It may still be cold outside, but General Conference always has stories to warm our hearts! Here are a few of our favorite winter-themed, inspirational tales from General Conference addresses.
Olympic Dreams
“I first share the story of Noelle Pikus-Pace, [a] Latter-day Saint [Olympic] athlete. In Noelle’s event, the skeleton, athletes build momentum as they sprint and then plunge headfirst on a small sled. With their faces inches above the ground, they race down a winding, icy track at speeds that top 90 miles (145 km) an hour.
“Remarkably, years of preparation would be considered either a success or a disappointment based on what happened in the space of four intense 60-second runs.
“Noelle’s previous 2006 Olympic dreams were dashed when a terrible accident left her with a broken leg. In the 2010 Olympics her dreams fell short again when just over one-tenth of a second kept her from the medal stand.
“Can you imagine the anxiety she felt as she waited to begin her first run in the 2014 Olympics? Years of preparation would culminate in only a sliver of time. Four minutes total. She spent years preparing for those four minutes and would spend a lifetime afterward reflecting on them.
“Noelle’s final runs were virtually flawless! We will never forget her leap into the stands to embrace her family after crossing the finish line, exclaiming, ‘We did it!’ Years of preparation had paid off. We saw her Young Women medallion around her neck as the silver medal was placed there beside it.”
-“Your Four Minutes” by Gary E. Stevenson
Search and Rescue
“[T]his past winter . . . I visited with a neighbor and friend in beautiful Heber Valley east of Salt Lake City. Snowmobile adventurers had been lost for a several-day period in the backcountry of high winds, penetrating cold, and eerie silence. My friend Johnny told me of the desperate plight of the lost and referred to the anxiety of their families. He mentioned that he was a member of the county search and rescue force, whose members left their businesses and farms and went in search of the lost and missing.
“The searchers had prayed for a break in the winter weather, knowing the critical element of time in such a rescue. Their prayers were answered; the weather cleared. Surveying each grid of the vast area through the use of high-powered field glasses as the helicopter flew back and forth through the mountains and the ravines, the lost party was finally spotted. Then came the difficult task of reaching and retrieving the courageous group. All was well. The lost were found. Lives were spared. Worry and fear yielded to joy and jubilation.
“Johnny, with heartfelt emotion, said to me, ‘I love to search and rescue. Just to look into the faces of those who could have died and feel, as well as see, their profound gratitude fills my body and soul with compassion and thanksgiving. I’ve never before experienced anything quite like it.’
“Perhaps he was witnessing the personal understanding of the Lord’s pronouncement, ‘Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.’”
– “Search and Rescue” by Thomas S. Monson
Happy Under Any Circumstance
“Because of Missouri’s infamous extermination order, issued at the onset of the grueling winter of 1838,7 she and other Saints were forced to flee the state that very winter. One evening, Eliza [R. Snow]’s family spent the night in a small log cabin used by refugee Saints. Much of the chinking between the logs had been extracted and burned for firewood by those who preceded them, so there were holes between the logs large enough for a cat to crawl through. It was bitter cold, and their food was frozen solid.
“That night some 80 people huddled inside that small cabin, only 20 feet square (6.1 meters square). Most sat or stood all night trying to keep warm. Outside, a group of men spent the night gathered around a roaring fire, with some singing hymns and others roasting frozen potatoes. Eliza recorded: ‘Not a complaint was heard—all were cheerful, and judging from appearances, strangers would have taken us to be pleasure excursionists rather than a band of gubernatorial exiles.’
“Eliza’s report of that exhausting, bone-chilling evening was strikingly optimistic. She declared: ‘That was a very merry night. None but saints can be happy under every circumstance.’
“That’s it! Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year!”
– “Joy and Spiritual Survival” by Russell M. Nelson
Which of these seasonal stories was your favorite? If you have another favorite winter story from one of the General Authorities, share it in the comments below!
All photos found on lds.org or ldsliving.com.
