January Whispers

It's time to add some new "whispers" to the column on the side, and I figured I should record the story behind them. These are examples of promptings I didn't obey; sometimes those are easier to recognize. At least it was a reminder that when I think something, immediately followed by the thought that that's a dumb idea, maybe I should think again!

One of our light bulbs burned out, and we were out of spares, so I bought a new box. When I got to the store, I realized that I couldn't remember if we got the "blue" kind or the "yellow" kind. I like the color blue better, so that's what I got. Since this was a box of six, and since it's kept on a high shelf, and since I like to know how many are left, I write 1-2-3-4-5-6 on the box, and then cross out the number as they're used. Just before writing the numbers I had the thought that maybe I should make sure we really used the "blue" ones, but I ignored that thought. You've guessed it! Once I installed that light bulb I realized it didn't match, and we really use the "yellow" CFL bulbs. Fortunately, I was able to return the light bulbs and exchange them with the proper type, but I could have avoided the threat of embarrassment if I had just followed the prompting I received.

The other example took place as we pulled out of the driveway to meet the youth for our ward's temple trip. I had the thought to ask Wayne if he had his temple recommend. I didn't ask, though, because his recommend is always in his wallet, and I didn't want to come across as a nag. Once we got to the meeting place, however, he realized that the binder with the recommends for the youth was still in his church bag at home. If I had asked him about his own, it would have reminded him of the binder, and would have saved us a trip home to get it.

Fortunately, our little side trip didn't have any negative effects. We made it to the temple on time and had a wonderful experience. We even took some family names, some of which were found as a result of actually listening to and following the inspiration received.

Later in the month we went back for an evening endowment session. While there, I received some more impressions which were helpful and inspiring, and which I won't share here. Just know that I'm grateful for temples and for the Holy Ghost.