Prayers

In boot camp I slept on the top rack. I shared the two bed rack with a recruit named Jason Cook. He spoke in his sleep a lot and often woke me up. He seemed to be pretty traumatized, at least in his sleep, from the stresses of boot camp. It seemed as if he was reliving the previous days torture every night while he slept. This was to the chagrin of the recruits trying to sleep around him because he was so loud with the, "Aye, Aye sir[s]" and the "Yes [and] No Sir[s]"that he often woke those closest to him up while seeming to sleep soundly.

Sometimes we threw stuff at him or the fire watch would shake him to get him to shut up. If it hadn't been so funny to listen to him and some of the dramatic things he said we might have killed him. He was as funny awake though as he was asleep and it was fun to be stationed with him the entire 4 years I was enlisted.

I had no where to say my prayers privately so I said them every night as I lay in my rack. Often times I would fall asleep saying them but at least I said them. Being in very humble circumstances helped me get closer to God. Church every Sunday was a 3 hour life saver and breath of fresh air. We did have group prayer every night which I led. Anyone wanting to could join a religious circle and share scriptures, say prayers and talk about God. We got about 15 minutes for that every evening before the lights were out and we were required to be in our racks. I enjoyed sharing my LDS faith with recruits not of my faith and I enjoyed learning about other's faiths.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsB0-x5Ke-M

One night I had a recruit come to me with a sore throat as sore as they come. He was a solid recruit and very dedicated and was not looking for excuses to get out of anything. He feared bringing it up to the drill instructors because he did not want to look like a softy. I didn't blame him. One could often make their lives much harder by claiming an injury or a sickness so most of us just sucked it up. He was desperate though. He could not speak, swallow, or talk and was almost to tears because his throat hurt so badly.

It was an opportunity to give a priesthood blessing to a nonmember and thanks to my father I knew what to do. I gave him a blessing and then had the inspiration to tell him to drink as much water as he possible could. He drank a lot that night and the next morning his sore throat was gone. The blessing had worked and he was extremely grateful for my faith.

It has been an amazing blessing in my life to have prayer. Thank you Heavenly Father for making a way for me to be able to communicate with you on a personal basis.