The Power of Prayer is Real

Since my companion got this whopping speeding ticket he was pleading with the lord for some miracle to happen so it would go away. He felt bad because his parents would have had to pay it because as missionaries we have no income so he had no way to pay it. He didn't want this big fine to be on his parent’s shoulders. He prayed about it every night until we went to court to settle it.

We show up to court and we wait until he gets called up. To our surprise the judge has no record of the ticket. He said it was lost in cyber space and it was like he never got one. My companion was off the hook, so he thought. The judge took down our address and said that the ticket could show up the next day or in 6 months or it may never show up. We thought his prayer was answered and he was off the hook.

A few days later in the mail he gets a letter it ways from the city of Palmyra and they said they found his ticket in cyber space and they gave him a new court date. His heart was torn he thought he was off the hook. He began praying again for another miracle to happen. A couple weeks go by and we have our court date. As we are waiting for his turn and we’re listening to all the people go up and how expensive their fines were. They were all getting about $200 fines and they were only going around 10mph over the speed limit. My companion was terrified for his turn; he didn't want to have to tell his parents he needed like $400 for a silly speeding ticket.

It is finally his turn he wanted to lighten the mood a little, when he was before the judge he said something to the extent of I guess I wasn't as lucky as I thought I was you caught me. The judge chuckled and remembered him and that his ticket wasn't there at his first court date. He said that he was going to wave the ticket because of the inconvenience of having to come back a second time. My companions face was priceless when he turned around. Right when we got into the hallway to leave the courthouse he dropped to a knee and thanked the lord for sparing him from his dad's wrath.

Elder Larson and I just after he got off the hook from his ticket.

This is just a funny story to show that the power of prayer is real. I’m not saying that every ticket you get will go away if you pray about it. But the power of prayer is real! Heavenly Father listens to every word we say when we talk to him through prayer. We can ask our father in heaven anything whether it be for a miracle to take away a speeding ticket or if we need to know what classes to take or just for help to get through the day. I can promise you he is listening and that he will answer your prayer when you say it with real intent. We read in the Book of Mormon in the Book of Moroni 7:6 that if we pray without real intent it will prophet us nothing. So when we have a sincere desire to talk to God he talks back either through our feelings, the scriptures or what some else says, he always answers our prayers.

Speeding Tickets

So a couple of weeks ago my companion and I were driving into the village of Palmyra from The Hill Cumorah. The speed limit was 50mph for a minute, and then it dropped to 30. My companion was driving and he took his foot off the gas and we were slowing to 30mph, but I guess that wasn't good enough.

All the sudden red and blue lights come on the mirror, a cop was hiding and he pulled us over; our hearts dropped. We were praying that the cop would let us off because we are from out of town, but he ended up giving my companion a ticket for going 20mph over the speed limit. BUMMER!

This ticket could have been avoided if we would have put our brakes on instead of coasting down to the speed limit. You never know when a cop is going to be waiting behind a tree or a bush or something to get you when you’re speeding.

This is like the gospel. We have to be following the gospel at all times because we never know when Satan is going to be hiding waiting to get you. If we are always following the commandments and are listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost we have nothing to fear. Satan will not be able to sneak up on us and bring us down to his level.

Sometimes it is hard to withstand temptation because it comes in sneaky ways like peer pressure or it may just sneak up on you. But I can promise you when you are living the Gospel of Jesus Christ you will have the power to make the right choice, and Satan will have no control over you.

Fast Food

How great is it to go get some grub from the BK Lounge when you're hungry and out with your friends. You order your food sit down, start telling stories, you finally get some food and you stuff your face; you’re having a great time. It taste so good, that whopper is really hitting the spot. You stuff your face with some fries and you get a shake to finish it off. It is so delicious to the taste.

But then like 45 minutes later you are paying the price. Your stomach begins to feel worse than if you just got ran over by an 18 wheeler. You begin to feel like crap. You don't want to do anything but chug Pepto-Bismol and sit on the john.

This happens to me all the time. I seem to forget how atrocious I feel after I eat a nice big whopper or a couple of junior bacon cheeseburgers and a couple of spicy chicken sandwiches. I seem to remember the taste that I love but not the aftermath.

Was it worth it? Was the delicious to the taste fast food worth the couple of hours of crappiness?  No it ever is, especially the older you get the more it seems to hurt and the harder it is to shake off.

Surprisingly even fast food can be related to the gospel, in a couple of ways also. Fast food is like sinning. Sometimes while you are doing it, it may taste good but in the long run your belly wil ache. Especially when you realize that it's drawing you farther and farther away from our savior Jesus Christ.

We also sometimes forget how bad we felt after we sinned and we fall into temptation and do the sin again. Then we have the feelings of chugging Pepto and blowing up toilets again which we all hate; also known as the process of repentance.

When we repeat mistakes we often beat ourselves up because we know we shouldn't have done that again. But remember we have the atonement; we can be forgiven of all of our sins. The atonement was made for me and it was made for you. 

Jesus Christ suffered for every single sin that I have made and that I will ever make. He suffered for every single sin you have made and that you will make. He also suffered for every sin that freakin John Doe made or will ever make. He did it because he loves us and wants us to be able to be free from the terrible bands of guilt and shame that hold us all down. He wants us to feel loved and happy.

The atonement has been made, we need to use it. Christ has already suffered for our mistakes so we don't have to. Cry unto him and plead for forgiveness and I can guarantee you that you will feel his loving power of forgiveness. I invite you to do so now, if you have something weighing you down get on your knees and ask for angels to come take the weight off and see what happens, see how you feel afterwards.