Latter-day Saint Life

When You Pray to Find Something Lost—and Don't Find It

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"Did I not have enough faith?"  Melodee Cooper writes in her post about not finding a special hat she'd prayed to find, even though many such prayers had been answered in the past. "Was this a consequence of my carelessness in not taking proper care of my belongings?"

A common experience in gaining a basic testimony that God answers prayers tends to be in praying to find something that has been lost. When car keys, glasses, jewelry, or any important item goes missing, I often find myself stopping to say a humble and heartfelt prayer to plea for guidance on where to begin my search. Often, I am able to clear my mind, listen to promptings, and locate the item soon after my prayer has ended. It is a comforting reassurance that God knows His children personally and cares about even the mundane difficulties in their lives. I know these prayers for missing objects do not only occur in my household, for rarely does a monthly testimony meeting go by without a similar faith-promoting story being shared by a member of my congregation. 

However, sometimes the testimony comes in a different way.

Last winter, my hair was still growing back after the latest treatments from cancer. Since the weather was chilly, I couldn't leave the house without a hat, scarf, or wig to help keep the warmth from escaping. 

I quickly became flustered upon discovering that the most special of all those winter caps was nowhere to be found! I hadn't needed it in three seasons of warm weather, so when chilly temperatures finally hit, there was no telling how long this hat had been misplaced. 

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