The Miracle of the Wood

I heard a really cool story a few days ago about how the Laie Temple was completed. They were almost finished when they noticed that they hadn't bought enough wood. But since they had a deadline of when it was suppose to be done, they prayed to Heavenly Father that somehow He would provide a way for them to get the right amount of wood by the deadline. Well a few days went by and a cargo ship wrecked on the shore of Laie. The captain got off the ship and said, I have a whole bunch of supplies that I needed to send somewhere but if you help me unload it, if any of it is undamaged, it's all yours.

They unloaded the cargo, opened the box and inside was the right amount of wood to finish the Temple. From then on, it was known to all the islanders as the Miracle of the Wood.

I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. He answered the prayer of a young boy in Palmyra NY, named Joseph Smith, about which church he should join. And in Feb. of 2009, he answered the prayer of a 17 year old boy about wanting to serve a mission. Two missionaries came to give him the Sacrament in Primary Children's Hospital, and as they were leaving, they gave him a blessing and part of that blessing said "Your Father in Heaven wants you to know that you will serve a Mission and be a father in this life." Any of you that I have told this story to, already know that the boy in the story, is me.

In a way, I think this story is kind of like the miracle of the wood. How else would those missionaries know that that's what I needed to hear at that exact time?

- Elder Ballam