Gospel Story Finder

August in the Holy Land. Around us the ruins of Capernaum shimmered in the afternoon heat. It was a fascinating place to be, but our guide and a nearby cicada had both been droning for some time, and my mind began to wander.
Suddenly I was alert as the guide pointed to the tree that shaded us and said offhandedly, “They call that the ‘crown of thorns’ tree.” I looked up at the leafy branches. Where were the thorns? Reaching, I gingerly pulled a small branch closer.
There, among the delicate leaves, I saw the thorns. Slender and green, wickedly sharp and as long as my thumb, they couldn’t be seen from more than a few feet away. But anyone coming into contact with one of those leafy twigs would certainly feel pain.
I thought of the many paintings I had seen of the Savior standing before a mockery of a court, robed in purple and wearing a crown of twisted, dry, thorny vines. Suddenly it occurred to me that a slave or soldier tasked with making that crown might want to work with supple green branches like those of the tree overhead—not with brittle, dry twigs. More tellingly, the purpose of the crown was not just to inflict pain but to taunt and mock.
In the ancient world a green, leafy crown or wreath—usually of fragrant laurel leaves—was often given to the winners of contests and battles. Laurel wreaths adorned the images of kings and emperors. Perhaps the cruel crown pressed down on the Savior’s brow was leafy and green in sardonic reference to that ancient honor. It’s just supposition, not a matter of doctrine. But for me, visualizing it that way brings one aspect of the Atonement more clearly into focus: the Savior is aware of our sorrows, and He is able to heal us.

After they
Have finished
Dancing
With the breeze
And put aside
All ruffled yellow
Ball gowns,
After they
Have handed
Down
Each bit of
Bridal lace
To children,
Old dandelions
Bend to gossip
In tattered
Petticoats.

By now the youth were getting excited about how great it felt to get things together for people who they knew would be thrilled to receive it, so they extended the scope of the project. They learned that hygiene supplies were desperately needed, so they got to work.

As part of their youth conference activity, the youth used donations from their stake to put together packets containing basic supplies like soap and toothpaste. Included in each packet was a written testimony and an expression of love.

When the school term ended in October, I went to my hometown, Rio Blanco, for a three-month break. While there, I helped with the corn harvest. One day I was riding up a hill in an old truck when the brakes failed. The truck lurched off the road, threw me into a ditch, and almost ran over my head. I was very shaken and wondered what would have happened to me if I had died.

When I was a young boy, I received a loving gift from my Father in Heaven that has helped me throughout my life. One summer morning I was with my parents and my two little brothers and sister at our ranch trying to round up our horses.
I remember watching my dad and my little brothers as I walked in the pasture by myself. The sky was blue, the sun was bright, the grass was green and lush, and there was a little breeze in the air. As I stood there, I looked up to the sky and the mountains. Then an overwhelming feeling came upon me that Heavenly Father had created all of this—everything I could see—and that He loved me.
At that age, I had not yet read the Book of Mormon. My understanding of the gospel was limited. And yet I felt something very real that went deep into my heart. It was a warm, gentle feeling of truth.
That experience caused me to be sensitive to spiritual things and to listen to the counsel from the Lord. Each of us has the privilege to have spiritual experiences if we seek them and pay attention to them.
For me, ever since that moment in the pasture as a boy, whenever I’ve faced difficult times or temptations, I’ve remembered what I felt at that moment—the Holy Ghost teaching me truth. That feeling has sustained me. I knew God would help me, and even when I’d struggle, I knew the Lord loved me and I could turn to Him.

This story happened in Slovenia.
Maja sat on the steps of her house and rested her chin in her hands. The sun was shining bright, warm rays of light through the tall trees. The air smelled like fresh pine needles.
Mami came out and sat next to Maja. “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m supposed to share my favorite scripture in Primary,” Maja said. “But I don’t have a favorite. And I don’t know which one to pick.”
Mami nodded. “Choosing a favorite scripture is hard.” She looked out at the trees, then stood up. “I have an idea.”
Mami went back inside. When she came back, she was holding her scriptures. “Let’s start with a story. What’s your favorite scripture story?”
Maja thought about it. “I like when Jesus visited the Nephites.”
Mami flipped through the pages in the Book of Mormon. “That story starts in 3 Nephi.” She pointed to the page. “Let’s take turns reading and pick out verses we like.”
Maja nodded and listened as Mami read. She read about Jesus Christ calling His disciples. She read about peacemakers and prayer.
Then it was Maja’s turn. When she finished one of the verses, she paused. She felt like the sun was shining bright enough to fill her heart.
She looked up at Mami. “I like that one.”
“Me too. What do you like about it?” Mami asked.
Maja shrugged as a smile spread on her face. “It’s about Jesus. And it just makes me feel happy.”
Mami smiled back. “That’s a great way to know you’ve found a favorite scripture. Do you want to share that one in Primary?”
Maja nodded excitedly. “Will you help me learn it?”
“Of course!” Mami said.
Mami and Maja practiced one word at a time. While they worked, the birds chirped in the trees, like they were learning too.
All week, Maja kept practicing her new favorite scripture. On Sunday morning, she was a little nervous. She practiced saying her scripture on the long drive to church.
There were only a few kids in Maja’s Primary. But as she walked into the classroom, Maja felt like butterflies were flying around in her stomach.
When it was her turn to share, Maja stood and took a deep breath. “Behold, I am the law, and the light,” she said. “Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.”
When Maja was done, she sat down and smiled. She did it! The nervous butterflies were gone, and the warm, sunshiny feeling was back. She knew her favorite scripture would bring that feeling whenever she needed it.
The scripture Maja learned for Primary still brings her feelings of sunshine and comfort today! What’s your favorite scripture?
Illustrations by Chloe Dominique

Norway Centennial Celebrated at Temple Square
Hundreds of people with Scandinavian ancestry gathered January 15 at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square to commemorate the centennial celebration of Norway’s independence.
The celebration included a speech by Norwegian dignitary Bendik Rugaas, a musical presentation by the International Children’s Choir, and a tribute to Norway from Elder Ronald T. Halverson of the Seventy.
Elder Halverson spoke of the faith displayed by the more than 30,000 Scandinavian Church members who came to Utah during the second half of the 19th century. “It took more than an invitation; it took a special motivation and indoctrination. It took spiritual conviction and faith not only for them to come but to endure in this barren wilderness,” he said.
After his remarks, Elder Halverson presented Mr. Rugaas with a book about the trials faced by Norwegian and Danish Saints who crossed the plains in the Seventh Handcart Company.
“It will give you an idea of the hardships and sacrifices that they faced,” Elder Halverson told Mr. Rugaas. “It is not a complete history, but a history that will help you understand why they came and the dedication that was necessary for our forefathers to establish Zion.”
Mr. Rugaas, who was the first National Librarian of Norway, expressed thanks for the book.
During his four-day visit, he also toured the Family History Library, addressed students at Brigham Young University, and watched the pioneer film Legacy.
“I have been very moved by watching the film Legacy,” he said.
He also said he noticed that many in attendance were dressed in traditional Norwegian garb. “When I look out and see all the sweaters, I can go back and say it was like being at an annual convention of the Norwegian Arts and Crafts Celebration,” Mr. Rugaas joked.

Last summer, my wife and I had the opportunity to travel to San Diego, California, and there see Shakespeare’s Macbeth at the Old Globe Theatre. We saw two performances, because our daughter Carolyn was playing the part of one of the three witches in that play. Of course, we were delighted to see her in the play and even more delighted when, at a dramatic moment, she said those famous lines: “By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes” (act 4, scene 1, lines 40–41).
When I heard that, I thought how useful it would be to have an early-warning system which would tell us about the approach of evil and allow us to be prepared for it. Evil is coming toward us, whether or not we have an early-warning system.

The Young Women of the Bartlesville Oklahoma Second Ward, Tulsa Oklahoma Stake, have been working for several years to earn enough money to make a temple trip. They originally intended to make the trip to Utah to do baptisms for the dead in the Salt Lake Temple. But when the announcement was made that a temple was to be built in Dallas, Texas, they decided to donate the money they had earned in money-making projects to the temple fund.

Although their temple trip has been postponed until the new temple is completed, the Bartlesville Young Women are excited to know that the temple will be close enough to make more frequent trips.

For example, it is interesting to observe that LDS understanding of the nature of the Godhead has also seen considerable growth since the Church was organized in 1830. There was no question among the Saints from the beginning that God was a personal being, or that man had direct access to him through prayer. Joseph Smith had seen him, as well as his Son, Jesus Christ, in vision, years before the Church was organized.
But in the early years, few members of the Church were fully aware of Joseph Smith’s first vision, for at first he did not widely circulate any account of it. Only in 1838, to correct “the many reports which have been put into circulation by evil-disposed and designing persons,” would he prepare it for publication (JS—H 1:1). Consequently, since there was no effort in the first few years of Church history to define precisely the full nature of the Godhead, many new converts undoubtedly kept some of their old sectarian ideas. In addition, their ideas may well have been reinforced by a few statements in the first edition of the Book of Mormon that did not clearly distinguish between the Father and the Son.
Many passages in the first edition of the Book of Mormon clearly identified the Savior as the Son of God. But isolated verses were still not fully understood and some were subject to misinterpretation. In 1916, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve issued a carefully stated doctrinal exposition entitled The Father and the Son. This statement clearly identified the various ways in which the term Father might be used in the scriptures, especially with reference to Jesus Christ, and helped thereby any who were inclined to misunderstand.
The 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants included an important, though unofficial, early statement of Church beliefs known as the Lectures on Faith. At this time Joseph Smith had announced no revelation on whether the Father had a physical body of flesh and bone, or on the nature of the Holy Ghost, and consequently the fifth lecture contained an incomplete description of the Godhead that might not be understood by members of the Church today. Nevertheless, Joseph Smith undoubtedly continued to meditate and pray on this and many other issues. Precisely when he may have received new revelation on this subject we do not know, but on 2 April 1843, he gave some important “items of instruction” at Ramus, Illinois, which stated with more clarity than ever before the physical nature of the Godhead and particularly the Holy Ghost. These instructions later became part of the Doctrine and Covenants: “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.” (D&C 130:22.)
A year later Joseph Smith delivered one of his most famous discourses on the nature of God. Here he added great new insight for the Saints by explaining that God the Father was “once as we are now,” and that now he is “an exalted man … It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did.” (History of the Church, 6:305; this is from the King Follett funeral sermon.)
Thus, only a little more than two months before his death, Joseph Smith was continuing to clarify many things for the Saints, and laid the basis for the broadened understanding of the Godhead they hold today.

Juan Jui Chang, first counselor in the Taichung stake presidency, enjoyed a powerful experience performing temple ordinances for his deceased parents. “Though I had been attending the temple for more than 13 years at that point,” President Juan says, “I felt the Spirit more strongly than ever while performing the work for my parents. In the sealing room, I represented my father and my wife represented my mother, and we knelt together at the altar. We felt it was the greatest thing we could do for our parents.”

In November 2012 nearly 900 Church members gathered in Botswana, Africa, to witness the organization of the new Gaborone Botswana Stake—the first stake in the country.
Africa Southeast Area President Elder Dale G. Renlund and Elder Colin H. Bricknell, Area Seventy, presided over the meeting. Clement M. Matswagothata was called as stake president, Geoffrey Tembo was called as first counselor, and Oduetse S. Mokweni was called as second counselor.
“The stake will be a place of refuge, a place of learning, a place of goodness and safety, a place of order, a place of kindness and love, and a place of God,” Roodepoort South Africa Stake president Daniel Hall commented.

Colly Creek Ward
The Colly Creek Ward, Topeka Kansas Stake, challenged the Primary children to bring their scriptures every Sunday. They placed an anchor on the bulletin board and started making a paper chain connected to the anchor. The name of each child who brought his or her scriptures was written on a paper link every Sunday. Soon the chain grew to reach the back of the Primary room! This activity reminded the Primary to be “anchored” in the scriptures.

I recently attended a YSA stake conference. I was late, as usual, and felt like all eyes were on me as I slid into an empty seat near the back. I folded my arms and sat quietly, trying to focus on the Spirit and the songs, but it all turned into garbled noise.
This sort of thing—a group of faithful peers singing and worshipping together—should be uplifting and spiritual, right? So why couldn’t I feel it? Why wouldn’t my mind stop racing? And why did this keep happening?
Eventually the meeting ended, and I left in tears.

Sean Barney, a priest from Walnut Creek, California, dug himself into a hole—actually, several holes. He and the rest of the young men in his ward made mile markers for a bike trail in a park near his home. Now all of the local high school cross-country teams use the trail for sprint practice.

Illustrations by Adrian Ropp
I was almost 12 years old when the Twin Falls Idaho Temple was dedicated. I was so excited when my older sister asked me for the first time if I wanted to start going to the temple regularly with her and her friend.
I was happy when my younger brother Tanner turned 12 three years later because I could finally invite him to attend the temple with me.
Each morning that we went, we would help each other get up and go, and when we were tired Tanner would make jokes to help us wake up. After going to the temple, we would take some time to talk about how we’d felt in the temple and what we’d thought about.
Going to the temple with Tanner became the spiritual highlight of my week. Through our regular temple visits we became better friends, which strengthened me more than I would have imagined when some trials came my way. Our two older sisters had left for college and our ward had just been split, leaving Tanner and me as some of the only active youth in our ward.
Tanner and I spent hours calling and inviting less-active youth to church and Mutual. It often felt like a hopeless effort because no one ever came no matter how many girls I tried to befriend.
Our parents tried to help. They would bear testimony to us when we were discouraged, and they let us talk out our frustration when we came home upset. But even so, we didn’t suddenly have more friends at church, and wanting to go when I’d be the only young woman there was getting harder and harder. Our temple visits started becoming less frequent because of our busy school schedules.
I spent a lot of time reading my scriptures and pleading with the Lord to help me be strong. I was lonely and tired—tired of being alone, tired of my efforts not making a difference, tired of struggling spiritually and emotionally.
During this time, I worked as a lifeguard at the city pool. I liked being there a lot more than I liked being at church because my co-workers were my friends and were always excited to see me. One day I decided that I wouldn’t go back to Mutual since work was more fun and more helpful for me financially.
I didn’t think it was a big deal until I noticed myself lowering my standards. I didn’t say anything about my friends’ swearing, and one day I was shocked to hear myself accidentally swear when I never had before. I even watched an inappropriate movie one night at a party with my lifeguarding friends. I felt terrible and wondered what I was doing.
Meanwhile my parents had told me how much more lonely Tanner had become since I stopped attending Mutual. Every week he would ask me, “Hey, are you going to come to Mutual tonight?” When he would get home from Mutual, he would go straight to his room and read his scriptures for a long time. He wasn’t talking as much anymore, and when I asked if he was OK, he just said, “No,” and walked away.
One night he came home crying because he had felt so alone.
That’s when I decided that I needed to go back. It didn’t matter how hard being alone was for me; Tanner needed me.
Tanner had been taking a family history course at church, and I decided that I wanted to take it with him. We wanted to start going to the temple more regularly again, and now we would be able to find names ourselves.
We enjoyed taking the class together on Sundays. After church, we’d search for names together. The coolest thing about taking our own names to the temple was that we had found them together, and even better, we were able to support each other at church and even enjoy church because we were doing the Lord’s work.
Tanner’s diligence in attending church and Mutual was a powerful example to me. I had a testimony of the gospel, but he helped me gain a testimony of attending church meetings and activities.
Together we were able to comfort one another and use our testimonies of the temple to help each other be strong in the Church. Youth attendance at church and Mutual never really got better, but Tanner and I became stronger and more able to bear our burdens as we helped each other press forward.
I’m so glad that I invited him to come to the temple with me. While I’m sure it helped him, I know it rescued me.

Thank you for the article “Be Clean” in the July 2002 New Era. When I was 11 or 12 I got my ears pierced a second time. This was before I heard the prophet counsel against more than one set of ear piercings. Since then, whenever I looked in a mirror and saw my second set, I thought about what the prophet said. I tried to justify my second set by wearing a tiny pair of studs in the second holes. But reading “Be Clean” in the New Era helped me realize it’s just a simple question of obedience. Obedience is an excellent way of showing our gratitude to our Father in Heaven. Now I feel that instead of not doing things to be clean, I’ve actually done something to be clean.
Claire LynchPerth, Western Australia (via e-mail)

Emma Smith, one of his scribes, later remembered that whenever Joseph sat down to start translating again, he wouldn’t ask, “Now, where was I? Where did we leave off?” He would just start right at the point where they had left off. If you look at a page of Joseph Smith’s personal journal that he wrote three years after translating the Book of Mormon, it’s full of crossed-out words, incomplete thoughts, and broken sentences. When you look at a page of the dictated Book of Mormon, there’s none of that. It’s complete, beautiful prose—complete sentences, nothing crossed out.

The Legend of the Bluebonnet “Great Spirits, the land is dying. Your People are dying, too.” Of all the Comanches, it is little She-Who-Is-Alone who makes the sacrifice that saves her tribe.Tomie Depaola (reteller)4–8 years

Elder Justin Hill set down his Book of Mormon and looked out the window. The morning sun was just beginning to reflect off the glistening blue and gray tile rooftops of the Japanese houses below his apartment, and he knew that meant his study time was almost over.
“Hey, Rob, I mean, Elder Crosby, what are we doing for breakfast this morning?”
“Not my problem, Elder,” Rob answered without looking up from his scriptures. “As senior companion in this apartment, I delegated breakfast to you, remember?”
Justin got up off his futon, folded the quilts, and walked over to the cooking area of their small gray apartment. “Let’s see,” he said as he looked through the canisters that sat on a metal shelf over the sink. “We’ve got rice … more rice … or mugi.”
“If we’ve got any sugar left, let’s have mugi, okay?” called Rob.
Justin dumped three cups of milled wheat into a pot of water and set it to boil on the stove. The heat and rising steam from the pot took some of the chill off the room, and as Justin stirred the boiling and bubbling mush, his eyes wandered to the calendar pinned on the wall over the kitchen table. April 22.
“Hey, Elder, our birthday is exactly one month from today.”
Rob rolled over and looked at the calendar. “Sheesh,” he said, “we’re going to be 21 years old. Can you believe it?”
Justin nodded. “I can believe that, but it’s still hard for me to believe I’m on a mission, and even harder to believe that you’re my first companion.”
He gave the now vigorously boiling wheat a few stirs. “Back when we first met in high school in Tucson, I thought you were such a jerk that I wanted nothing to do with you, much less your church.”
Rob chuckled. “Hey, I was as surprised as you were, Elder. Who would have thought the old Tucson Twosome would be reunited in Japan?”
Justin nodded and grinned. The Tucson Twosome. He’d never forget how they got stuck with that nickname. It marked the beginning of his interest in the Church.
Ms. Hornbaker tried. Justin had to give her credit for that. English composition isn’t exactly a hot topic with high school students, but she did her best to make it interesting.
The students filed into her class one day to find that she had pushed all the desks to the back of the room and had taped 12 pieces of paper on the floor, each with the name of a month written on it.
“Okay, everybody,” she said when class began, “find the paper that has your birth month and stand by it.”
Students milled around for a while looking for their places. Justin found his—May—and stood next to it. In a few minutes, the entire class was separated into 12 groups, each group with two or three students in it.
“Now what,” someone wisecracked, “are we going to square dance?”
Justin hoped not. The only other person in the May group was Rob Crosby.
“Sorry,” said Ms. Hornbaker, “this is an English class, remember?”
“Oh, no,” a kid moaned from the back of the room. “That means we’re going to have a writing assignment.”
Ms. Hornbaker smiled, “How perceptive. Today you’re going to do some comparison/contrast writing.”
They had to interview a person in their group, come up with at least three similarities and three differences, and then write a paper comparing and contrasting themselves with the person they interviewed.
“You’ve got 20 minutes to talk. Rough draft’s due Friday.” Her directions finished, Ms. Hornbaker told the class to pull the desks from the back of the room, get into their groups, and start working on the assignment.
Rob slid his desk up to Justin’s and sat down.
“So you’re a May baby too. When’s your birthday?” he asked.
“May 22.”
“No kidding? So is mine. I can’t believe it. We’re practically twins.”
Great, thought Justin. Robert Crosby was the last guy in the world he wanted to be twins with.
“What time were you born?” asked Rob.
“What difference does that make?”
“Because,” Rob said with a grin, “I want to know who’s older, me or you.”
“Sometime around noon,” Justin’s mother said that evening, “but I’d have to look at your birth certificate to be sure. Why?”
“Nothing, really,” replied Justin, concentrating on his supper. “Just curious.”
Mr. Hill folded the evening paper and set it on the table next to his plate. “Justin, how’s the basketball team shaping up?”
“All right, I guess.”
“Is that hot dog Crosby kid playing?”
“Guard,” Justin nodded. Losing the tailback spot to Robert in football had been almost as hard on his dad as it had been on him. Since then, Rob Crosby was one of the least popular topics around the Hills’ house.
“Coach Simmons still have you at forward?”
Justin nodded. “He said I’m too big and slow for guard, and too small and slow for center.” He was relieved that in basketball he wasn’t competing with Robert for the same position.
“Well, Mount Vista should have a decent team then. With a gunner like Crosby at guard and you at forward, it’s going to be tough stopping you guys. Still, I’d rather see somebody else at guard. Crosby’s too selfish. Granted, he’s a great shot, but he’s got to learn to be a team player.”
“He’s not that bad, Dad. He’s just really intense.” That was a first—Justin defending his arch rival.
Mr. Hill frowned. “I’ve never liked that kid. He’s one of those Mormons. You knew that, didn’t you, son?”
“He mentioned it once.”
“Of course he did. That’s how they operate. Next thing you know he’ll be pushing Mormon propaganda on you, inviting you to his church, or sending missionaries here to pester us. Best thing you can do is stay away from him.” Mr. Hill made it sound more like a warning than advice.
It was funny he felt that way because, if anything, Rob had a positive influence on Justin. Sure, Justin didn’t like Rob’s ego, but competing with him helped make Justin a better athlete. In sports, he always knew Rob was giving 100 percent, and it made him determined to give his all too.
And, no doubt about it, Robert’s cockiness—at least a little of it—had rubbed off on Justin. After spending a football season as Robert’s teammate, his own confidence increased, not just in sports, but in school as well. He didn’t mind talking in class as much as he used to, and he was more comfortable around girls than he had ever been. Justin’s new motto had become, “If Rob Crosby can do it, so can I.”
It was at one of those Friday night after-the-game parties that Justin first talked to Liesel Smith, the great-looking blonde who graced the seat in front of him in English class. Parties ranked second only to dances on Justin’s Ten Most Hated Things list, but at Rob’s insistence, he went to one that celebrated their team’s 10th straight basketball victory.
The beat of the music mingled with laughter echoed from the house and down the street. Without bothering to knock, Robert swung open the front door and walked in. Justin followed and was immediately swept up in a flood of people.
“Hey, look who’s here,” someone yelled, and kids turned to watch them make their entrance. Rob loved the attention. Justin looked for someplace to hide.
He recognized a few basketball players and other kids from school, but there were also a lot of people he didn’t know. Feeling as comfortable as a boxer in ballet class, he was ready to turn right around and walk out when someone tugged on his shoulder.
“Justin, I didn’t know you were coming tonight.” It was Liesel Smith.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, well, Rob talked me into it. I usually don’t go to parties and stuff, but I finally got all caught up with my knitting and decided to go out and celebrate.”
Liesel giggled and playfully slapped his shoulder. “Rob said you were crazy.”
“So what did you think of the game?”
“It was great. That’s 10 in a row, isn’t it?” Liesel moved a little closer so he could hear her over the party noise. “Do you think you guys will go undefeated?”
Justin shrugged and looked for a place where they could sit down. Liesel was only about five-foot-four, almost a foot shorter than he was. He had to bend halfway over to hear her. “I sure hope so,” Justin said. “We’ve still got 10 games left, but after the game tonight Coach Simmons said that if we keep playing like we have, we might be able to pull it off.”
It was his first time to see Liesel up close, face to face. He had long admired the back of her head from his seat behind her in English class, but she was even better from the front. Her brown eyes were riveting, the kind that seem to open wide and swallow you up. From such close range, Justin noticed for the first time that she had a dash of freckles over her nose and cheek bones, and he recognized the delicious aroma of the perfume that he had become so familiar with in English class. There was no doubt about it—Liesel was gorgeous.
They finally found a place to sit down and continue their conversation.
“So what’s the deal with you and Rob?” Justin asked.
“Huh?”
“I mean, why would he bring someone like me to this party when he could’ve brought you? You two are, according to Rob, very close friends.”
“According to Rob? Well, according to me, Rob and I are only friends. We just happen to go to the same church.”
“Yeah, he told me.”
Liesel was quiet a moment, obviously trying to think of something to talk about. Finally she said, “I think that nickname Ms. Hornbaker gave you and Rob is cute.”
“The Tucson Twosome? Cute to you maybe, but I don’t think it’s very cute to be paired with Robert Crosby just because we were born on the same day. He’s much uglier than I am.”
Liesel laughed. “Rob said that Coach Simmons is using it on you guys too.”
“Yeah. In football, I blocked; Rob ran. In basketball, I rebound; he shoots. So Coach thinks we make a pretty good one-two combination. And I guess we’re okay.”
As the night went on, Liesel’s bubbly friendliness put Justin completely at ease. The party was fun, even Rob’s balancing a spinning basketball on his nose stunt and the wild peanut butter and cracker eating/whistling contest.
By the time Liesel looked at her watch and announced that she had to be home by midnight, Justin felt that he had made a new friend. Not a girlfriend-friend, not yet, but a friend-friend. Who knows, he thought as she waved good-bye and stepped out the front door, what might develop later?
Justin was stuck at the party for another hour waiting for Rob to give him a ride home. When they were headed for Justin’s house, Rob asked, “So, you liked the party?”
“I could tell you did. I thought we’d never get out of there.”
“Yeah, well, I was having a blast, but my dad’s kind of strict about my curfew. If I’m late, no car for a month. Hey, didn’t I see you talking with Liesel?”
Justin had been hoping he hadn’t. “We talked.”
“And?”
“And what? We talked. That was it.”
“Nice girl, huh?”
“Yeah, she’s real nice.”
“She’s one of us, you know. A Mormon.”
“Well, I’m not going to hold that against her.” It suddenly occurred to Justin that many of his friends lately were Mormons. He hadn’t planned it that way, but if his father ever found out, there’d be fireworks. Well, he’d worry about that if and when the time came. He certainly wasn’t planning on joining their church, but he didn’t see any harm in having Mormon friends. “You know, seems like I’ve been surrounded by you guys lately.”
“We were hoping you wouldn’t notice. See, we’ve got this plot all figured out. We’re going to keep hanging around you until our good influence rubs off, and then sometime when you’re standing by a swimming pool, we’re going to shove you in and make you one of us.”
Justin just rolled his eyes.
Rob went on, “What’d you and Liesel talk about?”
“Us.”
Rob broke into laughter and pounded on the steering wheel. “Wooo-ee! It’s more serious than I thought. You sure don’t waste any time, Justin.”
“Not ‘us,’ me and Liesel, you jerk; ‘us,’ me and you. She asked about the Tucson Twosome.”
Justin’s house came into view. Rob stopped in front of Justin’s house to drop him off. He held out his hand, palm up, to Justin before he left the car. “Hey, dude, the Tucson Twosome.”
Justin slapped his hand and turned his over to receive Rob’s return slap. “See you Monday,” Rob said before driving off. “And, Justin, don’t worry about the Mormon stuff. We’re not out to get you or anything. Just friends, know what I mean?”
Justin knew, and it made him feel good. “Thanks,” he said, and he waved as Rob drove back into the street.
Justin switched off the gas and set the mugi to one side to cool off. In the end, he thought, his dad had been right. Rob had influenced him. So, fortunately for him, had Liesel. And there had been fireworks—plenty of them—first about Mormon friends, and later when he announced he was going to get baptized. But, after a time, his dad got used to the idea of having a Mormon son, and when Justin was ready to go on his mission, almost a year after Rob had left, his father was surprisingly supportive. “Guess there’s a heck of a lot worse things you could be doing,” he said as he embraced Justin at the airport.
Justin scooped the mugi into two bowls and set them on the kitchen table. Today would be his first day of tracting in Japan, and he was a little nervous. “Hey, Elder,” he said after the food had been blessed, “about today … you know, my Japanese still isn’t too hot, and I was wondering …”
“No sweat, Elder,” Rob stirred a slab of butter into his mugi. “You knock; I’ll talk. The Tucson Twosome will blow ‘em away. Know what I mean?”
Again, Justin knew, and it made him feel awfully good.