Lost in a Cave

By Carolyn Argyle

(Based on a true story)

Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered (Joel 2:32).

Armed with flashlights, my brother and sister and I jumped out of the minivan and followed Dad down the trail leading to Lava River Cave. “Have fun,” Mom called. She and my baby brother had enough snacks and books to last two hours, the time it took us to hike the cave last time.

This time we felt more prepared. Dad wore a helmet so he wouldn’t scrape his head on the roof of the cave, and all of us had jackets and good hiking shoes. Flashlights shining, we entered the cold, dark cave. We crawled on hands and knees through the narrow opening until it widened and we could stand and walk.

As we plodded forward, we passed other spelunkers (cave explorers). The deeper into the cave we went, the more we saw people giving up and heading for the surface, maybe too scared of the dark to continue. But I liked the mysterious cave, as long as we had flashlights.

After a while, my brother Paul whimpered, “My flashlight isn’t working.” It dimmed and went out. A few minutes later, Crystal’s flashlight weakened too.

“Follow me closely,” Dad instructed.

“Oh no,” I mumbled. Now my flashlight was going dim! We had been in the cave for two hours. We were supposed to be finished by now.

“Bad news,” Dad said nervously. “I think we’ve been walking in a circle.” On our last visit to the cave, Dad had brought a map, but not this time. We had thought we knew the way.

We made another circle through the cave, but we didn’t see any other people who could help us. I was scared Dad’s flashlight would go out too, and we’d be left alone in the dark.

Paul began to cry.

Then it dawned on me. “We should say a prayer!”

Dad smiled. “That’s the right thing to do. I’ll say it.”

As he prayed that we could find our way out of the cave safely, I felt a calm, peaceful feeling. Soon we heard voices and saw spelunkers coming toward us with flashlights and headlamps. “Need help?” they called.

Not only did they know the way out, but they also gave my sister another flashlight and my brother a piggyback ride to the surface. When I saw sunlight again, I was so tired and relieved I collapsed on the ground.

Mom stood nearby with a camera. “What happened?” she called. “I was starting to get worried!”

As we told her our story, Dad realized something: “Our cave adventure was a little like our life here on earth,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Crystal asked.

“Well, we needed a flashlight to find our way, just like we need the Holy Ghost,” he explained. “Also, we should try to be more prepared. Today, we should have made sure we had new batteries in our flashlights, and we should have used a map to guide us.”

“Like we need the scriptures,” I said.

“That’s right. And when we prayed for help, what happened?”

“People helped us,” Paul piped up.

Dad nodded. “We need other people, like prophets and teachers, to help us find our way.”

I smiled. Grateful to be headed home, I knew I’d be grateful to return to my heavenly home someday.

[Motivation to Pray]

“Fear of the dark should not be our only motivation to pray—morning or night.”
President James E. Faust, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, “The Lifeline of Prayer,” Ensign, May 2002, 61.

Illustrated by Mark Robison