Conference Answers

A couple of weeks ago, we heard one of my favorite songs from Scripture Scouts.  It is about imagining Christ as a child and his interactions with nature.  (You can listen to a clip of it here.)  I had heard it over and over again and never really paid attention.  Then, one day I listened to the lyrics and since then, I feel a little wave of the Holy Ghost almost every time.  I have mentioned to LJ previously about how I was able to the feel the Holy Ghost when I heard that song.  When we heard it a couple of weeks ago, he asked, "Do you feel the Spirit when you hear this song?"  I said that I did and I asked if he did.  He dejectedly said, "I don't ever feel it.  I don't know how."  My heart broke for him a little bit and I tried to explain that he has probably felt the Holy Ghost but just not been able to recognize it.  I explained that it isn't usually a big feeling but just loving thoughts and feeling happy and good.  That didn't seem to completely satisfy him and so we decided that, with General Conference coming up a couple of days later, we would pray for answers during General Conference.  I helped remind him to pray for that during his prayers.  (Random tangent - last night, he was helping The Lion with his prayers and included, "Thank you for the millions of aliens."  What?!?  Back to the more reverent thoughts...)  I pleaded with my Heavenly Father to help answer my boy's prayer and that he will learn to recognize and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

As conference weekend arrived, we headed to Twin Falls to be with family.  We talked about how we hoped we would receive answers to our questions about the Holy Ghost.  We didn't have to wait long.

The second speaker on Saturday morning, Sister Durham, who was released from the General Primary Presidency the following day, gave a talk entitled, "A Child's Guiding Gift."  It was a message for me.  In it, she explains how, as parents, we can teach our children to recognize the Holy Ghost, how to make our homes a place of an immersion program for the language of the Spirit, and how we can help our children understand the ways that the Spirit speaks to them.  She closed with this reassuring promise,  "We need not fear as we see our children enter the waters of life, for we have helped them rid themselves of worldly weight. We have taught them to live for the guiding gift of the Spirit. This gift will continue to lighten the weight they carry and lead them back to their heavenly home if they live for it and follow its promptings."  What encouragement!

To make sure we got the message, Elder Hales gave a talk on Sunday afternoon entitled, "The Holy Ghost."  He helped explain why I have a difficult time explaining to LJ how the Holy Ghost feels.  "Each of us may feel the influence of the Holy Ghost differently. His promptings will be felt in different degrees of intensity according to our individual needs and circumstances."  He goes on to list some personal examples of times that the Holy Ghost had a direct influence upon his actions and how those actions effected those around him.  He closes with, "To my own posterity and all within the sound of my voice, I offer my testimony of the personal revelation and constant flow of daily guidance, caution, encouragement, strength, spiritual cleansing, comfort, and peace that have come to our family through the Holy Ghost. Through the Holy Ghost, we experience “the multitude of [Christ’s] tender mercies” and miracles that do not cease."

I wanted to make sure that I took time to jot down this experience so that LJ could recall it.  He is still working on being able to recognize the Holy Ghost.  He's starting young so I'm sure he'll get it soon.  I am grateful that through the guided talks of these leaders, we were able to get answers to our questions and I felt the love of my Heavenly Father in his answering my pleadings to know how to help my child learn more about Him.  Just this evening, while driving home from work, I felt overburdened with the weight of trying to raise righteous boys.  I had the Holy Ghost impress upon my mind the scriptures, "Draw near unto me, and I will draw near unto you..." and "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not."  I know that when we as parents strive to draw near unto the Savior that we need not fear our abilities as caretakers of the Lord's children.  He will draw near unto us and will guide us and direct us in this utmost important work.  I know that I can rely on the Holy Ghost to help me solidify answers to LJ's questions and grow his own testimony of the Holy Ghost.

Calming Storms

Here is my conversation with LJ on the way to church this morning.

LJ:  Mom, I noticed something about Jesus.
Mom:  Oh yeah, what did you notice?
LJ:  I noticed that you can't see him but you can feel him in your heart.
Mom:  That's right.  How does he make you feel.
LJ:  He makes you feel loving.
(We'd had a "torment your brother morning" so I decided to toss in the following.)
Mom:  Sometimes it is hard to feel him if we are mad or being mean.
LJ:  But you still feel him.  When you are angry it is like there is a little storm inside of you and Jesus can calm the storm.  I learned that from my father!

I guess it was one of those days where I was the one being taught.  Love this little boy!  I hope he always has that understanding that Jesus can help you get through any emotion and that, if you let him, you can always feel him in your heart.

Then, to make up for all the tormenting earlier, he insisted on serving The Lion multiple glasses full of water during our evening treat.  We told him that we were grateful for all the serving but he really needed to stay in his seat.  He responded, "I'm busy serving my best friend!"

As far as that best friend, this morning Doug was already at church meetings and LJ was still asleep so I brought The Lion into our room and just snuggled with him.  He has always been a snuggler and I'm sad that one day he will surely grow out of it.  Today, I whispered to him, "I love you" and in his little voice he said, "Love you too, Mom."

Oh, it was a good day.  I'll take another one for tomorrow.

Scripture Scouts

Apparently all of John's listening to Scripture Scouts has been sinking in a bit.  Frequently, he'll say "That matches Scripture Scouts!" when we talk about different scripture stories.  Yesterday, Spencer was trying to put some leaves on a bench and the wind kept blowing them off.  Doug said something about the wind frustrating Spencer and John said, "I know who can control the wind!  The Lord!"  Today, John and I went on a "Creature Adventure," (as opposed to just watching the Wild Kratts go on an adventure), and we were talking about rain.  John kept telling me about how it would rain for FORTY DAYS and FORTY NIGHTS!