Indie’s Choice A “Choose Your Own Adventure” Story Indie was walking home from school with her best friends, Luca and Maia. Her friends were arguing with each other. They wanted to play different games at recess that day, and they couldn’t agree. “You can’t be friends with her if you’re friends with me,” Luca said, pointing at Maia. “And you can’t be friends with him if you’re friends with me!” Maia scowled at Luca. Indie looked back and forth between her two friends. She liked playing with both of them at recess, but if they didn’t want to play with each other, she didn’t know what she should do. “Indie!” her mother called from the front door of her house. Indie waved at her mom. “I’ll tell you what I decide tomorrow,” she promised her friends, but she didn’t feel good inside. What should Indie do? A) Ask her parents for advice. B) Pray, and ask Heavenly Father. *** A) Ask her parents for advice. That night, Indie was eating dinner with her mom and dad and her older sister, Allie. It was Indie’s favorite dinner—spaghetti with meatballs—but Indie’s stomach felt like it was tumbling around inside of her. She pushed a meatball around with her fork. What am I going to do? she thought. “Indie, is something wrong?” her dad asked. “You’re not eating much.” “And this is your favorite dinner!” her mother said. “Did something happen at school today?” Indie frowned. “Luca and Maia are fighting. They won’t play with each other, and they said I can’t be friends with both of them. How do I pick one?” “That’s a tough situation,” her dad said. “Let’s come up with a solution together.” “Okay,” Indie said. “But how?” Her mother set her fork down. “Well, what do you know about Heavenly Father?” Indie shrugged. She tried to remember what she learned in her CTR class, but it was hard for her to remember. Allie nudged Indie. “He’s your father…” “He’s my father,” Indie repeated, “and He loves me.” “Right!” her dad said. “Do you think He loves Luca?” Indie nodded. “Yes, He loves Luca.” “And do you think He loves Maia?” “Yes, Heavenly Father loves everyone, because we’re all His children.” Indie’s mom smiled at her. “Do you think He would want you to pick one friend over the other?” she asked. Indie looked at her mom. If Heavenly Father loves all of His children, she knew she should love them, too. “I don’t think so.” “So what do you think Heavenly Father would want you to do?” Indie grinned. “He would want me to be friends with both of them.”
“I think that’s exactly right,” her dad said. Indie agreed. She could be friends with both of them, and she was excited to tell them her decision at school the next day. *** B) Pray, and ask Heavenly Father. That night, Indie was reading the Book of Mormon with her family. “Alma taught that if we pray and have faith, we can receive strength from the Lord,” Indie’s dad said after they finished reading. Indie thought for a moment before saying, “What kind of strength?” Her mom answered. “He can help us do hard things.” “Like make hard choices?” Indie asked hopefully. Indie’s dad nodded. “That’s right, Heavenly Father can answer our prayers to help us know what we should do when we have questions or problems.” “But it’s not always an answer you can hear. It’s usually one that you can feel in your heart, like a feeling of peace or comfort.” Indie was so excited to pray that night. She would ask Heavenly Father about what she should do! When she got His answer, then she would make her choice. “Heavenly Father,” Indie prayed before bedtime, “please help me to know what to do about my friends. Which one should I pick?” She finished her prayer, and waited. And waited. And waited. Why wasn’t she getting an answer? Did she not ask the right question? “Should I only be friends with Luca?” she asked. Her stomach felt sick. She didn’t feel good inside, and she really didn’t like the feeling. She decided to ask another question. “Should I only be friends with Maia?” The feeling didn’t go away—her stomach did flips and she felt sad. That was not a feeling of peace, Indie thought. Does that mean those are both bad choices? There was just one more question to ask. “Should I be friends with both of them?” The flipping and tumbling inside of her stopped. She felt calm and peaceful. “So that’s my answer,” she whispered. “I can’t choose just one. They’re my friends, and Heavenly Father wants me to keep both of my friends.” She smiled. Indie was excited to tell them her decision at school the next day.