An Answer to Prayer

 I had a fun and very obvious answer to prayer the other night. I was heading to a self reliance meeting, and as I pull into the church parking lot, I see the woman I'm meeting with, standing by the front doors of the church... and her father standing there with her. Now, I've met with both of them before, multiple times. And this man is a TALKER. Verrry chatty. I'm mostly concerned about his daughter's welfare, and I want to mainly talk with her; she's the one that lives in the ward and I've been working with her for months. Her dad has been living with her the past 5 months, as well. But I knew with her father there, it would be very difficult to hear from her.

As I drove up and saw them both, I groaned out loud and said a quick prayer aloud. "Heavenly Father, PLLEEAAASSE help me here. It's going to be really difficult to get anything productive done with this brother here. Help me to be patient and know what to say and how to move things along." 

I gathered my things and opened the door just as Becky Garcia (my secretary) and her daughter, Brianna, were heading to get into the car parked right next to me. They were at the church printing and cutting fliers she had made for the ward party. She asked me what I was doing there, and I told her I had a self reliance meeting. The Sunday before, we'd had a meeting with Bishop Kimball and the EQ presidency about self reliance meetings, and we were told to have 2 of us in each meeting (which I haven't been doing very well, haha). But Becky asked me if I wanted her to stay with me for the meeting, and I gratefully told her yes. 

It was easy to see that she was an immediate answer to my prayer. She sat next to the brother and kept him occupied for most of the meeting while I could focus my attention on the sister. After they left, I thanked her profusely for being there with me. It was the support I needed that night. 

I had another lovely spiritual experience recently. This one is small. And some would hear this story and think of it as a fun coincidence. But I believe it is evidence of God's love for me and that He is aware of me. 

During one Sacrament meeting a few weeks ago, I was feeling anxious and discouraged. About my calling, about parenting, about lots of things. I don't remember my exact line of thinking, but it wasn't good. Sometimes I just feel the weight of my imperfection. But a scripture came to mind, completely and quickly, and in these exact words: "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." It was a comforting thought. Look to Jesus; there's no need to fear or be anxious. And if I look to Jesus in every thought and do my best to glorify God with my life, things will always work out. I didn't know what scripture it was, so I had to look it up. Doctrine and Covenants 6:36: Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. 

I love how the Spirit brings scriptures to my mind when I need them for comfort or guidance. It's happened multiple times in my life so far. I'm sure it'll happen many more times for the rest of my life. 

Anyway, a week or so later, again on a Sunday, Daniel and I were in our room, laying on our bed, each doing our own thing: personal scripture study, working on calling, etc. Brooke came into our room, for no particular reason, just to hang out with us. We stopped what we were doing to talk to her. Daniel started asking her about young women's, about her own scripture study, and how things were going. He decided to look and see if the church had released next year's youth theme and song. They had. Wanna guess what the youth theme for 2025 is going to be? Doctrine and covenants 6:36. 

I don't think it was a coincidence that the youth theme scripture came to my mind a week before we talked about it. Not only was it the scripture that I needed at that moment, but it felt like a little love letter from God when I came across the scripture again a week later. Just a little nod from Him, telling me He's aware of me and helping me when I need it.