Gospel Story Finder

One such dear friend of mine had limited experiences with God. But he longed to be with his departed wife. So he asked me to help him. I encouraged him to meet with our missionaries in order to understand the doctrine of Christ and learn of gospel covenants, ordinances, and blessings.
That he did. But he felt the course they advised would require him to make too many changes in his life. He said, “Those commandments and covenants are just too difficult for me. Also, I can’t possibly pay tithing, and I don’t have time to serve in the Church.” Then he asked me, “Once I die, please do the necessary temple work for my wife and me so that we can be together again.”
Thankfully, I am not this man’s judge. But I do question the efficacy of proxy temple work for a man who had the opportunity to be baptized in this life—to be ordained to the priesthood and receive temple blessings while here in mortality—but who made the conscious decision to reject that course.

“Hey Trista, are you still aiming for that celestial kingdom you told me about?” my cousin asked.
I was unprepared for her question, and I stammered for a moment while I tried to decide what it was she was talking about. Then I remembered. Last summer, during my family’s visit to California, my cousin and I had been talking late into the night, when somehow we got to discussing the Church. My cousin is not a member and knew very little about our Church, so when she asked me to tell her about it, I gladly agreed. I told her what I could: the Joseph Smith story, our beliefs, my dreams, and my fears—including my goal of reaching the celestial kingdom. I bore my testimony to her, and told her I knew the gospel was true. I told her how I wanted to live forever with a chosen companion, and to have my family with me. She listened carefully and asked me a lot of questions which I answered as best I could. We went to sleep that night, she was thinking about the things I had told her, and I was feeling rather pleased with my missionary work.
Now seven months later, I was amazed that she remembered what I had told her.
“Well are you?” She was looking at me expectantly, waiting for an answer.
I swallowed hard and stared out my window at the falling snow, watching each individual snowflake merge with millions of others. If only life were that simple.
“Am I still reaching for the celestial kingdom?” I asked myself. I thought back over the last few months and knew I hadn’t been trying very hard. My school grades weren’t as high as they should have been, my best friend wasn’t my best friend anymore, family relationships were not as good as they could have been, and most important of all, I was gradually becoming less active in the Church. As I sat there, I took a new look at my life and realized how empty it had been. I turned and looked at my cousin and said quietly but firmly, with my eyes full of tears, “Yes, I am.”
Oh how thankful I am to have a Father in Heaven who loves me enough to remind me of my goals. With his help I can reach the celestial kingdom. And when I doubt myself, I just remember those three words, “Yes, I am,” and I know that my Father in Heaven is with me.

In 1906 only four temples were in operation, all of them in Utah. In that year President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918) prophesied at Bern, Switzerland, that “the time will come … when temples of God … will be erected in the divers countries of the earth, for the gospel must spread over all the world.”1 Nearly half a century later, on September 11, 1955, President David O. McKay (1873–1970) dedicated the first temple in Europe, just outside of Bern.

I get angry easily. I’ve listened to many conference messages that talk about anger and learned that when we are angry, we are often prideful. And pride separates us from God. So anger is a challenge I’m trying to overcome.
A seminary teacher told me that to overcome anger, I can try replacing it with a Christlike attribute. I decided to try replacing my anger with the ability to forgive.
During my seminary class, one of my classmates threw some scriptures on my leg. I was angry at that moment, and I shouted at him. But then I remembered Christlike forgiveness. When class was over, I went to him and told him I was sorry for shouting at him. I forgave him, and then he apologized as well.
As I have practiced looking to Christ through forgiveness, I’ve seen myself change. I try to view things with an eternal perspective instead of getting angry. When I focus on Christ and attend seminary, it strengthens my testimony of Him, and I can help others strengthen their own testimonies too.

Randol lived in Bolivia. He loved going to school, and he took good care of his schoolbooks. His favorite book had a yellow cover and interesting drawings.
One day Randol could not find his yellow book. His mom and dad helped him look, but they still could not find it.
Randol was very sad. “Let’s pray,” Randol’s father said. “We’ll ask Heavenly Father to help us.”
After the prayer Randol’s father had an idea.“Let’s talk to your uncle,” he said. “Maybe his children used the same book and they will let you borrow it.”
This will be the answer to our prayer, Randol thought.
Randol’s family went to his uncle’s store. They asked him about the yellow book. Uncle said his children had never used that book.
Now Randol was confused. Wasn’t Heavenly Father going to answer their prayer?
Just then, some men came into Uncle’s store selling books. They had the book with a yellow cover!
Randol’s father bought the book. Randol thanked Heavenly Father for answering his prayer.

We enjoy spending time as a family. Every Saturday we go to the beach near our home. We eat shrimp—our favorite food—and tacos and tortas (a kind of sandwich). We walk along the Malecón, or waterfront street. We make sandcastles and play in the ocean.

Just as I have been instructed and counseled by President Kimball, others through the years have been so counseled. One hundred forty-six years ago when the Church was restored, the First Presidency instructed Parley P. Pratt, a newly called member of the Twelve: “O, Lord, smile from heaven upon this thy servant; forgive his sins, sanctify his heart, and prepare him to receive the blessing. … Increase his intelligence, communicate to him all that wisdom, that prudence and that understanding which he needs as a minister of righteousness, and to magnify the apostleship whereunto he is called.”

And continuing they said: “You have enlisted in a cause that requires your whole attention. … Become a polished shaft. … You must endure much toil, much labor, and many privations to become perfectly polished. … Your labor must be incessant, and your toil great; you must go forth and labor till the great work is done. … Your Heavenly Father requires it; the field is His; the work is His; and He will … cheer you … and buoy you up. …

“Beware of pride,” they continued. “Beware of evil; shun the very appearance of it. … You will see thousands who, when they first see you, will know nothing about salvation by Jesus Christ. …

“Cultivate great humility. … Beware … the flatterers of the world. … Let your ministry be first. Remember, the souls of men are committed to your charge. …”

They went on to say to Parley P. Pratt: “It is necessary that you receive a testimony from Heaven … so that you can bear testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon. …

“Strengthen your faith. …

“You are called to preach the gospel of the Son of God to the nations of the earth; it is the will of your Heavenly Father that you proclaim His gospel to the ends of the earth, and the islands of the sea. …

“Be prepared at all times to make a sacrifice of your [life], should God require it. … Be always prayerful; be always watchful. …

“This gospel must roll, and will roll until it fills the [entire] earth. …

“You [will] need a fountain of wisdom, knowledge and intelligence, such as you never had. … [God] can endow you without worldly pomp or great parade. …

“You must proclaim the gospel in its simplicity and [its] purity.” (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, Deseret Book Co., 1961, pp. 119–26.)

When President Tanner returned from presiding over the European missions, he was asked what, in his opinion, was the most important attribute of a successful individual or missionary. After a short pause, pondering the implication of such a question, he spoke one word: “obedience.” If we do not obey, the power to obey is lessened. Our capability to recognize good is weakened.

While deaths at any time are heartbreaking, the timings of deaths during the crisis of 1918-1920 were sometimes tragic in themselves. In February 1919, John Diston, a native of Sunderland, was faithfully discharged from the British Royal Navy and rushed home to be with his young wife, Beatrice, in Portsmouth. The couple had only been married six months and many of the family were sick with influenza and pneumonia. John finally made it home to Beatrice’s bedside, but he only had five hours with her before she passed away. As they prepared for the funeral, other family members continued to struggle with illness. On the day of Beatrice’s funeral, her adopted brother, George, also passed away. The double tragedy was hard to bear. Of Beatrice’s seven siblings, only one survived to old age.17

Robert Robb, member of the Taylorsville Utah Fifth Ward, was recently presented a national Boy Scout Lifesaving Meritorious Award for saving a five-year-old boy from drowning.

A member of Troop 571, Robert was honored for pulling the child from a swimming pool. He is a deacon and active in his ward.

When I was getting married, Maria, a close family member of mine, visited me. Maria had previously decided to leave the Church to pursue a relationship with another woman. I don’t agree with all her choices, but I love Maria and respect her agency, so I have tried to maintain a good relationship with her.
When Maria and Kristen visited, I had the opportunity to give them both priesthood blessings, as they were seeking guidance through some struggles in their lives. The Savior often responded to the faith of those who were outside of the covenant or who weren’t keeping His commandments (see Matthew 8:5–13; Mark 7:24–30; Luke 7:36–50). So even though I wasn’t sure of what I was going to say, I dressed up and prepared to let God’s power flow through me.
During the blessings, I felt prompted to share specific counsel with both Maria and Kristen and to make certain promises. I’ll never forget the strong Spirit we all felt. I believe it changed all of us for the better.
Because of our love for each other, I can share my feelings about the gospel with Maria in a way that she may not welcome from others. Love qualifies us to do His work by opening doors to share His gospel and by inviting His help into our efforts (see Doctrine and Covenants 4:5). In perfect love, the Savior shared truths with the woman at the well, even though she had sinned and was a Samaritan (see John 4). She felt the love and truths He shared with her and was forever changed by His message.
And even if our invitations to live the gospel aren’t accepted, sharing the love of God with others can still make a lasting difference in their lives.

Scripture study was a welcome break for Angel, even if her friends didn’t understand why she’d take time away from her school classes to bother with religion. “A lot of them think it’s strange that I spend time with my church. Most of my classmates don’t have any religious beliefs,” says Angel, who was the only Church member in the Taipei First Girls’ School student body of 4,000-plus. “Some students will discuss religion with me, but most of the time they just think being LDS is strange because it takes me away from my schoolwork.”
One of those classmates is a friend Angel invited to church one Sunday. Angel says her friend had a generally positive experience at church, and even told Angel afterward that she felt religion was good, and that she might think about becoming religious herself—after she graduates from the university. “She just didn’t think she had the time for church,” Angel adds.

Just like the fulfillment of Elijah’s promise to the widow, our food and oil did “not waste” while I was unemployed.
Two months after I had been called as a counselor in our stake presidency, I lost my job. I worried about how I was going to provide for my wife and our two children.
While looking for a new job, I dedicated myself to my calling, which gave me many opportunities to serve my brothers and sisters. In fact, I became so busy in my calling that my wife wondered if there was anyone else in the stake who could do some of my assignments.
One rainy night just before family home evening, the phone rang. A gravely ill brother in the stake needed a blessing, and I was asked to go see him. Straightaway, I made arrangements to have a friend accompany me.
When we arrived, I immediately recognized the ill brother and was thankful for the phone call. A few days before, he had been interviewed for a stake calling. After we had anointed and blessed him, we told him we would return later to check on him.
I arrived home late and wet, but we still had time for a short home evening lesson. We decided to watch a video about Elijah and the widow of Zarephath.
As the widow was preparing to cook a last meager meal for her and her son, Elijah said to her, “Make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.” For her obedience, “the barrel of meal [did] not waste, neither [did] the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord [sent] rain upon the earth” (1 Kings 17:13–14).
Elijah’s words “make me thereof … first” penetrated my heart. With tears in my eyes, I said to my wife, “That’s it! First, we must do all the Lord commands, and afterward the blessings will come.”
Just like the fulfillment of Elijah’s promise to the widow, our food and oil did “not waste” while I was unemployed. The Lord knew our difficult financial situation, and He blessed us. The very morning after our family home evening, I was offered a job.
I know that the Lord keeps His promises. Because of this experience, my faith is great, as is my gratitude to Him.

When I was a young mother of several small children, at the end of days filled with diapering, dish washing, and disciplining, no one sang more emphatically the Primary song “I’m so glad when daddy comes home.” I’m sad to admit, however, I was not always cheerful when Craig seemed to bounce through the door after a hard day of work. He always greeted each of us with a hug and kiss and turned many difficult and sometimes disastrous days into delightful daddy times. I wish I had been a little less preoccupied with the endless list of to-dos still to be done and had more wisely focused, like he did, on things that mattered most. I would have stopped more often and enjoyed sacred family time and would have thanked him more often for blessing our lives!

We cut out pictures from the Friend while we listen to uplifting music. We talk about the pictures each night before bed to learn more about the gospel.
Zoe and Abby Z., ages 5 and 7, Oregon, USA

For over a decade, I worked as the senior vice president for Walmart in Brazil. My family was financially stable, I enjoyed my job, and life was good. But the job was demanding. It required me to travel a lot, which was interfering with our family and with my Church service. After 11 or 12 years, it was becoming too much.
My wife and I counseled together and proposed that I leave this job. We talked it through with our children, and together we said, “It’s time for us to make a change.”
When I quit, I plummeted from senior vice president to unemployed. It took nearly a year to find and accept another job. When I finally took a position with a small real estate company in the United States, I felt good about it. This job would let me dedicate more time to the things that really mattered.
But other people told me I was crazy. Why leave a stable job for a real estate company no one has even heard of? And move halfway across the world to the United States?
They were right that this was a huge change we were choosing to make. But they were wrong that it was a poor choice.
It took a lot of faith for us to switch jobs and move to a new country, but the Lord took care of us. And I had more time to fulfill my responsibilities as a husband, father, and ward member.

A few years ago a faithful family exemplified for members of our ward that same trust in the Lord. Arn and Venita Gatrell were living a happy life when Arn was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. The prognosis was devastating—he had just a few weeks to live. The family wanted to be together one last time. So all the children gathered, some from distant locations. They had only 48 precious hours to spend together. The Gatrells carefully chose what mattered most to them—a family picture, a family dinner, and a session in the Salt Lake Temple. Venita said, “When we walked out of the temple doors, it was the last time we would ever be together in this life.”
But they left with the assurance that there is so much more for them than just this life. Because of sacred temple covenants, they have hope in God’s promises. They can be together forever.
The next two months were filled with blessings too numerous to recount. Arn and Venita’s faith and trust in the Lord were growing, as evidenced in Venita’s words: “I was carried. I learned that you can feel peace in the midst of turmoil. I knew the Lord was watching over us. If you trust in the Lord, truly you can overcome any of life’s challenges.”
One of their daughters added: “We watched our parents and saw their example. We saw their faith and how they handled it. I would never have asked for this trial, but I would never give it away. We were surrounded with God’s love.”
Of course, Arn’s passing was not the outcome the Gatrells had hoped for. But their crisis was not a crisis of faith. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a checklist of things to do; rather, it lives in our hearts. The gospel “is not weight; it is wings.”4 It carries us. It carried the Gatrells. They felt peace in the midst of the storm. They held fast to each other and to temple covenants they had made and kept. They grew in their ability to trust in the Lord and were strengthened by their faith in Jesus Christ and in His atoning power.

Last night was Thursday and everyone was home (untypical), and everyone was busy (typical). Rinda, seventeen, had to write a paragraph for English using a wild list of vocabulary words, and she wanted some ideas. Dinny, twelve, was struggling with a report on Treasure Island to be given orally and wondered how to make it interesting. Shelley, fifteen, was sandwiching geometry theorems between preparations for a report in American Problems on movie ratings and pornography, and she wanted my views. Becky, nineteen, wanted to know a good book to read and asked what I thought about the issue of faculty tenure as reported in the college newspaper that day. Megan, eight, needed some poems to take for library day and asked where to find some information on planets.
On a night like that, I am especially glad for some resources provided by my past to bolster my pretty-tattered present.

As I approached my 18th birthday and prepared to enter military service in World War II, I was recommended to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. Mine was the task to telephone President Paul C. Child, my stake president, for an interview. He was one who loved and understood the holy scriptures. It was his intent that all others should similarly love and understand them. Since I knew from others of his rather detailed and searching interviews, our telephone conversation went something like this:
“Hello, President Child. This is Brother Monson. I have been asked by the bishop to visit with you relative to being ordained an elder.”
“Fine, Brother Monson. When can you see me?”
Knowing that his sacrament meeting was at six o’clock, and desiring minimum exposure of my scriptural knowledge to his review, I suggested, “How would five o’clock be?”
His response: “Oh, Brother Monson, that would not provide us sufficient time to peruse the scriptures. Could you please come at two o’clock, and bring with you your personally marked and referenced set of scriptures.”
Sunday finally arrived, and I visited President Child’s home on Indiana Avenue. I was greeted warmly, and then the interview began. He said, “Brother Monson, you hold the Aaronic Priesthood. Have you ever had angels minister to you?”
My reply was, “No, President Child.”
“Do you know,” said he, “that you are entitled to such?”
Again came my response, “No.”
Then he instructed, “Brother Monson, repeat from memory the 13th section of the Doctrine and Covenants.”
I began, “Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels …
“Stop,” President Child directed. Then in a calm, kindly tone he counseled, “Brother Monson, never forget that as a holder of the Aaronic Priesthood you are entitled to the ministering of angels.”
It was almost as though an angel were in the room that day. I have never forgotten the interview. I yet feel the spirit of that solemn occasion. I revere the priesthood of Almighty God. I have witnessed its power. I have seen its strength. I have marveled at the miracles it has wrought.

I performed a marriage some ten or fifteen years ago for a couple. I received a letter not long ago from this mother. As the letter began I thought, “Well, here goes another one of the temple marriages that has failed.” But then the tone of the letter began to change. She said, “When we thought that the end was here and that there was only one thing to do and that was to get a divorce, we had been told that we should counsel with our bishop. At first thought we hesitated, because he was just a young man. He was younger than we are. But he was our bishop so we went to see him. We poured out our souls to our young bishop. He sat and listened silently, and when we ran out of conversation he said, simply, ‘Well, my wife and I, we had problems, too, and we learned how to solve our problems.’ That is all in the world he said. But you know there was something that happened as a result of that young bishop’s statement. We walked out of there and we said, ‘Well, if they can solve their problems, what is the matter with us?’”