In an April 2023 talk titled “Remember What Matters Most,” President Ballard spoke of following promptings and highlighted an example from his life.

“Late one cold, snowy winter evening, I was leaving my bishop’s office when I had a strong impression to visit an elderly widow in the ward,” he said. “I glanced at my watch — it was 10 p.m. I reasoned that it was too late to make such a visit. And besides, it was snowing. I decided to visit this dear sister first thing in the morning rather than disturbing her at such a late hour. I drove home and went to bed but tossed and turned throughout the night because the spirit was stirring me.

“Early the next morning, I drove straight to the widow’s home. Her daughter answered the door and tearfully said, ‘Oh, Bishop, thank you for coming. Mother passed away two hours ago’ — I was devastated. I will never forget the feelings of my heart. I wept. Who more than this dear widow deserved to have her bishop hold her hand, comfort her and perhaps give her a final blessing? I missed that opportunity because I reasoned away this strong prompting from the spirit.

“Brothers and sisters, young men and young women and Primary children, I testify that following the promptings of the spirit is one of the things that matter most in all our relationships.”

Ryan Comer, Standard-Examiner

The humility that President Ballard demonstrated by sharing that story has stuck with me. It takes a lot of courage to admit a moment, especially for an apostle in a setting like general conference, where one has fallen short.

But, of course, President Ballard had a purpose for sharing that anecdote, which was that when the Lord prompts us to do something for someone, we should do it, no matter how inconvenient it may be. We may not understand why we are given a prompting, but that’s only because our view is limited. A perfect Heavenly Father sees and knows everything, and we can trust that when he gives us a prompting to serve someone, it’s because he knows things that we can’t possibly know.

Following spiritual promptings and serving others was the theme of a Saturday morning address during the October general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ by Elder Gregorio E. Casillas, a member of the Seventy in the church.

Elder Casillas spoke of serving others in the context of being a disciple of Christ and assisting God in his work to bring his children back to him.

“What does our Heavenly Father desire from you? Do you understand that when you were in your premortal existence, Heavenly Father was preparing you for your life on earth?” Elder Casillas said. “Speaking to youth, President Russell M. Nelson taught, ‘Our Heavenly Father has reserved many of his most noble spirits — perhaps … his finest team — for this final phase.’ Because we have been reserved for these latter days, it is crucial for us to learn to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

“The Lord Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, and he knows his flock, and the flock knows its shepherd because ‘he calleth his own sheep by name.’ (John 10:2-4) He is always calling upon us, and he uses us, his ordinary servants, to help bring his children to him.”

Elder Casillas highlighted an example from his past where a prompting was followed, and he learned an important lesson from it.

“A while ago, a stake president and I were visiting members of the church in a local neighborhood. After we finished our scheduled visits, the stake president asked me if we could go see one more family. He felt impressed that we should talk with them.

“We knocked on the door, and a sister opened it. She looked at me, but she didn’t know who I was, so she didn’t express much. I pointed my hand toward the stake president, who greeted her by name. As soon as she heard and saw him, she rejoiced. Standing there at the door, they both hugged each other and cried together. This set the tone for our visit. We didn’t know that the sister had received chemotherapy the day before. She felt too weak to care for her adult son. So, I helped the stake president dress her son, and we put him in his wheelchair. We fed him the food that another sweet sister from the ward had brought earlier, and we helped with other tasks. Before we left their home, we were able to bless them.

“All that was going through my mind during this visit was a confirmation that Jesus Christ loves them deeply. He understands them and personally knows the pain of their unique situation. Almost the entire visit happened in silence. On this occasion, we did not give a big sermon or share our favorite scripture, but the Lord blessed us with his spirit abundantly.”

These two men did not know this woman’s situation exactly. Their view was limited. How easy it would have been to reason away the impression to visit her. They had just completed their scheduled visits. They no doubt had other responsibilities. Perhaps they were tired. They could have said, “Well, we’ll just give her a call tomorrow or sometime this week.” But God could see the whole picture. Because of that, he gave the stake president a prompting, and thankfully, the stake president followed it.

One of the challenges in life is the feeling of inadequacy. We see all the skills and talents other people have and we feel like we could never measure up. But a lesson I learned from Elder Casillas’ talk is that when it comes to doing the most important thing, which is assisting Heavenly Father in helping his children return to him, we all have unique gifts that can assist in that effort. We never need to worry about not being good enough, because Heavenly Father knows that we are, and he’s willing to help us.

“One of the greatest reasons your Heavenly Father sent you here at this time is so that you can realize your full potential,” Elder Casillas said. “‘Preach My Gospel’ teaches us that as disciples of Christ, we should avoid comparing ourselves to one another. Your spiritual abilities are unique, personal and innate, and your Heavenly Father wants to help you develop them. There will always be someone you can help feel the love of your Heavenly Father. Your potential is divine. While it’s certainly important to prepare yourself to succeed in this very competitive world, one of your crucial missions throughout your life is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ and to follow the impressions of the spirit. As you do this, God will bless your life, he will bless your current or future family and he will bless the lives of his children who you encounter.

“We live in a time of great opportunity. Although we face many difficulties, I know they are there in part to allow us to help others feel the love of our Heavenly Father. President Nelson taught, ‘In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the savior’s power that the world has ever seen.’ We have the privilege to watch over people who need a helping hand, an embrace, a feeling of comfort or for us simply to be with them in silence. If we can help lighten their burdens, even if only for a moment, then we will be able to see the great manifestations of the savior’s power in their lives.

“As disciples of Jesus Christ, Latter-day Saints can make a positive difference in the world. We can provide a sense of joy that is reflected in our countenance — a joy that we share with words of love and acts of kindness. Let us be good neighbors, good employers, good workers. Let us strive to be good Christians at all times.”

I remember when President Nelson spoke of seeing the greatest manifestations of the savior’s power. I remember thinking, “What a huge thing to say!” I wondered what it could mean, what kind of miracles or signs he might be referencing. It’s noteworthy to me that Elder Casillas spoke of that quote in the context of helping others. When we do that, we will see those great manifestations of the savior’s power in their lives. These experiences will testify to us of the truthfulness of what Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the church emphasized in an April 2024 general conference address: “God is our Heavenly Father, we are his children and Jesus Christ is our savior.”

As I have followed promptings and served others, and as others have followed promptings and served me, I have known that there is no possibility that the timing has been merely fortuitous. Heavenly Father knew what people on earth couldn’t possibly know and demonstrated his power by providing a prompting at the perfect moment.

Connecting helping others to helping others make covenants with Heavenly Father, Elder Casillas said, “The Lord has restored his gospel with the necessary ordinances so that Heavenly Father’s children can have all the promises that bind us to him. By helping our sisters and brothers in their daily challenges, let us also remember to help them make and keep these sacred promises with their Heavenly Father so that he in turn can promise them the richest blessings for this life and for eternity. These promises are only made possible through the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his priesthood keys.

“In other words, we can help others stay on the covenant path. Some of us deviate from the path from time to time, and so we must remember that for our Heavenly Father we always have the possibility of returning. Even if our course is not the most perfect, the savior always reminds us, ‘As oft as [we repent] and [seek] forgiveness, with real intent, [we will be] forgiven.’ (Moroni 6:8)

“One of the crafts of the adversary today is to make us think and believe that there is no way for us to change or that we no longer have hope. This destructive thinking causes many of us to stop trying. And it is at this moment when our love, our words of encouragement and support, our time and our help can give someone hope enough to try once more.”

Do we truly realize the impact that following promptings and helping others can have? Heavenly Father knows all of the struggles that each of his children have in staying on the covenant path. Again, our view in this is limited. Certain things don’t get told to us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still be useful for God in helping them overcome whatever challenges they might be facing. The question is: do we want to help? Are we open to helping Heavenly Father and being an instrument for him? This is a humbling question to ask. I realize when I ask myself that question how much work I have to do personally.

“Maybe you are thinking, ‘OK, but who ministers to me?'” Elder Casillas continued, “By going and blessing the lives of our brothers and sisters, we will collect testimonies that will fill our lives with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. These testimonies will revitalize us to try once more ourselves. The holy spirit will revive us and help us with renewed testimonies to continue with our own difficulties and personal trials. Whenever we seek to bless the lives of others, the Lord takes mercy upon us even more. He strengthens us and helps us in our lives.

“Please remember that the Lord Jesus Christ is your savior and understands you personally. He knows what it is to have to fulfill a calling and leave things behind to help the children of God. He has the power to bless you in everything if you believe in him and do not doubt.” (Alma 56:47, Alma 57:26)

This particular part of the talk really resonated with me because I have found myself thinking in the past, “But who misters to me?” A lot is said about ministering to others, but what if nobody is ministering to you? But I know that just because someone may not be ministering to me doesn’t mean other people don’t need to be ministered to. If I don’t minister to other people because nobody ministers to me, then by not ministering to other people, I’m giving them a reason to not minister to others. If I minister to others, and they see the blessings that come from that, perhaps they will be inspired to minister themselves.

So, if I’m not being ministered to, the way to fix that is literally by ministering to others, not by isolating myself. Plus, as Elder Casillas pointed out, we are ministered to when we minister to others because we collect testimonies that build our faith in Jesus Christ and revitalize us.

Sometimes we may think that our efforts aren’t appreciated or that we aren’t making much of a difference. We may be busy in our personal lives and think that it’s better to just focus on ourselves.

In my scripture study recently, I was reading in Moroni 9 from the Book of Mormon. This is an epistle from Mormon to his son Moroni in which Mormon laments the status of the Nephites. It’s a tough account to read, but it makes Mormon’s determination to continue serving his people and serving God all the more remarkable.

“For behold, I have had a sore battle with the Lamanites, in which we did not conquer; and Archeantus has fallen by the sword, and also Luram and Emron; yea, and we have lost a great number of our choice men.

“And now behold, my son, I fear lest the Lamanites shall destroy this people; for they do not repent, and Satan stirreth them up continually to anger one with another.

“Behold, I am laboring with them continually; and when I speak the word of God with sharpness they tremble and anger against me; and when I use no sharpness they harden their hearts against it; wherefore, I fear lest the Spirit of the Lord hath ceased striving with them.

“For so exceedingly do they anger that it seemeth me that they have no fear of death; and they have lost their love, one towards another; and they thirst after blood and revenge continually.

“And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.” (Moroni 9:2-6)

It’s hard to think of too many people who had more cause to become isolated and stop laboring to help other people than Mormon, yet he knew that he couldn’t. If he did, he would be “brought under condemnation.” The directive was clear, and it was to “conquer the enemy of all righteousness.” If Mormon could continue laboring despite his challenges, why can’t we?

All of this ties in neatly with the most recent “Come, Follow Me” lesson that members of The Church of Jesus Christ studied, which discussed Doctrine and Covenants 18.

“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

“And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

“And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10, 15-16)

Just how important is the worth of a soul to God?

“For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.

“And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.

“And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:11-13)

I need to remember how great an opportunity it is that I have to assist God in bringing souls back to him through ministering, and that because of his perfect knowledge and his desire to bring all souls back to him, he can and will prompt me to reach out to people who I otherwise might not think about.

Concluding his remarks, Elder Casillas said:

“My dear brothers and sisters, on that day when a priesthood leader felt impressed for us to visit a mother and a son that we did not have on our agenda, I proclaim that God knew they needed us. And at the end, I was the one who was ministered to. On that day, I received one of the greatest lessons of the savior’s love for us.

“I testify that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, that he lives, that he lived and died for you and me and that he was resurrected for you and me so that we can aspire to celestial reunions full of joy with those who are already on the other side of the veil. I know that he understands you and me perfectly. He understands each of our difficult moments, and he has the power to help us in those moments when we feel most vulnerable. I know that the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father appeared to Joseph Smith to restore the gospel in these days. I know that our dear prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, is a prophet of the Lord, and I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

Contact Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net. Follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rbcomer8388.