One time when I was in high school my friend Teddi and I went to her house for lunch. Well we looked out her window and her horses had gotten out. Now I grew up in the country on a farm of sorts but we had sold our horse when I was maybe four so I really don't know how to handle horses. Teddi really didn't know what to do either because she didn't grow up with them. So here we are two teenage girls trying to get two horses into a corral. Luckily one behaved and trotted right back in. The other one was a tad more stubborn. Everytime we would get even a tiny bit close the horse would run off in the other direction. Finally a random thought came into my mind. Put some oats in a bucket and have the horse that is in the corral eat it and the other horse will come then you can lead him around to the gate. Nothing else was working so it was worth a try. Well it worked and we were kind of shocked but extremely grateful.
Later that evening I told my mom that story. Afterwards she made a interesting comment. First she asked me where my idea for the horse came from since I really didn't know anything about horses. Pretty sure my answer back was, "I don't know, it just popped into my head." In response she told me that it was from the Holy Spirit. What? The Spirit? Then she explained that the Holy Spirit will tell us things pertain to every part of our life if we are listening not just religious things. Also the Spirit talks to us in a still small voice so softly that sometimes we don't recognize it from our own thoughts. This really was something different for me because I had assumed that the Spirit would speak loud enough to me that I would automatically recognize it or that it would yell at me.
As life has gone on I have realized how true my mother was. I have never had the Spirit yell at me. I have never seen an angel. I have never had a life altering experience like you see of the people in the scriptures. But I have had the Holy Spirit talk to me. I have had ideas pop into my mind that most definitely didn't come from me. I have had warm feelings of peace. I have had feelings of joy, or rightness, or love... etc. (Galations 5:22-23) I am also sure that most people will have experiences with the Spirit talking to them the same way that I did.
Remember that the Holy Spirit doesn't yell at us, it talks softly. To make sure that we are listening we have to stay in tuned by reading the scriptures, praying, going to church, and keeping the commandents. At first it may be hard to recognize the Spirit but the neat thing is that the more you listen the more you will hear.
I love that story. One time I was mowing a lawn (with a riding mower) and I got stuck on a slope. I tried to move it, but the rear wheels kept turning in the mud but not going anywhere. I think I was 12 or 13 and I was terrified I'd break this expensive piece of equipment. Then I had the idea to take some gravel from the driveway and put it under the wheels so that they'd have some traction. And it worked! I know the Holy Ghost helped me-I couldn't have had that idea by my self. :) I think about that experience every time I think about Heavenly Father giving inspiration.
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