How I Hear Him

This year, we celebrate the bicentennial of Joseph Smith's remarkable First Vision and the restoration of the church.  In the Sacred Grove, God the Father introduced Jesus by saying, "This is my beloved Son.  Hear Him."  President Nelson and the apostles have invited us to consider how we Hear Him and how we can hear, heed and hearken better to the Savior's words.

There are a variety of ways I am able to Hear Him...and I imagine they are pretty similar to how others Hear Him.

Most often I recognize that I hear Him when I embark in serving others.  I will have a thought to do something for someone else--sometimes a thought that seems silly or unusual--and sometimes I feel embarrassed to act.  But so many times, I have learned that my act helped the person know that God was aware of them and watching over them.  As I serve others, I sometimes feel God's love for them in overwhelming and powerful ways.  And when I have these experiences, I know that God loves me just as He loves them.  I hear Him as I feel His immense love for me and for others.

I hear Him when I am in the temple.  I learn of Him, listen to His words and feel encircled in His love.  I am reminded of the tremendous sacrifice that He made in my behalf and I come to better understand His role as my Savior, Redeemer, Exemplar, Rock, Advocate, King, Prince of Peace, and more.  I gain a better understanding of my mission and my purpose and the power and blessings I have been given as a covenant daughter of God.  I see more clearly who I am and whose I am as I enter the sacred walls of the temple.

I hear Him as I study the scriptures and the words of the living prophets and apostles.  I had a beautiful experience.  Several years ago while watching conference, I received a prompting that after conference ended, I should study each talk and record each statement made about each individual member of the Godhead.  I got a notebook and made sections for God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost and then as I read and studied the conference talks, I wrote down each thing the speakers said about them.  This was such a powerful experience that I continued this for a couple of years.  My knowledge of their individual and shared attributes, responsibilities and roles grew as did my love for them.  I could hear Them better.  One of my favorite quotes is from President Benson, “Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us.”  I believe that...but I also hope that through my study and prayer and faith, that They become more and more familiar to me.

I so often Hear Him as I gather with others to study, to teach, and to testify of Christ.  I Hear Him as I study scriptures with my family.  As a teenager, I know I heard Him as I went to girls camp and felt His love for me...and as we sang songs, felt the spirit and bore testimony.  I heard Him as my young women leaders bore witness of Christ and as my beloved seminary teacher taught me to study, ponder and love the scriptures.  I heard Him as my parents and grandparents taught me the truths of the gospel.  And I continue to hear Him as I gather with friends and neighbors and we teach, testify and are edified together.  (I know that during this unusual time of the pandemic we are not gathering in person outside of our families...but I still benefit from gathering with others online, through text, on zoom, etc. to teach and testify and I look forward to the day when I can gather with others in person again.  I benefit so much from learning together.)


I hear Him as I repent, as I strive to become better, as I turn to Him in prayer.  I hear Him as I teach about Him in my family and with others.  I hear Him as I ask for His help and see that He enables me to do and be more than I am on my own.  I hear Him as I listen to hymns and as I fill my life with things that invite the spirit.  I hear Him as I read good books, listen to uplifting podcasts, and discuss what I am learning with others. I also notice that I hear Him better when I take time to be still and to ponder.  And I hear him better when I eliminate anything from my life that might withdraw me from the Spirit.  I have found that as I become more and more careful what I view, listen to, and read that I can hear Him better.  Finally, I hear Him better when I take time to consistently notice His goodness and express gratitude for my countless blessings.

My words are inadequate to express my gratitude for His influence in my life.  I know my Savior lives and my prayer is for these words (from Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing) to occur in my life:

"O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!

Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above."