Over the years there were times when I would have a good thought and was able to carry it out immediately. And there were other times when the timing of the thought made it impossible for me to do so.
That was the case one night while I was studying and had the thought to check on Camilla. I had this thought: You should take Camilla some soup.
It was not possible for me to accomplish that right then, so I wrote it down in my notebook. I realized that between Camilla’s work schedule and mine, the earliest I would be able to deliver the soup would be after I got off work the next day. I didn’t even have soup to take to her, so I set an alarm in my phone to remind me when I got off work to go straight to the store and buy some soup.
The next day was difficult at work, and by the end of the day, I had forgotten all about the soup. As I got in my car, longing for home, my alarm went off to remind me. I’m so tired, I thought. I just want to go home. It’s not like she’s expecting me. Maybe I’ll just take it tomorrow.
I was about to do just that when President Russell M. Nelson’s counsel, which he had given just a few days earlier, came back to my mind:
Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.
With Moroni, I exhort you on this Easter Sabbath to “come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift,” beginning with the gift of the Holy Ghost, which gift can and will change your life.4
I had committed that day when President Nelson spoke that I would do better. I knew that the good thought I had had was the voice of the Spirit and that my acting upon this impression was the work required to be able to hear the Spirit more frequently and clearly.
So instead of delaying my response and going home, I went to the store, bought some soup, and drove directly to Camilla’s home. She should be home from work now, I thought as I ran up the stairs to her apartment. I knocked on the door and waited for a while. When she finally opened the door, it was just slightly—enough that I could see that the lights were off and she was in her bathrobe. I held the bag of soup through the small crack in the door and said, “The Lord asked me to bring you this soup.”
Camilla reached out, took the bag, and began to cry. She told me that she had a bad cold and hadn’t gone to work that day. She said that 15 minutes before I arrived, she had been tearing up her apartment, looking for soup that she thought she had. After a thorough search she had sat down, defeated, and cried, “Jesus, can you please just let me have some soup?”
“The Lord sure loves you, Camilla,” was my response upon hearing her story. I could feel His love so strongly as I stood there—His love for her and His love for me.
As I returned to my car, I thought about how the Lord could have answered Camilla’s prayer by helping her find the soup—even in a cupboard she was sure she had checked before. Instead, He had invited me to participate in His miracle. I felt an increase of love for and connection to Him.
I have seen enough to know of a surety that every time I act in faith on a prompting from the Lord, His purposes are accomplished (see 1 Ne. 9:6). I don’t need to know His purpose to be obedient (see 1 Ne. 9:5), and I don’t need to see His purpose accomplished for it to happen. I am willing to go forward in faith and leave the outcomes to Him.
https://magazine.byu.edu/article/salani-pita-most-desirable-above-all/
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