Petah was a young Jaredite girl, about 5-6 years old, who lived in a home where her parents were not faithful in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, although they were raised to believe in Jesus, they chose not to follow His teachings. She came from a large family, 5 older siblings and 2 younger siblings. Although her parents and most of her siblings were not faithful in the Gospel, they still tried to be respectable people They were kind to each other, they were almost always honest in their dealings with others. Petah’s father was a candle maker, one who made exquisite candles.
Petah had long, light-colored hair, her eyes were blueish-green, and she had a few freckles on her light-colored nose and chubby cheeks. She loved being outside, especially with her family’s animals; she particularly loved playing with her family’s chickens. After waking up in the morning, the first thing Petah would do was to go outside, play with the chickens, and search for chicken eggs. The chickens loved her and would quickly come to her when she came. Of course, it helped that Petah brought food for them. Petah’s grandmother gave her a cute basket so she had something to put the eggs in each morning. Petah loved her basket and used it every day.
Petah had a female cousin her same age that lived very close to her; in fact, Petah was two weeks older than her cousin. They loved to play with each other. her cousin’s family had nine children, most with about the same ages as Petah’s family. Petah and her cousin were the closest in age and friendship. The cousins would spend time at each other’s homes to play, work, and help each other with their chores.
Petah also loved to visit her cousin’s house because there was a different feeling there, a reverent feeling, a feeling of love and peace. Because her aunt and uncle still believed in the coming of Jesus Christ, they often told stories from the prophets about Jesus and taught their children about the plan of salvation. She loved hearing the stories and always wanted to hear more. She desired to tell her family the stories, but her parents just were not interested. Sometimes her younger siblings, and a couple of her older siblings would listen and some also enjoyed hearing the stories at her cousin’s home. Petah’s favorite story was about Peter walking on the water. She loved to hear how Jesus pulled Peter out of the water after his faith faltered and carefully and steadfastly walked with him back to the boat.
Deep down, even at a young age, Petah knew the stories were true from the sweet whisperings of the Holy Spirit and she desired to follow Christ and to be baptized which she did when she was older.
Petah adored her father and loved to spend time with him as he made beautiful candles for others. She loved talking to her father while he worked. Sometimes her father would let her help him, even with pouring hot wax into the molds. Petah enjoyed putting the dyes into the wax and watching how the wax became a new color. She loved when her father would layer several different colors into a single candle.
Petah’s favorite color was red because red reminded her of Jesus and how Jesus would come to the earth and die for her sins. Even though her father did not believe in Jesus, he made her a beautiful red candle for her seventh birthday. The candle had gold and silver strands mixed in the wax; he even put red crystals in the candle. Petah cherished her candle. Because her father put his heart into it, it brought joy and happiness to her. The candle was only lit on special occasions; however, her father reminded her that she could use it whenever she wanted. He would always make her a new candle.
Petah lit the candle when she felt sadness or felt fearful. She stared at the flame and watch as it appeared to dance above the candle. The dancing flame brought light, faith, and hope to her heart and spirit. When others around her felt sad or afraid, Petah brought her candle to them and lit it for them, they felt light, faith, and hope too. Soon, Petah and her candle became well-known for the joy they brought to others.
Eventually, the candle burned down to a small stub. As promised, her father made her another candle, this one more beautiful than the first. He saw how Petah shared her candle with others and he was very proud of her and wanted to reward her with more candles.
Petah eventually became a candle maker like her father. Most of her candles were custom-made for her customers. People came from all over to purchase her candles. One of Petah’s greatest delights was to give each of her customers a beautiful red candle to bring them light, faith, and hope.
Jaredite Stories 