Our Answer

By Tatiana Agüero

Based on a true story

A simple prayer changed my family forever.

“He will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost” (Moroni 10:4).

Illustration by Don Seegmiller

I still remember the first time I saw the two men standing on our doorstep in Peru. They were wearing white shirts and ties, and they were so tall! I thought they had warm smiles.

“They must be nice,” I thought. My parents must have thought so too because soon the missionaries were coming to our home often.

I loved listening to the missionaries and always felt they were telling the truth.

“Don’t you want to be baptized, Mamá?” I asked my mother one day.

She smiled. “I do. But I want to be baptized with your father.”

I nodded. I was nine years old—old enough to be baptized. But I wanted to be baptized with my father as well, and he wasn’t sure if he believed what the missionaries taught.

“Keep praying, and the time will come,” Mamá said, as if she could read my thoughts.

I knew that the missionaries had challenged my father to follow the invitation at the end of the Book of Mormon to ask God with a sincere heart if the gospel is true. So one evening I decided to help my father with that challenge. I asked if we could pray together the way the missionaries had asked. We went into my room and knelt down. He asked me who was going to say the prayer.

“You say it, please,” I said.

My father started praying to Heavenly Father. When he asked if we should be baptized, a feeling of love and peace wrapped itself around us. It was so strong that my father stopped speaking for a minute. We knew we needed to be baptized.

I’ll never forget the look in my father’s eyes after he ended that prayer.

“We have our answer,” he whispered, giving me a hug.

I smiled as I buried my head in his shoulder. The Holy Ghost had made it possible for us to know the truth (see Moroni 10:5).