Write them down

This morning as I was reading in the Ensign there was an article about earthquakes and learning to recognize when earthquakes are happening.  The closing paragraph reads: "I'm so grateful for what earthquakes taught me about recognizing the Spirit.  There are times when the Spirit is undeniable, a voice of thunder piercing our souls.  Yet more often, the Spirit is a silent whisper, a new thought, an impression, a subtle feeling of something to do or say. (see Helaman 5:30).  If we notice only the strong soul shaking, we miss many of the sweet impressions of the Spirit.  We may sometimes need others to point out the feelings of the Spirit so we can focus our attention and fine-tune our perceptions.  When we do we find an entirely new world of awareness and wonder. (June 2012 Ensign, A voice of Thunder, a Voice of Silence, by Kristin Boyce.)

As I read this I thought about how important it is for me to write these experiences down so I can read it and reread it to remind myself over and over again about the thunder piercing experiences and the silent whisper experiences. I haven't got a really good memory and I seem to forget far more than I remember.

So, thinking about writing these experiences down reminded me of one of my favorite conference talks was given in October 2007 by President Henry B. Eyring.  It is titled, "O Remember, Remember."  He told the experience of coming home late one night from a Church assignment and found his father-in-law in his yard working on a system to pump water from a stream below up to their property.  His father-in-law, smiled, spoke softly and then rushed off to finish his work.  As President Eyring was walking inside his home he heard in his mind - not in his own voice - these words, "I'm not giving you these experiences for yourself.  Write them down."

He goes on to say:  "I went inside.  I didn't go to bed.  Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write.  And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind.  I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family.   ... And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it."

So, someday our children are going to need to know when we felt the spirit and how we had seen the hand of God blessing our family.  This is something each one of us should ponder each day, quote: "Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our family today?" by President Henry B. Eyring.