I’ve been striving to do a better job of listening to the Spirit in order to act as an instrument in the hands of the Lord. I’ve also increased my study of both miracles and angels (and their connection). I know that as I focus on those things and remain worthy of and receptive to the Holy Ghost, that I will better fulfill the goals that Heavenly Father has for me.
A Whispering
A while back, I brought my kids to an indoor jungle gym to help them burn off some energy. After we had been there for 30 minutes, it started to get quite busy and seating for parents was limited. A woman came and asked if there was space next to me for her to sit. As she sat down, the Spirit whispered to me, “Talk to her, listen to her, bless her life.” I was a bit taken aback and doubted my ability to bless someone’s life in that type of circumstance but felt I needed to follow through on that prompting.
I asked her about her daughter. With tears welling up in her eyes, she explained that it had been one of those mornings where she knew she needed to get out of the house in order to avoid crying all day. We talked some more and discussed many aspects of parenthood and tried to find comic relief in the more emotionally-trying days. As we continued talking, the Spirit prompted, “Invite her to the Meridian temple open house.” I started to feel hesitant and shy. I didn’t want to be some stranger pushing religion on someone. I planned to hold off bringing up the temple until the conversation went that direction.
Our conversation expanded to other topics and we talked about what our husbands did for work. Her husband was a youth pastor at a local church. I became more hesitant to bring up the temple – what if she and her husband already had negative ideas about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints? At the same time, I knew that if I didn’t bring it up I would feel remorse. I figured that the sooner I brought it up, the less time I would spend stressing about it. (Besides, with 4-year-old kids in charge of the departure time, one of us could have to leave at any moment and the opportunity would be lost.) We started discussing the need for road improvements in certain areas around Boise due to increased traffic volume. (Of all things, civil engineering provided my opportunity to discuss the temple.) I said, “In addition to those new stores, there is also the new Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in that area and that will increase traffic too.” My new friend took it from there – she said, “That building is so beautiful. I just love it.” I explained that there was an open house starting up in a couple of weeks and that she should check it out. She said, “I’ve always wanted to go inside a Mormon temple!” I helped her find the website to reserve tickets and got her set up.
We continued chatting about a variety of topics until I left. As I was leaving she said, “Thank you for being my friend today.” I will likely never see her again but I am grateful for the short interaction that we did have. I certainly feel like I was able to witness both miracles and angels in our time together. I wonder which angel(s) it was that helped us to meet and discuss eternal principles. She mentioned that her grandmother had been an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Was she reaching beyond the veil to help her granddaughter to feel a touch of heaven while attending the temple open house? I know that as we strive to find and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost that we will be able see miracles and act as angels.
