The Prayer That Changed Her Life

Sister Pena grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico, in a Catholic home. By 13 she was drinking. By 15 she was smoking. By 17 she was in a hospital with a severe anxiety attack, calling her mom and telling her she could not do this alone anymore.

She was not looking for trouble. She was looking for belonging. And she would do whatever it took to find it.

In this episode of Choosing Jesus Christ, Elder Avalos sits down with Sister Pena, a missionary serving at the Visitors Center in the Idaho Falls Idaho Mission, to hear how a neighbor's invitation, a desperate prayer, and two missionaries showing up at exactly the right moment changed everything.

Searching for Belonging in All the Wrong Places

Sister Pena was the kind of girl who struggled to make friends. That loneliness fed her anxiety. And that anxiety pushed her toward choices she knew were not right, just to feel like she belonged somewhere.

She started drinking at 13 and smoking at 15. It gave her a group. It gave her a sense of community. For a while, it was enough. But it was also building an addiction she did not see coming. By the time she was hospitalized with a severe anxiety attack, she knew something had to change. She called her mom from the hospital and said the words out loud: I cannot do this by myself anymore.

That admission was the first crack in the wall. She went home to Chihuahua, sat with her parents, and asked her mom to tell her what to do. She had no answers. But her neighbor Jessica did.

A Neighbor, a Song, and a Prayer That Changed Everything

Jessica was a Christian. She told Sister Pena to pray. To go talk to Heavenly Father. Sister Pena was skeptical. She had stopped believing in God at 16. But she was out of options, so she tried.

Jessica invited her to a Christian worship service. Sister Pena loved music. Always had. And something about the songs that day broke through. A song about a broken cup that Jesus put back together again brought her to tears. The pastor spoke about people struggling with addiction. Sister Pena turned to Jessica and asked if she had said something to him. She had not.

Sister Pena left that service thinking she might get baptized there. Then another anxiety attack hit. Alone, not even sure if she was in her bathroom or her bedroom, she got on her knees and prayed the most honest prayer of her life. She told God: if you are real, please give me a sign. Show me you are here. Show me you love me. Show me you have a plan for me. Because if you do not, she told Him, I am going to end my life. She was making a plan for it.

That night, December 19, she made a decision. Next year she would stop doing things her way and start doing things God's way. She prayed again, crying hard, and asked Heavenly Father one more time for a sign.

The next morning, two missionaries knocked on her door.

The Missionaries Who Became Her Path

Elder Barrett and Elder Sanchez had met Sister Pena briefly before while she was watching some kids in the neighborhood. She had thought it was funny that there were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chihuahua. She had not thought much more of it.

But the morning after her prayer, there they were. One of the elders told her: I want you to know that you have a loving Heavenly Father, and He has a plan for you. She started crying immediately. She recognized the answer.

The lessons that followed were not without questions. She pushed back on the missionaries about everything she had read online. They answered every question. When she asked how she could know if the prophet was real, they told her to pray and ask God herself. That answer stopped her. No one had ever told her she could receive her own answer directly from God.

She did not receive a clear confirmation before her baptism. She went forward anyway, because she felt good and because she trusted the direction she was moving. The confirmation came later. And her dad, who had told her he would not come, called the night of her baptism and said he was outside. She ran to get him. He was there for the whole thing.

From Being Saved to Going to Save Others

A month after her baptism, Sister Pena told her mom she was going on a mission. Her mom told her not to do it. But the desire was already there and it was not going away.

She had seen what missionaries did. They had come to her in the worst moment of her life and pointed her to Jesus Christ. She wanted to do the same thing for someone else. There were people out there who did not know Heavenly Father was real. People who did not know they could be with their families forever. People sitting exactly where she had been sitting.

Now she serves at the Visitors Center in Idaho Falls. Her mom tells her there is a different light in her eyes. Her dad, who once told her he was not coming to her baptism, now says: if you are happy, I am happy. Sister Pena says she still makes mistakes. She always will. But she can always repent. She can always go back to Heavenly Father. That is her purpose, missionary or not.

She chooses Jesus Christ because she knows He is there. She knows He sees her. She knows there is a plan, and she wants to be part of it.

Key Takeaways

1. Heavenly Father answers prayers. Sister Pena asked for a sign the night before two missionaries knocked on her door. That was not a coincidence.

2. You do not have to have a perfect testimony to take the next step. Sister Pena got baptized before receiving a full confirmation. She moved forward on what she felt, and the answer came.

3. The gospel gives you an identity that nothing else can. She stopped living for what her friend group wanted and started living as a daughter of God.

4. Your worst moments can become your mission. The same pain that nearly ended her life became the reason she gives 18 months to help others find the hope she found.

5. Heavenly Father has a plan for you specifically. Not just for the world in general. For you.

Sister Pena's story is just one of many. Listen to the full episode of the Choosing Jesus Christ Podcast to hear it in her own words. If you are searching for answers or just want to talk, visit ChoosingJesusChrist.org. Our missionaries are ready.