Single Most Important Skill

This week I had an amazing opportunity. I went to my stakes conference. Brother Ron Bartholomew was the key speaker. He is an amazing institute speaker at UVU and BYU. The topic he focused on was Personal revelation, Step 10. 

It was so beautifully perfect I had to share:

He quotes Sister Beck: “The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.” ( May 2010 “And Upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit”)

How we can prepare our minds and hearts to hear the spirit? 

We need the following 3 things:

Natural Darkness: absences of video. absences of phone. 

Natural Silence: absences of audio distraction, any sound at all!

Personal Solitude: absences of personal thoughts. 

He then explain why having all of this absent from our live is important. 

3 Nephi 11. It starts out explaining that a group were gathered in a temple and “they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one with another the great and marvelous change which had taken place…conversing about Jesus Christ”. They were engaged in something wonderful! They were not doing anything that would clearly offended the spirit. 

The scriptures go on to explain that as they were talking they heard a voice “from heaven, they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard…it being a small voice….they heard the voice again, and they understood it not. And again for the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and is said unto them: Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased in whom I have glorified my name- hear ye Him”. Then Christ Himself descend from heaven (3 Ne 11:1-11)

Brother Bartholomew explained that they could not hear and understand the voice until they stopped talking and stopped looking. 

His talk touched my heart so much, I will definitely be sharing more of it sometime. I am so grateful that he had the spirit with him while he spoke. I took away so much from his talk. What a blessed man he is. 

I hope that we can all adhere to President Monson’s when he said, "The boy prophet Joseph Smith sought heavenly help by entering a grove which then became sacred.  Do we need similar strength?  Does each need to seek his or her own "Sacred Grove”?  A place where communication between God and man can go forth unimpeded, uninterrupted, and undisturbed is such a grove." (Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Choose You This Day, Ensign, November 2004) 

My personal "grove" is waking up before any else is.  Being completely alone, silent: no music, no TV, no phone, absolute silence. I am so thankful for that time I have. I don’t use it ever day. I hope that I can, because what a beautiful gift it truly is. 

Much Love, 

Rachel