We had girls' camp this past week. I went on the last night, but it was fun to spend some time with the young women. I loved to see how they serve each other and care about each other. They really had a good time (except when they were being bitten by mosquitoes and horse flies).
I have enjoyed my calling; serving with amazing leaders and girls. My lesson today in Young Women was about receiving personal revelation.
One girls shared how she felt a prompting from the Holy Ghost to serve a mother and her baby in an airplane and others shared how the Holy Ghost prompted them to be in a certain place to help someone.
I had often thought that we have a silent God who hears prayers, but would never speak to me. I discovered and learned later on, throughout the years that the more we listen to Him, the more He communicates with us. Having a parent that is quiet all the time is unusual. What if you always speak to someone and they never respond? God wants to speak to you! He is your Father.
I want to share a favorite quote from President Russel M. Nelson:
"Pray
in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart.
And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your
feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you
repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will grow into the principle of revelation.
Does God really want to speak to you? Yes!" What I like about that quote from Pres. Nelson is that we can become better at receiving revelation. We can learn to be better at listening to God.
I often don't listen carefully enough to hear what God has to say. I say my prayers and I go to bed right away, or go about my day. I don't wait to hear what He has to say. He speaks to us through feelings in our heart. And even sometimes in dreams. I heard His voice, it is real and it is clear. We just need to listen.
I had the girls talk for 20 seconds during the lesson. As they talked, I told them 3 things. None of them heard what I told them. "Wait, you said something?" a lot of them commented. We need to be still and quiet to hear God's voice. We need to be still to hear the still, small voice of the Spirit.
We have a Facebook page for those that are interested in our Church. The other day I saw a comment on there that I found interesting. The comment was from a Muslim man from Iraq. He said that he saw a few dreams in the past, and then his dreams started coming true. He said that in 1990 he dreamed about the war in Iraq and it did happen. He dreamed about other things that ended up happening too.
Then he said that he had a dream in 1990 about the second coming of the Savior. He said he believes the second coming is close because the events he saw happen before it are already starting to be fulfilled. He said he saw that there were many following the Savior, but many were not.
He said that ever since his dream in 1990 (for almost 30 years now) he has been looking for someone who looks like those that were following the Savior. He said they looked different, and so all his life he has been looking for someone who looks like them.
He said he finally found someone the other day! He found out that this person is a member of our church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). He did not learn much about this man because he only spoke English so they could not communicate. But, he found our Facebook page and is interested in the church because of his experience.
Now, I don't know if this person really has visions. And I don't think that is the point I want to make. What I am trying to say is that God is real, He does speak to everyone if they listen.
The second coming is closer than we all think. As the time gets closer to that amazing event, things will get worse. We need the Holy Ghost to comfort, guide and direct us during these difficult times.
Here is another one of my favorite quotes from Pres. Nelson's talk:
"Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus
Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes
again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son,
Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in coming
days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding,
directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost."
I include the talk at the end here if you want to listen to the whole thing: (I think I listened to this talk 10 times and still find new things in there)
