Gospel Story Finder

Some of Karen Sharp’s friends claim she has rocks in her head. After all, a look into her room reveals rocks everywhere. Boxes filled with sorted stones are neatly laid across the floor. More rocks are sitting on a paint-splattered table. Some of these are glued together, and close observation reveals distinct shapes beginning to form. Some resemble bears, lions, and hippopotamuses. Others take a shape almost human in nature—bishops, missionaries, skiers, doctors, golfers.
A 19-year-old member of the Bountiful [Utah] 21st Ward, Karen first began painting rocks a little over three years ago. She experimented gluing together different shapes and sizes of rocks and came up with some unique ducks and fish, which won her a Best of Show award in Bountiful’s Handcart Days craft contest. People came next, so for Christmas Karen put together a “portrait in stone” of her family, including the dog. A pebble zoo and a small village full of shops followed next. Karen’s stony craft is now selling in stores and shops throughout her home region and as far away as North Dakota and Seattle.
She has also taught art to children in her home. Taking over a bedroom as a studio and classroom, Karen organized her course into eight lessons on different artistic skills. Her miniature artists liked the lesson on rocks best of all. Rock art has proven so popular, in fact, that Karen is writing a book she hopes will be published.
To make her rock figures, Karen selects stones of just the right sizes and shapes. These are sorted into “heads,” “trunks,” “shoes,” whatever she happens to need. From there she glues them together and adds ski poles, golf clubs, or whatever, with a fast-drying epoxy. When the glue is dry, she paints the solid colors, then adds eyes, mouth, and perhaps a tuft of hair out of colored yarn.
Rock art is fun, imaginative, and not too complicated for you to try. With if you can capture your dad’s big feet, brother’s big grin, and sister’s freckles—and they’ll love it too.

I once took my little grandson to a seafood restaurant. They had a large tank full of live lobsters. My grandson watched with awe as the lobsters moved around in the tank, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they would soon be selected for somebody’s dinner. My grandson watched entranced for a while and then asked me, “There is no lid on the tank and it’s not very deep. Why don’t the lobsters just crawl out and go home? And then nobody will eat them.” We watched for a few minutes more, and then I noticed a curious phenomenon. If one lobster began to try to crawl out of the tank, the others would grab, pull, push, or tug to get the lobster back down into the tank. None could escape and go home because they were all too busy pulling each other back into the tank. I wondered what would happen if they ever figured out that if they could lift and help each other, there might not be any more lobster on the menu of that restaurant.

Sometimes people behave like the lobsters. If one gets a little ahead or looks like they might have figured out a way to safety, others clamor to pull them back, and in so doing, no one escapes. Why do people do this? Is it jealousy?

Hubert Joly, former CEO of consumer electronics firm Best Buy, managed to turn the company around by applying the principles of the LIVE framework in his organization. When Joly became Best Buy’s CEO in 2012, the company was in deep trouble—operating performance had been in sharp decline and analysts and reporters were convinced the company’s days were numbered. Almost everyone thought Joly was crazy to take the job.

From his own shopping experience, Joly knew that Best Buy’s stores were places with few caring people, many unhelpful rules, and frustrating customer service. Joly set out to change that and much more with an approach to leadership grounded in connecting people’s search for meaning to their work at Best Buy.26

Best Buy’s purpose became “to enrich customers’ lives through technology.”27 Joly established three principles to guide the organization in achieving that purpose:

Joly believed that establishing genuine human connections was critical to unlocking the potential in people. He was fond of telling the story of a store manager in Boston who helped an hourly worker grow in skill and confidence to achieve her dream of financial independence: with hard work, she became a department manager.

Joly succeeded in getting the three principles to permeate the entire organization, all the way to store managers and frontline people. But at the core of the turnaround of Best Buy—the company went from being on life support to five consecutive years of sales growth and profitability—was the commitment to help people find meaning at work, to see people as sources of initiative and creativity, to treat people as individuals to help them flourish, and to forge genuine human connections of respect, value, and care.

May brings Teacher Appreciation Week, and youth of the Jurupa California Stake did not let their teachers be forgotten. Each student invited the best teacher he or she had ever had to a teacher appreciation dinner held at the stake center.
During the dinner, the young men and young women provided musical entertainment, and Bishop David Hanson of the Jurupa Fourth Ward spoke about Christ as the Master Teacher. Many of the 50 teachers who attended the dinner wrote thank-you notes commenting on how impressed they are with the youth of the Church and with the Church’s emphasis on education.

A number of years ago I was a young assistant professor living in Ithaca, New York. I had been asked to be on a committee for the Modern Language Association that was scheduled to meet soon at Pennsylvania State University. The association was going to pay all of the expenses, and I thought I was pretty hot stuff. But the first part of the trip was a disaster. The small commuter plane I took almost hit a herd of deer when it was landing. My luggage was lost. I had to wait an unusually long time for the shuttle to the hotel. A sudden storm caused a power outage in the city, and the hotel had no electricity. Even though my expenses were to be paid, I learned while checking in that I was expected to pay for the hotel and my meals in advance, then be reimbursed later. I had brought very little money.

After checking in I went to my dark room and sat on the bed, feeling sorry for myself. The storm had cleared and the rays of the setting sun came through my window and provided sufficient light for me to see a Gideon Bible lying on a nightstand next to the bed. I opened it up and immediately saw the verse in Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I immediately felt much better, but I also felt ashamed, because I knew that the Savior probably had more serious cases in mind than lost luggage and a power outage. But the message was appreciated. The scriptures can teach and enlighten us, and we should make them a part of our daily lives. We should feast on the words of the Lord frequently.

Just last year we completed our fundraising drive for the great Jordan River Temple. Do you know that the wonderful Saints of Utah Valley and a few other areas in Wyoming and the Midwest were able to donate eighteen million dollars, so that a new temple might be built? And did you know that a ward right in the middle of the Salt Lake Valley, composed almost totally of widows, was the first to meet its quota? In fact, it did not only meet the quote but nearly doubled it. This one ward of widows reported to the stake president, just weeks after the campaign had started, with one hundred thousand dollars for the new temple—this from one ward primarily made up of widows.

In 1938, during the middle of the Great Depression in the United States, my mother had just turned nineteen years old. She was the oldest of six children, with her youngest sibling having recently turned five. Her father, Leslie, was a sheepherder in the deserts of eastern Utah. The weather was hot and dry. One summer day in June, while Leslie was out tending the sheep, he became dehydrated and suffered from heat stroke. At age 41, he died suddenly, leaving his wife and six children with no husband and father and very little financial means. My mother did not understand why God would take her father when she felt the family needed him so desperately. She prayed and asked God why her father would die at that particular time.
My mother sought to learn from God why her father died when he was young and had a family that needed him so much during a time of great economic difficulty. The answer she received did not come quickly, but it did come. After studying the scriptures and praying for many days, her answer came in a dream. The answer was clear and brought peace and understanding to her soul.
I witness that Jesus Christ lives. He is the all-powerful Son of God. He knows us personally. He can guide and comfort us during times of uncertainty, pain, or fear if we listen to His words and seek to hearken and to heed what He tells us to do. I also witness that Jesus Christ directs His ordained servants and speaks through them. I have personally felt His clear direction in preparing messages for general conference.
As we listen to the messages during general conference—and seek to hearken and heed the words of Jesus Christ—He will speak to our hearts. He can and will help us to deal with temptation, struggles, and weakness. We can experience miracles in our marriages, family relationships, and daily work. Jesus Christ seeks to help us feel increased joy even if turbulence surrounds us. May we turn to Him and hearken and heed His words.

Alex’s testimony was strengthened further following a dream he had in which he was called on a full-time mission. He began preparing but didn’t wait until he was 19 to begin sharing the gospel, starting with his own family.
“Alex always prayed for and encouraged his family,” says Bishop Sayas. “And he would always encourage his older brothers to attend church. The effort to bring his family back succeeded because of Alex.”
“It was Alex who was always working with us and with ward members on our behalf,” Carmen says. “They told us he was always praying for his parents to return to church. We’re grateful he didn’t give up on us.”
If Latter-day Saints are good examples, Alex says, others will eventually take notice. “If we are happy and content in the Church, others are going to want to partake of our happiness. If we endure and move forward, miracles can occur.”

“You wouldn’t think it was funny if you had to dance with him,” said Lisa in a cross voice.
“I’m sorry, Lisa,” said Stephanie, smothering one last chuckle, “but I couldn’t help laughing because there was a time when I thought you had two left feet. Remember when we were learning to clog after third grade a couple of years ago?”
“Oh, yes,” said Lisa, thinking back. “Was I really that bad?” She thought some more, then admitted, “I guess I was before Tammy took over. She walked me through every step of that dance until I had it just right.”
“And now old Two-Left-Feet Lisa can dance,” said Stephanie with a friendly grin.

I was called to be a General Authority twenty-five years ago and had no idea at first what I would be asked to do. I was assigned to hold a stake conference the very next weekend and went for advice to my former stake president, Elder Harold B. Lee, who was then a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. I asked him to tell me what to do. His answer both shocked and frightened me. He said, “Theodore, you are a General Authority now. No one tells a General Authority how to act in his special calling. If you have questions, ask the Lord and He will instruct you.” I had prayed before, never expecting a direct answer, but now I prayed soberly and with real intent.
The Lord did answer my prayers—not in ways I expected, but by speaking things into my mind. But that only happened after I had studied the problem and prepared myself to receive an answer. I have been startled by some of the things that have come to me. Scriptures I had not understood before suddenly were made meaningful. Answers I had previously passed over in reading the scriptures took on new significance. I have truly learned over these years line upon line and precept on precept. I have learned to follow living prophets as well as those prophets who have passed on. Of necessity I have learned to live by faith.

Our son did this long ago on a family trip. We had traveled many miles to see a beautiful castle. By the time we finally arrived, one of our younger daughters was tired and cross. She refused to get out of the car to take the short hike to the site we had come so far to see. Most of us felt impatient with her. But with gentleness our 14-year-old son lifted her on his back and carried her to the castle. That tense moment was softened by his quiet expression of love. That now lives in each of our memories more than the view of the castle.

During the difficult year of 2021, the number of refugees and asylum seekers seeking a better life increased. Thankfully, the Oasis Cardiff centre stepped in to help them integrate with our communities and provide them with the necessities that were not otherwise easily available to them.
For most of us, there is much to look forward to over November and December, but for others it is a time of despair and going without. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cardiff wanted to try and change this and make a difference.
During this time, members of the Cardiff Stake, with the help of local communities around the stake and a donation from LDS Charities, gathered toiletries and teddy bears for approximately 150 people to help them enjoy the festive season more than they might otherwise have done.
The willingness of volunteers from local communities to help was amazing. Several shopping trips were required to acquire items, including over 350 packs of nappies. Many members, including full-time missionaries and youth, came together to pack 150 toiletry packs for the refugees. Even the South Wales Police helped by providing a large van to transport the nappies and toiletries collected.
The packs were donated to refuges on December 10—the response was phenomenal. Volunteers were very grateful to be able to give to people in need.
Jacci Peach from Oasis Cardiff said, “The generous donation of nappies and toiletries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have so far been given to 95 families and individuals. Additionally, 51 children aged up to 8 have also received a teddy. Most of these children would not have received anything for Christmas. In fact, most would’ve had no toys at home at all.
“What seems like a little thing to so many can mean the world to an asylum seeker. Being able to stay clean is a simple ‘luxury’ that ensures dignity and some sense of normality. Thank you so much for your kind donations, they are much appreciated!”

As I sit here today I am reminded of an invitation I received 15 years ago. It was from a good friend of mine who was attending school here. He asked me to come and visit him for two weeks while I was on break from my school. I didn't feel like I had the time or the money and struggled with the decision. As I thought about it I mentioned it to my Dad one morning. He simply said, Go, it could change your whole life. I was surprised by his answer but when I heard those words I felt a deep impression that they were true. So I came and as a result fell immediately in love with this place. So much so that I didn't want to leave when my two weeks were up, but knew that I had to. So I did, with a prayer in my heart that some day He would allow me the blessing of returning to stay and be a permanent part of this wonderful university and place. I mean it when I say, I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be here today.

But Lucy Mack was no carbon-copy Christian. Although knowing God through scriptures and prayerful communion, she doubted the religions that claimed to speak for him. Early in marriage she showed double qualities of devotion and independence. A severe respiratory infection brought a high fever, and Lucy’s life hung in the balance. Weakened and semi-conscious, she was informed by her shaken husband that the doctors expected her to die. But that night powerful prayers stirred within her weakened frame. She sought life in order to “bring up my children, and be a comfort to my husband.” Making her “solemn covenant” with God, she heard a voice assuring her (in scriptural language), “seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Her solid recovery began from that hour, as she vigorously assured her watching mother that “the Lord will let me live.”7

One of the ways we sought to help BYU become greater in the Lord’s way can be demonstrated by the many small miracles that surrounded the beginning of the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center on campus.

I was on this beautiful campus with some regularity even before I received the assignment to come full-time. After arriving and visiting with students, staff, and faculty, as well as with many of our loyal supporters and financial donors, it became apparent that even with such wonderful facilities as were then available, there was one special thing we felt we lacked: a single place that would allow our BYU campus family to gather together with alumni, friends, and distinguished visitors and that would also be a place where they could learn and understand so much of what makes BYU unique. We wanted that space to include a clear description of our dependence on, relationship with, and support of our prophets and Church leaders; the history of the development of our university and the Restoration of the gospel; and, particularly and especially, our key role in helping our students and all who might come here become more loyal, effective, and productive disciples of Jesus Christ.

Early in 2004, I was approached by three of our most loyal and generous supporters—Jack Wheatley, King Husein, and Ira Fulton. They shared great enthusiasm for the notion of a new building, and they then offered to raise all of the money for the project so that there would be no request for Church funds to accomplish this great task. They had one condition, however, and that was that the building must be named for the prophet at that time, Gordon B. Hinckley.

I felt joy at their proposal but also great trepidation because I knew that there was a firm policy to not name facilities for living Church leaders. After many prayers and a few sleepless nights, I raised the matter with President Henry B. Eyring, who was then commissioner of the Church Educational System. He listened carefully and seemed supportive but suggested that if I were to present the idea to the board of trustees at that point, it might be embarrassing to President Hinckley and uncomfortable for everyone else.

He did suggest that I quietly arrange a visit with President Hinckley’s counselors, President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust, to seek their guidance. I was soon able to meet together with President Monson and President Faust. They listened, but they gently said that if we were to really be committed to the project, I needed to see President Hinckley privately and present the matter to him. I asked if they would be there with me, and they smiled and said no.

I was able to schedule an appointment with President Hinckley shortly thereafter. I sensed he had been briefed on our plan, but this was not acknowledged. I explained the project—including the proposal and conditions of Brothers Wheatley, Husein, and Fulton and our desire to not ask for Church funds. With great reluctance and many more questions, President Hinckley said we could present the matter to the board of trustees and see if they would approve it. Of course the board’s approval was unanimous and enthusiastic, and we went ahead with the many details of planning, research, and preparation.

Interestingly, when word of approval became public, there was great excitement, with many wanting to contribute. While the major donors were true to their commitments, more than 70,000 individuals also donated to the project—including thousands of students and alumni.

With the blessings of heaven and the very hard work of many, we were able to break ground for the building on June 23, 2006: President Hinckley’s 96th birthday. Just shortly thereafter—one year later—on June 23, 2007 (President Hinckley’s 97th birthday), the building was dedicated. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the many miraculous circumstances that made this beautiful addition to our campus possible.

Another time, while serving a mission in Kentucky, Lorenzo was warming himself by a fire one evening at the end of a church meeting. An unfriendly man standing beside him (who was part of a gang waiting to attack him) accidentally bumped against Lorenzo and felt his scriptures in the pocket of his jacket. The scriptures were a gift from Joseph Smith, Sr., father of the Prophet Joseph Smith. However, thinking the object in Lorenzo’s jacket was a gun, the man immediately left without causing a fight. Lorenzo said a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for taking care of him while he preached the gospel.

Elder Taiichi Aoba of the Seventy, who resides in a small mountain village in Shikoku, Japan, was asked to teach a class at a youth conference. “Stand Ye in Holy Places” was selected as the theme of the conference. After considering the theme and what to teach, Elder Aoba decided to use his vocation as a teaching tool. His work is making pottery.
Elder Aoba relates that his classroom of youth really sprang to life when they saw how he was able to almost magically transform the shape of the clay in his hands to plates, bowls, and cups. After his demonstration, he asked them if any of them would like to give it a try. They all raised their hands.
Elder Aoba had several of the youth come forward to try out their new interest. They assumed, after watching him, that this would be quite simple. However, none of them were successful in their attempts to make even a simple bowl. They proclaimed: “I can’t do this!” “Why is this so hard?” “This is so difficult.” These comments took place as the clay flew all around the room.
He asked the youth why they were having such difficulty making pottery. They responded with various answers: “I don’t have any experience,” “I have never been trained,” or “I have no talent.” Based on the result, what they said was all true; however, the most important reason for their failure was due to the clay not being centered on the wheel. The youth thought that they had placed the clay in the center, but from a professional’s perspective, it wasn’t in the exact center. He then told them, “Let’s try this one more time.”
This time, Elder Aoba placed the clay in the exact center of the wheel and then started to turn the wheel, making a hole in the middle of the clay. Several of the youth tried again. This time everyone started clapping when they said: “Wow, it’s not shaking,” “I can do this,” or “I did it!” Of course, the shapes weren’t perfect, but the outcome was totally different from the first attempt. The reason for their success was because the clay was perfectly centered on the wheel.

At a distant stake conference one Sunday I was approached after the meeting by a young man whose face was familiar. He identified himself as a returned missionary whom I had met out in the world a few years ago. He said he had not attended the conference but had come at its conclusion, wanting to say hello. Our greetings were pleasant and revived some choice memories. I asked him about himself. He was in college, still single, and fairly miserable.
I asked him about his service in the Church, and the light in his eyes went out and a dull, disappointed face fashioned itself as he said, “I am not very active in the Church now. I don’t feel the same as I used to feel in the mission field. What I used to think was a testimony has become something of a disillusionment. If there is a God, I am not sure any more. I must have been mistaken in my zeal and joy.”
I looked him through and through and asked him some questions: “What do you do in your leisure? What do you read? How much do you pray? What activity do you have? What are your associations?”
The answers were what I expected. He had turned loose his hold on the iron rod. He associated largely with unbelievers. He read, in addition to his college texts, works by atheists, apostates, and Bible critics. He had ceased to pray to his Heavenly Father. His communication poles were burned, and his lines were sagging terribly.
I asked him now, “How many times since your mission have you read the New Testament?”
“Not any time,” was the answer.
“How many times have you read the Book of Mormon through?”
The answer was, “None.”
“How many chapters of scripture have you read? How many verses?”
Not one single time had he opened the sacred books. He had been reading negative and critical and faith-destroying things and wondered why he could not smile.
He never prayed any more, yet wondered why he felt so abandoned and so alone in a tough world. For a long time he had not partaken of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and he wondered why his spirit was dead.
Not a penny of tithing had he paid, and he wondered why the windows of heaven seemed closed and locked and barred to him. He was not receiving all the things he could have had. And as he was thinking of his woes and his worn-down faith, his loneliness, and his failures, I was thinking of a burned-out pasture in northern Argentina and burned-off telephone posts and sagging wires and dragging posts.
Deeply disturbing are the numerous signs of dwindling faith in our world. Matches are dropped. The grass is burned.
The sagging in spiritual conviction is frightening. Morale is often low even among employees in their jobs—selfish “gimme” tactics. “How much can I get?” “How about a raise?” More holidays. Fewer hours. Poor morale among the employers.
We are too affluent. We have too much money and other things. We have so many things. Even many poorer people have many things, and “things” become our life, and our vocabulary has been invaded with, “Let me do my thing.”
Yet the Lord has said, “… seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33.) Too often, though, we want the “things” first.
We have a great generation of youth, but as I talk to many, I am amazed and surprised at the laxity of prayers among them, especially those who are in sin. Many have nearly ceased to pray. Their communication wires are down. Also numerous young people in their early married days cease to pray with regularity; their lines are sagging.
My first question to people in trouble is, “What about your prayers? How often? How deeply involved are you when you pray? And when you pray, are you humbly thanking or are you asking?”
Israel was in deep trouble—a sustained drought.
Israel’s King Ahab demanded of the prophet Elijah:
“Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
“And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.” (1 Kgs. 18:17–18.)
The spectacular drama portrayed on Mt. Carmel between Elijah the prophet and the ineffectual false priests of Baal is the story of sagging lines of communication. Great wickedness—and the Lord had sealed the heavens from rain. Elijah had said: “… if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. …” (1 Kgs. 18:21.)
The contest brought about by Elijah was to prove to Israel that the gods of stone and wood and metal were powerless. When the 450 priests of Baal could not influence their gods to burn the offering, and the Lord, through Elijah, brought down fire from heaven and consumed the bullock, then with a revival of faith on the part of Israel, the clouds came and a torrential rain fell. Weak Israel had now set up new poles; they had restrung their wires, and communication was reestablished.
Two young couples from the Northwest came, bowed in sorrow. The husband of one and the wife of the other had lost themselves in frustration arising out of disloyally finding comfort where no association should have been tolerated. Their problems reached the maximum, and sorrow resulted.
It is generally the same. The two young people, unfaithful to their spouses, had conversed and confided too much; then secret meetings followed, then disloyal disclosures concerning the spouse of each. And finally, that which surely could not have been dreamed of—the transgression.
Both couples had reduced their activity, become casual in their church-going. They had joined a social group who were also turning to spiritual casualness like themselves. Their new way of living was beyond their means, and debts crowded out tithing.
Too busy they were for home evenings and too rushed for family prayer, and when the great temptations came, they were not prepared. Their grass had been consumed, and with it the poles had been burned off and the dangling charred stubs were hanging to the sagging wires.
Sin comes when communication lines are down—it always does, sooner or later.
We are living in a sagging world. There has been sin since Cain yielded to Satan, but perhaps never before has the world accepted sin so completely as a way of life. We shall continue to cry repentance from this and thousands of other pulpits. We shall continue to warn the people all too ready to accept the world as it pushes in upon them.
May we always repair our sagging lines and fulfill our total obligations and thus keep close to our Lord and Savior, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

There it was, rising above the desert like a huge mound of bread dough, but instead of being soft, it was solid rock. The Young Women of the Alice Springs Branch in the Australia Adelaide Mission meant to climb to the top of this natural marvel.
The rock, known as Ayers Rock, is located southwest of Alice Springs. It is one of the world’s largest monoliths because it was formed from one huge, unfractured piece of rock. The steep climb, about two kilometers, was not an easy task, but most of the young women and their leaders made it to the top to see the beautiful view.
The three-day trip also included a hike through the Olgas, a cluster of round-topped mountains near Ayers Rock. The group traveled in all-terrain vehicles because of the rough desert country. The highlight was the testimony meeting held at the base of one of the Olgas as the sun went down.
“We had great fun. The view from Ayers Rock was worth the scary climb.” Joanne Thompson, 17
“We had a testimony meeting at sunset at the Olgas which was really special. It makes you appreciate how beautiful God’s creations are.” Rebecca Clement, 16

In 1989 Brother Wirthlin was called to preside over the Germany, Frankfurt Mission. The three years that we were there turned into a unique time in the history of Germany. It had been a divided country since World War II with East Germany under Communist rule and West Germany under a democratic government. The Berlin Wall divided the two sectors. Who could have predicted that as the wheels of history turned, in one year, with no blood shed, East Germany would be freed from Communist rule, and the country would become a united free people. It all began in September of 1989 with student demonstrations for freedom in Leipsig, East Germany. Prime Minister Honeker asked Premier Gorbechev of the Soviet Union for support in putting down the demonstrations. The answer came back "no". The students began walking down through Czechoslovakia, into Austria and into West Germany. This became the prelude to the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. With the barriers down, refugees began pouring into West Germany from Eastern Europe and Africa. When Elder Nelson combined the East and West Berlin stakes, he said, "Germany will become the seeding ground for the church in Eastern Europe." And that's exactly what happened. Missions opened up in East Germany, Russia, Bulgaria and Albania. The number of missions in Germany grew from three when we arrived to six when we were released. The final miracle event occurred the third year of our mission when the entire Soviet Union dissolved.

Some would say that history turns on the fulcrum of political events, but we know better, history turns on the timetable of the Lord. It was clear, the time had come for the light of the gospel to be taken to a people who had lived for so many years in spiritual darkness.

We sent the first missionaries from Frankfurt into Bulgaria and Albania. I remember how anxious those two Elders and two Sisters were to go into those countries without the language and no established church to receive them. But the Lord had opened the door and they were prepared because they had the Holy Ghost, even the Spirit of Truth with them. One day I was reading the Parable of the Tame and Wild Olive Tree as recorded in Jacob 5. I realized that we were seeing the fulfillment of another prophesy. The parable tells the story of the gathering of Israel in the latter days. The Lord of the vineyard visited the vineyard 4 times, and on the last visit, he said to His servants:

What an eye opener that was for me; we were seeing it happen. Through the power of the Spirit, the Lord was moving people and nations so that the kingdom of God could roll forth in the earth.