present are the Prophet Joseph Smith, his father Joseph Smith, Sr., Oliver Cowdery (the second elder, who held the keys of the kingdom jointly with the Prophet), and Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, the counselors in the First Presidency. They are administering a partial endowment; the full ordinance of the endowment was being reserved for a future performance when a temple designed for ordinance work itself should be built.
In this setting, the doctrinal foundation having been laid, and with the Spirit of the Lord resting mightily upon them, the barrier between heaven and earth was opened. “I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof,” the Prophet said. He described its beauty, including “the blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son.” He saw Adam and Abraham and his father and mother in that holy realm, showing that the vision was one of things to come, because his father and mother were yet in mortality and his father was then present in the same room.
“I saw … my brother, Alvin, who has long since slept: And marveled how it was that he had obtained an inheritance in that kingdom, seeing that he had departed this life before the Lord had set his hand to gather Israel the second time, and had not been baptized for the remission of sins.” From this, it is clear that whatever the scriptures said about the promises made to the fathers, about all the seed of Abraham having the right to special blessings, and about the preaching of the gospel in the spirit world, the Prophet had not yet envisioned the soul-expanding concept of salvation for the dead.
In this setting, the answer was given and the gospel spread forth its light to embrace the living and the dead. “Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying—All who have died without a knowledge of this Gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom, for I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.” (History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2:380.)
Every member of the Church should ponder upon and memorize these words. They contain the Lord’s promise that all those who would have received the gospel in this life “with all their hearts,” had the opportunity been afforded, will receive it in the spirit world and be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God.
Following this, the Prophet received the comforting assurance “that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability, are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.” (History of the Church, 2:381; see 2:382–89.)

I had been dating a young man whom I was madly in love with for about a year. I truly thought I was going to marry him! But I never thought that dating him would bring me face to face with a problem I had once struggled to overcome with all my strength.

When I found out this man I was planning on marrying was using pornography, I was eager to help him and support him in overcoming it. I had been through the repentance process and the effort of overcoming pornography before, and I knew what the Lord could do for Him. But it seemed like every time I tried to guide him to the help he needed to overcome his problem, things always went wrong. He didn’t seem to want help. After a while, I realized we didn’t have the same ideas about pornography. Yes, we were both members of the Church, but the teachings of the gospel didn’t seem to mean the same thing to both of us.

I was frustrated. I loved him, and I believed that with help, he could beat this problem. I was also feeling vulnerable because I was having to face the same problem I had worked so hard to overcome in the past. I decided to pray one night and ask for wisdom from my Father in Heaven on how to move forward because I needed the power to resist temptation, and I also wanted to know how to support the person I was planning to share my life with.

When the answer finally came, I felt peace and knew I had to talk to the man I was dating with a purpose in mind. I wanted to let him know what I expected from dating someone, which was getting married in the temple and having children. I needed to know if our futures aligned and if he was moving toward the Savior. I needed to know if we should continue our relationship. I had high hopes for it and believed that after we talked, everything would work out.

It was a sunny afternoon when I shared with him my dreams and goals about my future family and raising my children in the gospel. To my surprise, after listening to me, he got irritated with me. I realized we had very different ideas about the future. I was devastated, but surprisingly I felt at peace, and I knew my answer was to end the relationship. He wasn’t in a place where he was willing to try to overcome his problems with pornography or turn to the Savior for help, and I couldn’t help him if he didn’t want the help.

For a while, I wondered why even after doing the right thing and doing everything I could to help him, my heart still ended up being broken into a million pieces. But eventually, I shed my last tears for him and I focused on that peace I had felt when I ended the relationship. I knew that answer had come from heaven.

It has been a few years since my relationship with that man ended. And I still see him as the good person he always was. But I know that he needs to be the one who goes to the Savior for help—I can’t force him to. He has his agency and I have mine. Since this experience, I have tried to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit without hesitation. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and that we can trust that as we make decisions based on the Spirit’s promptings, He will never let us be led astray. He is always preparing us for good things to come.

Jacob slipped in the cold slush on the entry floor. “Hold still, Annie!” he shouted.
He squatted next to the big dog and reached for her front paw. He held a towel in his other hand. Annie whined and jerked her paw away when Jacob touched it. She shook herself and nearly knocked Jacob over. He grabbed at her collar and shouted, “Annie! Hold still!”
Jacob let Annie go and wiped up the puddles with the towel. It was his responsibility to clean Annie’s paws when she came in the house, but it was frustrating. Annie didn’t like having her paws cleaned. Jacob sighed. He loved Annie, but she was a lot of work.
So was school. Mrs. Randall assigned a lot of homework, and Jacob didn’t think she was fair. Yesterday, Jacob went to school with his homework unfinished.
“But I already know how to do it, Mrs. Randall,” Jacob said. “I don’t see why I should have to do 20 problems to prove it!”
Mrs. Randall frowned. “I require 20 problems, Jacob. No arguments.” She marked his check-off sheet “Incomplete.”
It seemed that every week Jacob had a problem with Mrs. Randall. Jacob couldn’t wait until Christmas break.
Things were getting worse with Annie too. Whenever Jacob tried to wipe Annie’s feet, she nipped at his fingers.
“No!” Jacob would shout.
By Christmas Eve, Jacob’s fingers were seriously sore. There were little nip marks all over them. Annie didn’t bite hard, but her teeth were sharp.
“Ouch!” Jacob shouted as Annie bit him once again. “Stop it, Annie!”
“Why are you shouting at your dog, Jacob?” Grandma asked. She had been watching from the sofa as Jacob wiped Annie’s paws.
“She chews my fingers,” Jacob explained.
“Well, shouting won’t help,” Grandma said. “People and dogs are alike that way.”
For some reason, a picture of Mrs. Randall came into Jacob’s head. Could he be speaking to her the wrong way too?
“The scriptures say, ‘A soft answer turneth away wrath,’” Grandma said. Then she got up from the sofa and went to the kitchen.
Jacob was thoughtful as he went to the kitchen for dinner. “Grandma, what’s wrath?” he asked.
“Wrath is anger or wanting to punish,” she said.
Jacob thought about that. Maybe he hadn’t tried everything with Annie.
Before bed, Jacob had to mop Annie’s feet for the last time of the night. Instead of shouting and scolding, he tried to speak quietly. He talked to her about Christmas. He called Annie a good dog and told her he loved her. He politely asked her to stop biting his fingers. Annie had been whining and nipping at his hands, but as he got to her last paw, she stopped. Jacob kept talking, kindly and softly. Annie twitched a little as he finished toweling between her toes, but she didn’t bite.
Jacob could hardly wait to tell Grandma. He knew the “soft answer” was the right answer. He knew it would help Annie to stop nipping at his fingers. Jacob felt good inside. The Holy Ghost was testifying to him that he had learned a true principle.
As Jacob got ready for bed, he thought about Mrs. Randall. He knew he needed to work hard on his assignments and be responsible for his schoolwork. He also knew that he needed to speak more respectfully. Could a soft answer turn away some of Mrs. Randall’s frustration with him?
“There’s only one way to find out,” Jacob thought.
He was excited to try.

And may I add that the family setting is an ideal place to read the Book of Mormon. We as a family recently finished reading the Book of Mormon. Although two of our children are not old enough to read yet, we find that they understand more than we thought they would, for the spirit and truth of this great book enlighten all ages.

“Dad is a twin and always shared things with his twin brother. His brother contracted rheumatic fever when they were in school and could not work, so when Dad worked, he would share his paycheck with his brother.”

“We have a surprise visitor for breakfast today,” Father said one morning. “Can anyone guess who it is?”
Lindy wiped the milk from her face and put her glass down. Mother and Father were sitting in their usual places, and her brother, Mike, was across the table eating a piece of toast.
“I don’t see anyone here but us,” Lindy said. “Is someone at the door?”
“No, no one is at the door,” Father answered. “Guess again.”
“Did someone come last night after we went to sleep? Is someone waiting upstairs to surprise us?” Mike asked.
“No, no one came after you went to sleep last night, and there isn’t anyone upstairs to surprise you. This visitor is here with us right now.”
Mike leaned back and looked under the table. “There’s no one under the table,” he said with a smile on his face.
Lindy looked all around. “I still don’t see anyone anywhere,” she said.
“We can’t see this visitor,” Father said. “We have to listen for him.”
The house was quiet as they all sat still and listened.
Once again they were all quiet while Lindy listened and listened. She couldn’t hear a visitor.
She shut her eyes tightly and listened again. “I still don’t hear anyone,” she said.
“Let’s give Lindy a hint,” Mother suggested. “Our visitor sounds like teedily, teedily, teedily, tee to me.”
“He sounds like wheedly, wheedly, wheedly, whee to me,” Father said.
“I hear him!” Mike suddenly said. “I hear him now.”
Father smiled. “Now let’s see if Lindy can hear him.”
“He sounds like chirpity, chirpity, chirpity, chirp to me,” Mike laughed.
Lindy listened once more. Then she smiled. “Now I hear our visitor,” she said. “It’s a bird and it’s come with a beautiful song.”
“Yes, Lindy,” Father replied. “A special bird called a wren has come to visit us at breakfast today.”
“I hope it comes again tomorrow,” Lindy said. “I think it’s a happy teedily, wheedly, chirpity visitor!”

Forty-five Scouts and eight leaders from the La Verne California Stake hiked a 15-mile segment of the Mormon Battalion Trail.
At the first night’s campfire, the history of the battalion was retold. The following morning, the Scouts began their hike up a canyon. Unlike the scenery the battalion members found, these modern Scouts had to make their way across freeways and train tracks. Dan Brown, 12, whose great-great-grandfather was a member of the Mormon Battalion, said, “I learned how miserable the march must have been. I only hiked 15 miles. They traveled over 2,000.”
The La Verne Stake Scouts hiked another segment of the trail near San Diego last year. They hope to hike additional sections of the trail in coming years.

“I have had people tell me, ‘Oh, you’ve done so many things,’” says Barbara Winder, Relief Society General President. “I tell them, ‘But I’ve lived so many years!’ There really is a season for everything. I couldn’t possibly do today what I’m doing as Relief Society general president if my children were small and still at home and I were caring for them. …

“This is a lesson we all have to learn. Only we can judge how much we can handle. We often think that someone else is doing everything [at the same time]. But usually one sister is doing one thing, and another sister is doing something else, and yet another sister is doing another thing. Then we try to do it all! And when we fail to ‘do it all’ we finally realize that we can’t do it all. As we learn what we can do, we are growing; and then sometimes we can take on a little more—perhaps because of what we have learned in the process.”