Tsunami In Japan: LDS Missionaries Thoughts.

  As a missionary, I live a pretty sheltered life as far as the media goes. While we missionaries are out in "the field" we experience very little of the media and this includes the news. Mostly everything that I hear, when it comes to world events, are from people that are around me.
  I will never forget the day that I walked into the Cox families home and on the TV was a news report with footage of the tsunami that hit Japan. A river of houses being taken by the strongest current I've ever seen was being played over and over. Those images are burned into me and haven't left me since. Instantly, thoughts of the Japanese people and there suffering flooded my mind.

How can I help?

  Its a question I've asked a couple of times since I saw these clips. What could an LDS missionary do to help the recovery effort in Japan? The answer I have is more general that all of us can do then it is individual for me.

Pray.

  There are times in each of our lives that it may seem hard to pray as a result of the trials we are facing. We might think we are to busy to pray or forget to, or just plain don't want to talk to the Lord. But when those times come, that's when we must pray. The prophet Nephi testifies of this truth:

8And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirt which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

 9But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

 -2 Ne 32:8-9

  The Bible dictionary teaches us well that when we understand the role we have with our Father in heaven, we then understand why prayer is so essential. Check it out:

As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.

--Bible Dictionary 

So Please.. Lets pray.

Let us recognize the power of prayer.

Let us realize who we are in relation to our Father in Heaven.

We are his children.

Our brothers and sisters in Japan need help.

Let us pray for them.

"If as a people we will build and sustain one another, the Lord will bless us with the strength to weather every storm and continue to move forward through every adversity."
-Gordon B.Hinckley

 ***********************************************************************************

 To contribute the humanitarian aid in Japan click here.  100% of contributions go to helping those in need. 

May God bless you.