Emma Says.

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you may have read that my little sister, Emma, recently decided to serve an 18-month mission for our Church and was assigned to Cusco, Peru. She leaves June 5th. She has been sending me weekly scripture blurbs from her studies. Enjoy!

"There are many awesome prayers offered in the Book of Mormon but one that I learned about this week was Nephi’s (Nephi the son of Nephi who was the son of Helaman) in the beginning of Third Nephi.  In Third Nephi 1: 11 he starts his prayer like this, “And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers.”  I noticed that first he “bowed himself down upon the earth” which is a very humble thing to do. This showed the Nephi was ready to pray because he had left his pride out of the prayer.  The second thing I noticed about this piece is that he begins praying first for his people. That is a great example to me because I should pray for others, not just myself. And not only did Nephi pray for others, but he made them a priority. Next, in Third Nephi 1:12, we learn more about how prayers often work. The verse says, “And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him…”. I like this scripture because Nephi prays all day before he receives an answer to his prayer. This is a comfort to me because if it takes Nephi all day to receive an answer to his prayer, I guess I can be patient too. It is a reminder that prayers should be given in humility, are tests of faith and require real effort on our part."