“Grateful to Learn His Will,” Liahona, April 2025.
Latter-day Saint Voices
Grateful to Learn His Will
My family and I decided to see what would happen if we put our trust in the Lord.
Illustration by Bradley Clark
When I was a university student, I knew I wanted to take a specific career path. I had planned all my classes until graduation, and I had a business opportunity I was ready to accept. Everything was in place.
After counseling with Heavenly Father in prayer, however, I felt He was saying to me, “I need you to go in a different direction.” Soon after that, an opportunity to work for the Church appeared. It was completely unexpected, but I recognized it as a new direction He had prepared me to take.
I explained to my family that a new opportunity had opened as training and operations manager at the Pacific Missionary Training Center. This led to a position three years later as institute director with Seminaries and Institutes of Religion. My original career plan would have likely been more temporally prosperous, but we decided to see what would happen if we put our trust in the Lord.
That decision led to blessings the Lord seemed to have prepared for us. It has been amazing. We aren’t wealthy, but we have always had the things we need, and our children have been raised in a wonderful gospel environment.
I have never regretted my decision 23 years ago, though I have had to forsake some things and leave behind some people, places, possessions, and positions. But we have been happy to do that for Heavenly Father. Doing so has been a great blessing.
I have learned that when the Lord leads you in a certain direction and you hear and obey, blessings await. As President Russell M. Nelson taught: “In those two words—‘Hear Him’—God gives us the pattern for success, happiness, and joy in this life. We are to hear the words of the Lord, hearken to them, and heed what He has told us!”
Sometimes we might endeavor to counsel Heavenly Father, thinking, “I know best.” Instead, we need to open our heart and listen to Him, gathering insight and understanding. If we go to Him and share with Him our needs and the desires of our hearts, and then listen intently, we can find out His will for us.