Texts and Conference Talks

Yesterday, while praying, I got the distinct impression that I needed to text one of my friends and see how she was doing. I did so in the middle of my prayer. She responded this morning. Apparently, she had spent the night in the hospital with her husband the night before. He was having some concerning health issues. She was grateful to have heard from me. This has happened several times with this particular friend. It is humbling to be His hands in that way.

I happened upon a Conference talk from 2006 by A. Roger Merrill called Receiving by the Spirit. He said, 

I have come to better understand how vitally important it is to receiveby the Spirit. We often focus, appropriately, on the importance of teaching by the Spirit. But we need to remember that the Lord has placed equal, if not greater, importance on receiving by the Spirit. (See D&C 50:17–22.)
Such receiving is a foundational gospel pattern. It is set forth in the very ordinance by which we are confirmed members of the Church. In this ordinance we are instructed to “receive the Holy Ghost.” This is a formal invitation to act, to receive this great gift.As I have become more aware of this principle, I find that the scriptures are replete with the doctrine of receiving. As President Boyd K. Packer has said, “No message appears in scripture more times, in more ways than, ‘Ask, and ye shall receive’” (“Reverence Invites Revelation,” Ensign,Nov. 1991, 21).

Then, 

One cannot help but wonder how many gifts and blessings surround us that we do not receive. The Lord has said: “For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift” (D&C 88:33).

I felt like this perfectly aligns with what we are doing here. We are learning to receive. He listed three things we must do to receive. First, we must seek. We must ask and listen and believe that we will receive. Second, we must feel. I would actually change that a bit and say that we must learn how the Lord speaks to us, what the Holy Ghost feels like to us and listen and/or feel. Finally, those who receive by the Spirit intend to act. SayGoBeDo.