Love Comes Softly

Aaron Claridge dies while leading his pregnant wife Marty, an East Coast teacher, on the wagon trail to the West. Destitute and unprotected, she accepts a marriage of convenience with widower Clark Davis to help raise his young daughter Missie all winter, if he will pay for her return in the spring. Missie is hostile to her 'mother substitute', but as the months pass Clark achieves a rapprochement.

Devout wild-west farmer Clark Davis works his tail off to provide for his wife, sons Aaron and Arnie, and daughter Missie. When his beloved, equally-devoted older son Aaron is startled, Clark, who was chopping firewood, accidentally hits his leg with an ax. He would have bled to death if wandering youngster Nate hadn't found them, brought them home, and taken care of the farm, way above the kids' ability. Grateful Clark offers Nate an indefinite farmhand job, all the more interesting as he and Missie take to each other, but she's also courted by a classy railroad surveyor. Once recovered, Clark realizes that Nate is really Willie, the son of local grump Zeke, who left years ago after his kid brother Mattie's tragic death. Decision time arrives for both families.

Willie and Missie LaHaye continue their westward journey. Their roots now firmly planted as they set up homestead in the far West, Missie realizes her passion for teaching as Willie cares for the couple's young daughter Kathy while expanding the family ranch with help from sons Jeff and Matthew. When the frontier railroad comes to town, the pleasure of a long-promised visit from Missie's father Clark is suddenly offset by young Kathy's tragic death. As the untimely demise of their beloved daughter begins to drive an emotional wedge between Missie and Willie, the devastated father unexpectedly accepts an offer made by the powerful Samuel Doros to assume the role of town sheriff. Their faith shaken and their once close-knit bond suddenly torn asunder, Missie and Willie desperately attempt to bring their crumbling family back together as son Jeff faces a series of dangers while hopelessly falling for Doros' beautiful daughter Colette.

Missie's surprise pregnancy sets her on a new course that is both thrilling and terrifying. After all their planning and dreaming, she and her husband Willie have headed west in a covered wagon, leaving behind the prairie home of Missie's parents. Now, caught between the excitement of the new adventure and the pain of not knowing when she'll see her family again, Missie copes with the challenges, and cherishes the rewards, of her new homestead.

Missie, now a single mother after her husband Willie was killed during a poker scuffle, moves back east near her parents, Clark and Marty. She settles right into a new teaching job but has lost all faith in herself, until a chance encounter at church leads her to adopt homeless orphan Belinda Marshall and start to raise her along with Mattie. She also finds interest in Zack Tyler, the town's sheriff. Some subplots and incidents mirror Missie's tragic losses; through the experiences, will she find a way to bring hope and joy?

Missie's adopted daughter Belinda Tyler follows her dream of being a doctor--in a time period that doesn't look kindly on women with careers, especially in the medical field. But strong-minded Belinda is determined to become a doctor, and she manages to prove her abilities while assisting the local doctor and caring for an old woman who recently had a stroke. Belinda nurses her back to health and helps her regain the use of her arm. She also meets Drew, their deceased neighbor's nephew, who has come to get his uncle's farm in shape to sell, after which he will return to New York to join his father's law practice. He has no desire to stay in this small, unsophisticated town, but after meeting Belinda he has second thoughts. Belinda also feels something for Drew, but she is conflicted. Although the norm of the time is for a woman to get married and have children, Belinda wants more: she has a calling and a great mind for medicine.

In this Christian film from Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly series. Belinda Simpson is recovering from the loss of her husband. She arrives in a small Missouri town to become the local doctor. The town doesn't immediately take to a female doctor. She's also faced with the challenge of an infection in the town, that everyone believes came from the local orphanage. With help from her friend Annie and Lee Owens, a young blacksmith, Belinda seeks a cure.

A frontier doctor (Sarah Jones) clashes with a nursemald (Patty Duke) while caring for the woman's pregnant daughter inlaw (Haylle Duf).

Clark Davis adventurous dreams of seeing the world are put into jeopardy after he and a friend start a fight which damages a local cafe. Through a plea deal with the Sheriff and café owner Millie, Clark works off his sentence as a farmhand for the Barlow sisters, Ellen and Cassie who are searching for a worker.

A young family struggling to make it on a the western frontier decides to allow the wife to work at a seamstress shop. As things get better financially, the wife gets sick and passes away. With help from his parents the young father learns to deal with the tragic loss and threat of losing everything they worked so hard for.

While mourning the loss of her husband and daughter, recently widowed Ellie King (Natalie Hall) visits her brother Aaron Davis (Greg Vaughan) and his children for Christmas. Ellie does her best to enjoy the holidays, making new friends with Mrs. Thompson (JoBeth Williams), a local shop keeper, and handsome admirer Deputy Strode (Dylan Bruce). When Aaron travels out of town to purchase land, Ellie agrees to watch his children, but the season's festivities are threatened when Aaron goes missing.