As I read this lesson I remember I thought about how difficult it is at times for some young women to live in homes where one or both parents may not live up to their expectations or the Lords.  I grew up in such a home :-) I love my father, but growing up was very difficult and I found myself often wondering why I couldn't have been born into another family.

I have also wondered many times why I'm the only one who has accepted the gospel. There are never any easy answers. But what I have learned is that we do not always have the full picture. As children and youth we often do not see the heartache that our parents may be facing, the adversity they suffer from during their "refinement", or even recognize the sacrifices that our parents make in our behalf. Sometimes it takes us years to have an understanding. But the Lord knows their hearts and we need to have faith. We may also be the very instrument which the Lord will use to bring them back into the fold - however painful it may be for us.

Here is a great example of  "Honor" and "Respect" that a parent deserves. 

Fathers through the Priesthood are entitled to receive inspiration and revelation for their families. I heard a talk given about two years ago while attending an LDS Seminary Symposium about a seminary teacher who had a student in his class who came to him one day and asked if he would give her a blessing. She had some important decisions to make and she needed the Lord's guidance. This seminary teacher knew her well and also her family. She came from a home where the father was less active....who didn't live the way he should. The seminary teacher knew he could give her a blessing but the spirit told him not to.

The seminary teacher told his student, "No, I don't feel I should give you this blessing. You need to ask your father for the blessings". The student couldn't believe what she had just heard! Her teacher knew her father, knew he wasn't worthy and she left mad. However, later that week she decided she was going to ask her father for the blessing. She gathered her courage, and one afternoon she walked into the livingroom where her father sat in his favorite chair watching a ball game with a beer in his hand. She gathered her courage and said, "Dad, I need you to give me a blessing". Her father stared at her for a moment, didn't say a word, got up and turned the television off, .....and walked out of the room and left the house.

That was a Saturday afternoon. The family did not see their father for the rest of that day and not even the next day. Then in the evening when they had gathered together for their family home evening lesson (the mother always made sure this happened) the door opened and in walked her father with a white shirt and tie on and asked his daughter if she still wanted that blessing!  The room was dead quite!

She later said that he may not have given her the most profound blessing she'd ever heard but the spirit was so strong! That was only the beginning. Her father turned his life around and received his temple blessings, served many years in the church....as a bishop, as a temple worker and died an honorable man.

I loved this story when I heard it. As teachers and leaders we need to be mindful of our roles in the lives of our girls and listen to the spirit. And our youth must always show the honor and respect to their parents that the Lord would have them show. We never know the influence we can have in our homes... whether we come from active or less-active homes. We need to be willing to let the spirit touch the lives of those around us. We never know what one request can do for a person. We need to give our fathers the opportunities to Be a Righteous Priesthood Bearer.

We need to follow the example of Nephi in the story of the Broken Bow.  Nephi could have been self-righteous and taken over leadership but instead he showed honor and respect to his father when he went to him and asked where he should go hunting. This young woman also acted as Nephi by showing honor and respect to her father in asking for the blessing.

The "Power" in One- Request °Ü°

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