Listen...always listen!

Elder Aiken at Yosemite National Park

     Hello everyone.  I had the chance to go to Yosemite National Park with several other Elders yesterday.  What a beautiful part of the world!  The weather here is beautiful.
     It was another great week being a Mormon Missionary with some great spiritual experiences. We started off with Zone conference where we had some great trainings on the importance of receiving personal revelation everyday. I had never really thought of the importance of receiving personal revelation everyday, but receiving personal revelation is what keeps us converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is something that we must seek for every day in our morning prayers, asking the Lord to guide us and to help us recognize his promptings. In my prayers every morning I have promised the Lord that I will follow all his promptings, no matter how hard or even awkward they may be, I will do them. I love the Scripture in 2 Nephi: 28 vs 30 where it says:  "For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receivith I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have"
     There is a promise in that scripture, that if we do harken unto the Lord's precepts, he will bless us with more. We show the Lord our trust in him as we follow his counsel. He is more willing to give us his counsel when we are willing to fully accept it.  
     On Wednesday, I had a very spirtual experience that I will never forget. As we took our daily 25 minute drive out to Mendota, I remember praying to Lord asking him to help me recognize his promptings.  As we approached Mendota, I heard the voice of the Spirit tell me to turn left. I followed and we turned left. I heard another distinct impression, turn right, park the car and talk to the first person you see. As we parked the car we offered a prayer asking the Lord to lead us to that one person we had been prompted to meet. As we got out of the car, I looked to my right, and saw a lady all alone sitting on her porch. I walked straight to her and as we approached her the woman seemed a little surprised. I asked her how her day was and what she was doing there. She told us she was waiting for her kids to arrive home from school. The words came to me as I told her that we had been sent to her house that very moment by God to say a prayer with her. She began to weep and asked, "how did you know"? I told her that we had been guided there to her home by the spririt of the Lord. As we began praying the Spirit came very strong and I knew that it would guide our words in what we needed to say next. As we finished, I paid close attention to my thoughts. As she was wiping her eyes, we asked her how she felt. She said she felt much better. I felt impressed to ask her about her children and her family. I told her that I could sense that she was very worried about her children and her status of her family. She began to cry again and said she had recently divorced her husband and doesn't get much time with her children. She was shocked that we had discerned her thoughts. I thought back to that scripture, "line upon line, precept upon precept. Those who hearken to my precepts...I will give more:. The Lord had blessed us in that very moment for following his promptings! He then trusted us with more, he blessed us with the gift of discernment! 
     I know that God lives! I know that he truly wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives and he wants to guide us. We in turn must be willing to sacrifice our will for his. This work is so true, I love being a missionary! God bless you all!! 

Love, 
Elder Tanner Aiken