Prayers

Six months ago, Samantha Sunshine twinkled down from heaven and landed in our arms. She has been a joy. She is one of those blessings that God holds in reserve for just the right season of life.

Long ago we accepted the fact that children don't come easy for us. It took us about four years to get the twins here. We prayed every day that we would have the opportunity to become parents, it was the strongest desire of our hearts.

When Lincoln and Rachel were born, we were so grateful to have them, that we almost didn't dare to ask for more. Ten years, two months and twenty five days later, we still have not come down off the thrill of having them.

We prayed to have more children. None came.

We saw doctors. None helped.

We moved on and determined to to the best we could with the two we had been blessed with.

About two years ago, our stake presidency was reorganized and Elder Richard G. Scott came to our area to call the new leaders. We met with him and Mark was asked to serve as a counselor to our new stake president. It was a wonderful experience to meet Elder Scott. He has a special Christlike presence about him that I will never forget.

We participated in the rest of our Saturday evening meetings. Mark had assignments to complete for Sunday so I went home to go to bed. I was just dozing off when Mark quietly came in. He sat down on the edge of our bed and told me that Elder Scott had asked to meet with our family after the meetings on Sunday. We wondered what he might want to say to us.

Needless to say, there wasn't much sleep that night.

The next day, Elder Scott gently escorted the four of us to his office. He said that when we had met the previous day, he had a very strong feeling that someone was missing from our family. He asked if he could give us a priesthood blessing.

There was a beautiful, heavenly feeling in that room that day. We knew then that someone was missing. Her name is Samantha.

In six short months she has taught us lessons about joy and love. She is proof that God knows us. He understands the desires of our hearts and He hears our prayers.

Sometimes prayers are answered quickly, in just the way we hope. Sometimes our faith is tested, allowing us to grow and learn from the experience, but this I know: God answers each and every sincere prayer. I thank Him for hearing mine and blessing my life with His love.