May 28

Hello!

We have had another good week this week!  We have seen the Lord's help as we have been striving to help others come unto Christ.   We have had some success in helping people come out to church, but a lot of the less actives are still off and on.  But we're working on it.  We are seeing improvements in the branch as we work hard.  It's good!

One thing that has really helped me this week was from a book by President Eyring called To Draw Closer to God.  It is a great book, I would highly recommend it!  One of the biggest things that I have learned from President Eyring in that book was about the Spirit.  Over and over again President Eyring talked about how important it is for us to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and that we can obtain it.  Not at some later date or time, but today.  It all comes from us being ready and willing to hear, and ready to follow whatever the promptings are.  It takes a measure of humility on our part, and a measure of being ready to do things different that we would normally do it.  Just like Nephi in building the ship, sometimes God's way is different than our way, but we know that God's way is always better than our way.

So this week I have been striving to be ready always to hear the voice of the Spirit. As I have kept that peace and quiet inside, and done my best to act on the promptings of the Spirit, sometimes even if I'm not sure if they are from the Spirit, that is when I have received the confirmation that what I am doing is God's will, and that I am blessing others lives.

Each one of us can feel the Holy Ghosts guidance and influence in our lives, if we only make ourselves ready for it.  So to make ourselves ready for it, there are a few things that we can do.  The first starts with simple obedience.  Humbly submitting our will to God's will, and following His commandments.  The second step is found in our prayers.  We can pray sincerely and with gratitude.  Giving thanks for blessings received is often more important than asking for added blessings.  The third thing that we can do is look for opportunities to turn outward instead of inward.  As we try to find opportunities to serve those around us, we will see the influence of the Spirit in our lives.  The final thing that we can do to feel the Holy Ghost guiding us is to follow through courageously on every prompting.  The Holy Ghost is rightly called a 'still small voice' and so often, if we are not ready to hear the Spirit's voice, we will miss the promptings that are given to us.  But if we follow through on all promptings, big or small, we will show our dependability to our Father in Heaven, and He will increase the influence of the Holy Ghost in our life.

When we have the Holy Ghost guiding our lives, we cannot expect to see huge miracles happening every day, but what we can expect is an increased sense of peace in our lives.  We can feel God's love in our lives more fully.  We will do much good, but for most of the good that we do, we will not be recognized for it, and we may not even know ourselves what good we have done.  But despite that, we will never regret living a day guided by the Holy Ghost.  The blessings of quiet discipleship are real, and they are available to all of us, if we just make ourselves available to the Holy Ghost.

I love you all!  Have a great week!

Elder Childs