Gospel Story Finder

As a new convert I had the opportunity to go to the temple to perform some baptisms for my ancestors. As I stood in the water to perform this sacred ordinance, I had a strong feeling that baptism for the dead is divine. Since then I have been able to build my testimony of baptisms for the dead. In my understanding, testimony is defined as divine revelation to the person of faith. To gain a testimony, we must pray, study our scriptures, and obey the teachings of Jesus Christ. At the root of every testimony must be a righteous life; otherwise, the Spirit cannot bear witness of the work of the Lord in our day.
Mariam N., 19, Accra, Ghana

10 Wilford Woodruff Home
Wilford Woodruff wrote in his diary on May 3, 1844, “I hung 4 doors primed them & laid my lower floors.” The next day he wrote, “I moved into my new brick house.” A week later he left his wife and three children to serve a mission in the New England states. At the age of eighty-two he became the fourth President of the Church.

The Happy Funeral Grandfather died. Grandmother put half a comb in his hand; she will keep the other half until they are together again. Small pieces of candy are given to May-May and Laura to “sweeten their sorrow.” These and other Chinese customs show how Grandfather did indeed have a happy funeral.Eve Bunting5–9 years

OK, I have a plan for the test. Margo will copy Heitor’s answers. Then I’ll copy Margo’s. Julia will copy mine.
That’s cheating!
So? Mr. Costa is a bad teacher.
I won’t do that.
But you sit by Heitor! He’s the smartest kid in class. If you don’t help us, we’ll all fail!
I’m just going to study and do my best.
A few days later …
Oh no. I almost failed! And I studied so hard.
But I know I did the right thing. I earned this grade on my own. I think Jesus is proud of me.
Illustrations by Katie McDee

Can you imagine a 25-hour long meeting that was actually a good experience? Youth leaders in the Madison Third Ward, Madison Wisconsin Stake, can. They met together on both the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving to read the entire Book of Mormon at once.

They met at a leader’s home and read from nine in the morning until nine at night, stopping only long enough to say the blessing over dinner. After that, the young men camped out there, and the young women spent the night at a neighbor’s house. They reconvened the next morning for a similar schedule.

But there was no excited cheer when the last verse was read. “I bid unto all, farewell … until … I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.” (Moro. 10:34) was met with a very solemn and united “Amen.”

Crystal was in high school and Angel was six years old when their mother could no longer look after them. I offered to take them in. “I promise I will never leave your children,” I said. “I will take good care of them.”
Years later, another young mother asked me to take in her baby, Allison. This mother faced difficult circumstances and knew I could give her baby a good life. I took Allison in.
I try to teach these children the important things in life. I bring them to church and try to help them grow closer to God. I know that when I am nearer to Him, I can do so much more, even the things I think are impossible. Of course, I want that for Crystal, Angel, and Allison.
These children have suffered in life, but I’ve watched the gospel and the Spirit heal their hearts. I’ve watched their perceptions and behaviors slowly change. Together we pray for their birth parents, because no matter what, I want them to respect and love them.
I love Crystal, Angel, and Allison as if they were my own children. Sometimes people ask me if I will regret my decisions. What if Allison’s mother decides to take Allison back? Will I regret loving Allison and becoming attached to her? But why should I regret it? Helping other people is nothing to regret! It’s something to be grateful for.
I am so grateful for Crystal, Angel, and Allison. Thanks to them, I have learned how to be a mother. I learned how to wake up in the middle of the night for diaper changes, how to teach young children to pray, how to love more deeply than I thought possible. That is something I didn’t think I would ever have.
Perhaps my calling in this world is to take care of those that don’t have mothers or are far away from their mothers.

Participate in Church functions and meetings. Accept opportunities to take appropriate assignments when given the opportunity. I will always be grateful to a good man who helped our boys on a continuing basis while it was not possible for him to take part in all the Church programs. He was well loved, and he loved the boys to whom he gave time and guidance.

The ancient Egyptians used the cubit as did Noah. Many of them farmed along the Nile, which flooded its banks every year, washing away markers and fences. The Egyptian farmers had to remeasure and lay out their fields. It would have taken them forever to do this measuring with their forearms, so they used a rope with knots tied in it at regular intervals. With the rope as their guide, they drew lines in the mud, putting new markers along the boundaries of their fields.

My father, Parley W. Newman, served as a paratrooper in World War II. On more than one occasion, he parachuted behind enemy lines in the South Pacific and was under fire. He lost close friends in combat and was eventually wounded himself.
One night, my father came into my room and told me of the tremendous fear he had daily experienced during the war—an entirely justifiable fear in the face of real and imminent danger. He told me that throughout his time in the war, he carried with him a verse of scripture printed on a card and received comfort from the promise of that verse. He then handed me a card on which he had printed that same scripture, Joshua 1:9.

In my case, I still have some memories of some of my past mistakes. As I have prayed about it, the Lord has told me that I have been forgiven, and I should not worry about those things anymore. However, I also feel that those memories are a warning for me to strive to not fall into those mistakes again. So, having those memories is not totally negative. I see them in my life as a demonstration of God’s love for me as He consistently warns me to avoid taking that route again.

At age 14, young Ezra T. took over management of the family’s dairy herd while his father was away on a three-year mission. He remembers sitting around the kitchen table, listening to his mother read the letters his father sent home. Reminiscing about listening to those letters, he said, “There came into that home a spirit of missionary work that never left it, and later seven sons, all of them, went on missions, to their blessing and the blessing of their posterity” (Glasgow Scotland Area Conference, June 21, 1976).

Here’s another situation. I have watched missionaries over many years, as they teach the gospel, find that some of their best investigators tell them that they have decided not to join the Church. Most missionaries at this point are discouraged and disappointed. The missionary who understands the Holy Ghost, however, takes that moment as his great opportunity.

He even welcomes it, because he knows what to do. And he might say: “Very well, if that is your wish. However, please allow us a moment just to tell you how much the gospel means to us. Do you remember how Joseph Smith knelt one evening in his room and prayed to the Lord to know of his standing before God? As a result, an angel appeared and said: ‘Joseph, I have come to you from the presence of God to tell you that the Lord has a work for you to do, by which your name will be known for good and evil among all men’ [see JS—H 1:33]. What did Joseph Smith say? Did he say: ‘Oh, no thanks, Mr. Angel. I don’t want to go on a mission. I only wished to know if the Lord loves me!’ Of course, he couldn’t have said that. We want to tell you that we know this work is true just as surely as if we had knelt there by the side of Joseph Smith, because God has revealed it to us. He will reveal it to you, too. We don’t think you should decide not to join his church until you have knelt down and asked the Lord what he wants you to do.”

And the investigators, as they pray, respond saying: “Of course, the Lord wants us to join the Church.” The next step, naturally, is to prepare for their baptism.

A poor wayfaring man of grief
Had often crossed me on my way,
Who sued so humbly for relief
That I could never answer, Nay.
I had not power to ask his name;
Whither he went or whence he came;
Yet there was something in his eye
That won my love, I knew not why.

Once, when my scanty meal was spread,
He entered—not a word he spake.
Just perishing for want of bread;
I gave him all; he blessed it, brake.
And ate, but gave me part again;
Mine was an angel’s portion then,
For while I fed with eager haste,
The crust was manna to my taste.

The verses continue to tell of a drink given to quench the thirst of a sufferer, clothing and rest for the naked and weary, caring for the injured and wounded, sharing the condemnation of a prisoner. Then the last verses recognize the appearance of the Master:

Then in a moment to my view,
The stranger started from disguise:
The tokens in his hands I knew,
The Savior stood before mine eyes.
He spake—and my poor name he named—
“Of me thou hast not been asham’d;
These deeds shall thy memorial be;
Fear not thou didst them unto me.”

(History of the Church, 6:614–15.)

When I saw your FYI in the August 1996 issue about television habits, I had to respond. Our family totally cut out cable TV, and since we have no antenna we don’t get anything on the tube. This happened in my seventh-grade year. I’m a senior in high school now, and the absence of television has blessed our whole family. It seems that I’m always on the lookout to make sure that I keep my mind clean, and I have noticed that things which bother me are shrugged off or ignored by my friends who regularly watch TV.
Michaela WalkerFreeport, Illinois

At first, some people were a little frightened to see a bunch of teenagers gathered outside their doors. “A lady answered the door,” said Melissa Carrell, 16, New Boston Ward, Shreveport Louisiana Stake. “She was scared of us because we were a bunch of kids. But she let us in. She appreciated what we were doing.”

Late in 1827, Emma learned she was pregnant and wrote to her parents. It had been almost a year since she and Joseph had married, and her father and mother were still unhappy. But the Haleses agreed to let the young couple return to Harmony so Emma could give birth near her family.
Although it would take him away from his own parents and siblings, Joseph was eager to go. People in New York were still trying to steal the plates, and moving to a new place could provide the peace and privacy he needed to do the Lord’s work. Unfortunately, he was in debt and had no money to make the move.5
Hoping to get his finances in order, Joseph went to town to settle some of his debts. While he was in a store making a payment, Martin Harris strode up to him. “Here, Mr. Smith, is fifty dollars,” he said. “I give it to you to do the Lord’s work.”
Joseph was nervous about accepting the money and promised to repay it, but Martin said not to worry about it. The money was a gift, and he called on everyone in the room to witness that he had given it freely.6
Soon after, Joseph paid his debts and loaded his wagon. He and Emma then left for Harmony with the gold plates hidden in a barrel of beans.7
The couple arrived at the Haleses’ spacious home about a week later.8 Before long, Emma’s father demanded to see the gold plates, but Joseph said he could only show him the box where he kept them. Annoyed, Isaac picked up the lockbox and felt its weight, yet he remained skeptical. He said Joseph could not keep it in the house unless he showed him what was inside.9
With Emma’s father around, translating would not be easy, but Joseph tried his best. Assisted by Emma, he copied many of the strange characters from the plates to paper.10 Then, for several weeks, he tried to translate them with the Urim and Thummim. The process required him to do more than look into the interpreters. He had to be humble and exercise faith as he studied the characters.11

When 14-year-old Joseph Smith walked into the woods near his home, he had deep questions he wanted to ask God. His questions would lead to the First Vision.
Early Spring, 1820
At age 14, Joseph is confused about which religion to join. He goes into the woods to pray, and in response, God the Father and Jesus Christ appear to him. They tell him that none of the churches are true.

As the mission term for the Grant family came to a close, President Grant decided to try to get Fia into the United States. He booked passage for her as a nurse for his children and hoped that as he was prepared to support her for the rest of her life, there would be no trouble with the immigration authorities. When their ship landed in New York, the excitement of returning home was nearly forgotten in the concern the Grant family had over whether Fia would be able to remain with them. But things went much easier than they had hoped. The immigration officers asked no questions and made no examinations. Fia was in!
The Grant family arrived in Salt Lake shortly before Christmas 1906. Fia was a most welcome addition. Elder Grant even talked of adopting her legally. Perhaps because of her age this was never done, but she was no longer considered hired help; she was loved and treated as a family member.

“Excuse me, boys,” said a loud voice from behind John and me as a heavy hand fell on each of our shoulders, “but I think you’ve got something that doesn’t belong to you.”
I was too stunned to speak, but my friend John wasn’t.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” he said as he wrenched his shoulder free and turned to face the man who had addressed us so suddenly. “We didn’t do anything. Who are you anyway?”
The man’s face turned red. “I’m Mr. Kennard, the manager of that store you just left,” he said. “And I watched you steal those candy bars.”
Steal? Candy bars? I looked at John. He didn’t even blink an eye as he continued to argue.
“What do you mean? I just bought these.”
“Now look, boy, I saw you take those candy bars and stuff them into your jacket pocket. Then I watched you as you left my store, without paying, and met your accomplice out here.
“And you,” he said, looking at me, “are just as guilty. I saw you reach for the candy bar as soon as this kid left the store. Even though you didn’t steal it, you’re just as guilty for letting him do the work and then sharing what he stole.”
His words shocked me. “Wait a minute. I didn’t do anything.”
“That’s what your friend said.”
“No, really, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t know he was going to steal anything.” I explained to Mr. Kennard how John had told me he had some money and asked me to wait outside the store while be ran in to get us something to eat.
Mr. Kennard didn’t believe me. “Look,” he said, “I don’t have all day to play games with a couple of teenage shoplifters. What are your names?”
He wrote down our names and made us come back inside the store while he called our parents. I was angry—angry at being wrongly accused of shoplifting and angry at John for stealing and getting me caught in the whole mess.
“Sorry,” John mumbled as we sat in Mr. Kennard’s office.
“Sure, but not nearly as sorry as I am.”
“No, really, Chris, I’m sorry. I didn’t think I’d get caught. I’ve never been caught before.”
“Look, I don’t want to talk about it. Just forget it, okay?” We sat in silence until our parents picked us up.
When Dad and I were finally alone in our car, I told him the whole story.
He listened quietly until I finished, then started the car. As we drove away from the store, he said, “I believe you, son, but you can’t blame Mr. Kennard for not believing you. You have to admit, you must have looked guilty. It’s a case where you’re guilty by association. You’ve heard me say before that you’re judged by the company you keep, haven’t you? Well, today you looked like a shoplifter because you were with one.”

“How do we hallow the Sabbath day? In my much younger years, I studied the work of others who had compiled lists of thing to do and things not to do on the Sabbath. It wasn’t until later that I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my attitude on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly Father. With that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don’ts. When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, ‘What sign do I want to give to God?’ That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear. …