Not too long ago I gave a lesson in relief society about the 'why' of the gospel. One of the topics we discussed was why there are certain gospel topics or principles that we repeat over and over. We observed that sometimes we dismiss these topics because we do repeat them; we think that they are not as important because we already know so much about them. But in actuality, the fact that we do have so many repeated lessons on the the same subjects shows just how important they truly are -- and just how much we can learn from them.
The Holy Ghost is one of those oft repeated topics. We know so much about him! We know he is a member of the Godhead, and that he is there to comfort, to inspire, to warn, and to give peace. We know that he loves us the same way God and Jesus love us and that he knows our thoughts and feelings, and that because of this he knows how best to help us. We know so much about him! And maybe because of this, we might feel tempted to disregard Elder Christensen's talk as not as important as others. But because it was in General Conference I know that it is important! I know that it is a topic Heavenly Father wants me to learn even more about! So I determined that I would find something in Elder Christensen's talk that expanded my knowledge of the Holy Ghost. As much as I knew about him, I knew that Elder Christensen could teach me more.
I was very struck by the story he told of his son in the Bountiful Temple. Near the end of his talk he talked about how while he had been struck by the beauty of the Temple around him and the outward appearance, his son had been touched by the spirit within him. As I listened to this again, I received a strong impression that this is what the Holy Ghost wants us to know about him. Like God the Father and Jesus, the Holy Ghost knows our thoughts and feelings. He knows us probably better than we really know ourselves, because he only focuses on our thoughts and feelings. He is not concerned with outward things. They do not affect him. They do not change him. They do not distract him. And yet we let them distract us. How often do we take time to sit and ponder our thoughts and feelings? How often do we take the time to block out the outside influences, and experience only what is on the inside? How often do we take the time to reflect on why we are having those feelings or thoughts? And even then, how many times are we actually honest with ourselves about the feelings and thoughts we have? We often find ourselves so busy, so full of things to do, that yes we think, but we don't spend much time thinking about what we think about. Does that make any sense? And sometimes when we do think about it, we rationalize, or pretend it wasn't real, or just ignore it.
We may have our reasons, but the great thing about the Holy Ghost is that he isn't affected by all of that. The only thing he is busy with is our thoughts and feelings. It's his full-time job! He doesn't care about how the world views things, because he sees things how they really are. As I thought about this, a recent experience came to my mind. A couple days ago I lost an ipod touch that my fiance had given me. I really really wanted to find it, because it has something on it that is important to me, but it wasn't in any of the places I looked. I knelt down and prayed about it. I told Heavenly Father, 'I know you have a lot more important things to worry about right now, but I really want to find this ipod. Please help me.' I thought it was a little silly that I was praying about something so material, but I did it anyway. I felt the spirit telling me that I would find it. The next day it was found. I probably said at least three separate prayers that day thanking Heavenly Father for answering my prayer. I realized that He wasn't paying attention to the material value when he answered my prayer, He saw my feelings and my thoughts, and knew why I wanted to find it, and because of that answered my prayer. Not because he knew it was an expensive item, but because he knew how I felt about it. I hadn't wanted to pray about it at first because it seemed silly, but God and the Holy Ghost looks on our feelings and thoughts, not on the outward impression of things. They know how things truly are. That is why they know the absolute best way to help us!
After this talk, I feel a greater desire to understand the inward things. I want to understand my own thoughts and feelings better. I feel that by doing this, I can come to better know and understand the Holy Ghost and recognize his impressions. About a year ago, I gave a Sunday School lesson in which I challenged my students to take 15 minutes that week and just close their eyes and think and feel and give the Spirit time and space to speak to them. I'd like to reissue that challenge, to myself and to anyone else who might read this. Find a quiet place and a time you won't be interrupted. Say a prayer first, asking Heavenly Father to speak to you the things he wants you to know. It doesn't have to be anything specific. Then close your eyes and just allow the impressions to come into your heart and mind. You might want to have paper and a pen nearby to write down specific actions you feel impressed to take. I've done this before, and it truly was amazing. The impressions that came to my mind were things I hadn't even been thinking of, things I didn't even know I needed, but things that blessed my life enormously. It can be hard to find the time, but sacrifice just a little in order to let the spirit speak with you. He wants to so badly! There is so much that he can teach us if we let him.
I was going to try and make this one shorter, but it still turned out kind of long...oh well. It's been such a fun experience writing these blog posts! It's all I can do to stop myself from writing a novel for each one! I have no idea if they are helping any one else, but as for me, they've been such a blessing! :)
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