Here is a wonderful story I read about that by - Vida H. Liddell, “Loaves and Testimonies,” in Ensign, Aug. 2008, 72:
"One fast Sunday during Relief Society, a sister in our ward stood to bear her testimony. After stating that she had learned how much the Lord loves and cares about her, she shared the following experience.
She had been ill with pneumonia, and one morning she was having a particularly difficult time. Her appetite had diminished considerably, and the only thing she thought she could eat was some homemade bread. She was getting discouraged and had been praying for help to endure her trials.
That very morning her visiting teacher came to the door with a loaf of homemade bread. The sister bore testimony of the love she had felt from Heavenly Father. He had heard her prayers and provided her with exactly what she needed.
As I listened, I realized that I was that visiting teacher. I thought back on that morning, trying to remember why I had decided to take bread over at that time. I hadn’t heard a voice or felt a burning in the bosom. I just woke up that day and felt like making bread.
As I was preparing the loaves, I thought of a sister in our ward who was ill. I had felt helpless throughout her illness because I didn’t know what I could do to relieve her suffering. The thought came to my mind that I should take her a loaf of bread. I tried to talk myself out of it because the loaves turned out somewhat misshapen. But when I tasted one, it seemed fine. “At least she will know that I was thinking about her,” I thought.
I wrapped the warm, odd-looking loaf, and took it to her house. As I presented it to her, she smiled and thanked me but refused my offer of further assistance. I went home feeling good but still concerned that I hadn’t helped much.
Months later, when I heard her testimony, I understood that the Holy Ghost had prompted me in answer to her prayers. This experience taught me a great lesson about the importance of responding to the promptings of the Spirit. If an idea comes to us to do something good, we should do it. The Savior said, “Whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me” (Ether 4:12).
Anytime we have a thought to do good, we can assume that it comes from the Spirit. We never know how important such promptings can be. I had no idea that a loaf of homemade bread would be an answer to a prayer that would strengthen a testimony. And when the sister was prompted to share her experience in Relief Society, she had no idea of the valuable lesson I learned about recognizing the Spirit."
Our stake president shared a story about this too. One time he was driving down through the city in the middle of a huge downpour. He and his wife saw a handicapped lady in the midst of it. She was in one of those motorized wheel chairs/scooters. She had a rain poncho on that covered her up and protected her from the rain. However, he felt like he needed to stop and ask her if she needed help, but said he couldn't get his car over to the curb fast enough and with the traffic he needed to go on. He thought to himself, "She's alright - she is well prepared for the rain, there isn't really anything I could do for her." However as he drove away a picture came to his mind. In it -he saw himself asking this woman - if she needed help and seeing her face and knowing that she didn't need the kind of "help" he was thinking of, but she needed to know that someone cared about her. This was the kind of help she needed. Often that is the kind of "help" we all need. We just to know that someone cares about us.
A counselor in the stake presidency told another story of when his wife was really sick and bedridden during a pregnancy. He had all of his older kids to care for and he was working full time and hated to ask anyone for help. The members in the church readily helped his family during this time. He said sometimes a member would just stop by and drop off a stack of paper plates and say "I'm not sure how I can help, but I thought you could use these and they would help out." He explained something as simple as dropping off paper plates meant the world to him - to know that someone cared.
I know this to be true. Earlier this year, I had a miscarriage. It took me by surprise as I was in just starting my second trimester and thought I was in the "safe" stage and hadn't had any problems at all. I was deeply saddened. The day I came home from the hospital - I wasn't feeling really sick or weak - just drained emotionally. I had a friend who said, "Let me bring you dinner." Now my husband could have made dinner or I could have even made dinner, so I really didn't need a dinner - but what I needed at that times was I needed someone to care about me. And this kind gesture gave me what I needed.
Simple things have also meant the world to me also. I lost my wedding/engagement ring a few months ago. I lost it when I was out visiting with a friend. My friend was so kind and helped me looked for it. I thought I might have lost it at the gym the night before, which is about 30 minutes from my house. My friend offered to drive me to the gym and help me look since I was so distraught. Now, I know she had plenty of things to do than spend her time looking for a lost ring with me, but she simply cared and her kindness will always be remembered.
When I was in college, one night I had stayed up all night working on a paper. I was extremely tired (and probably cranky too) the next morning since I hadn't slept at all. My roommate without asking quietly made me breakfast and then went out and warmed up my car and scraped the snow off the windows so I could get to class on time. That kind gesture will also be remembered and was such a great example to me that the little things you do for each other DO make a difference.
Silvia H Allred stated: "We can create bonds of love, friendship, and trust. If we listen to the promptings of the Spirit, we will increase our awareness of other people’s needs. If we act according to those divine promptings, we can be a blessing to those in need. But we have to be willing to give—of our substance and our time. The true measure of our life is not how much we get but how much we give.
We can and should be able to provide meaningful relief. We have the gospel perspective in our lives. We have divine promptings encouraging us to do good. ... We can provide temporal and spiritual nourishment. We can and should offer understanding and be able to teach doctrine. We can relieve spiritual hunger and feed the sheep.
Our service should be selfless, quiet, and be done willingly, with our hearts full of the love of God and His children. There must be genuine concern to shepherd the flock, to invite them unto Christ."
The Lord has blessed each of us with divine attributes of love, compassion, kindness, and charity. We have the power to bless each other as we extend our arms of love and kindness and give the gifts of compassion and charity. No matter what our individual circumstances are, we all have the opportunity to edify and nurture others. In the final analysis, it all comes down to the people we love and who love us that make life worth living and the blessings of eternity worth striving for. Let us open our eyes, hearts,and arms and strive to love others more.
