Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026

The Lord calls Samuel—The house of Eli will not be purged by sacrifices and offerings—Samuel is recognized as a prophet by all Israel—The Lord appears to him.

Hannah sings praises to the Lord—Samuel ministers before the Lord—Eli blesses Elkanah and Hannah, and they have sons and daughters—The sons of Eli reject the Lord and live in wickedness—The Lord rejects the house of Eli.

Hannah prays for a son and vows to give him to the Lord—Eli the priest blesses her—Samuel is born—Hannah loans him to the Lord.

The nearest relative declines, and Boaz takes Ruth to wife—Ruth bears Obed, through whom came David the king.

By Naomi’s instruction, Ruth lies at the feet of Boaz—He promises as a relative to take her as his wife.

Ruth gleans in the fields of Boaz, a near relative of Naomi—He treats Ruth kindly.

Elimelech and his family go to Moab because of famine—His sons marry—The father and sons die—Ruth, the Moabitess, her husband having died, remains constant to Naomi—They come to Bethlehem.

Sometimes we imagine that our lives should follow a clear path from beginning to end. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, after all. And yet life is often full of delays and detours that take us in unexpected directions.

Ruth and Hannah surely understood this. Ruth was not an Israelite, but she married one, and when her husband died, she had a choice to make. Would she return to her family and her old, familiar life, or would she embrace the Israelite faith and a new home with her mother-in-law? (see Ruth 1:4–18). Hannah’s plan for her life was to bear children, but she could not, and that left her “in bitterness of soul” (see 1 Samuel 1:1–10). As you read about Ruth and Hannah, consider the faith they must have had to travel their unexpected paths. Then think about your own journey. It’s different from Ruth’s and Hannah’s—and anyone else’s. But throughout the trials and surprises between here and your eternal destination, you can learn to say with Hannah, “My heart rejoiceth in the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:1).

By Elder Ulisses Soares

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

When we enter the Lord’s house, we embark on a sacred journey of learning to become higher and holier disciples of Christ.

By President Dallin H. Oaks

First Counselor in the First Presidency

The Church of Jesus Christ is known as a church that emphasizes making covenants with God.