The challenge I did came from the lesson on Enos through Words of
Mormon. It asks, “What does your
soul hunger for?” Then to “Think
of something that you are concerned about and make a plan of how you can ‘wrestle
before God’ in mighty prayer.
Wrestle before the Lord (in mighty prayer)! He will speak to your mind.”
Before I came to college I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to
do. I would come to BYU get good
grades, major in political science, and get into NYU Law School. I would then practice law, clerk for
the Supreme Court, and become a judge.
I would work my way up in the judicial system and eventually be
appointed as a Supreme Court Justice.
Well, once I came to college, things started to change for me. I still love politics, government, and
law, but coming here made me realize that there are so many more options to
choose from. This got me to
rethink what I want to do with my life.
It’s difficult to not know exactly what you want to do or where you’re
going, especially when you’ve thought one way your whole entire life. I knew that I should eventually pray
about it, but I kept putting it off as if I had lots of time. When we got this challenge, I thought
that now might be a good time to pray about my major and future career. However, I was lazy and kept pushing it
off. I’m still not sure why I did
that, but eventually I came around to it.
When I decided to do this, I was in my room about to study my scriptures. I prayed and confessed all of my doubts
and confusions to Heavenly Father and then asked if he could help me to figure
out exactly what I should do with my life. I tried hard to look and listen for answers as I read my
scriptures, but no answers came. I
was utterly confused! Sure, I felt
much calmer after praying, but I wanted direct answers that would tell me
exactly what I needed to do. When
I studied the scriptures I started looking up references to decisions and
choices, but none of them gave me any answers. Then, I decided to use a scripture study tool,
scriptures.byu.edu! J I typed in the word
decision and started looking at talks on decisions. I came across one that was published in the May 1978 Ensign. It is written by Elder Eldred G. Smith,
who was patriarch to the church at the time. It was in this that I found the answer to my question:
“Many think that any
problem will be answered by the Lord for us, either through prayer or a
priesthood blessing. Some young people want the Lord to tell them what subjects
they should study, which school they should attend, which profession to follow,
and which job offer they should take. True, much help may be received through
prayer or a blessing, but the final decision is yours. I have come to believe that the Lord is
not so concerned about what we study or what profession we follow as long as it
is an honest living. He is concerned about our immortality and eternal life—or
exaltation. Everyone has inherent
talents. From a study of your genealogy, find the talents you have inherited by
the things you like to do, and do easily, that some of your ancestors have
done. Then become an expert or a specialist in some phase of that field. The
Lord will bless your efforts in your studies and in your daily work.”
I couldn’t have asked for a more direct answer to my prayer. When I thought that all hope was lost
as for the Lord answering my prayers…He ended up answering them in an extremely
direct and personal way. Elder
Smith didn’t know that years from now his talk would help some regular college
girl who was confused about her future, but the Lord did. That is what is so amazing about His
work. I know that the Lord will
answer our prayers if we have a real desire and trust in him.
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