“Praying with Patience,” Friend, Oct. 2011, 44–45
Praying with Patience
The Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord (Mosiah 24:15).
Jessie’s family gathered in the living room. She wondered what they could be meeting about. Her family had been living in their new house for six months now, and they were happy there. They had moved from Japan, where her dad had been sent to work for a few years. Jessie liked Japan, but she was happy to be back home in the United States.
Jessie liked her new school, her ward, and her friends. She liked being able to speak the same language as people around her.
“Your mother and I have some very exciting news,” Dad said, smiling. “My work has offered me a new job.”
“Cool,” Aaron said. “That’s great!”
“It is,” Dad said. “It means we get to move again!”
“Move? Move where?” Jessie exclaimed.
“To Venezuela,” Mom said.
Jessie felt her stomach drop.
“But it’s not fair!” she said. “We just moved back! We can’t leave.”
“I know we just moved back to the United States and you’ve made friends,” Dad said. “But your mother and I have prayed about this, and it feels like the right step for our family.”
Jessie wasn’t so sure. Moving was hard. And scary. What if no one at the new school liked her? What if she never saw her friends here again? Thinking about all the changes she would have to make made her feel nervous.
“Jessie, why don’t you pray about the move?” Mom said. “Ask Heavenly Father to let you know that everything will be OK.”
That night Jessie knelt by her bed and prayed to Heavenly Father. She waited a few minutes and didn’t get an answer. Discouraged, she went to sleep.
In the morning Jessie told Mom that Heavenly Father didn’t answer her.
“Sometimes it takes a little longer to get His answers to our questions. But He will answer. You just need to be patient,” Mom said.
When moving day finally arrived, Jessie was nervous. She still hadn’t received an answer from Heavenly Father, even though she had been praying to Him every day for two months.
Jessie was worried that Heavenly Father hadn’t heard her. But she tried to be patient, like Mom had said.
On the first day at her new school, Jessie shyly walked into her classroom. Her teacher had her sit by a girl named Allison.
At lunchtime Allison came up to Jessie. “Hey, Jessie, can I sit with you at lunch today?” she asked.
“Sure!” Jessie said, excited that she wouldn’t be alone.
Over the next few weeks Jessie and Allison became great friends. One day while they were playing, Allison turned to Jessie and said, “I’m so glad you moved here. I didn’t have many friends before you came. I have a lot of fun with you.”
Jessie got a warm feeling inside. She liked her new school and her new ward. She liked her new house. And most of all, she liked being Allison’s friend. Heavenly Father had been listening after all! He knew she would be happy in Venezuela.
“I’m glad I moved here too,” Jessie said. And she was.