When I was a boy, around the age of 8-10 years-old, I was given the assignment to mow the lawn either Friday or Saturday. When Friday morning came along I found myself in a pickle; I wanted to play with my friends. The problem was that my friends could play either Friday or Saturday, but I could only play one of the days because the other I had to mow. I could not for the life of me decide which day would be the better choice, but it was important to me to make the right choice. I distinctly remember discussing this with my mother on our back deck, which overlooked the shaggy yard. She was very sweet to entertain my dilemma and listen to me weigh all the options. In the end she said, "Well why don't you pray about it. I'm sure Heavenly Father knows which day would be the best one". And with that she left me to ponder. In my young mind this was obviously the correct action to take, so I quickly bowed my head and simply explained my predicament to our omniscient father above and asked which day would be best. I very clearly remember having the thought that Friday would be the best decision and feeling in my heart that this thought was true. Although I didn't really have a perfect knowledge that Friday was the answer, I had faith that what I felt was good enough. So I hopped up, informed mother, and went to work on the four hour task of cutting all the grass in the steamy humidity of summer. I remember sweating a lot while I mowed and wondering if Saturday maybe would have brought a better result; perhaps the adventures with my friends would have been more fruitful had I waited a day.
The experience was not complete until the next morning. When I woke up I looked outside and noticed big dark heavy clouds. The kind make you a bit uneasy, like a water balloon that has been over-filled. This was interesting, I had no idea that the weather would change from a hot sunny day to dark and cloudy overnight. Sure enough after breakfast, the clouds could no longer contain the water, and it started to rain and didn't stop until after lunch. I was dumb-founded. Heavenly Father knew that it would rain and knew that I would not be able to mow the lawn with soaking wet grass, so he advised me to mow the day before. I was filled with excitement, and even greater, I was filled with truth - Heavenly Father answers prayers. This was a simple, possibly meaningless, example to some people, but to me it was part of the foundation that was laid for how I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that Jesus Christ lives.
