The Lord Led Me Home

Illustration by David Malan

While I was working on my doctoral degree and teaching music in the United States, I strove to live the gospel and feel God’s influence in my life. I was far from home and at times felt lonely, but I felt His love and voice guiding my decisions.

One day the feeling came that I should return to my home country of Bolivia. Returning was not a decision I made lightly. Things were going well. But after praying, I felt strongly that I should return because something important awaited me.

After my return, a bachelor’s program in music opened at one of Bolivia’s top universities, where I found a job as a professor.

In my home ward, I soon met a young woman I had never seen before. Her parents had converted to the Church while I was preparing to leave for the United States years earlier. We began dating and got married, which has been a great blessing in my life.

Two years ago, my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. We were very close. When I was young, she would tell me, “You’ll always be with me, and I know you’ll take care of me.”

Because I had returned home, I was there when she needed me, spending time with her every day during her final months. She didn’t join the Church before her death, but she loved the Liahona magazine, the Book of Mormon, and general conference. “I believe it all,” she said.

Later, I was blessed to be in the Cochabamba Bolivia Temple with my parents when my grandmother was sealed to her husband, who had died young. She never remarried. I felt that they were there in the temple with us, happy and together again. To see my parents in the sealing room standing as proxy for them was a beautiful sight.

We don’t know how things will turn out in our lives, but the Lord knows where we should be. He also knows how to bless us, and He will lead us to act in His place to bless others. If we confide in His wisdom and direction, I know He can make more of our lives than we can on our own.