The Holy Ghost will give us very specific guidance if we will hear and act upon it. One woman tells of a personal commandment, or prompting, that she felt compelled to obey:
I was sitting in sacrament meeting with my family, and during the closing song, I noticed that a woman from the row next to us got up and left. The Spirit told me that I should call her. I tried to shrug off the feeling because I didn’t even know her. We had exchanged hellos over the years, but I had never even really spoken with her. She was one of those women who seem to have everything together. I felt stupid about calling her, especially because I had no idea what to say. When we got home from church, I had the feeling again that I should call. So I picked up the phone and called, having no idea what to say. Much to my relief, the line was busy. I thought to myself that I had done my part and that was that. The next day I was painting my son’s room when the feeling came again that I needed to call this woman. I tried ignoring it, but it just kept eating at me. So I stopped painting after a while and went to call. Again, much to my relief, the line was busy, and I felt like I was off the hook. I had tried calling twice, and that was good enough. A couple of days later, I felt so strongly that I should call her that I decided to try one more time. This time her daughter answered and said that her mom wasn’t home, but did I want to leave a message? How dumb would it be to leave my name when she didn’t even know me at all? All I could think about was how this woman would wonder and think it strange that I called. But I left my name anyway, and told the daughter to have her mom give me a call when she had a chance. This time, as I hung up the phone, I said to myself that now I just had to be done. I had called twice, and then called again and left a message. I had to have done everything Heavenly Father wanted me to do! The next Sunday in sacrament meeting, when I saw her walk in and sit down with her family, the Spirit hit me so hard, telling me that I should have called her and that I really needed to talk with her. So to get rid of this feeling I decided to talk with her after the meeting. Well, she was surrounded by friends and talking with a lot of people, and I felt a little silly walking up to her. She was so put together, and had so many friends; I didn’t know what I would have to say that could be of any meaning to her. But after some of the people dispersed I went up to her and said I wanted to talk to her. I pulled her to a corner of the chapel and just said, “All right, I just really need to get this off my chest. All week I have felt so prompted to call you and tell you that your Heavenly Father loves you.” Tears came to her eyes, and she asked me when I was prompted to call her. I told her that when I saw her leave sacrament meeting last Sunday, I knew that I should call and tell her that Heavenly Father loved her. She said that those were the exact words she needed to hear. All week she had been struggling with self-doubt, and she desperately needed to hear those words, to know that Heavenly Father knew her, and that he loved her. At that moment I realized that this was something I needed to hear as well. Heavenly Father reminded me of who I was, that I was his child, and that he loved me.
If we’re struggling with what to do with our lives, what decisions to make, we should determine whether we’re keeping the commandments. If we’re obeying the general commandments and are still struggling, we should ask ourselves whether we’re keeping the Lord’s personal commandments to us—the impressions of the Spirit by which we inwardly know the things we need to do.
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How do you help a struggling teen, an overwhelmed mother, a teacher who feels inadequate, a divorced man struggling with feelings of self-worth? How can we find our way out of the darkness that so often engulfs us in mortality?
The Lord has shown the way.
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