I was asked by the stake history committee [the compilers of Our Stories of Faith] to share a story that I told in stake conference on May 16, 2010, when I was serving as 2nd counselor in the stake presidency. The topic of my address was learning to recognize and act on spiritual promptings.
Boyd K. Packer taught the following in a new mission president seminar: “We do not have the words, even the scriptures do not have the words which perfectly describe the Spirit. The scriptures use the word voice. That does not exactly fit. These very delicate, fine spiritual communications are not seen with our eyes nor heard with our ears: it is a voice that one feels more than one hears.”
Gaining experience with recognizing spiritual promptings requires effort and sometimes failure. This story is a personal experience of a failure. There are many stories told about promptings from the Holy Ghost. Many times the story is of an impression that is initially ignored and then comes more forcefully and is again ignored. Finally the impression is so strong that it cannot be ignored, is heeded, and disaster is avoided. While I don’t doubt that these stories are true, they are not the typical experience. President Packer said that “ . . . very impressive and miraculous spiritual experiences come very infrequently. Something is amiss if they come too intensely and too frequently. Occasionally, the spirit will press just firmly enough or often enough for us to pay attention, but, most of the time if we do not heed the gentle feeling the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we come seeking and listening . . .”
The story I have to tell here is one of failing to hear and follow a prompting of the Spirit. One evening in the winter, when I was serving as bishop in the Rochester 4th ward, I had the responsibility to attend a young men’s activity at Rory Lenton’s home on Cascade lake. There was snow on the ground and the roads were slick. I had rushed home from work and was late to the activity so I was in a hurry. As I headed south on 50th avenue, there was a car that had slid off the road and down an embankment into a field. The lights were still on and it was clear that they were stuck but looked to be okay. I had the impression that I should stop and help. But, instead, I had a series of rationalizing thoughts. This was a heavily traveled road. There would be plenty of people coming by who could help. I was late for an activity that I was to preside over – I had an important responsibility as the bishop! There were plenty of others with less important responsibilities who could stop and help. The spiritual prompting went away and others did stop and do what I should have done. To my great chagrin, I later learned that the driver of the car was Sister Cherry in my ward. Her husband, my counselor in the bishopric, was at work and she had her children in the car. Although they were fine, they were cold and a bit scared. A great opportunity to provide meaningful service had been missed. And it would have been a much better story to tell the young men about why I was late to the activity. Thankfully, it is possible to learn from our failures as well as our successes. I know that the Holy Ghost has been given to us as a gift to help us keep our covenants and as we learn to recognize and follow the Spirit, the Lord will pour out blessings upon us.