Helping Others Recognize the Whisperings of the Spirit

This entry is part of my general conference application series.

Helping Others Recognize the Whisperings of the Spirit, by Vicki F. Matsumori
Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency


How do you describe what the companionship of the Holy Ghost feels like? We have the listing from Galations (see 5:22-23), but I enjoy, as does Sister Matsumori, the description she shared from a newly baptized eight-year-old boy: "It felt like sunshine."


I can imagine the warmth of the Spirit and of sunshine as I imagine myself physically in the picture of the Sacred Grove (above). In fact, just thinking of it sends a warm shiver up my arms and spine!

A few weeks ago, Maryann gave a wonderful family home evening lesson on listening to the "still, small voice," with a story from the Friend, "The Candy Ball" (link), as an aid. This is a story of how a father came to the rescue of his daughter because he heard and heeded a spiritual prompting.

The very next day, as I neared home on my bike commute, I was thinking of this lesson, wondering if I would ever be in a similar situation: Would I hear and hearken, too?

Just then, I felt a mildly rebuking reminder that that very commute was filled with guidance. As I had left work, I felt that I needed to take an alternate route home for some reason. Despite not knowing the way (I figured that if I was being guided, then I wouldn't get lost), I found my way home on foreign roads—and I made it home safely!

It's one thing to feel and follow whisperings of the Spirit; it's another thing to remember and recall. How silly of me to have forgotten so quickly (or at least to not have made the connection between being distinctly prompted and longing for promptings).

Well did Sister Matsumori teach:

When we come to understand the whisperings of the Spirit, ... we will be guided and protected. And we can cultivate this gift in our lives as we follow those spiritual promptings. Most importantly, we will feel Him witness to us of the Father and of the Son.

I'm grateful for the "unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost" (D&C 121:26), and for the big and small promptings—those that are suited for teaching moments and those that are too sacred to openly share.