“Praying to Understand,” Friend, March 2019
Praying to Understand
Illustrations by Mark Robison
My family and I went to visit my grandpa on an island called Tenerife. When we got there, I was thinking about all the things that I normally do back at home. Then I remembered church. So I asked my mom, “Will church here be the same as at home?”
“Yes, you’ll see how church is just about the same wherever you go. The chapel may look different, but everything else will be about the same!”
I thought about how the people on the island spoke Spanish. “Will people at church speak Spanish?”
“Yes.”
I couldn’t quite understand Spanish or speak it. I was very nervous about going to church. I told my mom. She suggested that we pray and ask God for help to feel peace and not be nervous. I said the prayer and asked God to help me understand what people said.
When we got to church, I felt a warm feeling inside. After sacrament meeting the Primary president came to meet me. She actually spoke English! I told my mom, “I’m going to go to Primary class with her.”
The Primary president was very smiley and kind. She even asked me to teach her how to pronounce the names of the Book of Mormon prophets in English.
During class, one of the teachers played a song on a tape that was in Spanish. I recognized the song from home. It was “If the Savior Stood beside Me.” I felt peaceful because it reminded me of home, and I was filled with a warm feeling inside. It reminded me that the church is the same everywhere.
I may not have learned Spanish overnight, but God answered my prayer by having someone else speak my language and help me. He gave me exactly what I needed that day to make it through church and not be scared.