Praying to Act

During the Korean War, Ensign Frank Blair served on a troop transport ship stationed in Japan.
The ship wasn't large enough to have a formal chaplain, so the captain asked Brother Blair to be the ship's informal chaplain, having observed that the young man was a person of faith and principle, highly respected by the whole crew.

Ensign Blair wrote: "Our ship was caught in a huge typhoon.
The waves were about 45 feet high.
I was on watch ... during which time one of our three engines stopped working and a crack in the centerline of the ship was reported.
We had two remaining engines, one of which was only functioning at half power.
We were in serious trouble."

Ensign Blair finished his watch and was getting into bed when the captain knocked on his door.
He asked, "Would you please pray for this ship?"
Of course, Ensign Blair agreed to do so.

At that point, Ensign Blair could have simply prayed, "Heavenly Father, please bless our ship and keep us safe," and then gone to bed.
Instead, he prayed to know if there was something he could do to help ensure the safety of the ship.
In response to Brother Blair's prayer, the Holy Ghost prompted him to go to the bridge, speak with the captain, and learn more.
He found that the captain was trying to determine how fast to run the ship's remaining engines.
Ensign Blair returned to his cabin to pray again.

He prayed, "What can I do to help address the problem with the engines?"

In response, the Holy Ghost whispered that he needed to walk around the ship and observe to gather more information.
He again returned to the captain and asked for permission to walk around the deck.
Then, with a lifeline tied around his waist, he went out into the storm.

Standing in the stern, he observed the giant propellers as they came out of the water when the ship crested a wave.
Only one was working fully, and it was spinning very fast.
After these observations, Ensign Blair once again prayed.
The clear answer he received was that the remaining good engine was under too much strain and needed to be slowed down.
So he returned to the captain and made that recommendation.
The captain was surprised, telling him that the ship's engineer had just suggested the opposite--that they increase the speed of the good engine in order to outrun the storm.
Nevertheless, the captain chose to follow Ensign Blair's suggestion and slowed the engine down.
By dawn the ship was safely in calm waters.

Only two hours later, the good engine stopped working altogether.
With half power in the remaining engine, the ship was able to limp into port.

The captain said to Ensign Blair, "If we had not slowed that engine when we did, we would have lost it in the middle of the storm."

Without that engine, there would have been no way to steer.
The ship would have overturned and been sunk.
The captain thanked the young LDS officer and said he believed that following Ensign Blair's spiritual impressions had saved the ship and its crew.

-Larry Y. Wilson -Take the Holy Spirit as Your Guide -April 2018 General Conference

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi