Who Needs My Help?

As a college student, one Sunday I attended Relief Society and heard a wonderful lesson on service. The teacher that day said, “If you pray for Heavenly Father to open your eyes to the needs of others so that you may help them, he will do so.”

That sentence stayed with me. I wanted to serve others but hadn’t thought to ask Heavenly Father for help. So I decided to give it a try. The next morning I knelt and prayed, “Heavenly Father, if there is anyone out there who needs my help today, please let me know.” I finished my prayer and headed to class.

Amid the hustle of the day, I forgot my prayer. During the afternoon I went to the grocery store. After choosing a few items, I stood in line to pay for them. In front of me was an elderly woman holding a cane. I smiled at her and glanced at the large amount of groceries she was buying. A thought came to mind: How is she going to get those groceries into her house? I pushed aside the thought, finished paying for my own items, and headed out of the store. I noticed the woman standing next to her car while a store employee loaded her groceries into the trunk. The thought came to me again: How is she going to get those groceries into her house?

With some frustration, I countered: But what can I do? Follow her home? I had an immediate strong feeling that that was correct, so I gave in and headed down the road after her. I kept thinking: This is crazy! Why am I following this woman home? Soon we arrived at her apartment complex. I jumped out of my car and ran over to her. “Can I help you with these groceries?” I asked.

Puzzled, the woman looked at me and asked if I lived nearby. I told her I did not. “Well, then, do you work here?” she asked.

I explained that I had seen her in the grocery store and had worried about how she would carry all those groceries into her home. At that point she looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, “I was wondering the entire way home how I was going to get all of this into my house.”

Later, as I drove home, my own eyes blurred with tears. I had experienced the wonderful influence of the Holy Ghost touching two lives through the power of prayer. These words came to me: “They … prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God” (Alma 17:9).

I am grateful to Heavenly Father for the very special gift of the Holy Ghost that not only blesses our lives but also helps us to bless the lives of others.