Gospel Story Finder

About five months into serving my mission in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, I began to experience panic attacks and anxiety that controlled my every thought. After many conversations with my mission president, my parents, and a counselor, I made the hard decision to return home.
I was devastated.
I had been so excited to serve on the front lines of the greatest army. Why was this happening to me? I couldn’t understand what the Lord was trying to teach me.
It wasn’t until a sacrament meeting months later that I really started to understand. For the closing hymn, we sang “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go” (Hymns, no. 270). The second line reads, “It may not be at the battle’s front my Lord will have need of me.” I imagined my missionary self on the battlefront and realized that Heavenly Father did not need me in Arizona. He needed me here.
I know that the Lord has a plan for me. That knowledge brings me enough peace and strength to endure. I’m not sure I will ever fully know why I needed to come home early, but I am now able to carry on with these words ingrained in my heart: “I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord … ; I’ll be what you want me to be.”
Kate B., Utah, USA

Sometimes when I hear a choir during a temple dedicatory service, I experience a feeling so sublime that it elevates my heart and mind. I close my eyes, and more than once, in my mind, I have seen an inverted cone of individuals beginning at the temple and rising upward. I have felt that they represent many spirits waiting for the vicarious work to be done for them in that sanctuary, rejoicing because finally there is a place that can free them from the chains that hold them back in their eternal progress. In order to achieve this end, you will need to do the vicarious work. You will need to identify your ancestors. The new FamilySearch program makes the effort easier than before. It is necessary to identify those ancestors, qualify them, and come to the house of the Lord to perform the ordinances they are longing to receive.

It is June already and here in New Zealand, there have been a few early morning frosts and the flutter of falling snowflakes in the deep south to remind us that the chill of winter has arrived. While a young boy in my Te Aroha home, nestled beneath an evergreen mountain, the kitchen fire was started each winter’s morning to heat the kitchen and to cook a hearty and warmly welcomed pot of porridge for breakfast.
How very grateful I am for a little wooden house under a mountain that reminds me that even on cold winter mornings, you and I can have the warmth of the gospel in our lives.

by Ann Ora Troxler
Looking glamorous isn’t the first thing most people recall when they think of girls’ camp. But young women in the Lexington Kentucky Stake will remember for a long time the “beauty” pageant they held at their certification camp in Wesley Woods near Winchester, Kentucky.
The object of the contest wasn’t to impress anyone, just to have fun. Many competed in the fabulous hat contest, but Angie King of the Owingsville Ward stole the show as best-dressed camper.
In addition to the contest and the usual skits that are part of every camp, the 60 girls and their leaders learned about lashings, cooked foil dinners, pitched tents, hiked the Red River Gorge, went swimming and canoeing, reviewed slides from previous camps, held testimony meetings, and had a Pixie Pal program to do something nice for others each day.
Many of the girls qualified as Adventurers. The only “flop” of the week was provided by a frog that mysteriously (with help from an adult leader) found its way into the swimming pool.

by Nancy Gunn
As the “Star Spangled Banner” was played at the Boy Scout Hokushinetsu-Taikai Jamboree in Toyama, Japan, Kenneth Gunn and Karl Guymon of the Salt Lake Hunter East Stake discovered a new feeling of pride in their country. The two Eagle Scouts were the only two American Scouts at the jamboree which 4,500 Japanese Scouts attended. Kenneth and Karl were guests of the Matsumoto Scout Troop.
The two Scouts prepared for the experience by taking English and Japanese versions of the Book of Mormon with them, along with Church pamphlets and Tabernacle Choir records. They wanted to make their trip a missionary experience as much as possible. Kenneth’s family even placed their photo in some of the books, and each family member who was old enough wrote down his or her testimony, placing it in one of the books.
Their first day in Matsumoto the two Scouts met the mayor and presented him with a plaque from Salt Lake City, which is Matsumoto’s sister city. During their 2 1/2-week visit, the boys stayed with various families. They were overwhelmed by the courtesy shown them by their host families.
The five-day jamboree was held near Toyama Bay in the Japanese alps. One of the requirements of the camp was that the Scouts all attend a worship service on Sunday. Kenneth and Karl held their own sacrament service.
The two Scouts felt that their short mission of sorts was very successful and that their polite refusal to drink tea, along with the gifts they gave of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, and records, helped them plant seeds for future missionary efforts in Japan. They learned to love the country and its gracious people on their once-in-a-life-time trip.

Years earlier, during a different season, my father-in-law, John P. Rich, went out to shovel snow from his sidewalk. Elder Nelson, however, had beaten him to it. John went back inside and wrote this poem:
I’ve seen sermons in stone
And sermons in flowers
Sermons that take minutes
Sermons that take hours
But I’ve just seen a sermon
Delivered in labor
That showed me perfectly
How to be a good neighbor
To this day, we remain grateful for our good neighbor.

Not everyone John talks to about flutes is so musically inclined. “Very few of the students in the flute-making class had any musical training when we started,” explained Katherine Kokenes of Mililani Town, Hawaii. “We came to the class because we wanted to build our own flutes and learn to play them. Once our first flute was made, he taught us simple tunes like ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb,’ and we practiced them over and over until we got used to them.”
Katherine based the exterior decoration for her flute on a Hawaiian motif symbolizing the ocean waves surrounding her island. She rubbed the wood with kukui nut oil.

Boy:Aurelia Spencer Rogers was one of the mothers in the Farmington Ward. When Aurelia was twelve, her mother died. Aurelia and her older sister, Ellen, cared for their four younger brothers and sisters when they fled Nauvoo. At Winter Quarters their father was called to serve a mission. Aurelia and Ellen brought the younger children west with the pioneers.

Girl:Aurelia married Thomas Rogers, a young man she’d met while crossing the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. Five of the twelve children who were born to them died as babies. Aurelia loved children and wanted them to live the gospel. She thought about the things Bishop Hess had said.

He continued his address at the school’s weekly devotional by reviewing the events of the Savior’s life and death, the ministries of His Apostles, and the Apostasy, ending at the point where revelation came to a standstill. Turning then to the great events that prepared the world for the Restoration, he pointed to the invention of the moveable-type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg, which eventually led to the mass printing of an English translation of the Bible and the dissemination of scripture. These events, culminating with the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith, set the scene for the time when the Restoration could unfold.
“With the birth of the Prophet, it was just as if the Lord illuminated the minds of mankind to make it possible that technology and communications would be such that the gospel could be scattered throughout the earth,” Elder Perry said.

“John, I can see it’s time I tell you the story.” Grandpa reached over to shut the engine off. “When your dad was ready to go on a mission, almost twenty-five years ago now, your grandmother and I couldn’t afford to send him. We’d always tried our best to live the gospel, and we knew we could depend on the Lord, so we prayed that He would help us make enough money to send our boy on a mission.”
“Were your prayers answered, Grandpa?”
“Yes, John. Heavenly Father answered them in a surprising way. This little piece of land came up for sale, and your grandma and I felt inspired to buy it. It was a small field, nothing to rave about. But we had read in the scriptures that from small things great blessings come. So Grandma and I hoped that if we remained faithful and hard-working, the Lord might see fit to turn this small field into a great blessing.”
“Did you get your blessing, Grandpa?” John asked.
“Did we ever!” Grandpa answered, beaming. “We received enough money from our first crop to send your dad on his mission, and for as long as he was serving in England, we had a bumper crop. When he came home from England, the field’s production returned to normal, but as each of our three sons served missions, it thrived again. To this day, Grandma and I call it our mission field. Why, this very field is helping support Mark on his mission right now.” Grandpa smiled, giving John’s shoulder a healthy squeeze.

In more than 165 countries of the world, our sisters are being instruments in the hands of God. I think of a ward in Brazil that has an influx of new members every week. The sisters in that Relief Society decided to set a goal to not let even one week pass without each newly baptized sister receiving a visit in her home and a copy of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” and the Relief Society Declaration. So far they haven’t lost any sisters to inactivity.

I was a typical high school football player with a typical football vocabulary. I was one of the captains of the football team at El Segundo High School and didn’t have the best reputation. Glenda’s locker was a couple of lockers from mine, and whenever she walked by I suddenly improved my language. I worried that if I offended her she would avoid me.
As the semester progressed so did our mutual respect and friendship. She was unique, but I did not understand why. One thing I knew for sure, though, was that she never attended the parties I went to.
So, when she invited me to a Christmas party at her home, I didn’t know what to expect. Although I enjoyed my friends, I had seriously considered changing my bad habits. I was searching for something different. I was interested to see what kind of a party she would throw. I put on my best clothes, poured on the cologne, and off I went.
Was I surprised! I was shocked to see everyone having fun, dancing, playing games, and drinking—soft drinks! After a while, I couldn’t believe that I was having fun too. I was surprised to meet Glenda’s parents at the party, since all the parties I ever attended occurred while the parents were away. Most everyone was a bit surprised to see me. Still, they were all smiles and treated me with kindness.
As the evening ended I offered to provide rides home to anyone who needed one. Fortunately, one particular girl I had my eye on during most of the party needed a ride. I drove all around town dropping people off until we were alone. I drove her home very slowly.
I asked her what she was doing for Christmas, and she told me her family was leaving for Argentina the next day. What a small world, I thought. I briefly explained to her that my family had immigrated from Argentina 11 years ago. She said her father had served a mission there, and they were going to visit some of her father’s old friends. Soon we were at her home, and I didn’t get a chance to ask her what a mission was, but the seeds of curiosity were sown and so was my interest in her.

When my brother and I fight, I sing the Primary song “Jesus Said Love Everyone.” It helps me be more like Jesus.
Nora P., age 4, Florida, USA

Our Thanksgiving simply wouldn’t be complete without Grandma Matheson’s pumpkin pie. It’s a tradition that our family loves. From my earliest remembrance of Thanksgiving Grandma Matheson always made her special pies—light and fluffy and topped with mounds of whipped cream. Although Grandma Matheson is dead now, pies made from her recipe still accompany our turkey dinner.
My older children were able to know this great-grandmother, but my younger ones never met her. Yet, because we make her pie, they “know” her. She is the great-grandmother whose grandfather was called to settle St. George, who was in the first graduating class at Brigham Young University, and who filled a mission at age seventy-seven.

In Nauvoo, Illinois, she helped care for the Saints who were sick with malaria. She nursed the family of Stephen and Hannah Markham, who insisted that Cyrena stay with them. While living in the Markhams’ home, she met her future husband, Philemon C. Merrill. They were married in September 1840. They had two children, a daughter and a son, before they were forced to leave Nauvoo in 1846. Although the couple experienced much together, including participating in plural marriage, Cyrena wrote that she had “lived in perfect harmony” with her husband for 57 years.10

Daniel was excited. He was flying on an airplane to visit his grandparents in Peru. They weren’t members of the Church, but he loved them and they loved him.
When Daniel got to Peru, he was happy to see his grandparents. He also was a little homesick. Things were different in Peru than at home in Spain. But he knew one thing could be the same.
Can we have prayer before bedtime?
Why do you want to pray?
Because Jesus told us to.
OK. How do you pray?
We need to kneel down, bow our heads, and close our eyes.
We can thank Heavenly Father for our blessings and ask Him to help us.
Daniel’s grandparents were so impressed that they prayed every morning and night during Daniel’s visit.
Daniel felt happy when he prayed with his grandparents. He knew Heavenly Father was happy too.

In the past eight months in the Philippines, I have heard many testimonies of the blessings of the gospel. Speaking at the dedication of his ward chapel, a Filipino bishop expressed his gratitude for the gospel message that came into his life about 10 years ago. He described how it rescued him from a life of selfishness, excess, and abusive practices and made him a good husband and father. He testified of the blessings that had come to him from paying his tithing.

Years ago I served with a group of inner-city youth in Boston, Massachusetts, who were largely new to the gospel and to the expectations of the Church. It was tempting to confuse my empathy and concern for their situation with a desire to lower God’s standards. I eventually realized that the most powerful way to show my love was to never lower my expectations. With everything I knew to do, we focused together on their potential, and each of them began to elevate their slopes. Their growth in the gospel was gradual but steady. Today they have served missions, have graduated from college, have been married in the temple, and are leading remarkable personal and professional lives.

A stake president learns that peace comes with forgiveness through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

I am a school teacher, and some time ago I decided to buy a subscription to the Liahona (Spanish) for each of my teaching colleagues and for each of the pastors of other Christian churches in the area. Many have thanked me for this gift, and many of my colleagues who do not belong to any particular church anxiously await each new issue of the magazine.
In addition, whenever I receive an invitation to a birthday celebration or a graduation, I respond with a copy of the Liahona and the Book of Mormon as a gift. Through this means of sharing the gospel message, the Church here has gained some new members and I have gained some new friends.
From my point of view, the Liahona is one of the best Spanish-language publications there is. It provides not only good reading, but also genuine guidance and direction.
I particularly enjoy the First Presidency messages and the general conference reports. I like to see photographs of the Brethren and of the conference visitors. I truly love the Brethren and ask that the Lord bless them in their callings.
Congratulations to you for publishing Book of Mormon Stories in color. I hope that this series will include the entire Book of Mormon.
I hope the Liahona never ceases publication. If that ever happened it would leave hundreds of thousands of people in darkness. Keep up the good work.
Gamaliel Alcides Vásquez PérezBishop, Río Blanca WardSan Marcos, Guatemala