I swear I have about ten drafts of different posts that are waiting for either photos, or a final read through, or for the right story to be added and then I will post them.
But I haven't gotten there yet.
Instead of talking about all the stuff that goes into submitting your mission papers, or my pre-mission playlist, or where I am at with ARP, or even where I am at with going on a mission I've got something else I want to talk about today.
But before I do I just want to do a shoutout to Sister Gorham, who leaves for her mission to Winnipeg Canada next week!
(And I have the cutest friends ever)
Today I am writing a bit off topic and I want to start with a question.
How does Heavenly Father talk to you?
That has been one of the big questions I have had this year for myself.
I know I have a Heavenly Father who loves me.
I know that if I am worthy I can have the Holy Ghost with me always.
I know I've received promptings and revelation before.
But when I have a question and am looking for an answer how do I find it?
This may sound dumb because as I previously said I have received answers before.
But I wanted to have a clear way of recognizing the spirit, so that I could know what I was looking for.
And I wanted to know if maybe there were other ways of hearing the spirit that I could utilize.
On LDS.org I found a list of ways the Holy Ghost communicates:
Feelings of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faith or meekness
Thoughts that occupy the mind or press on your feelings
A desire to do good and obey the commandments
A feeling that something is right
Feelings of comfort
Feelings that enlarge the soul
Thoughts that enlighten your understanding
A hunger for more truth
Feeling encouraged to take an action
Feeling restrained from doing something
Burning in the bosom
And I found a list of ways to find answers to prayers in a talk given by Richard G. Scott called
Agency and Answers:
Look for Evidence He has already Answered you
(Study D&C 6:14-15, and from the above list look for ways your prayers may have already been answered without you realizing)
Pay Attention to Feelings
(Check out D&C 6:22-23, 9:8-9)
Act when He Withholds an Answer
This is why;
When He answers yes He wants you to move forward with confidence.
When He answers no He wants to prevent error.
And when He doesn't answer, it is to have us grow through faith in Him, obedience to the commandments and a willingness to act on truth.
If it is wrong Heavenly Father will stop you before you venture too far.
But he wants you to be accountable and act in faith.
So without going into details I want to tell you about an experience I recently had.
Since about January I would have this thought pop into my head over and over, telling me I needed to pray about this specific thing.
And being the stubborn person I am, kept ignoring it because I thought it would be crazy for me to pray about that.
Also I didn't want to know the answer, and I really just didn't fully realize that it was a prompting from the Spirit.
So time passes.
Then one day I was at the temple doing a session.
And while I'm sitting in the celestial room this thought comes into my head again.
So I bow down my head and ask Heavenly Father about it.
You don't need to know the answer I got or what this was about, but I was definitely ignoring promptings for months upon months.
#goodjobemma
#facepalm
That experience caused me to look into how the spirit communicates, so I can know when I am being prompted so hopefully my thick-headedness doesn't keep me from receiving answers I need again.
So how does the spirit speak to you?
