Stella Oaks, the mother of Dallin H. Oaks, offers her insight regarding the promises of the Lord:
We were living in Twin Falls, Idaho, at the time of my husband’s death. I had the serious concern of my ability to meet the needs of our three children, Dallin, aged seven, Merrill, three and a half, and Evelyn, fourteen months. I wondered how I would even be able to drive the car 250 miles in the move back to Utah County. How would I be able to earn enough to educate the children as Lloyd and I had planned?
Then there was the problem of making the adjustment back to a career of teaching when all my dreams, expectations, and careful preparations were geared to the rearing of a large family and my role as a wife. I knew I could not perform my responsibilities alone, but my spirit was disciplined to covenant with the Lord. I would do all things he desired of me. This decision was also helped by the phrase my husband had uttered so many times during our family prayers: “We dedicate all our time, talents, and energies to Thy service.” I felt sealed within this promise.
But it takes great spiritual effort to walk constantly by faith, and I had much learning to do as I was trying to meet the demands of daily survival and decision making. The words of my blessing came vividly to my consciousness: “Cry unto the Lord and he will hear thee and what seemeth a mountain shall become a molehill because of thy faith and integrity.”
Several distinct blessings came to me at that very time of communion with the Lord. I was able to drive the car back to Utah with great ease; previously I had not driven farther than Burley, some forty miles away. Contrary to my former needs, I was now able to feel completely invigorated after only five to six hours’ sleep. My Father in heaven had also blessed me with three choice spirits to raise, and I discovered in them a strong sense of our family mission. They were equally dedicated to the goal of a happy, cooperative home. Another great blessing was the arrival of an unexpected insurance policy, which enabled me to pay off my husband’s medical school expenses.
Before leaving to take up my new life and doubled parental responsibility, I sought a blessing from our stake patriarch, L.G. Kirkman, who promised me specific blessings. I was promised, depending on my faith, that my children would be able to have all the education they would desire. I was promised the strength to maintain a strong united home. I was also told that I would be able to make a personal contribution in both my profession and in my community. Let me explain the fascinating ways these promises have been fulfilled to the letter.
In his senior year at Brigham Young University, Dallin came home one day to tell me that he had been awarded the first University of Chicago Law School scholarship ever to be awarded to a BYU student. I was overjoyed and thought back to the blessing I had received fourteen years before. On another occasion the blessing was brought back to my mind when late one afternoon I arrived home from the school board office and found a letter addressed to my son Merrill. He opened it later in the evening and we were thrilled to discover that he had been granted a scholarship from the National Health Foundation, providing his fees for a full medical school education. He was accepted at five medical schools. I later discovered that this was their only scholarship awarded in Utah. As Evelyn was beginning college, she received the highly competitive Elks scholarship, providing her with books and tuition fees for the duration of her undergraduate degree. Later she was awarded a scholarship from the BYU College of Family Living, which enabled her to attend the Merrill Palmer College of Family Living in Detroit. (Leon R. Hartshorn, comp., Remarkable Stories from the Lives of Latter-day Saint Women, 2 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1973], 2:185–186)