Enos: My Soul Hungered

Enos is a prophet in the Book of Mormon whose father, Jacob, was also a prophet. When Jacob was old and about to die he met with his son. He gave his son the record he had been keeping, which had been passed down to each prophet, and Enos promised obedience. After Jacob died, Enos went out hunting one day and began to ponder the things which Jacob had taught him. He says,

 "And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens."

Enos prayed for a day and a night. He prayed for his own soul, for the souls of his people, and also for his enemies, the Lamanites. He also prayed for the record to be preserved, this record is The Book of Mormon. As Enos prayed he received answers and he went about preaching to the people. In his lifetime he saw many wars and when he was about to die he handed down the record to his son, Jarom. His final words in the record are,

"And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen."

(For the full story, check out Enos 1.)

 There are so many things I love about Enos. He had so much faith and charity. He prayed for the welfare of his enemies. As I read the book of Enos, which is just one chapter, I feel the desire to be better. I pray to have the hungering in my soul that Enos experienced. I used to wonder how Enos spent so much time in prayer and now as I pray, with real intent, I feel like I understand a little bit better. Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles spoke about pray and compared it to a combination lock. He said,

"Petitioning in prayer has taught me, again and again, that the vault of heaven with all its blessings is to be opened only by a combination lock. One tumbler falls when there is faith, a second when there is personal righteousness; the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is, in God's judgement--not ours--right for us. Sometimes we pound on the vault door for something we want very much and wonder why the door does not open. We would be very spoiled children if that vault door opened anymore easily than it does. I can tell, looking back, that God truly loves me by inventorying the petitions He has refused to grant me. Our rejected petitions tell us much about ourselves but also much about our flawless Father." Neal A. Maxwell, “Insights,” New Era, Apr. 1978, 6 

-Ryanne
Who forgot to include a fun tidbit about herself so Elin will just say that being around Ryanne is like being around a big burst of sunshine.