Digital Only: Youth Voices
An Unexpected Encounter
Despite my mother’s dedicated efforts during family home evenings, I was always more interested in video games than in spiritual things. The idea of serving a mission seemed distant and unappealing to me.
But everything changed one quiet night when I was 15. I was alone in the living room, playing a game on my cell phone. My mother and sister were in another room. Suddenly, a surprising noise caught my attention: the scriptures had inexplicably fallen from the shelf and landed in the middle of the room.
Did My Mom Throw the Scriptures at Me?
At first I thought my mother had thrown the book to get me off my cell phone, but then I realized she wouldn’t do that. And there was no breeze or anything that could explain how the scriptures fell.
Curious, I put down my phone and picked up the scriptures, opening them at random. The words I read were like a call straight to my heart:
“Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.
“Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.
“Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:1–3).
I had never read these verses before. The words touched something deep within me.
Called to Serve
I ran to tell my mother about what had happened and showed her the passage I had read. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said she believed this was a reminder from Heavenly Father that I had been called by a prophet to prepare myself to serve a mission.
From that moment on, I began to see life and my purpose in it with new eyes. Even though I still loved video games, I realized that something had fundamentally changed within me. My cell phone often sat on the couch as I pondered the words of Jesus Christ that had touched my soul.
Now I’m serving as a missionary, sharing the good news of the gospel. I’m glad my spiritual journey began when the scriptures fell into my life one silent night, leading to a divine call that I could not ignore.
Elder Pedro Garcia, age 20, São Paulo, Brazil
Enjoys fishing, exercising, and playing video games.