Pray. He is there.

The first real memory I have of praying on my own is a memory I am very grateful for. I don't remember how old I was, but it was at our first house, so I was no older than five. I had been given a small case for lipstick. It was probably something my mom just no longer wanted, but I loved it. I brought it with me almost everywhere I went. Until I lost it.

I was upset about it. I'm sure you can imagine this, seeing how I was little at the time. But I remembered hearing stories about people praying when they had lost something and how Heavenly Father would help them find the thing they had lost. So I prayed. I told Heavenly Father that I wanted this little case back and that I wanted him to tell me where it was. I didn't get an answer and I was even more upset.

Now, it may seem odd that such a weird story has been the foundation for my testimony on prayer. Let me explain. I never found that case, but I was okay. Eventually I moved on. Of course, at that young age I didn't understand the influence it would have on me and I didn't think much of it. But looking back now, I'm so grateful for that experience. While I never had that little case again, I did have others and I learned to take better care of them. Heavenly Father did answer my prayer, but not how I wanted. Instead of telling me exactly where it was, He taught me to put less value in worldly things, to pay better attention to where I place things, and that I can always pray, no matter how small the situation.

I look back on this and realize that I have had many more moments like it throughout my life. I don't mean moments where I lost something, prayed, and still couldn't find it. I mean moments where I pray, but Heavenly Father knows better than I do and answers my prayers in a way I don't expect.

Let me change directions a little bit. On Thanksgiving, I was sitting at a table with some family members. We couldn't all fit at one table (of course not, though not all were attending, there are over seventy in the family), so people were wandering past with plates of food. One aunt sat across from me and as someone else walked past holding one of my baby cousins, this aunt lit up. She smiled, and then explained to us how grateful she is for prayer. She had prayed for this baby for a long time - he was born premature and was in the hospital for a while. "Even though I've only met him a few times," she said, "I have such a deep love for him." Praying for a person, even people you do not know, will bring you closer to them.

Last April, Rosemary Wixom, the Primary General President, gave a talk titled "The Words We Speak." This talk has recently become one of my favorite talks of all time. While it is geared towards how we speak to children, I like to relate it to all the people in my life. She says, "To speak to a child's heart, we must know a child's needs. If we pray to know these needs, the very words we say may have the power to reach into their hearts. Our efforts are magnified when we seek the direction of the Holy Ghost."

I decided to put this, along with what my aunt taught me, into action. Over the last month, I've prayed  to know the needs of people I care about, people I have a hard time getting along with, and people I've barely even met. It works. I've never been given so many promptings as to what to say, or how to act, or what to do. I've never felt such a connection to people before. It has been the most wonderful experience.

Prayer works. No matter what is going on in my life, I can pray to for help and He will be there. Even if it isn't how I expect an answer to come, He will send an answer to my prayers.Through prayer I can gain a better relationship with people. Through prayer I can let my testimony grow.  Heavenly Father knows what He is doing. He will always provide a way for me, and with faith and with His guidance, I can make it down the path He has planned.