A week ago, the Lafayette Bishopric member asked me to give a talk from Isaiah on "waiting on the Lord."  He ask us to share, if we could, experiences of waiting on the Lord and the lessons that we have learned from doing that.  This is a copy of the talk I wrote:  I am grateful that the Lord gave me this opportunity so I could record these experiences.

One evening, a few years ago,  I was alone, driving the freeway between Nampa and Boise,  Idaho.  It was late in the evening, dark, outside and quite deserted of other cars.  I remembered that crimes along the road had happened there in the past.

Suddenly I felt the jerk when my car's tire hit something and exploded!!  Shocked, I pulled carefully over to the side of the freeway and turned off the key.  I didn't even stop to think, but just bowed my head and told the Lord my problem and asked for help. 

No sooner had I repeated that prayer, than I lifted my head and through the rear view mirror I saw two young men, their car parked behind me, jogging towards my car window.  I reluctantly rolled down my window and they told me they were college kids on their way to school and could they be of help?!!

My relief was instant.  How had the Lord answered my prayer so quickly?  I explained to the young men what had happened.  They found the equipment and the spare tire, changed it,  and I was on my way to work within 10 minutes. 

As I pondered the situation, later,  I realized that the Lord is very aware of each one of us.  He knows before we do of the situations we will face,  because he can see the end from the beginning.  He lets us have these experiences so that his hand might be made manifest in all things.  He had already planned my rescue before it happened.

As I pondered this situation I reflected back to an earlier time in my life when we had been faced with a problem that required a much longer wait on the Lord. 

We were living in a small town and had 7 children under the age of twelve.  We had built us a large, comfy home in the mountains, that we intended to live in for the rest of our lives.  However, the Lord had different intentions for us and we soon saw the need to move on to another city, and leave our beautiful home.  This was easier said than done because while our home was perfect in every way for us, it was not perfect for others who did not have the same needs that we did.  We had overbuilt ourselves for the area and it would take a buyer coming in from the outside, of which there were few at that time.

After our home had been on the market for six months, we realized that we were not going to be able to sell it by ourselves, we needed the Lord to do it for us.  We had not even shown our home even once.    Elder Whiting was working in another city, and he was home about every 3 weeks.  He had to use our dependable car and I drove the old  one seater pickup.    It was ten miles to town, to church, or to the closest grocery store.  I had to stack the kids three deep to get there!!  It was an adventure.


Finally, discouraged, we knelt and ask the Lord what to do.  We decided to have a family fast and  ask the school children if they would like to fast with us and ask the Lord to help us sell our home.  The school children, left for school hungry but determined, skipped their lunches,  and returned home in the late afternoon, still fasting.  We learned the power of fasting and prayer that they are teaching their children today.

Being away from home, Elder Whiting fasted with us and we each held our own prayers.  This time, for me, was an adventure in spiritual discovery.  As I increased my fasting and petitions to the Lord, I felt the Holy Ghost very close and guiding my thoughts.  I reviewed in the 2nd Nephi, of the doctrine of Christ, and  the need we have to repent and feast upon the scriptures.  As I repented and digested more and more scriptures, I developed a great love for them.

I also read in 2nd Nephi  that I needed to press forward having a pefect brightness of hope with a steadfastness in Christ.  My faith increased as I recognized his great power and glory, and his ability to make miracles happen.

The more I studied, prayed and repented, I began to separate the teachings of Christ from the happenings in the world.   I began to thirst for the things of the spirit and put aside the things of the world.  I received and felt the Holy Ghost guiding my every thought and action.  I began to understand and feel the importance of eternal values  and the less importance of physical values; and  that this life was secondary to the truths  of  eternity.    I felt, very deeply the value of coming unto him and being healed.

This experience was a turning point in my life.  It seemed like a long, drawn out trial of waiting on the Lord.  But it was so worth it because of the knowledge I carry with me still today.  I know that my spiritual condition was important to the Lord than the selling of that house.  Through that experience, he taught me of holy things.  It changed my whole outlook on life.  I learned to rejoice in the feelings of the spirit and God's love.

In a very short time, when we had gleaned all that we could from the challenge, the Lord made it known to us  that our home would soon sell, and it did shortly!!  It came with the first and only family that looked at it.  It was because of the tender mercies of God, that this happened.  The Lord brought us a buyer.

The Lord answered my prayers, but he used this experience to teach me things I could not learn in any other way.  I know that our trials and challenges are for the purpose of bringing us to back to him.  

As I waited on him, the spiritual gifts I received were of untold worth to me.  I am so very grateful for this experience.  I would not trade it for anything.  I know that my value is eternal and that I can always depend on his truths.