Acting Lessons
Many of us have learned to recognize the Spirit when we’re at church, in the temple, or reading the scriptures. We know what it feels like when we’re prompted to get up in front of the congregation to bear our testimony. We’ve all felt the Spirit watching a touching, inspiring commercial made by the Church, or an uplifting book or movie. But do we know how to recognize the Spirit in our everyday life? Particularly when He’s asking us to do something out of the ordinary, or even downright rude.
* * *
Back in 1981, my dad was stationed at in Japan. He, my mom, and my older brother flew all the way across the world to Yokota Air Force Base in Fussa, Japan (near Tokyo). The first Sunday in their new ward, mom got to meet her new visiting teacher, Mary Sousley, along with tons of other people. Dad started work that week with a crazy schedule: 3 day shifts, 3 mid shifts, and then 3 night shifts, followed by 3 days off.
One morning, mom woke up with dad at o’dark hundred to get him off to work. She had a terrible stomachache! So once dad was gone, and since my brother Ben was still sleeping (gotta take advantage of that, knowutimeanf?), she went back to bed. All too soon, Ben woke up, demanding food, as 1-year-olds do. Mom woke up, her stomach spasms even worse, and laying in a pool of her own blood.
What am I going to do? I don’t have a phone. We live off base, so all of our neighbors are Japanese, and I don’t know a lick of the language. She crawled in agony to my brother, carried him to the highchair, and gave him some cheerios to tide him over. She lay there on the kitchen floor, bleeding, shaking, and crying. Please help me, Father. What am I going to do?
Suddenly, at 6:30 in the morning, there was a knock at the door. Mom army crawled to the door, sobbing now. Excruciating pain racked her body and she felt like she was going to pass out. She pulled the door open. A woman was standing there, one she recognized from church.
Mary Sousley, mom’s brand-new visiting teacher, stood on the porch. By way of explanation for her unconventional behavior, she said, “I felt I needed to come check on you.”
Mom was shocked, stunned, and ever so grateful. The Lord has sent help!
FUN FACTS:
Mary and Les Sousley lived 5 miles from my parents. It’s not like she just bopped next door to say hello.
It turned out that my mom was hemorrhaging, and unbeknownst to her, she was pregnant with ME. Had Mary not come, I wouldn’t be here today, and quite possibly, my mom wouldn’t, either.
Twenty years later, the Sousleys drove all the way from Seattle, Washington to Springfield, Oregon (SIX HOURS!) to come to mine and Dave’s (my late husband) wedding reception. It was such an honor to meet them!
* * *
When I was about four years old, my family lived in an apartment complex in Eugene, Oregon. Just beyond our front porch was a hill covered in bushes, followed by a fence. As we so often did, my brother and I and the two neighbor kids were playing on the hill, collecting caterpillars. It was every child’s dream—there were hundreds of them!
Mom watched through the open kitchen window, as she made lunch. (Mac-n-Cheese! A staple in the average American kid’s diet, amiright?) As she puttered about, she suddenly heard a distinct whisper in her ear.
“Go get the kids and bring them inside.”
Naaaa, mom thought. They’re playing so nicely and lunch is almost ready. I’ll go get them in a few minutes.
The thought came again, more insistent this time. “Go get the kids and bring them inside.”
Well, okay, I suppose they could wash their hands while I finish up.
So she did. I remember this part as clear as day. As the front door closed, mom made a sweeping motion with her arm to herd us cats—oh, I mean kids—toward the nearby bathroom. “Go ahead and wash your hands while I—”
CRASH!
The horrible noise outside was getting louder and closer! We all screamed, and mom rushed us further into the house, afraid the object would come like a wrecking ball into the apartment.
Suddenly the noise stopped. With the apartment still intact, and hearts lodged in our throats, we carefully made our way back to the front door to see what happened. Lo and behold, a car had lost control at the sharp turn on the hill above, smashed through the fence, pummeled down the hill PRECISELY WHERE WE’D BEEN PLAYING, and skidded to a stop 5 feet from our doorway.
Had mom not listened to the still small voice, all four of us would be dead.
* * *
So. . .how did they know when and how to act? How can I learn to do that? Simplifying our lives is easier said than done, isn’t it? These 3 things keep me from feeling the Spirit as much as I’d like to:
SLOW DOWN. BE QUIET. BE PRESENT.
Time flies when you’re having fun
One of the signs of these last days is that time has sped up. Can you feel it? I remember time passing agonizingly slowly when I was a kid. My children even comment on how quickly life passes by. It’s strange, doesn’t it? One minute our kids are in elementary school, learning to read and ride bikes, and the next they’re dating, driving, and doing their own thing. One more blink and they’ve left the nest. Watch out, because in two minutes they’ll have kids of their own.
Squirrel moment: Years ago, my sister-in-law had a clock in her frog-themed bathroom that said, “Time’s fun when you’re having flies!” LOL
Holy overstimulated, Batman
Is it just me or is the world unnecessarily loud? Maby I’m just hyperaware and uber sensitive to it because of my ADHD and my daughter’s autism. But holy guacamole, people. There are so many stimuli going on at once it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement, flashy lights, and shiny, moving pieces.
At my house, it’s vital we mind our social and stimuli batteries. Once they’re empty, we are DONE. If you know, you know, my friends. Many people get so overstimulated, stressed out, or otherwise, that they flip a breaker and completely shut down. It’s not fun. At that point, it’s past time to go home and hide in a blanket fort. Decompress. Relax. Recharge.
Being in the present—physically and mentally
Have you noticed life has a way of pulling us in 100 different directions all at once? We want to volunteer in the community, keep our kids in sports, 4-H, scouts, music lessons, church activities, school extracurriculars, go on vacations, outings, get together with loved ones, enjoy our hobbies, plant a garden, do those honey do’s that have been backlogging, and—you get the idea.
When my oldest daughter was about six, she was dancing and playing nearby while I worked on the computer preparing my sharing time lesson for primary. With the enthusiasm only a child can muster, she exclaimed, “Mom, look at this, I made a new dance move!”
“Ok, honey, go ahead, I’m watching.” I repeatedly glanced over at her as I replaced the ink cartridge in the printer.
“Mom, look at me.”
“I am, toots. I’m watching you from the corner of my eye.”
“But I want you to look at me with both your eyes.”
. . .Ooops. I was present. But I wasn’t paying attention. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” I turned my body and eyes to face her. “You’ve got my undivided attention now—go for it.”
As mentioned earlier, time is going by shockingly fast. Our littles are only small once. Please don’t make the same mistake I’ve made hundreds of times and miss out on the little things.
* * *
LEARN TO RECOGNIZE HOW THE SPIRIT TALKS TO YOU PERSONALLY
Every single one of God’s children is beautifully unique in countless ways—just like snowflakes. (Squirrel moment—I had no idea snowflakes actually have their iconic shape until I moved to Rexburg—aka Iceburg—to go to Rick’s College. In Oregon IF it snows, it’s very wet and heavy so the flakes are balls. It began snowing while it was SUPER cold out and I looked down at my black coat and WOW, they’re beautiful!) We all learn, think, feel, and process information differently.
You know what’s super awesome? The Lord knows us even better than we know ourselves. He meets us where we’re at now and speaks to us in ways we understand. What good would it do if we can’t interpret the thoughts and feelings that come from the Spirit? Similar to our love languages and learning styles, our Spirits have their own forms of communication unique to how our minds work.
We’ve been promised the Holy Ghost speaks to us in ways WE understand. Sally may get goosebumps, and Henry has tiny hairs stick up on the back of his neck. Or Bob may hear a voice, while Jane gets an unmistakably strong feeling in her heart. Remember: one form of communication isn’t better or worse than the other. Once you figure out how the Holy Ghost speaks to you, you will become even closer to the Son of God.
ACT UPON THE PROMPTINGS WHEN THEY COME
As we’re learning to recognize the promptings of the Spirit, we will receive hundreds or even thousands of trial runs. Just like with education (math, reading, etc) repetition helps the information sink into our minds and become second nature. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to recognize the Spirit without having an inner debate to figure out if it was him or not?
About 12 years ago, Dave (late husband) and I were out on a date. Even though it was late, we decided to drive to a donut shop in downtown Eugene. We’d been told repeatedly by many people how amazing said donuts are. They’re iconic to Eugene and Portland, and we’d never had one, plus they’re open until midnight, the kids were at Nana and Papa’s house for the weekend, so why not?
We chatted, laughed, and talked about the kids and our future on our way there. We always loved date night because it gave us a chance to focus on our relationship. Needless to say, we were having a blast.
All of a sudden, about two blocks from our destination, Dave and I both fell completely silent and somber. The Spirit had vanished so completely you could cut the tension with a knife. We were now just down the street from the shop, and we were so confused. What happened to our good mood? I looked around to see what was going on. There were a ton of people dressed in dark clothes, gathered around a temporary stage. No instruments were in sight, and a man animatedly spoke into a microphone.
To this day I have no idea what they were doing, but no donut was worth that kind of environment. We decided to turn around, stop to get some Ben and Jerry’s, and watch a movie at home, instead. Interestingly enough, we got about two blocks from the donut shop and SNAP!* Just like that the Spirit was back, and we continued our conversation where we’d left off, both of us happy and laughing as we were before.
Whether it was because of physical or spiritual danger, it doesn’t matter. For one reason or another, I KNOW we weren’t meant to be there and I’m grateful we decided to act on that prompting and leave.
What kinds of inspiration have you gotten from the Spirit? Have you been driving along and suddenly had the distinct impression, “Slow down”? Have you decided to take a different route to work for no apparent reason? Have you suddenly felt you need to send a friend a text and set up a lunch date, or drop cookies off to a neighbor?
These are all promptings of the Spirit. Afterall, all good thoughts come from the Lord. Each and every time you decide to act on them, you’re adding depth to your relationship with Him. I guarantee you one of these times, the act will have eternal significance.
FOCUS ON YOUR FIRST PROMPTING
“Remember the words of Nephi. “I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless,” he said, “I went forth.”
And so must we. We must be confident in our first promptings. Sometimes we rationalize; we wonder if we are feeling a spiritual impression or if it is just our own thoughts. When we begin to second-guess, even third-guess, our feelings—and we all have—we are dismissing the Spirit; we are questioning divine counsel. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that if you will listen to the first promptings, you will get it right nine times out of ten.” (Ronald A. Rasband, April 2017, General Conference Talk, Let the Holy Spirit Guide)
He talked about how often we wonder if it was really a prompting from the Lord or if it was our own thoughts. I can’t speak for you all, but I know I’ve had a thought or feeling and then proceeded to doubt myself and stress over it. That’s exactly what happened to me then. The takeaway message is this: rely on your first prompting and the majority of the time you’ll be right.
* * *
My friends, the Savior is our brother. Our Savior. Our best friend. He loves us more perfectly, more unconditionally, more eternally, than our earthly minds can fathom. The way we feel His love is through the Holy Ghost. I know the Spirit speaks to you regularly, and if you can slow down, be quiet, and be present, he can be as close to you as your own voice. Get to know how he communicates with you. Take courage, and then do it! You never know when your act will save a life.
Choose Light, sweet friends.
Love, MJ
