Somewhere in the April 2026 General Conference, someone made quick mention of how the Holy Ghost will let us know what we need to improve on. It was a single line tucked well within the talk, so it's not easy to track down. For the past two weeks, I've been trying to find the quote I'm thinking of, and I haven't been successful yet! I know I highlighted it in my Conference notebook, and I feel like it's somewhere on the right-hand side, on the bottom half of the page. I've tried running a few search terms online, too, and still can't find it.
So for today's post, I am inspired by a line in a Conference address that I can't find, but when I read that mystery talk and came across that line (that I possibly imagined), I felt like I should jot down a few things that the Spirit had been impressing me to work on. I thought, "Oh, that's been happening to me a lot lately. I should write those things down." So I opened a new note on my phone and started documenting some of the things the Spirit has encouraged me to do recently.
A few months ago I felt a prompting that cautioned me to stop telling stories I don’t know. That prompting has been recurring since, reminding me that I can't fill in all the plot holes. Let me explain that a bit further.
At the time this chastening came to me, there were several things going on around me that I was making assumptions about, and I was talking about those things from my perspective. I was telling stories (you might call it gossiping) based on what I knew, what I saw, or what I was told, and to me, it all seemed accurate. I didn’t think I was embellishing or exaggerating or saying anything that wasn’t true.
But the Spirit warned me, “There are things you don’t know. Don’t fill in the blanks with your assumptions." That's fair. If someone were recounting a story about me, I wouldn't want them to fill in plot holes or make assumptions that aren't correct. There is always more going on than we know, even when we think we see the full picture. I've been working hard on this and try to catch myself when I start "filling in blanks." I know from experience that I can be very sure about what's happening and still be wrong (it keeps happening), and as a person who really doesn't like to be wrong, that should be motivation enough to help me keep my mouth shut! Yet, I still struggle because sometimes I'm just so darn sure!
Another thing I've been prompted to do is to increase our Fast Offering.
Let me take you back a few years. I don't remember how long ago it was, but sometime in the last decade, money was feeling really tight. I kept coming up short on the budget, and I was starting to wonder if I needed to go back to work, but every time I prayed about working, I felt a distinct, "Not yet." Then I had the feeling that I needed to increase our Fast Offering. I asked in my heart, "How much?" and the feeling I had was, "Double."
It was counterintuitive to donate more money when money was coming up short, but I've had enough experiences with the Lord to know that this is how things go sometimes, so I did it - I started paying double the amount we had been paying. I can't explain it, but it worked. After several months of coming up a little short, we suddenly had enough.
I've recently had this prompting again - that it's time to increase our Fast Offering. This time, I didn't double it, but I upped it a little. I've been feeling stingy lately, so this was kind of hard to do, but I'm giving it a go.
There are a few things on my list that I won't share because they're more personal (i.e. embarrassing), but I will write about one last thing I've felt prompted to do, and that is to share my testimony online. That is why I started writing these Sunday Sentiments back in February. I know I don't always have the most uplifting presence, but I do have some pretty strong gospel-related convictions, and I'm trying to share more of them. I don't know if the purpose is to help me or to help others or to help both... or maybe it's to leave something for my children someday... who knows. But I felt prompted to share more of my testimony in this way, so I've tried to act on that.
I believe that line that someone said... somewhere in the April General Conference. The Holy Ghost will nudge us toward things we need to do to improve our faith - sometimes gently, sometimes more forcefully. I am always grateful for any direction I receive, and I'm even more grateful when blessings flow from acting on the promptings of the Spirit.
