Spiritual Prompting Tracking Write-up #2

1. How many times did you record something on your spiritual promptings list? Did you notice any pattern on when you received promptings (morning, night, most days, Sundays, only a few times at the beginning, etc.)?

I recorded promptings on average once every week, maybe every two weeks. I received promptings a lot throughout the day, even if I didn't record them all. It was usually when I was alone, though, such as when I was walking between classes or when I was doing my homework. At least, promptings that came when I was with others were a lot harder to recognize since I couldn't stop what I was doing and consider it.

2. On a scale of 1-10, how well do you think you did this task (keep track of spiritual promptings and follow-up on the to-do promptings)? Explain your assessment.

I would rate myself at a 4 for tracking the promptings. In terms of following up on the to-do promptings, I would rate myself at a 9. I was not very good at tracking the promptings. They would often come at times when it was inconvenient to stop and write them down, whether that be getting from one class to another or when I was working on a project and didn't want to get too off-track (I'm not very good at efficiently switching gears, so even small tasks can throw me off from what I'm working on). Other times, they would come, and I would do them immediately, such as the time when I felt like I needed to go to the Refugee service project. Then, I would forget to write them down later.

I did a very good job at following the promptings, though, even the ones that I didn't write down. Often, I could recognize the promptings as a persistent thought that wouldn't go away, even after I'd tried moving on. Finally, I would have to make a decision whether I was going to ignore it or follow it. And usually I would follow it, because of the story shared in Conference a little while back about the soldier on the boat who followed a series of promptings in order to save the whole ship. The lesson that has always stayed with me from that story is that if you want promptings with the big things, you have to hear, and be willing to follow, promptings with the small things. So every time I recognize a prompting, I have to ask myself whether I want the Spirit's help in the big things. Usually this leads to following the prompting, even though it can be super difficult sometimes.

3. What aspects of your life do most of your promptings seem to be pointed towards (school, friends, work, etc.)?

A lot of my promptings were pointed towards school. They helped direct choices that I made in terms of scheduling homework, balancing school and clubs, and identifying topics that I needed to study more.

I also received some promptings in the social area of my life, though those haven't gone so well in the short term... I'll have to wait and see how those pan out in the end.

4. Are there any experiences (either related to confirmatory or to-do promptings) you had that you could share?

Yep! To summarize briefly, I received the invitation to give a talk in church three weeks in advance. The topic was revelation. Over those three weeks, I got busy, I took care of homework, and... well... I forgot about the talk.

The morning of the talk, I'd felt like I was missing something. However, since I generally avoid homework on Sunday, I decided not to worry about it until Monday. I was in ward council, and we started talking about the subject of a leadership meeting that had happened the past week, revelation. Suddenly, the Spirit brought to my remembrance what I was missing: my talk. Thus began my rush to write my talk.

Thankfully, the Spirit didn't stop there. I've never really been able to give good talks. Either they're too short, or I just stumble over my words and don't really get anything meaningful out. But with this talk, I was guided for the next hour in my preparation to resources and ideas that helped me to present a clear point on the importance of receiving revelation for ourselves. Afterwards, I received more compliments on my talk than I ever have before, and I know for a fact that it wasn't because of me.

5. Do you feel that recording your promptings has helped you better recognize the Spirit’s influence in your life? If so, how?

As stated in the question below, the action of writing them down itself wasn't so much what helped, but the fact that I had to pay more attention to my thoughts in order to identify when I was receiving a prompting so that I could write it down. As I was more aware of my thoughts and taking more time to consider what I was feeling and whether it was a prompting, I began to see more and more moments where I'd assumed it was myself coming up with the idea, when it was actually the Spirit that was prompting me.

6. Did you incorporate the change you mentioned in your first write-up? If so, what impact did that have on the second half of this assignment?

I did originally make an effort to write down my promptings immediately. However, after a week or two, I lost the energy to continue doing so. It seemed to help me to recognize them a little bit. However, I think the thing that helped me the most was the fact that I had to be aware so that I could write them down. Even if I never got around to writing them down, I began to recognize them more, considering whether it was a prompting I could write down or not.

7. Would you suggest I do it again with future classes? Any suggestions?

Yes. No.

8. Share the overall impression of how the Spirit works in your life.

There are two main ways that I've noticed the Spirit speaking to me. The first is as detailed above, through persistent thoughts. The second is by confirming my actions (or not). If I ever am not sure what I'm supposed to do and I don't feel any direction, I simply make a choice and commit to it, as we are often instructed to do. Then, the spirit will confirm what I'm doing or direct me otherwise.