Alex’s Orange Letter…

My kids all went on missions and did unique things in each mission. I am a very proud dad for their service and I am so grateful that they went.  We often tell stories about them and share things we learned from them.  This post is about an Alex letter that continues to be a positive influence.  If I get it wrong, it is all my fault because I have not read his letter in a long time and the experience gets better with age.  It’s a good story. The bottom line:  Pray specifically for what you want and you might just get it…

Pray for specifics:  Alex was doing what we all do in the mission: praying for the guidance and direction from Heavenly Father that often comes from the Holy Ghost.  He decided to be specific in his prayers.  His favorite color was orange so as he asked for assistance in finding people that would listen to the gospel, he asked that they be dressed in or be around the color orange.  As the day went on, (from my memory) he found people that had an orange roof and when they came to the door, they were wearing orange...those are the people I need to teach!  His specific prayer was answered with specific help from Heavenly Father.

An Example for others:  My friend, Bishop, and now a Mission President, Gregg Toolson uses the letter in a presentation about prayer and asking for specific help.  I recently read in Alma (34:27) about praying for those around you.  “World peace” might be a good prayer for a pageant, but I will never notice it.  If I am going to work and go the extra mile, I am going to pray for those within the mile or the extra mile around me.  If I am looking for help in that small area, Alex has taught me to be specific.  Toolson used it to teach his congregation and some of our youth the same thing about being specific in prayer.  And Sister Bertha recently told the story to some of our sister missionaries…

Sister Kendrick:  Sister Kendrick shared her Alex story with me this week and I loved it.  She heard Sister Bertha talk about how to pray for specific help…so she did the same.  She decided to pray for a specific person and wanted a specific action….. “a person in green shorts and a black and white shirt that would come to church this week”. That is more specific than I would have asked, but she has missionary faith (often stronger for good reasons - they are set apart for this kind of faith and are in God's Hands).

What happened…The first day, she did not see anyone who fit that description.  Most of their day is filled with teaching and she was looking for the person she prayed for as they were going from lesson to lesson and it filled her travel time with a new sense of purpose and excitement looking for the fulfillment of a specific request to God. Finally, on the second day, she saw an “Area Boy” who had green shorts (sagging low) and a black and white shirt. She said they almost sprinted to see him. They introduced themselves and their message and got an appointment…

“Area Boy” - Synonym: “Townie” in Wolfeboro; “Boy Band” in Provo.  Usually, a high teen or early 20s male who is just hanging out with his Boy Band friends doing not much of anything.  They usually ignore the missionaries and are not big on commitments of any kind.

Teach and Invite:  They met with him again and taught him some of the first principles of the restoration and about prophets.  Everything we teach is pointing to Jesus Christ and his mission as our savior. Sunday is important because we take the sacrament and remember promises made at baptism and it helps us clean up the week (repent) and “start again”. They invited him to church and were hopeful, but many said yes and lost their way to church on Sunday morning.  He was not at the first-hour meeting, but he texted and said “We are almost there…” He brought his friend and was there for the second hour.  He liked it…

Wow!  A specific prayer, with a specific answer.  Joseph got one. I have had mine at times, and Sister Kendrick shared this one with me.  It works for others, so why not me?  Faith precedes the miracle. Have faith and test it in your own life…

“….make them sprint”

-Sisters to the Elders…better keep up men…

Church again...So the Area Boy showed up the next week.  He had a couple of lessons during the week from the sister and was learning the gospel.  There was a baptism after church and the sisters asked if he could stay to see it.  He said, "No", because he had to be somewhere…but then he said, “That’s ok I will be a witness to my own baptism”.  “….I like what you are teaching and it is coming into me”.   Sister Kendrick told me that they will teach him about baptism and “put him on date” (like setting a target or date to be ready to be baptized) this week. 

Wow!  The blessings that come from a specific prayer of faith from a missionary who is on the Lord's errand to find and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ…

Remember and share:  I am proud of Alex and his influence from his Mexico Mission to a Ghana Sister who does not know him, but knows what he did with his faith and followed the example.  I loved that she shared the story with me and I am sharing it with you.  I told those sisters to write down all that they learned in that sisters conference so they can share it with someone else in the future.  We have good times and bad to learn lessons…the lesson is best learned when we can share that lesson with another person.  It’s good that we can have similar experiences and learn from them.  We are only here on earth for a time to learn, to share, to grow, to love, and to teach our friends and family some of the lessons we have learned…maybe it helps, maybe it doesn’t, but at least you (and me) got something out of it.

“Do what you can, where you are, with what you have”

-Teddy Roosevelt

“When our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who gets out to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer—no matter how eloquent the oration.”

- Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf teaching about effort and work…

Alex Served in Mexico…the pictures are all from Mexico… except for the two ladies I met in church today…dressed in ORANGE…Alex style!

Elder Bertha in Ghana

January 31, 2025