One of the greatest lessons I've learned since I arrived at BYU is the power of prayer. I have realized how important it is to consult with Heavenly Father in everything we do. Although every decision we have to make is ultimately our choice, Heavenly Father will always leads us to the correct path. He won't lead us astray, because He wants what is best for us and He wants us to make it back to Him.
A little over a week ago, I received the greatest testament of prayer I had ever experienced. For BYU's spring break, my friends and I went to California for the weekend. So many of us went, that we ended up filling three cars. As we left campus, the car I was in said a quick prayer that we would travel in safety. In the beginning of our drive, we were all extremely excited and we were jamming out to music. When we were about a half hour outside of Las Vegas, the car settled down. I decided to try and sleep, since it would be a long night, but I could not get the thought of a car accident out of my head. I kept thinking of a car accident, and the thought to say another prayer quickly followed. Part of me thought I was just being paranoid, so I made the deal with myself that if the thought of a car accident was still bothering me in five minutes, that I would suggest we say another prayer. Needless to say, I didn't even survive a minute. The thought of a car accident was so prominent in my head I couldn't think of anything else. So I sat up and told my friends Emily and Ana, who were in the front, that I thought we should say another prayer.
So, I said another quick prayer that all three cars would be able to travel safely. About 45 minutes later, we stopped for gas. As we were driving out of the gas station, my friend Jarom stopped us, saying he wanted to take out his contacts. We waited a moment while he did so, and then quickly we were back on the road. After about 10-15 minutes of driving, we found ourselves in a stand still. We were all frustrated that we weren't moving, it was late, and we all just really wanted to sleep. For 30 minutes we just sat there, only guessing why we were still there. Eventually, a man came up to our window and explained there was a horrible car accident just up ahead and that safety vehicles were coming shortly to take care of it. After waiting for awhile longer, we all got restless and got out of the car to see if the safety vehicles had made any progress. I was completely shocked when we made the 30 second walk to the accident. We were
so close to the accident. I am 100% convinced that if Jarom hadn't stopped to take out his contacts, or if my friend Jack was driving just a little bit faster, we would have been in that car accident.
Last night I was reading in Mosiah 23, and in verse 28 it says "Therefore they..., they began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites..." followed by "And it came to pass that the Lord did soften the hearts of the Lamanites." in verse 29. These two verses are just another example of how the Lord answers our prayers and how there can be real power in them. I am eternally grateful for the promptings of the Holy Spirit and for the power of prayer. I am grateful that through both of those, I was able to be protected.