Youth Voices

Pop Quizzes and Prayer

Tayana C., age 17, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Photographs by Ebick Ngoma

Recently I was stressed because I didn’t have the grades I wanted. I thought about it and realized that I wasn’t saying my prayers or reading my scriptures. So I decided to read the scriptures and pray every morning. Soon, my grades started to rise little by little. Reading the scriptures and praying have really helped me.

Another time, we had a pop quiz in school. I hadn’t studied. Nobody had studied—the teacher had surprised us. Everybody started cheating on the quiz. I’m not going to lie—I really wanted to cheat. But something told me, “You have to sit down and do the best with what you know.” It was a soft voice. I was stressed, and the voice soothed my heart. So I didn’t look to the left, and I didn’t look to the right. I answered what I knew. In the end I was the only one who got a high score. I’m glad I listened to the Holy Ghost.