From David Butler’s book “Spirit, that Gift that Connects You to Heaven.”
Once upon a time in a true story that goes something like this, President Boyd K. Packer was on a Church assignment to organize a stake where Adolf Hitler once had a headquarters. The Hitler part is an unneeded part, but I love the irony part of it so much I had to include it. It was time for a new kind of king and kingdom in that place—time for miracles to replace misery. Anyway after the stake conference, Elder Packer needed to take a train to another place in Germany. Two missionaries helped him and his wife get their tickets and get all situated on the right train. Just as the train was pulling away, one of the missionaries had a thought and yelled up to Elder Packer, “Wait, do you have any German money?” He shook his head, so the missionary ran alongside the train, dug into his pocket, and handed Elder Packer a twenty mark note through the window, and away they went. This was a sketchy time in history, when feelings in East Germany were not as happy as they are today, and at two in the morning a large burly soldier came into the Packers train compartment demanding their tickets and passports. After looking at their passports the military man started to talk angrily toward them in German. He kept leaving and coming back and yelling in more German. (Why does yelling in German sound so much scarier than in other languages??) Soon the Packers figured out that they had new regulations and there was a problem with Sister Packer’s passport. Not knowing what to do, suddenly a thought came to Elder Packer’s mind. He remembered the twenty mark note from the missionary and handed it to the grumpy man. The man looked at it for a second, snatched it from Elder Packer’s hands, handed back the passports, and moved on. Elder Packer didn’t think much of it until he got to Berlin and told the story to a Church member who picked them up from the train station. The man got somber real quick and explained to them how dangerous of a situation they had actually been in. He was shocked and surprised that they hadn’t been arrested, put in jail, or kicked off the train in the middle of the night somewhere in a scary neighborhood in East Germany —thus no money, no cell phones, and no way of knowing what to do. It was a miracle that the soldier had let them stay on the train.9
Even though the yelling German captain is the most dramatic part of the story, the most interesting part of the story is from the perspective of the missionary.
When President Packer remembered the story, he recognized the direction and help of the Spirit.
Surely the missionary had been prompted to give him that money so the Packers wouldn’t have to hitchhike through East Germany. But what does the missionary’s side or the story look like? . . . . .
. . . . . Sometimes we live our life story from President Packer’s side, and we quickly get confirmation that some of those particular thoughts and impressions were from the Spirit. But from my experience, most of the time I am on the side of the missionary—running alongside of a train, digging money out of my pocket, and always wondering the same thing he probably did: IS THIS THE SPIRIT?
Lucky for us, in this story, we happen to know who that missionary was and what he learned from the experience. His name was Elder David A. Bednar, and he handed that money to President Packer about thirty years before they served in the Quorum or the Twelve together. Wild, huh? In a question and answer devotional I attended, someone asked Elder Bednar that age-old mystery—“How do we recognize the Holy Spirit in our lives and tell the difference between Him and our own thoughts?” I heard Elder Bednar tell that story about the train. He told us he DID wonder about that day, and for many years after, if that had been his own thought or the Spirit. But then he taught us a truth he said he wished he’d known earlier in life. And this is it:
You are making this too hard — It didn’t matter.
It didn’t matter? I thought. Doesn’t it? Wouldn’t that be important to know? In another setting he said something similar and taught that we really over-complicate the issue. He said simply,
“If You have a thought to do something GOOD it is prompted by the Holy Ghost.” 10
How about that for a short and sweet response to one of the most-asked questions in the Church? As we sit there and wonder, all that we can do is to think to ourselves”: If it is good, it comes from God. That is going to be our first lesson in recognizing the Spirit. He is good. And he is overly generous (or anything like that), we can know comes from Him.
Now, there are lots of things that can make us feel good that are not from God. You might have someone in your math class that you think you would really like to punch in the face. Or maybe you think that viewing pornography will cause “good feelings” to your body, We cannot always trust our feelings. So what does Elder Bednar mean by “good?
One of my favorite scriptures on what ‘good” means is in the Doctrine and Covenants. It is a revelation that came to Hyrum Smith, Joseph’s big brother, when he wanted to know how he could help in the work. When Hyrum was to get out spreading the good word, first the Lord told him to hold his horses for a minute because it wasn’t quite to time go preaching, but in the waiting time there was something he could learn to do—trust in the Spirit. It is good to know that spiritual heros like Hyrum also needed some training on how to trust the Spirit. “Verily, verily I say unto you, PUT YOUR TRUST IN THAT SPIRIT WHICH LEADETH TO DO GOOD—-yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit. . . , which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy” (Doctrine and Covenants 11: 12-13).
These verses are a fantastic explanation of how to learn to trust if a feeling is of the Spirit . . . ,The definition of “good.” Take a look at some of the words. If a feeling comes from the Spirit, it will lead you to be just. Just means to be righteous—to have a conscious clear of offense toward God and other people. To be in a right relationship with God and others. It will make you feel humble. Humility is the opposite of pride. Pride is folding your arms, turning you back, and arguing with God. Will you have to argue with God after you do what you do? Will it make you more comfortable to turn you back and hide? If it is good, it can be done in front of God. The Lord told Hyrum the Spirit will also lead you to judge righteously—–to ask yourself the question:
“What would Jesus do in this Moment?”
If you can picture Him doing it, then it is good. Moroni told us all how to judge in this way. He said, “Wherefore, all things which are good cometh from God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and doeth that which is evil continually. But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God” (Moroni 7:12-13).
Simple, right? All of these ways of living, the Lord said, will enlighten your mind and fill your soul with joy. Thinking of doing them will bring bright thoughts and you will feel a closeness with the Lord and others. That is what it means to be good and do good.
I have also always loved that the Lord’s counsel to Hyrum was to trust in his Spirit. Meaning IT WAS GOING TO TAKE FAITH to do it. We only trust something when we don’t know or can’t see. If we know and can see for sure, it isn’t called trust.
~~David Butler, “Spirit, that Gift that Connects You to Heaven.” (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2020) p. 29-32
