Answers to Prayers

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Vicki F. Matsumori

When I was growing up, my parents were farmers and they worked away from the home. When I was about six years old, I came home one day, thinking that my parents would be there, but they were not. The house was locked.

I sat outside on the swing set. I knew that my parents were probably at work, but as the time went by I became very frightened. I started to cry and knew that I had to pray, so I prayed to Heavenly Father and told Him I was scared. After my prayer I received great comfort, a peaceful feeling, and the fear left. I knew that I could sit on the swing and my parents would come home. They didn’t come home immediately after I prayed, but I knew from that feeling of peace and calm that everything would be OK.

When I was 10, my family traveled to Idaho to visit my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. My grandfather accidentally hit the family dog, Margie, with his car. There was so much commotion—Margie had to be taken to the veterinarian, and all of my cousins were crying. We were afraid that Margie would die.

Once again, I knew that I needed to pray. I was the only member of the Church there, and I took my cousins to a corner of the garden, asked them to kneel down, and we prayed that Margie would be all right. I felt that familiar feeling of the Holy Ghost telling me that everything would be fine. Hours later, Margie came home from the veterinarian with her legs bandaged up, but she was going to get better.

None of my cousins attended church of any kind. That experience of prayer probably was very unfamiliar to them. When Margie was driven away to the veterinarian, we thought there wasn’t a thing we could do to help, but I knew there was one thing we could do, and that was pray.

One of my first assignments after I received the call to serve in the Primary General Presidency was to teach members in Brazil. This was hard for me because I don’t know the Portuguese language. I knew I needed to pray. I asked Heavenly Father to please help me so I could communicate and teach the way He wanted me to.

Again, I received a feeling of comfort and reassurance that I would be able to communicate and teach the things that the people needed to learn. I didn’t learn the language in the eight weeks before I traveled or in the two weeks I was there, but ways were opened and things happened that I knew were answers to my prayers.

I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers, even though the answers may not come in the form of a miracle—my parents didn’t come home the minute I finished praying, Margie wasn’t immediately healed, and I didn’t learn Portuguese. Most often, answers to prayers come as a feeling of peace. They come as a feeling of reassurance. They come as a feeling that Heavenly Father knows you and me personally and wants to bless us.