This week I focused on a General Conference talk given by Elder Ronald A. Rasband titled, "Let the Holy Spirit Guide." I really enjoyed reading this talk especially when he broke it down in four ways to have the spirit with us. And it is crucial especially in these days when there are so many challenges and trials that we face.
First, let's ask ourselves an important question...
Question:
What does the Holy Ghost do?
The Holy Ghost inspires, testifies, teaches and prompts us to walk in the light of the Lord.
Quote #1 (pdf)
I also loved how Rasband said, "President Monson, we love you, sustain you, and ever pray for you," our prophet dear." What a sweet way of saying how much he loves our dear prophet President Monson.
We have the opportunity to feel the spirit of the Lord. That Spirit confirms to our hearts and minds the truths taught at General Conference. What a great opportunity! I love General Conference and have enjoyed re-reading each talk.
Question:
What is the Godhead?
It comprises three distinct and separate beings: our Father in Heaven; His Only Begottten Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost. We know that “the Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”
Question:
How important is the Holy Ghost in our lives?
The Holy Ghost binds us to the Lord.
He inspires, testifies, teaches, and prompts us.
Enligthens our minds.
Fills our soul with joy.
What are four ways to always have his Spirit to be with us (as we have promised each week when we take the sacrament to always remember him)?
4Bookmarks (pdf)
{Click on the link above and you could print out four to a page of this bookmark to pass out to your RS sisters}
1-Strive to live worthy of the Spirit
-lay aside the things of this world
-seek for the things of a better
-obey God's laws
-study the scriptures
-pray
-attend the temple
-live true to the 13th Article of Faith-being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and ...doing good to all men
2-We must be willing to receive the Spirit
-The Lord has promised, "I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.”
Story:
One hot July morning my companion and I felt prompted to look up a Temple Square referral. We knocked on the door of the Elwood Schaffer home. Mrs. Schaffer politely turned us away.
As she began to shut the door, I felt to do something I had never done before and have never done since! I stuck my foot in the door, and I asked, “Is there anyone else who might be interested in our message?” Her 16-year-old daughter, Marti, did have an interest and had fervently prayed for guidance just the day before. Marti met with us, and in time her mother participated in the discussions. Both of them joined the Church.
Resulting from Marti’s baptism, 136 people, including many of her own family, have been baptized and made gospel covenants. How grateful I am that I listened to the Spirit and stuck my foot in the door on that hot July day. Marti and a number of her dear family members are here today.
What did his story teach us? He followed the Spirit and didn't give up after the mother said no.
3-We must recognize the Spirit when it comes
-The Spirit communicates as a feeling. You feel it in words that are familiar to you, that make sense to you, that prompt you.
-Listen to the spirit and have an open heart and understand in your heart just like the Nephites.
Question:
Do you know that voice?
President Monson has taught, “As we pursue the journey of life, let us learn the language of the Spirit.”
The Spirit speaks words that we feel. These feelings are gentle, a nudge to act, to do something, to say something, to respond in a certain way.
Story:
Last June, I was on an assignment to South America. We were on a tight 10-day schedule visiting Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. An enormous earthquake had killed hundreds, injured tens of thousands, damaged and destroyed homes and communities in the Ecuadorian cities of Portoviejo and Manta. I felt prompted to add to our schedule a visit to members living in those cities. With damage to the roads, we weren’t sure we could get there. In fact, we had been told we could not get there, but the prompting would not go away. Consequently, we were blessed and were able to visit both cities.
With such short notice, I expected that only a few local priesthood leaders would attend the hastily organized gatherings. However, we arrived at each stake center to find the chapels filled all the way back to the stage. Some who attended were the stalwarts of the region, the pioneers who had held fast to the Church, encouraging others to join them in worship and to feel the Spirit in their lives. Sitting on the front rows were the members who had lost loved ones and neighbors in the earthquake. I felt prompted to bestow an apostolic blessing upon all who were in attendance, one of my very first given. Though I was standing at the front of that room, it was as if my hands were on each of their heads, and I felt the words of the Lord pouring forth.
It didn’t end there. I felt prompted to speak to them just as Jesus Christ had done when visiting the people in the Americas. “He took their little children … and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.”15 We were in Ecuador, we were about our Father’s business, and these were His children.
4-We must act on the first prompting
-Be confidant
-Listen to the first promptings and you will get it nine times out of ten
-You are about the work of the still, small voice
Story:
While serving as a mission president in New York City, I was with some of our missionaries in a restaurant in the Bronx. A young family came in and sat near us. They appeared golden for the gospel. I watched our missionaries as they continued to visit with me, then noticed as the family concluded their meal and slipped out the door. Then I said, “Elders, there’s a lesson here today. You saw a lovely family come into this restaurant. What should we have done?”
One of the elders spoke up quickly: “I thought about getting up and going over to talk to them. I felt the nudge, but I didn’t respond.”
“Elders,” I said, “we must always act on our first prompting. That nudge you felt was the Holy Ghost!”
-First promptings are pure inspiration from heaven
-It is like a first responder who responds to tragedy, disaster, or calamity (they arrive with lights flashing)
Testimony:
I bear witness of the power of the Holy Ghost to guide us, guard us, and ever be with us.
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