You have parents on Earth who are lots of fun & can help you know what to do. You also have another Father in Heaven who you can’t see. You can talk to Him by praying. But how does He talk to you? Through the Holy Ghost!
How does the Holy Ghost talk to you? Through your heart & mind. The Holy Ghost can send ideas to your mind & feelings to your heart.
This may sound like magic – but I saw a video of Elder Uchtdorf holding up a cell phone & saying the phone would seem like magic to most people 50 years ago.
Our Father in Heaven doesn’t send you text messages – but He can send you ideas & a peaceful feeling so you know the idea is from Him.
Our Father in Heaven most often sends these ideas & peaceful feelings when we’re asking for guidance or help making a decision.
The Father told us: “you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong”.
One of the good things about this method is that – if you’ve already made the best decision that you can – you couldn’t do any better than that anyway! So you’re just asking the Holy Ghost if you made the correct decision. This can be really helpful – because it can keep you from making bad decisions that don’t look bad at first. If you feel uncomfortable or uneasy about your best decision – then it’s time to think about it a little more.
Before I went to graduate school at in chemistry at BYU I thought about applying to pharmacy school. I even had an application in my hand. But something just felt wrong about it. I prayed & asked the Lord if I should turn in that application & I felt like I should not. If I had turned that in – I certainly would have been accepted & sadly never met your grandmother.
[Give example of choosing student ward where I met Leslie. As soon as I moved in – people started telling me there was someone I needed to meet.]
[Some other examples. Housing contract in Lexington I felt I should reject, it happens again & again. I found an old diary with a record of many promptings that saved me.]
Since I’m a scientist – I wish there was a better way then depending on the emotion of a peaceful feeling to confirm that I’ve made an important decision correctly – but our Heavenly Father wants to remain out of sight – because that’s how He can observe how his children behave when they don’t know He’s watching.
Ask the people you trust the most what they do when they have an important decision to make. Both of your parents & all 4 of your grandparents will tell you this same thing.
Keep in mind that these are some of the mortals who care the most about your happiness & success.
All of them will tell you that this is what they do when they need to make an important decision. They will also tell you that this method has never (!) failed them.
There are a few things to know about how the Holy Ghost works. Your parents & grandparents will tell you that the Holy Ghost can only help you when you’re willing to accept whatever answer the Holy Ghost tells you – instead of what you would like it to tell you. Sometimes it’s hard for us mortals to see what’s best for us – but our Father in Heaven can see!
You also need to be very careful when asking the Holy Ghost if you should do something that you really want to do – because if you’re not willing to listen to whatever answer the Holy Ghost gives – then you may confuse your own emotions with the warm peaceful feeling the Holy Ghost sends.
The Holy Ghost’s role is not to help you feel better about what you want to do – but the Holy Ghost will usually only communicate with you when you’re serious about wanting to know what our Father in Heaven thinks about your decision.
Some day you will be old like your parents & even some day like your grandparents & you will be the person in your family with the most experience. Who will you ask when you help than?
The person who will always be there to help you know what to do is the Holy Ghost. You won’t see him – but you’ll understand the ideas He sends to your mind & you’ll feel that it’s right.
And here’s the proof – you’ll find that time & time again – those ideas that the Holy Ghost sends to your mind & the confirming feeling of peace will rescue you from making bad decisions. That’s the scientific method – when a phenomenon is reproducible.
You won’t be able to prove to anyone else that the Lord saved you – but you can prove it to yourself. That’s how the Lord wants it to be – He wants you to be able to prove it to yourself & not to anyone else – because they have their own search for truth.
He will help you if you ask (& even somtimes when you don’t ask) – but usually for the Holy Ghost to help you – you will need to be willing to accept the Lord’s answer to the question – instead of the answer you’d prefer.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.