Thankful Thursday: Answered Prayers

I prayed to be on the BYU Ballroom Tour Team from the age of 14 when I was mystified by their performance in Nauvoo when my sister @christinapendleton was on the backup team. They were amazing, and i couldn’t think of anything more wonderful than sharing my love of dance and Jesus Christ with the world!
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From the moment I set foot on BYU campus at age 18, I prayed, worked, stressed, cried, and competed my heart out to make my dream a reality. The competition was fierce, but I was making progress! My dream seemed closer than ever.
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Fast forward to August of 2015, when I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. My body stopped working, and I had to drop out of school, stop dancing on the intermediate ballroom team, tell my partners to find someone else to dance with, and focus on recovery. I would watch videos of myself dancing as I lay in bed, my body feeling numb and my heart feeling low.
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At the beginning I prayed to have it taken away. I asked God to help me, somehow, fix my body so I could still make it on the tour team.
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It was a long road for me as a 20-year old girl to recover, but by January 2016, i was weak, but I was back in dance.
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It took work and time, but I moved up teams, and an opportunity to audition for the BYU Blackpool (world competition) Ballroom Tour Team came up for me. I was so excited! It was just what I had always been praying for! Before auditions, I prayed a lot. I had also been accepted to the Master’s program at the University of UT in Occupational Therapy around the same time. I didn’t know what to do. I suddenly found myself with another, new dream--to use my experiences to help others through OT.
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I heard an answer clearly in my mind that I needed to go to salt lake. And just in case I was mistaken, I asked again, and God confirmed it for me a second time 😉. I couldn’t believe it. I told my coach that I wouldn’t be auditioning for the tour team, and I felt the spirit confirm it was right.

Heavenly Father didn’t answer my prayer of being on BYU Ballroom Tour Team. Instead, He led me to a path that would be better for me personally in the long run. I am so grateful for unanswered prayers!
-Anna