I attended a stake Youth Conference one year, and a part of that involved a service project. We helped to clean up the church buildings that resided in our stake boundaries. The Youth Conference was a two day event and the Saturday night portion was a youth testimony meeting where we could share our feelings about the events that we were a part.
The meeting was to be held out back of the large piece of property, behind the stake center. A man who was a member of the stake high council assigned to help with the youth brought a portable microphone/amplifier combination to help so that the speaker could be heard. I still remember the first girl standing in front of all of her peers to share her feelings of youth conference. The sound was great. About a minute into her speaking, the microphone went silent and the young girl could no longer be heard clearly. The man stood up and attempted to wriggle the cords to try to get the setup to work. To no availe. He grabbed the amplifier and walked out into the long grass until he disappeared from sight. I thought that he was walking back to the church to change out for another one. The meeting continued and those who stood to speak were asked to speak loudly so that everybody would be able to hear what they were saying. The man was gone for about ten minutes.
My dad was serving as a counselor to the stake president, at this time. I arrived home that evening after a very nice evening. He asked me how the night had gone. I told him about how spiritual and uplifting the testimony meeting was. I also told him about the microphone problems that we had encountered.
The man came back a short time later and plugged the microphone into the amplifier and it worked perfectly throughout the entire meeting. It was nice to be able to hear each of the kids as they shared personal feelings about youth conference.
A couple of days later, my dad arrived home, one evening, following a church meeting he had attended. He asked me if he could speak with me, in private. He began to share with me an experience I will never forget. The high councilor had told my dad that he had enjoyed a spiritual experience at youth conference. He talked about the trouble he had experienced with the microphone and amp. He then said that he wanted so badly for the youth of our stake to have an enjoyable experience. He had grabbed the amplifier and walked out into the tall grass, where he could be alone. He placed his hands on top of the amplifier and pleaded with God to allow it to work during the testimony meeting. He ended his prayer and excercised faith that God would hear and answer his prayer. As soon as he plugged the microphone in and it worked, he knew that God had indeed heard and answered his prayer.
I am trying to live my life so that I know that when I pray, I will be heard. He does hear and answer our prayers. Of these things, I have no doubt.
