Notes from Church

There is always something in every block of church meetings that seems hand picked just for me.  And on the great days, when I'm open to things, almost everything seems to be just for me.  I LOVE days like that.  Today was one of those Sundays.  It has been a difficult weekend for the members of our ward, which I will write more about later in the week.  The first thing I felt when I walked into the building was the collective unity and support of every single person in the chapel.  No one had to speak it.  We all just knew.  It was the most amazing thing I have ever felt.  I have only known most of these people for two years, some even less than that, but today, under the circumstances, I felt bonded to each one of them as if they were my own family.  I am so grateful to be a part of a church community like this one.  

The talks today were amazing, too.  My ears always perk up when I hear anything about personal revelation.  One of the talks mentioned today in Sacrament was How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life by Elder Richard G. Scott.  I missed it during General Conference last April, but I have listened to it several times since then and LOVED it each time.  You can read the complete Conference talk here.

The Holy Ghost communicates important information that we need to guide us in our mortal journey. When it is crisp and clear and essential, it warrants the title of revelation. When it is a series of promptings we often have to guide us step by step to a worthy objective, for the purpose of this message, it is inspiration.

My favorite quote EVER is the one Julie B. Beck gave in General Conference in April 2010.  She said, "The ability to qualify for, receive and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life."  I believe that is true.  Over the years, I have lived my life in ways that have allowed me to hear floods of personal revelation on a regular basis about things that no one could know I needed to hear, except a loving Heavenly Father.  And I have also lived in ways that have allowed lots of distractions to impede my ability to qualify for and receive that inspiration.  I prefer the floods.  

One of the great lessons that each of us needs to learn is to ask. Why does the Lord want us to pray to Him and to ask? Because that is how revelation is received.

Every now and then, there are things that clutter my head.  No matter what I do, I can't seem to quiet the noise.  I worry and doubt and drive myself crazy trying to find answers to impossible questions.  During those times, I often try to reason things to death, and muster up all of my intellectual capacity to get answers.  And mostly what I end up with are headaches.  This morning, my head was cluttered with that kind of stuff again.  And then I remembered that I've actually ASKED about these specific things before.  I remembered the answers I got before, too, and how comforting they were.  They were unusual answers that didn't make sense when I received them, and don't make sense now.  But because I was in the right places, doing the right things, and asking with sincerity, I knew they were coming directly from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost, and I didn't question them.  I just heard them and trusted.

When it is for the Lord’s purposes, He can bring anything to our remembrance. That should not weaken our determination to record impressions of the Spirit. Inspiration carefully recorded shows God that His communications are sacred to us. Recording will also enhance our ability to recall revelation. Such recording of direction of the Spirit should be protected from loss or intrusion by others.

I didn't write those things down then, but I wrote them today.  I'm a recording kind of a person, I think.  That desire is innate in me.  That's the whole reason I can't throw away pictures, and the reason I have 500 journals, and that probably explains the 510 posts in the last 640 days.  

I am so grateful for remembrance.  I'm grateful for vivid dreams and for the little inspirations that come throughout the day.  And I'm grateful for Sundays that are sprinkled with all the uplifting things I need to hear.