One story that was shared was about a young Indian LDS women that the speaker had met when she and the dance team were traveling through India. This woman (with an eleven month old child and a husband that was the Branch President) was helping the speaker and her students travel through the busy streets of India. As they were traveling this woman shared her conversion story. This Indian woman who came from the high class of Brahmin, knew in her heart that there was more to spirituality and happiness than what her Hindu faith provided. Specifically she knew that there had to be more to communicating with a higher power than chants and rituals. Prayer. The reassuring and calming power of prayer is what she desperately wanted. Something we probably take advantage of. And she was guided to what her aching heart was asking for, when an LDS acquaintance not only introduced her to prayer but to the Gospel as well. Immediately she began praying as her LDS friend showed her and then a little while later she was baptized. She lost her Brahmin caste status, she has lost contact with most of her family. But now she had joy and faith and the reassurance that somebody is listening.What also makes this Indian women's story amazing is that in India, only 3% of the population is Christian and within that Christianity ONLY 5% of that 3% is LDS. So the fact that she was introduced to an LDS person is an absolute miracle. But the miracle goes further. Because her sister who was in a different city going to a different school at the time of her conversion also met an LDS person. And was introduced to the Gospel and also baptized, unaware that her sister was doing the same thing! They both kept it from each other until finally when they both sat down with each other to tell of their precious secret and ended up blurting it out at each other at the same time! The power and beauty of miracles.
It made me really appreciate my ability and testimony of prayer. How fortunate I am to have the freedom to get down on my knees and communicate with the Divine. Except recently i have been particularly aware of how different my prayers have been from when I was a missionary and have been pondering on why that is. On my mission, my prayers were intense and focused. I realized very early on that I could not help people if I did not have help from Heavenly Father. But after the speaker today challenged us to ask ourselves, "Who can I specifically pray for today," I realized exactly what my prayers were missing! Of course I pray for others but why can't I pray for those in my life now like I prayed for those in Rochester! With same amount of charity, the same amount of intensity and most importantly the same amount of faith. So I pass on that same challenge to you from the BYU devotional, Provo Utah...
WHO CAN YOU SPECIFICALLY PRAY FOR TODAY?
I love it, Macy! I guess I kind of feel the same way at times, not knowing really what to pray for. Thank you for writing this!
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