Keep Track of Your Thoughts

A few years ago I visited a family with a teenage son who was looking at a copy of Preach My Gospel. I encouraged him to write in the margins of the book the impressions he felt while reading.

I recently received a letter from this young man who is now serving a mission. He wrote: "I've been in the mission field for six months and want to thank you for reminding me to write down my impressions. I've just been called to be a trainer, and I have a new missionary companion. When my companion saw my agenda and a small notebook under my pillow, he asked me why it was there. I told him what you taught me: if I would listen, God would speak to me, so I keep it there to write down the personal revelations He gives me.

"The next night at 2:00 a.m. I had an impression come to me, and I wrote it down in my notebook. My companion said, 'Now I understand.'"

I have a little book I carry with me. I call it my book of inspiration. What I have found, just like this elder, is that Heavenly Father does want to talk to me, and when I write it down and do what I'm impressed to do, He keeps talking to me. When we pray, we need to take the time to listen to the inspiration that comes to our minds, instead of getting up right away.

I began writing down impressions from the Holy Ghost when I was on my mission, and it has been reinforced over the years as I have served in various callings. Inspiration will come in so many different ways. It will come when we need to know what to do to help a friend. It will come when we need to know how to do better in school. Heavenly Father cares about all those things. He cares about school, He cares about our relationships with our friends, He cares about our relationships with our families. He cares about us going on our missions. He can help us if we will let Him.

It starts out in simple ways. We start off by keeping track of inspiration that comes to our minds. Then we review and ponder it. Then we follow through by taking action on the inspiration. We'll know it's the right thing because we will feel peace about it and because it will really work to make our lives better. It's like the experience Joseph Smith recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants: "Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.

"Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground" (D&C 8:2–3).

If the Holy Ghost can direct Moses to divide the Red Sea and help him know that he can do it, certainly He can help us in our studies. Certainly He can help us improve our relationships with our parents. Certainly he can help us find good friends. The Holy Ghost can also help us in deciding what paths to take in deciding what kind of spouse or parent we want to become or what our job or vocation should be.