Gospel Story Finder

On my office wall is a quote from Anne Morrow Lindbergh: “My life cannot implement in action the demands of all the people to whom my heart responds” (Gift from the Sea [1955], 124). For me, it is a needed reminder. A few years ago, already weary, I foolishly went late one afternoon to two different hospitals to give blessings to three individuals who were dying of cancer. Not only was I worn out, but worse, the last person really didn’t get much from me. Things had not been “done in wisdom and order.” I was running faster than my supply of strength and energy on that occasion. Those blessings would have been better given over two or three days, and I would have had more empathy and energy.

I have always known that the Church is good and right, but there came a time when I wanted to know for myself that it’s true. I really wanted a testimony. One night I was reading in Alma 32. In verse 27, it says to “exercise a particle of faith,” and that “even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe.” It helps me to know that if I keep praying and searching the scriptures faithfully, my testimony will grow. I can now say with all my heart that I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true!

Kate Webster, 16Kaysville, Utah

Camila is learning to read. She loves books! Camila likes books about robots. Camila likes books about ladybugs. But there are some books that Camila loves most of all. They are the scriptures! The scriptures are special books. The scriptures tell us about Jesus. The scriptures teach us about the commandments. When Camila reads the scriptures with her family, she feels happy inside. What is your favorite story from the scriptures? When you read the scriptures, you can feel happy inside too!

A lovely lady of more than 90 years visited with me one day and unexpectedly recounted several regrets. She mentioned that many years earlier a neighboring farmer, with whom she and her husband had occasionally disagreed, asked if he could take a shortcut across her property to reach his own acreage. She paused in her narrative and, with a tremor in her voice, said, “Tommy, I didn’t let him cross our property but required him to take the long way around—even on foot—to reach his property. I was wrong and I regret it. He’s gone now, but oh, I wish I could say to him, ‘I’m so sorry.’ How I wish I had a second chance.”

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

Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix (1798–1863) was a French historical painter and leader of the Romantic School. When he first exhibited his works, he caused a great furor because of his departure from the standard classical art of his time. In Delacroix’s painting of the storm, his presentation is more emotional, his brush strokes are more crude, and his colors more extreme than those in Rembrandt’s depiction of the same incident.

Genealogy Bowl #1 and #2 (Because of These)
Hyrum Benson, Idaho, USA
Ceramic (41? x 21.5? x 5?)
“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” teaches that “the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.” 7 Being part of God’s family and part of earthly families is an evidence of God’s love, which Hyrum Benson sought to capture in this work. He says: “These two bowls are the personal genealogies of my wife and me. Each bowl features seven generations” with important dates and locations of the individuals.
Hyrum adds: “Using traditional letterpress type, I hand-pressed each individual character into the unfired stiff clay. While the process is tedious and has its own set of issues, I wanted to hand-press the type, letter by letter, name by name, date by date, because of the symbolic nature that these individuals have played in my life. In reality, they have been imprinted on my soul. By pressing each letter, I have been privileged to know these individuals more, learning where they came from and seeing a glimpse of why they did what they did. Despite all these names, dates, and places, these bowls only tell a fraction of the story, which I am grateful to have.”

When Lorenzo Snow was the prophet, there were only four temples, and all of them were in Utah. He knew that one day temples would dot the earth. In 1899, he prophesied, “The time will come when there will be Temples established over every portion of the land.”* There are now temples in 32 countries of the world.

He moved in with his older brother, and during that year, found a job as an electronics technician in a local business. The dreams of his higher education were beginning to come true.
With no organized Church unit in Libreville, Gabin held unofficial meetings on Sundays and family home evenings on Mondays at his home. Some friends and a few family members attended with interest. Gabin would teach from the Book of Mormon and they would watch 2004 general conference sessions.
Throughout this time, Internet services inside Gabon were unreliable and costly—and accessing websites outside the country was almost impossible. From time to time, Gabin was able to access Church websites and download a general conference talk or two. These he would print out and add to his Sunday “lesson plans”.

Some time ago I received a letter from Brother Rafael Pérez Cisneros of Galicia, Spain, telling me about his conversion. Part of his letter said the following:
“I had no concept of the purpose of life or what the family really is. When I finally allowed the missionaries to come into my home, I told them, ‘Give me your message, but I warn you that nothing is going to make me change religions.’ On this first occasion my children and my wife were listening attentively. I felt separated from the group. I felt afraid, and without thinking I went to my bedroom. I closed the door and began to pray from the depths of my soul like I had never prayed before. ‘Father, if it is true that these young men are Your disciples and have come to help us, please make it known to me.’ It was in that very moment that I began to cry like a small child. My tears were abundant, and I felt happiness like I had never before experienced. I was absorbed in a sphere full of joy and happiness that penetrated my soul. I understood that God was answering my prayer.
“All of my family was baptized, and we had the blessing of being sealed in the Swiss Temple, making me the happiest man in the world.”

I joined the Church by myself in central California, USA, when I was a teenager, and in the 20-plus years since then, I’ve always been either the only Black person in my ward or one of a very, very few. I have had some difficult experiences, even at church, with regards to my race. Thankfully, I have a testimony that God loves me and that there is a place for all of us in His kingdom.
While Church leaders have called on “all people to abandon attitudes and actions of prejudice toward any group or individual,”1 there are some who still haven’t learned how to do it. I saw that as a young single adult when I was left to wonder if that was why none of the boys were interested in dating me and if I would ever have the opportunity to marry in the temple because of it. I see it now when someone at church makes an incorrect comment about race that makes me feel singled out, as if my worthiness is being evaluated in front of everyone. And if no one speaks up to correct this false doctrine, I am left to do it alone.
It’s uncomfortable to be stared at, to have people touch my hair without permission, or to be ignored. And when I try to talk about these things, it hurts deeply when I am told by people I love and trust that I’m just making things up, being too sensitive, or acting like a victim.
Why do I and others share these painful experiences? It’s because I want to be part of my ward family. It’s because I see how much I could contribute if given the opportunity. But I feel like I’m on the periphery of Church life—not fully sheltered in the refuge we all need. It’s because with greater mutual understanding, we can be so much better together.
I want to give people an opportunity to get to know me, so I try to be open and honest with and kind to everyone I meet. I try to initiate friendships by inviting people to lunch and starting conversations. I try to create safe spaces for honesty, vulnerability, and love, and make time for other people the way I hope they’ll make time for me. I try to be the friend I want to have—which includes trying to understand experiences others have had that I don’t share.
I’ve felt seen and included by simple acts of kindness and reaching out. I feel included when people make an effort to have a real conversation with me, make time for me, or invite me to spend time with them. It feels so good when people show that they want to be around you.

As a young man, George Albert often went to visit Lucy Woodruff, who lived just across the street from the almost-finished Salt Lake Temple.
Lucy: George Albert, look at that beautiful hot air balloon.
George: I think it’s going to hit the Tabernacle!
George Albert ran to call the fire department from the nearest telephone. But when the firefighters got to Temple Square, they discovered that the gates were locked and that the night watchman didn’t have a key.
George: We have to break in fast!
Fire man: Line up, men. We’ll charge the gate on the count of three.
Working together, the men and firefighters put out the blaze. The Tabernacle was saved!
Lucy: George Albert, you’re a hero!

Third, I will never forget my consternation as I watched the workmen using new nails as they built the walls back up and completed remodeling our home. The pile of nails that I had straightened and put in the green bucket grew and grew and was never used. I went to my father and said, “Wouldn’t it be better to save the new nails and use the ones I have straightened?” I was proud of the work I had accomplished.
My father showed me something very important. He took a new nail and, using an odd angle, drove it into a board. He was able to drive it straight and true. Then he took one of the nails I had straightened so carefully, and, using the same odd angle, hit it again and again. It soon bent and was impossible to drive into the board. So I learned that a used or bent nail is never as strong as a new one. But then why had my father asked me to straighten those nails?
As a boy, I never remembered receiving a satisfactory answer. It was not until I had a son of my own that I started to understand. When my son was about three years old, I took him out to the garden to help me weed. I assumed that he, being low to the ground at the time, would have a real advantage at weeding. Unfortunately for my garden, he had a difficult time distinguishing between the weeds and the young plants.
I then tried Lee at milking a cow we owned together with a neighbor. He quickly developed the hand action of a fine milker, but, sadly, his aim was not very good. Whenever I checked on him, he was always surrounded by a white puddle, and the milk bucket was nearly empty. He would look up at me and smile proudly, and my initial inclination to be angry would quickly dissipate—but I was frustrated. I expected him to help me, but he only seemed to create more work.
It was in such moments of frustration that I remembered straightening the nails for my father, and I began to understand. Work is something more than the final end result. It is a discipline. We must learn to do, and do well, before we can expect to receive tangible rewards for our labors. My father must have known that if he focused on the outcome of my labors, he would only become frustrated with how inadequately I did things then. So he found tasks that were difficult and would challenge me, to teach me the discipline of hard work. He was using the straightened nails not to rebuild our home but to build my character.

When my father passed away, my mother was left with two young sons. In time she married a childless widower, and they had one son together. I grew up in what my parents could have termed a “hers-ours” arrangement. However, we thought of the five of us as a traditional family.
We avoided such labels as “stepfather” and “half brother.” For example, I accepted the fact that I had two fathers: one was my biological father, who gave me a rich, noble heritage; the other raised me and gave me a second rich, noble heritage. My two brothers and I grew up united and equal, though my youngest brother had a different last name. Our “blended family” was successful because we were given love and respect as well as opportunities to serve and sacrifice.

The General Authorities of the Church, for whom I am most grateful, are true heroes for me. I had been a member of the Church for just one week when I met my first General Authority, Elder Royden G. Derrick, a member of the Seventy. I shall never forget the challenge he presented to the members of the Church to be exemplary in all aspects of our lives.

What I didn’t mention during this address was that I knew this promise was true because I was in the midst of completing this very same assignment myself for the first time.
On December 1, 2016, I obtained a new set of scriptures and proceeded to begin the same assignment that I would later extend to young adults in January. When I finished the assignment six weeks later, I had looked up and marked more than 2,200 citations from the four books of scripture.1
For me, to be able to accomplish this assignment was just thrilling!
Something I found to be most insightful was that the Savior was telling us about Himself through these various periods of time—Old Testament, New Testament, the Restoration period, and our day. In all books of scripture, the story is the same and the Storyteller is the same.
I have devoted much of my 93 years to learning about the Savior, but rare are the occasions when I have been able to learn as much as I did over this six-week study period. In fact, I learned so much about Him from this study that I am planning to share much of it in other upcoming addresses that I am currently preparing.2
Upon beginning this assignment, I didn’t expect that this study would help me to receive a new testimony of the divinity of the work of Joseph Smith—but it did! The revelations recorded by Joseph Smith and the insights found in the Bible are amazingly consistent. It was so enlightening for me to see this in my study.
Joseph Smith wouldn’t have possibly had time to correlate and cross-reference with the Bible at the rapid rate at which he was translating the Book of Mormon—but it’s all here!
So not only do I now have a greater testimony of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but I also have a reaffirmation of my absolute conviction that the system Joseph Smith had for translating the Book of Mormon was a gift from God.
I know how you feel. I thought the same thing of myself—that there’s no way I can have time to do all of this. I needed to remind myself that a comment like this is not a faith-promoted comment. A faith-promoted comment would be “I know I don’t have time for this, but I’m going to make time for it. And I’ll fulfill it with what time I have.”
Each of us who takes this challenge will finish in our own time frames. For me, much of the joy of this came from getting it all done in just six weeks. This intense study over a relatively short period of time allowed me to appreciate the complementary nature of the learnings to be found in the Old Testament, the Book of Mormon, the New Testament, and the Doctrine and Covenants.
To those of you who feel you don’t have time, if you will make a sacrifice, you will be well rewarded and very, very grateful for the change of perspective, increased knowledge, and improved depth of your conversion. I know this is true because I have seen the same rewards in my own life.

For 28 years I worked for IBM in Korea. During that time I also served in many Church positions, including stake executive secretary, stake high councilor, stake president, regional representative, and Area Seventy. I always tried to balance the priorities of family, work, Church callings, and time for myself. And I was always able to do what I needed to do.
As a regional representative and Area Seventy, I had to visit Salt Lake twice a year for general conference, and as an executive at work, I found that leaving the office for more than a week was not easy. I was determined to make the trip, and the president of the company knew me and trusted me when I said I would manage it. When we set priorities, we can manage our problems. I don’t like to compromise my beliefs for work advancement. Once you have that mindset, then your heart is peaceful because you are doing what is right. Keeping our commitments or covenants is not easy and requires a lot of sacrifice, but when we do, the blessings we get will be a lot more than what we sacrificed.

With this new knowledge, I knew what my next step would be. I was baptized on May 3, 2003. The following day, I was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will always remember my baptism, the Spirit I felt, and the covenants I made with my Heavenly Father.

President Hinckley also announced plans for two new temples to be constructed to meet the needs of steadily swelling membership in Idaho and in the Salt Lake Valley.
The Twin Falls Idaho Temple will be the fourth temple in Idaho and follows the announcement earlier this year that a temple will be built in Rexburg, Idaho, near the campus of BYU–Idaho. Idaho is home to more than 366,000 Latter-day Saints.
A site has yet to be named for the new temple in the Salt Lake Valley, which will be the 12th in Utah to serve the state’s more than 1.7 million members and the third in the Salt Lake Valley. President Hinckley indicated that if membership in the state continues to grow as predicted, a fourth temple may be needed in the valley.
With these new temples added to others previously announced or now under construction, within a few years the Church will have 130 working temples.
“Others will be constructed as the Church continues to grow,” President Hinckley promised.

Another time a friend wanted to tell me a joke. I asked him if my mom could hear it. He said no. I told him he should never tell jokes like that and not to tell me. I’m glad I chose the right.