Writing Him on My Heart

Living by the Spirit 

We are planning on leaving for a family reunion this evening; however, in order for us to be able to leave, my husband has had to work many late nights. Last night was one of those "late nights", and because he had ridden his bike to work, he needed me to pick him up from work. After putting the kid's to bed, I walked around the house making sure everything was locked. As I was locking the backdoor, I noticed that I hadn't covered the grill earlier in the evening so I stepped outside to do so. I live in a quiet neighborhood. I have never felt unsafe; however, as I was covering the grill, I felt anxious, and unsafe. I kept feeling as if I should go back inside my home. As I worked, I chided myself for being silly, and perhaps discounted those warning feelings I was receiving.
After locking the backdoor, I went in to my children fully expecting to kiss them goodnight, and then leave to pick up my husband; however, as I walked into their room they seemed unsettled and nervous. The begged me to allow them to come. I thought of all the reasons in which they should stay and simply go to bed. My oldest daughter is old enough to babysit. I have left her home with the kids on several occasions, so leaving to pick up my husband wasn't an issue; however, after saying another family prayer, I felt prompted to bring my children with me. It was then that I started wondering about the feeling I had recently experienced at my backdoor. Looking at the late hour on my clock, I sighed and told my kids to go buckle up. We don't always know why we receive the impressions; however, I know we are kept safe as we choose to follow the promptings. Last night was no exception to that--as we were pulling out of our garage, Amber noticed three police cars parked on our street, close to our home.

I have a niece serving a mission in Philadelphia. Her letter yesterday was similar to our experience last night. She wrote: "Earlier this week I had the impression that I needed to knock on one of the doors with a shaded porch. (There were about 6 of them at the end of these row homes.) It was insanely hot and we were walking to our next lesson, so I almost kept walking. But I've promise The Lord I will act on every impression He gives me, so I flipped around and went to the first door. We met a nice potential. As I walked away I was thinking, "..alrighty. I did it. Anything else?" I knew it wasn't the person we were needed to help. This time I stopped to listen carefully and felt which door was right. We knocked on the door and met Ana. She greeted me like I was her long lost daughter. She hurried us in, gave me a big kiss on the cheek, and started telling me all about her granddaughter and the rest of her family. Then she said, "Would you like a drink of aqua?" I turned to Sister Wood to see if she would like a drink and found her staring at me like I was a crazy person. She looked bewildered. I turned back to Ana and said, "We would love two waters. Thank you so much." Then she looked at me with a similarly confused expression and said, "no hablo Ingles." It was then I realized that she had been speaking Spanish the entire time but I had been able to understand every single word. And apparently she had understood me as well. I stammered out, "Uh... Si. Dos aquas. Gracias." (So by now I had exhausted my entire Spanish vocabulary. Ha.) Throughout the rest of the visit I was still able to feel exactly what she was saying and she started crying when I bore my testimony. I've never experienced the gift or tongues or conversed with angels, but I imagine those conversation being similar to the one I had with Ana. Thanks to the Holy Ghost we were able to speak spirit to spirit. My other favorite "miracle" from this week was when I felt the blessing of my protecting angels The Lord keep promising me. There were a group of people, a family, standing a crossed the street from where we were walking and, Instinctively, I started over to talk with them. Almost instantly my heart was drained of all desire to share my testimony. It was the strangest thing! While I was saying a quick, fervent prayer asking for forgiveness and charity I felt somebody gently grab my elbow as of they were holding me back and reassuring me not to go over. I was filled with peace. I looked around — expecting to see Sister Wood — but I saw no one. We continued on to our appointment, which couldn't have been a block away, and watched as three police cars came around the corner and either arrested or questioned every individual that was amongst that group of people. Obviously I'm not sure why or what would have happened had we been standing with them, but I do know that there are forces, both seen and unseen, guided me and protecting me in this miraculous work. Everyday, if I'm listening, I find that 'his angels [have] charge concerning [me]: and in their hands they shall bear [me] up.'"(Matt. 4:6.)

I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who sends promptings and impressions. As we live close to the spirit, we are promised guidance through the Holy Ghost. I have an unshakeable testimony of the reality of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me. I know that this Church is true.