the power of prayer

Here's a little snippet from dad's weekly letter. A reminder to pray is always a good thing. ❤️ 🙏

....  "The choices you are making right now are so important for your long term happiness.  Life can seem so rushed and compressed but trust me, you have time on your side right now.  Make sure to take the time to make these important choices.  Take the time to pray and ponder.  Then once you are committed, move forward and do the work you need to do to get things done.

Rich Jackson bore his testimony today and told about an experience he had a few weeks ago when he went to Tucson to take test for his neuroradiology work.  It was a qualifying exam that if he passed, he would be able to do some more specialized work.  He said he had studied very hard for the exam and had reviewed over 1000 questions.  I have been in that situation before.  He said about 30 minutes before he was going to leave his hotel to take the test, he knelt down pray and as he was doing so, a thought came in his mind to study a rare disease process that he had not studied yet and that he hadn’t even thought about for several years.  He had some time to look it up and sure enough, it ended up being on the test.  He said he needed to answer that question to be able to pass.

This reminded me of how many times over the last 28 years, since I left on my mission, that I have relied on prayer to get through challenges and to make decisions.  Medicine provided many opportunities for me to do this, as well as almost every minute of every day, and so many times during starting my businesses.  The Lord has been at my side.  The Savior reminded of this in Luke 18:1 when he said, “Pray always and do not faint.”  Sometimes we can’t be kneeling because we are on a bus, walking down a road, driving on an icy road, sitting to take a test, walking into a job interview, standing at the side of an operating room table, or trying to deal with an angry customer.  Since we can’t always be kneeling when we pray, I am reminded of my favorite quote from Victor Hugo when he said, “Certain thoughts are prayers.  There are times when whatever the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.”  I challenge both of you to remember to pray always, no matter what your position is in life.  Your Father in Heaven loves you and he wants you to succeed and be happy.  He also realizes that life won’t always be perfect and he is willing to weep with you as he did with Enoch (see Moses 7:28).

Love you! Know that I am praying for you constantly. Dad"