Molly the Miracle Horse

My Sister-in-law Kathy sent me this story in an email that someone had forwarded to her.  It’s such a fun story I wanted to share it with you.  It’s about a horse named Molly.  When Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, many people were forced to leave their homes.  This young pony was left behind.  After surviving on her own for several weeks, she was rescued by a group of people rescuing animals.  She was placed in a shelter with many other animals who had also been rescued.

At the shelter, a pit bull attacked her and hurt her right leg badly.  The wound became infected.  Caretakers weren’t sure if she could be saved.  But a sympathetic surgeon saw potential in her because Molly was patient, could handle pain and wanted to survive.  He saved the pony by taking her lower leg.  A prosthesis was made for her, so she can move about normally again.  

Her vet said, “She asks for [her prosthesis.] She will put her little limb out and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too.”  And sometimes, Molly gets away from the Vet.  “It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse,” she laughs.

The bottom of her prosthesis is shaped like a happy face.  Each footprint Molly makes in soft dirt stamps a happy face footprint.  I think that’s really fun.

Now Molly visits nursing homes, rehabilitations centers, hospitals and shelters, giving people hope.  She survived a hurricane and the after-effects, a horrible injury, surgery and now she’s helping others.  She’s living proof that one can get through hard things and come out on top.

It’s pretty amazing to see a horse with a prosthetic leg!  Molly must help people cope with their difficulties by showing that almost anything is possible.  

This was originally published:  Goodman, Brenda. "After Surviving Hurricane and Being Mauled by Dog, Pony is Still Standing." New York Times 15 May 2006.

God Hears our Prayers

By Scott Johnson

I ove the story that President Gordon B. Hinckley told about a young boy and his Primary teacher.  One evening when he was eating dinner with his family, Artel Ricks heard his parents talking about tithing.  They said that tithing was one tenth of our money that we give to Heavenly Father to show Him that we love Him.  The little boy loved Heavenly Father and so he made up his mind to pay his tithing.  

He went to his room and found his piggy bank.  He carefully counted out his tithing.  The boy then went to the only place in the house that he could have some privacy—the bathroom.  He went into the bathroom and locked the door so he could be all by himself.  He knelt down on the floor and held the coins up in the air in his open hand.  He began to pray to Heavenly Father.  He said, “Heavenly Father, I want to pay my tithing.  Please come down and take it.” 

He waited and waited.  Nothing happened.  He was sure that Heavenly Father would come and take his tithing, but He hadn’t.  He was so upset!  What had gone wrong?  

A few days later, Artel went to Primary.  In his Primary class, his teacher said, “I feel like I need to teach you something different from the lesson I planned.”  She then went on to explain that, when you pay your tithing, you give the money to your Bishop because he is a servant of God.  The boy was so happy.  That day he not only learned to whom he should pay his tithing, but more importantly, he learned that Heavenly Father knew who he was and cared enough to answer the prayer of a boy through the words of his Primary teacher.

I love this story because it reminds me that Heavenly Father loves each one of us.  He cares for us and often answers our prayers through other people.  I know this is true.  He loves you and will answer your prayers.  It may not always be in the way you expect, but it will always be with great love. 

This story is told in:

Hinckley, Gordon B. "You Are a Child of God." Ensign May 2003: 117-119.

Ricks, Artel. "Coins for the Lord." Ensign December 1990: 47.

Big Hearted Boxer Manny Pacquiao

I wanted to tell you a story today about a boxer named Manny Pacquiao.  ‘Pac-man’ as he’s sometimes called is currently the World’s Boxing Organization Welterweight Champion.  That means that for his weight grouping, he’s the best in the world.  That’s pretty cool, but what I think is even cooler is how he treats people.

Most successful boxers beat the pulp out of their opponents, even when it’s clear that he’s won the fight.  Manny stops once he knows he’s won.  In a recent fight, he stopped the fight to ask his opponent if he was okay.  When people told him he should have knocked him out, he said, “It’s a sport and I didn’t have to hurt him.  I beat him up enough.”  He’s been called the ‘most compassionate fighter’ people have ever known.  Once, when winning a fight with one of his idols, his coach had to urge him to knock him out.  “At the end of the seventh round, I said, ‘Manny, your job is to knock him out.’  I’ve never said that to another fighter in my life.”  Manny just didn’t want to end his idol’s winning streak.

Most boxers trash talk their opponents, to hype up the fight and to intimidate their opponent.  Manny speaks highly of his opponents.  He said, “I never believed that you had to say bad things about your opponent to make yourself bigger.  You can be popular or be a champion without trash talking.  And you can be a good example for people, especially children.” 

And most successful boxers make a lot of money.  Usually they spend it on nice cars and big homes, and lots of fancy things.  Manny gives it away.  He earned $32 million dollars last year, as one of the world’s top earning athletes, and he gave lots of it away.  As he walks around his hometown, he hands out money.  His trainer said, “[My biggest concern is that he’ll] give it all away.  He’s that good of a guy.  I hope it never happens.”

Why is he like this?  I think it’s because Manny was once a little hungry boy.  He was born in the Phillippines and begged for food and money as a child.  He began fighting at age 14 to support his mother and her six children.  He knows what hunger feels like and he wants to help others who are hungry too.  He said, “Every time I saw poor people sleeping in the street, it made me think that one day I hoped I could help them.”  

In May 2010, Manny was elected to the Phillippines House of Representatives for the province of Sarangani.  As a Congressman, he visited with President Obama at the White House on behalf of a job-creating bill for the clothing sewing industry in his homeland.  “More than a mere boxer, he is a lawmaker, philanthropist, singer, spokesman and bona fide hero to the masses of his impoverished homeland,” says article writer Jon Saraceno.  

I know I didn’t mention the ‘singer’ part.  He actually sings lullabies to his 4 children.  And he loves to sing love songs to his fans on Karaoke machines.  Not very macho, but very sweet. 

Anyway, I like Manny Pacquiao because he hasn’t forgotten his difficult childhood.  He’s rich and famous, but will never forget who he is.  One reporter said, “He can’t shake his past, even if he is earning millions.  He knows he came from nothing.  He knows what it is like to be poor, to beg for food and money.”   Manny said it best when he said, “I always pray.  Without God, we have nothing.  I give Him thanks.  It’s common sense.  Without God, we are not here.  He created us and the universe.  It is very simple.”  

Saturday, May 7^th, Manny won another fight, billed as the fight of the year.  He won by knocking out his opponent in the third round.  He will bring home $20 million, most of which will probably end up in the hands of those who need it more than he does.

For more information, see:

Saraceno, Jon. "Mosley has 'own set of weapons'." USA Today 6 May 2011: C12.

—. "Packing a punch for humanity." USA Today 5 May 2011: C1-2.

LIttle Mary Saves her Family with Water

By Paige Johnson

I would like to tell you the story of my great great great great aunt on my Mom's side.  Her name was Mary Campbell Steele and she saved her parent's lives when she was very young.

It all began while her father was away in 1845.  Mary's mother became very sick and was very feverish.  When her father returned, he too soon became ill.  Before long, sickness befell her littles sister, Margaret and her little brother, John.  Her family became so sick that they couldn't get any water for each other or for themselves.

Miraculously, Mary had been spared from the sickness and was able to care for her family.  Mary brought little cups of water to the sick family members.  Sadly, her two ill siblings died from the sickness, but her parents survived.  But at the climax of the illness, her parents were very ill and seemed to be about to die.  A woman called Mother Bullock even came to speak with John and demanded to have Mary because he and his wife were about to die.  John refused and proved her wrong when he and his wife survived the terrible illness.

Mary was only four or five when these things occurred and that's amazing to me for her to be able to do that.  Kids CAN do hard things.  I hope my story, really my great great great aunt's, helped you.  To me the moral of the story is that everyone has a purpose in this life and Heavenly Father will always find ways to help you in times of trouble.

Heavenly Father loves you and wants what's best for you.  But sometimes life won't be perfect and He may help you in ways you might not expect or want.  I know I sound like a cheesy grownup, but I just wanted you to know that.  (Story gleaned from John Steele's Autobiography)

Helpful Korean Kim Tae-Hwan

By Geoffrey Johnson

I wanted to talk to you about a Korean kid named Tae-Hwan Kim, who helped a poor boy stay in school. Tae-Hwan used newspapers to save the poor boy! Here is the story:

One day, Tae-Hwan was sitting next to the poor boy when he noticed that the kid had no lunch. He was just sitting there, trying to smile.

“You ate your lunch already?” Tae-Hwan asked. Lunch had just started!

“No,” the boy said slightly, “I don’t have one.”

            That evening, Tae-Hwan and his friends gathered at his house. They were forming Unit A of an organization that did what they could to help kids in their community.

            “I met a poor kid at school today. Sometimes he doesn’t have enough money to buy lunch,” Tae Hwan said.

            The unit leader asked, “So, what are we going to do about that?”

“Ooo, Ooo! I know, I know!” his friend Kostas shouted as he raised his hand high in the air.

            “Yes?” the leader asked, annoyed.

            “We buy newspapers and sell them in the streets of Seoul!” Kostas said.

            “Then, we gather up our earnings and pay the boy’s expenses!” His friend Gifford piped up.

            Turning to Tae-Hwan, he added, “By the way, what is the poor boy’s name?”

            “I don’t know,” Tae-Hwan replied.

            The leader said, “Well, it’s settled then!”

Later in the evening, the assembly leader, Herter, divided the organization into Unit A and B. Unit A composed of Tae-Hwan, Gifford, Kostas, and Ty-Huber. Unit B was made of other residents of the assembly.

The next day, Tae-Hwan asked his mom if he could have a bigger lunch to eat at school.

            ‘Well, he is a growing boy,’ his mother thought.

            Therefore, his mother packed him an extra lunch. Then, at lunch, Tae-Hwan strolled over to the poor boy and sat down next to him.

            “Here,” said Tae-Hwan as he handed him the extra lunch.

            “What is it?”

            “A lunch. It is for you,” said Tae-Hwan.

            “A lunch? I don’t need one,” the boy scoffed.

Tae-Hwan stared him in the eye. It never fails. You go try it at home.

            “Okay, I need a lunch,” the boy said.

            See? See?

            The boy grabbed the lunch and started eating.

            Later that afternoon, Unit A started to work. They went to a newspaper shop and bought newspapers with the money they had. Then, as Kostas had said, they sold them in the streets of Seoul. After that, as Gifford had said, they gathered up their money and waited.

            Dr. Kim arrived at home as a tired man. When he got to the bed the phone rang……..

Ring!Ring!Ring!Ri-

Finally, Dr. Kim picked it up. It was his business partner.

“Hey, Dr. Kim! I have something to tell you,” he said.

“Yes, what is it?”Dr. Kim replied.

“Are you having any trouble with money?”

                        “No, Why?” the doctor said.

            “Because today I saw your son, Tae-Hwan, outside selling newspapers,” the business partner said.

            “Hmmm, Well, Bye! I’ll have a word with Tae-Hwan,” Dr. Kim said.

            Dr. Kim walked to Tae-Hwan’s room and opened the door. Tae-Hwan was reading a book.

            “Selling Newspapers?” Dr. Kim said.

            Tae-Hwan jumped. “How did you know?” he said.

            “Why are you selling them?” said Dr. Kim.

                 “There is a poor boy at school,” Tae-Hwan said, “We sold newspapers to get money to give to the boy.”

The End

By Geoffrey age 8

NOTE: This story was changed a lot so it’s more interesting, but Tae-Hwan did sell newspapers to help a poor boy stay in school. Dr. Kim did receive that phone call.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dad told me this story.

MORALE: You can do hard things to help other people and you can go through hard times for you and others.

  

 (Note from Melanie—you can also find this story in a talk that was given by Elder Victor L. Brown printed in the March 1985 New Era called, “Do it.  Be Ye Doers of the Word” and in an article in June 1979 New Era called, “Profiting for Others.”

And, Scott knows this story because he met Kim Tae-Hwan when he was serving on a mission in Korea.  He and Tae-Hwan served together.  Scott read the stories in the New Era magazines when they first were published and was happy that the story was published to inspire others.  Scott said Tae-Hwan was an excellent missionary.)

Justin Osmond Conquers Hearing Loss

I read about Justin Osmond in a recent Mormon Times article.  It was so good, I wanted to tell you his story.  Justin was born with only 10% of the hearing most of us have.  He could hear so little that he struggled to learn to talk.  What was even harder is that his dad was a famous singer and musician—Merrill Osmond.  Justin could barely hear his Dad sing!  Justin’s siblings and cousins all were musicians, and he wanted to carry on the family tradition.

Justin spent hours with his mom learning how to talk.  He said, “My mother would wake me up every morning at 6 a.m. and work with me for countless hours on my speech therapy," Osmond said. “After many years of intense speech, listening and comprehension therapy I am able to speak with passion and hear with conviction.”

He also learned to play the violin.  He explained, “With the violin, I learned to use it as a bone conductor and instead of listening with my ears, I would hear the music through the vibrations of the violin as it creates a musical reaction through my cheek bone and all the way to my brain where it interprets the sounds of music. Where an ordinary man finds an excuse, a courageous man finds a way.”

Justin grew up wanting to help other hearing impaired children.  He works with a group that gives away free hearing aids to children.  He said, “A world void of sound can be quite lonely and difficult.  But when you fit a child who hears their mom’s voice for their very first time, it’s like a light switch comes on. I usually play my violin to help others see that they may have a hearing loss, but dreams can become reality with a lot of hard work, patience, perseverance and faith.”  Recently he earned an MBA, and was honored to speak at the Graduation ceremony.  

Because Justin is hearing impaired, he’s uniquely suited to help other children with the same disabilities.  He’s worked hard to minimize the problems he faces and lead a normal, productive life by learning how to talk.  And he hasn’t let this stop him from pursuing his dream of playing musical instruments with his family.

 From:  Sheahan, Nicole. "Justin Osmond finds a way despite his hearing loss." Mormon Times 5 March 2011: 10.

Bethany Qualifies for God's Help

Today I wanted to tell you a piano story.  It’s about Bethany, who is serving a mission in San Diego, California. 

When Bethany was a girl, she took a few piano lessons from her piano-teacher Mom.  She loved learning how to play the music, so practicing the piano was fun.  Bethany would hog the piano and practice.  Her Mom would just leave music on the piano that was just a bit challenging and Bethany would start learning it.  She became skilled enough that when she was about 15, she served as ward choir pianist, which she did until she left for college.  Now that she’s serving a mission, she has opportunities to play for church and firesides often.  Most of her letters mention playing the piano for different meetings.

Recently Bethany wrote this to her family:  

Last week, I was given two more songs to play for the fireside on Sunday.  Well, it always stresses me out but I usually can whip them out well enough.  Well, Thursday came and I started to practice the music.  Oh my goodness, one was a ‘gospel’ jazzy song and it was so cool but so hard!!  I had to practice for two other songs and so I was freaking out.  Saturday for the practice, I still couldn't play it because I don't have a ton of time to practice and by Sunday night, I was really freaking out.  All day, I prayed and prayed and prayed that I would be able to play it for the fireside.  Finally Sunday night came and ahhhhhhh!!!!  We practiced with the missionaries before and it was rough and then it came time to play for the fireside and I was so nervous.  Then the song started and I played it almost perfectly!! 

Oh my goodness, I was not even the one moving my fingers and at the end, I just sat in my seat and thanked God with all my heart that He helped me play the song!  I also had to play the last song for a group of elders and my fingers and hands were dead so it was rough because they just ached but it sounded good and wow!  What an experience!!  But I am starting to realize what a gift from God it is that I can play the piano.  It isn't me at all!!  

I have been really strongly seeing the hand of God, and have seen how much He really cares about those little things that are so important to us.  We have been having incredible lessons and guidance as we have listened to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  

Bethany’s practice paid off!  Not only can she play in her church service, but she has proven God.  When she is confronted with something harder than she is able to perform, when she’s practiced as much as she could, and prayed for help, Heavenly Father has shown that He will make up the difference. 

She’s learned how to get Heavenly Fathers help in doing really hard things.  Isn’t this cool?

Kyle Maynard No Excuses for an Amputee

By Jeremy Johnson

I wanted to tell you a story that should help encourage you to keep fighting. The story is of Kyle Maynard, an adult who was born without any arms or legs. Kyle spoke at my school a week ago about his life and it is incredible. He has done many amazing things. The key to being able to go on and work to be what he is now, he had to keep from making excuses.

For example, in High School he was in sports all the time. He joined the football team and he was the defensive lineman. His method of tackling was somewhat weird, it was where he would crawl as fast as he could and smash his helmet into the teenager’s shins. He also joined the wrestling team, won 32 games, and lost 16 games. In both situations, Kyle wanted to give up but his family never let him until he got good enough to win. He is glad that his family did this. Because of them, he can eat, write with his elbows and type 50 words a minute. Having a ‘no excuses’ attitude has changed his life for the better.

Later, Kyle joined a cage-fighting group and he said that everyone underestimated him. Everyone told him he would be harmed for life, killed and, lastly, punted out of the stadium. However, Kyle thought this was ridiculous because he reasoned that no one could punt 130 or so pounds. Despite all the negativity, Kyle went on to win the tournament.

In addition, he won the unofficial title of World’s Strongest Teen in 2003(23 repetitions of 230 pounds) and broke the world record for the modified bench press (360 pounds which is 3 times his body weight). He got this award because of his attitude toward life. When he was 11 years old, Kyle tied ropes to his elbows and attached 2.5 pounds to each arm. He performed the modified bench press and that was all he could lift. Whenever Kyle went to gyms, there were three types of people in there. Those who looked down on him and what he was doing, those who supported him, and of course the people who didn't care. He worked hard enough to get to the point when the ropes broke from the weight so he used chains. Later, the chains broke so he went flying across the room from the whiplash. He uses stronger chains now. 

Throughout his life, people have doubted Kyle’s ability, although he is always able to surprise the competition. Repeatedly he proves the impossible is possible. You can do it too. 

To learn more about Kyle, look for his book, No Excuses: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee Who Became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life, Regnery Publishers, 2005.