The Gift of the Holy Ghost
I have been asked to speak to you today about the gift of the Holy Ghost. Many of you know something about the experiences that Tim and I have had over this last year. I would like to use these experiences to help you to understand what I have learned about the Holy Ghost. I hope that listening to the story of my growing faith will also help your faith to grow, and will help you be worthy, to listen, and to be obedient to the promptings of the spirit.
1) The first thing I learned is that if I am trying to live worthy to have the spirit with me, he can guide me even if I don't realize it at the time. One year ago, Tim and I attended a school conference together in Cedar City. At dinner the first night, we sat by Bishop and Sister N. Because we were sitting at a table with them, we attracted a higher class of people than we would have by ourselves. In particular, I ended up sitting next to the superintendent of another school district. I asked him about his teaching career, and he told us that he had taught in Germany, for the Department of Defense, for most of the time he was raising his family. He was enthusiastic about his experience there, and recommended it highly. As Tim and I walked away from dinner that night, it was like a light bulb went on- what an amazing experience it would be to take our family overseas to live! We researched the job possibilities online and talked more about it. I really think that without the subtle guidance of the spirit at that point, we would have dropped the whole thing. Hello- we had 6 young children, a great job, and a nice home in a community that we love. To leave for a complete unknown seemed insane. However, we didn't drop it. By the time we picked our kids up from Grandma's house, we were convinced. We came home and applied for the next school year.
2) The Spirit will guide me to have righteous desires. Over the next 5 months or so, we researched more about the places that we could be sent (which included most of Europe, Japan and South Korea), what the church was like in those different places, and what the job benefits would be. The place that intrigued us most was a small school on an air force base in the Azores, an island chain 900 miles off the coast of Portugal, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I didn't know what was so attractive about this location: it is considered a "hardship" posting when you're in the Air Force, but we were really drawn to this place. I knew, from my research, that one of the principals there, J.A., was a BYU graduate and had 5 kids, so I figured he was LDS. Remember his name for later. We didn't have a firm conviction yet that we were going to end up doing this- in particular, we had read that most job offers come in July and August. "Oh well", I thought, "if we don't know by the end of the school year, we just won't be able to do it- it just won't work." But the possibility of moving overseas was in the back of my mind all the time.
3) The Spirit, for me, is easiest to communicate with in sacred places, especially in the temple. In January, I attended a Relief Society Temple Day. When I went into the temple, I was thinking about how much I loved living in Manila. I love our ward, the schools, my children's friends, and my friends. I was thinking what a safe place Manila is for our children, and how I would be crazy to leave that behing. Sitting in the celestial room after our session, pondering these things, two clear and distinct thoughts came into my mind: 1- Safe isn't necessarily the best thing for your kids, and 2- Get ready. I was petrified. I came home and was shaking as I told Tim what had happened. At the same time, though, I was obedient. I immediately started making a list of things that might possibly need to be done if we were to leave. It included things that needed to be fixed so we could sell our house, things we needed to buy, sell, give away or trash, buying school clothes for the kids, applying for passports, making doctor's appointments, and about a thousand other things. And I started to work.
After my experience in the temple, I was anxious for Tim to have the same confirmation as I did. So, in February, we went together to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. It was a nice time together, but I was disappointed when Tim didn't say anything afterwards. For about the next two weeks, though, Tim was really in a bad mood. I thought it was because I kept talking about moving overseas, and I offered to stop- to retract Tim's application and drop the whole thing. I didn't think it was worth the strain to our marriage. "No", he said. "Don't do that." "Why not?" I asked. "Because we are supposed to do this. And I think I know where we're going- to the Azores." I thanked him very sarcastically for waiting two whole weeks after his inspiration in the temple to inform me about it, but I was glad to have my own feelings confirmed.
4)At this point, I learned that inspiration and faith are not a one-time thing. They require constant feeding. My faith was not always strong during this period. I would go to church or to the temple, and feel strongly that we were doing the right thing. As soon as I would leave that situation, though, I would start to have doubts. I have learned over and over again that I am able to have and sustain faith when I put myself in places and situations where I can feel the spirit. I can't tell you how much your Relief Society and Sunday School lessons, testimonies, talks, and even casual conversations have done for me. Being in the temple was always an amazing experience. Words in the hymns seemed to jump out at me: Did you know that practically every hymn in the hymn book is about having faith and trusting in the Lord? At least it seems that way to me lately.
Page 128- "I will not doubt, I will not fear; God's love and strength are always near. His Spirit guides: His love assures That fear departs when faith endures."
Page 217- the phrase "By the patience of hope" struck me hard. Having hope makes it possible to be patient!
Page 241- "When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings; name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done." When I remember what He has done for me in the past, I have faith and hope that He will help me now.
The scriptures have also been very important to me during this journey.
1 Nephi 16:28- And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.
Mosiah 29:20- But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him." (emphasis added) By the way, the "bondage" we were in was not Manila, but uncertainty.
2 Nephi 7:7 For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
I took comfort from the fact that when I was in "spiritual" places, I was sure we were doing the right thing, and that everything would work out. If you want the guidance of the spirit, you have to surround yourself with spiritual things.
5) The Lord has his own timetable. I am going to fast forward now to the end of May. For a couple of months, I had been hoping and praying that we would know something by May 15th. I thought we NEEDED to know by then, so that we would have time to prepare, and so we would know that we had a job for next year before we turned down a contract here. However, it didn't happen. I still felt that we were doing the right thing, but we had heard absolutely nothing from the Department of defense or from any school in the system. And then, a few days before graduation, we received a contract in the mail- for Tim to teach here next year. We had ten days to make a decision and send it back. This was possibly the scariest decision we have ever had to make. We wanted to give the school district as long as possible to find a replacement for Tim if we were leaving, but we had heard nothing about another job. I had to go to the temple.
6)Heavenly Father knows me and my situation, and He will send His Spirit to bear witness to that fact. We did go to the temple- Mt. Timpanogos again (my parents live close and are good babysitters). While we were there I had an experience that is very sacred to me. And then I knew- without any doubt at all- that Tim was not to sign that contract. I remember sitting there praying, "Okay, Heavenly Father, we're deciding not to sign the contract. Let us know if we're making a bad decision." I just needed one last confirmation, and I got it. At that point, there was no fear, no doubt, only hope and faith, and knowledge. We were doing the right thing.
7) Heavenly Father sometimes requires leaps of faith based only on what the Spirit whispers to us. So we did it. Tim went the next day to Superintendent N and resigned- he already knew the whole story. He is Tim's boss and our bishop. We started getting our house ready to sell. And we steeled ourselves for the questions we knew we would get about our decision: "You're leaving? Where are you going?" Um... we didn't actually know. It was a little awkward, but we knew, absolutely, that we were making the right decision. 8) At that point, I learned that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks as long as I knwo that I am doing what Heavenly Father wants me to do.
On July 10th, I wrote the following in my journal. "We still haven't heard a word from DOD, but we do have an offer to buy our house. We have learned much of faith from this experience. I know what it is to act on faith and to strive for hope. I am learning that my happiness is an expression of my faith. I know that my Heavenly Father will take care of my family. There is a place for us, and the plans are laid in heaven- they will be revealed to us as we need to know them. Hopefully, that will be soon- school starts there in less than 7 weeks." Actually, the ONLY communication we had had from the DOD was that they might not be hiring anyone from the States this year because of school closings and internal transfers. Not very encouraging. We were trying very much to trust in Heavenly Father's plan for us.
9) The next thing I learned is that the Spirit will guide others to intervene in my behalf. On July 11th, something happened that I never, in a million years, could have predicted. Bishop N. called Tim from Cedar City. He and G. were at the same conference I talked about at the beginning of this story. They had been waiting to talk to someone after one of the sessions, but had to wait because she was talking to someone else. The Bishop overheard a couple of key words: Department of Defense School, and Azores. Since he knows the entire story, he knew something was going on, and introduced himself. The person this lady was talking to was J.A., from the Lajes American School in the Azores. He has recently moved back to Utah, but is still acting principal until the end of July. The Bishop, being the good friend that he is, immediatly started selling Tim. G. tells me he literally accosted the man every time they saw him over the next 2 days. We are very grateful for his persistence, that he listened to the spirit and recognized what was happening.
You can probably guess the rest of the story. Tim had a phone interview with the current principal there, and when he called her back a couple of days later, she said, "First of all, let me welcome you to Lajes American School." That was exactly the right thing for her to say.
So we are moving to the Azores- a place I'd never known existed before last year. We still don't know exactly why we are supposed to be there. I suspect we will learn more of this story as we go forward in faith. I am sure that the Lajes Military Branch of the church has some jobs for us. I suspect that this will be an enriching and amazing experience for our children. I also know that there will be many challenges associated with this adventure: we will be far away from family and familiarity. Our children have never moved or changed schools before. Branches of the church tend to be very labor-intensive to live in. People in the Azores speak Portuguese. We don't- yet. But no matter what happens, I know that we are meant to be there, and I am grateful to Heavenly Father for letting us participate a little in this process. He could have arranged things to run smoothly, with no major decisions required of us. But insted, He gave us the chance to increase our faith in Him. We have been prepared and tested for the last year, and now we will be given opportunities to serve Him in another place. The Lord really does work in mysterious ways. We are ready to go to the Azores, to learn and grow and to serve. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for His wisdom and guidance.
I hope that our experience has helped you also. I hope that you know of Heavenly Father's love for you, and of His interest in everything you do. I hope you know that He will answer your prayers, and that He guides your life. The Holy Ghost is the most amazing gift we could ever have- I pray that we can all work to make ourselves worthy to receive it and recognize it.
Did anyone make it through? I think I needed to review our experience as much as I needed to share it. I'll tell the next part of the story later- mostly because I need to continue to realize the hand of the Lord in my life.
1) The first thing I learned is that if I am trying to live worthy to have the spirit with me, he can guide me even if I don't realize it at the time. One year ago, Tim and I attended a school conference together in Cedar City. At dinner the first night, we sat by Bishop and Sister N. Because we were sitting at a table with them, we attracted a higher class of people than we would have by ourselves. In particular, I ended up sitting next to the superintendent of another school district. I asked him about his teaching career, and he told us that he had taught in Germany, for the Department of Defense, for most of the time he was raising his family. He was enthusiastic about his experience there, and recommended it highly. As Tim and I walked away from dinner that night, it was like a light bulb went on- what an amazing experience it would be to take our family overseas to live! We researched the job possibilities online and talked more about it. I really think that without the subtle guidance of the spirit at that point, we would have dropped the whole thing. Hello- we had 6 young children, a great job, and a nice home in a community that we love. To leave for a complete unknown seemed insane. However, we didn't drop it. By the time we picked our kids up from Grandma's house, we were convinced. We came home and applied for the next school year.
2) The Spirit will guide me to have righteous desires. Over the next 5 months or so, we researched more about the places that we could be sent (which included most of Europe, Japan and South Korea), what the church was like in those different places, and what the job benefits would be. The place that intrigued us most was a small school on an air force base in the Azores, an island chain 900 miles off the coast of Portugal, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I didn't know what was so attractive about this location: it is considered a "hardship" posting when you're in the Air Force, but we were really drawn to this place. I knew, from my research, that one of the principals there, J.A., was a BYU graduate and had 5 kids, so I figured he was LDS. Remember his name for later. We didn't have a firm conviction yet that we were going to end up doing this- in particular, we had read that most job offers come in July and August. "Oh well", I thought, "if we don't know by the end of the school year, we just won't be able to do it- it just won't work." But the possibility of moving overseas was in the back of my mind all the time.
3) The Spirit, for me, is easiest to communicate with in sacred places, especially in the temple. In January, I attended a Relief Society Temple Day. When I went into the temple, I was thinking about how much I loved living in Manila. I love our ward, the schools, my children's friends, and my friends. I was thinking what a safe place Manila is for our children, and how I would be crazy to leave that behing. Sitting in the celestial room after our session, pondering these things, two clear and distinct thoughts came into my mind: 1- Safe isn't necessarily the best thing for your kids, and 2- Get ready. I was petrified. I came home and was shaking as I told Tim what had happened. At the same time, though, I was obedient. I immediately started making a list of things that might possibly need to be done if we were to leave. It included things that needed to be fixed so we could sell our house, things we needed to buy, sell, give away or trash, buying school clothes for the kids, applying for passports, making doctor's appointments, and about a thousand other things. And I started to work.
After my experience in the temple, I was anxious for Tim to have the same confirmation as I did. So, in February, we went together to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. It was a nice time together, but I was disappointed when Tim didn't say anything afterwards. For about the next two weeks, though, Tim was really in a bad mood. I thought it was because I kept talking about moving overseas, and I offered to stop- to retract Tim's application and drop the whole thing. I didn't think it was worth the strain to our marriage. "No", he said. "Don't do that." "Why not?" I asked. "Because we are supposed to do this. And I think I know where we're going- to the Azores." I thanked him very sarcastically for waiting two whole weeks after his inspiration in the temple to inform me about it, but I was glad to have my own feelings confirmed.
4)At this point, I learned that inspiration and faith are not a one-time thing. They require constant feeding. My faith was not always strong during this period. I would go to church or to the temple, and feel strongly that we were doing the right thing. As soon as I would leave that situation, though, I would start to have doubts. I have learned over and over again that I am able to have and sustain faith when I put myself in places and situations where I can feel the spirit. I can't tell you how much your Relief Society and Sunday School lessons, testimonies, talks, and even casual conversations have done for me. Being in the temple was always an amazing experience. Words in the hymns seemed to jump out at me: Did you know that practically every hymn in the hymn book is about having faith and trusting in the Lord? At least it seems that way to me lately.
Page 128- "I will not doubt, I will not fear; God's love and strength are always near. His Spirit guides: His love assures That fear departs when faith endures."
Page 217- the phrase "By the patience of hope" struck me hard. Having hope makes it possible to be patient!
Page 241- "When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings; name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done." When I remember what He has done for me in the past, I have faith and hope that He will help me now.
The scriptures have also been very important to me during this journey.
1 Nephi 16:28- And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.
Mosiah 29:20- But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him." (emphasis added) By the way, the "bondage" we were in was not Manila, but uncertainty.
2 Nephi 7:7 For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
I took comfort from the fact that when I was in "spiritual" places, I was sure we were doing the right thing, and that everything would work out. If you want the guidance of the spirit, you have to surround yourself with spiritual things.
5) The Lord has his own timetable. I am going to fast forward now to the end of May. For a couple of months, I had been hoping and praying that we would know something by May 15th. I thought we NEEDED to know by then, so that we would have time to prepare, and so we would know that we had a job for next year before we turned down a contract here. However, it didn't happen. I still felt that we were doing the right thing, but we had heard absolutely nothing from the Department of defense or from any school in the system. And then, a few days before graduation, we received a contract in the mail- for Tim to teach here next year. We had ten days to make a decision and send it back. This was possibly the scariest decision we have ever had to make. We wanted to give the school district as long as possible to find a replacement for Tim if we were leaving, but we had heard nothing about another job. I had to go to the temple.
6)Heavenly Father knows me and my situation, and He will send His Spirit to bear witness to that fact. We did go to the temple- Mt. Timpanogos again (my parents live close and are good babysitters). While we were there I had an experience that is very sacred to me. And then I knew- without any doubt at all- that Tim was not to sign that contract. I remember sitting there praying, "Okay, Heavenly Father, we're deciding not to sign the contract. Let us know if we're making a bad decision." I just needed one last confirmation, and I got it. At that point, there was no fear, no doubt, only hope and faith, and knowledge. We were doing the right thing.
7) Heavenly Father sometimes requires leaps of faith based only on what the Spirit whispers to us. So we did it. Tim went the next day to Superintendent N and resigned- he already knew the whole story. He is Tim's boss and our bishop. We started getting our house ready to sell. And we steeled ourselves for the questions we knew we would get about our decision: "You're leaving? Where are you going?" Um... we didn't actually know. It was a little awkward, but we knew, absolutely, that we were making the right decision. 8) At that point, I learned that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks as long as I knwo that I am doing what Heavenly Father wants me to do.
On July 10th, I wrote the following in my journal. "We still haven't heard a word from DOD, but we do have an offer to buy our house. We have learned much of faith from this experience. I know what it is to act on faith and to strive for hope. I am learning that my happiness is an expression of my faith. I know that my Heavenly Father will take care of my family. There is a place for us, and the plans are laid in heaven- they will be revealed to us as we need to know them. Hopefully, that will be soon- school starts there in less than 7 weeks." Actually, the ONLY communication we had had from the DOD was that they might not be hiring anyone from the States this year because of school closings and internal transfers. Not very encouraging. We were trying very much to trust in Heavenly Father's plan for us.
9) The next thing I learned is that the Spirit will guide others to intervene in my behalf. On July 11th, something happened that I never, in a million years, could have predicted. Bishop N. called Tim from Cedar City. He and G. were at the same conference I talked about at the beginning of this story. They had been waiting to talk to someone after one of the sessions, but had to wait because she was talking to someone else. The Bishop overheard a couple of key words: Department of Defense School, and Azores. Since he knows the entire story, he knew something was going on, and introduced himself. The person this lady was talking to was J.A., from the Lajes American School in the Azores. He has recently moved back to Utah, but is still acting principal until the end of July. The Bishop, being the good friend that he is, immediatly started selling Tim. G. tells me he literally accosted the man every time they saw him over the next 2 days. We are very grateful for his persistence, that he listened to the spirit and recognized what was happening.
You can probably guess the rest of the story. Tim had a phone interview with the current principal there, and when he called her back a couple of days later, she said, "First of all, let me welcome you to Lajes American School." That was exactly the right thing for her to say.
So we are moving to the Azores- a place I'd never known existed before last year. We still don't know exactly why we are supposed to be there. I suspect we will learn more of this story as we go forward in faith. I am sure that the Lajes Military Branch of the church has some jobs for us. I suspect that this will be an enriching and amazing experience for our children. I also know that there will be many challenges associated with this adventure: we will be far away from family and familiarity. Our children have never moved or changed schools before. Branches of the church tend to be very labor-intensive to live in. People in the Azores speak Portuguese. We don't- yet. But no matter what happens, I know that we are meant to be there, and I am grateful to Heavenly Father for letting us participate a little in this process. He could have arranged things to run smoothly, with no major decisions required of us. But insted, He gave us the chance to increase our faith in Him. We have been prepared and tested for the last year, and now we will be given opportunities to serve Him in another place. The Lord really does work in mysterious ways. We are ready to go to the Azores, to learn and grow and to serve. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for His wisdom and guidance.
I hope that our experience has helped you also. I hope that you know of Heavenly Father's love for you, and of His interest in everything you do. I hope you know that He will answer your prayers, and that He guides your life. The Holy Ghost is the most amazing gift we could ever have- I pray that we can all work to make ourselves worthy to receive it and recognize it.
Did anyone make it through? I think I needed to review our experience as much as I needed to share it. I'll tell the next part of the story later- mostly because I need to continue to realize the hand of the Lord in my life.
2 comments:
Thank you! This is a message I needed this week. I have wondered if it is OK to continually ask God the same question after I have gotten my answer. I have lacked the faith in myself to know that I have recognize the correct answer. Yet, every time I pray and go to the temple for that reassurance, it is there. I can't wait for the next installment of the story. Thanks Jen, knowing you has truly blessed my life!
I cried the first time I heard this talk and I cried again reading it. I miss you Jen but I'm glad for your story of faith. It has helped my faith.
Thank You
Sarah
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