Turn Around and They're Gone
Youth and Communication
By Cherie Logan
Adult Conversation
Then I started asking her friends. I don't know if their answers were the result of puberty or of school-taught situation ethics but every one of them was unsure.
"Can blind people drive?"
"Yes, with a seeing eye dog. The dog tells them when the light is green."
"If they wanted to, sure."
"I don't know, I guess so."
One young girl was so convinced that blind people could drive that I had to point blank say, "No! They cannot."
"How do you know?" she challenged.
"Because to get a license, they have to pass an eye test."
When Chamrie entered the teen era, she was with me in our only car. We turned down our street and she said, "Dad's gone." When I inquired how she knew, she calmly explained that the van was not in the driveway.
Ben on the other hand didn't start saying silly things. Instead he developed this sly smile that said volumes about what was going on in his head. We have so enjoyed our children as they have matured.
One of the things that is both a joy and a frustration for parents is when their youth begins to join in on adult conversation. These teens want to run off and play less and less. They hang around and listen. They begin to add their thoughts and experiences into the conversation.
The frustrating part is that it takes a while to learn the skill of mutual conversation. The joy comes as you sit back and think that this intelligent and friendly person is your son or daughter. The frustration comes when your youth talks too loud, too fast, and appears too self absorbed. The joy comes as your dear one opens up and discusses concepts of interest to your peers.
Heavenly Father has given parents these particular years in their teens' lives, not for some tiresome generation gap conflict, but to assist the transition from child to adult through the loving and laughing sociality of those they have trusted for so long.
A Visual Lesson on Communication Types
Collect several popular church pictures to show different ways to communicate with Heavenly Father and with others. Here are the pictures we used and how each was presented.
The picture of the brilliant blue-eyed Christ praying. Some of the people are visual and looking upwards, some are feeling and looking downwards, some are hearing and looking straight on or with cocked head.
Joseph Smith seeing Angel Moroni both in grove and also in his bedroom. Notice that Joseph is both visual and auditory. He is looking upward and tilting head.
Moroni praying before burying the plates is a very visual prayer position. It is as if he can see right into Heaven. Visual prayer can be done with eyes opened or closed. With the eyes closed it is internal visual and with eyes open it could be either internal or external visual depending on if the mind sees the picture or the physical eyes.
Nephi and his family on boat praying for an end to their journey. Lehi is in a visual position, Sarai is in a feeling feeling position and Nephi appears very auditory or listening.
The picture of Christ praying at the log in the in Garden shows a highly visual experience.
The picture of Christ washing feet shows everybody in the feeling mode.
To learn more about communication types please see my NLP pages.
Receiving Revelation
What is Revelation? My definition: Prayer is Man's talking to Heavenly Father and Revelation is Heavenly Father's talking to Man. Without both, conversation and communication does not occur.
Who gets revelation and why? All of us get revelation. We cannot be saved in the Eternities without it.
see REVELATION in the Bible Dictionary pp. 762 (I quote:)
"Divine revelation is one of the grandest concepts and principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for without it, man could not know of the things of God and could not be saved with any degree of salvation in the Eternities. Continuous revelation from God to his saints, through the Holy Ghost or by other means, such as vision, dreams, or visitations, makes possible daily guidance along true paths and leads the faithful soul to complete and eternal salvation in the celestial kingdom. The principle of gaining knowledge by revelation is the principle of salvation. It is the making known of divine truth by communication with the heavens, and consists not only of revelation of the plan of salvation to the Lord's prophets but also a confirmation in the hearts of the believers that the revelation to the prophets is true. It also consists of individual guidance for every person who seeks for it and follows the prescribed course of faith, repentance, and obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. "The Holy Ghost is a revelator," said Joseph Smith, and 'no man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations' (ch 6:58) Without revelation, all would be guesswork, darkness and confusion."
Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve in a talk entitled "How to Get Personal Revelation" stated: "What I desire to point attention to is the fact that revelation is not restricted to the prophet of God on earth. The visions of eternity are not reserved for Apostles - they are not reserved for the General Authorities. Revelation is something that should be received by every individual." "He says later in the article "Now I say that we are entitled to revelation. I say that every member of the Church, independent and irrespective of any position that he may hold, is entitled to get revelation from the Holy Ghost; he is entitled to entertain angels; he is entitled to view the visions of eternity; and if we would like to go the full measure, he is entitled to see God the same way that any prophet in literal and actual reality has seen the face of Deity." (End quote)
How can you tell when the Lord answers your prayers?
If it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. D&C 9:8
This is not the only way the Spirit may work upon the children of men. Here is a list of the different forms of revelation.
Dreams, Seeing God, Visions, Visits by Angels, Memory restored of beyond the veil, Inspiration, Revealed to you, Manifest it, Spirit will show it, Shown, Unveil, Understanding, Visitation.
Scriptures, Prophecy, Testimony, Still small voice, Knowledge, Shepherds voice, Wisdom, Music,
Music, Feeling in Bosom, Confidence, Peace, Chills, Shakes, Strength taken, Tingling, Overcome by Spirit.
Which one is most important? Which experience is of greater value? The one which is most important is the one we receive. That is the one of personal value.
As we heard in one conference talk, a feeling of the Holy Ghost will accompany the revelations of God. We do need to recognize that the intensity of those feelings are very different among individuals and help our children to recognize the feeling within them. Auditory children of God must listen very carefully as the feeling tends to be very quiet.
Teaching our
youth to
recognize revelation is an important and sometimes difficult
task.
I have found in talking to many people who have grown up in active LDS
families that there is a common sense of not being sure if they have
ever
had a witness of the truth. They feel that they have never felt
the
Holy Ghost when in reality they have lived in a home where he dwells
and
they have become so accustomed to following that familiar feeling that
they do not recognize that it is the Holy Ghost. In essence they
have come close to being of one mind and one heart with God, at least
in
some things that their thoughts and feelings are His. Thus I
teach
my children that the purpose of revelation is to become of ONE HEART
and
ONE MIND with God. That we should be more aware when the Spirit
is
GONE than even when it is HERE. That we want to notice when the
Spirit
is STRONGER, but not that it is ever gone.
I have been
told
how lucky we are who are converts to the Church because we know what it
is like to be without and then to have. That we really appreciate
the blessings of the Gospel because of that comparison. Although
I am a convert my husband and all of my children have been born in Good
Homes under covenant to the Lord. I testify that theirs is the
greater
blessing and they only need to be able to Recognize the Spirit and not
to Find the Spirit.
5.
Importance
of believing and accepting revelation. (It brings more revelation)
Joseph Smith on P.
151
of Teachings, said and I quote "A person may profit by noticing the
first
intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel
pure
intelligence flowing into you. It may give you sudden strokes of
ideas. So that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same
day or soon; (i.e..) those things that were presented unto your minds
by
the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the spirit
of
God and understanding it you may grow into the principle of revelation,
until you become perfect in Christ Jesus" end quote.
Familiarity
with Revelation
thins the veil
President
Joseph
F. Smith in Gospel Doctrine
Begin Quote: page
12
Spirit Memories:
Our
knowledge of persons and things before we came here, combined with the
divinity awakened within our souls through obedience to the gospel,
powerfully
affects in my opinion, all our likes and dislikes, and guides our
preferences
in the course of this life, provided we give care full heed to the
admonitions
of the Spirit...If Christ knew beforehand, so did we. But in
coming
here we forgot all, that our agency might be free indeed, to choose
good
or evil, that we might merit the reward of our own choice and
conduct.
but by the power of the Spirit, in the redemption of Christ through
obedience,
we often catch a spark from the awakened memories of the immortal soul,
which lights up our whole being as with the glory of our former home."
page 430:
Close Relation of
the
Next Life: "I believe they (from the spirit world) do have the
privilege
of looking down upon us...I believe they are as deeply interested in
our
welfare today, if now with greater capacity, with far more interest,
behind
the veil, than they were in the flesh. I believe they know more;
I believe their minds have expanded beyond their comprehension in
mortal
life, and their interests are enlarged and expanded in the works of the
Lord to which they gave their lives and their best service.
Although
some may feel and think that it is a little extreme to take this view,
yet I believe that it is true; and I have a feeling in my heart that I
stand in the presence not only of the Father and of the Son, but in the
presence of those whom God commissioned, raised up, and inspired, to
lay
the foundations of the work in which we are engaged.
...If we can
see,
by the enlightening influence of the Spirit of God and through the
words
that have been spoken by the holy prophets of God, beyond the veil that
separates us from the spirit world, surely those who have passed
beyond,
can see more clearly through the veil back here to us than it is
possible
for us to see to them from our sphere of action. I believe we
move
and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of
heavenly
beings. We are not separated from them....(they) who can
see
us better than we can see them - that they know us better than we know
them. I claim that we live in their presence, they see us, they are
solicitous
for our welfare, they love us now more than ever."
Nature of
Ministering
Angels: "...In like manner our fathers and mothers, brothers sisters
and
friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and
worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given
them
to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing
from
the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and
instructions,
to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh. and so it is
with Sister Cannon. (this was spoken at her funeral) She can return and
visit her friends, provided it be in accordance with the wisdom
of
the Almighty. there are laws to which they who are in the
Paradise
of god must be subject, as well as laws to which we are subject.
It is our duty to make ourselves acquainted with those laws, that we
may
know how to live in harmony with his will while we dwell in the flesh,
that we may be entitled to come forth in the morning of the first
resurrection,
clothed with glory, immortality and eternal lives, and be permitted to
sit down at the right hand of God, in the kingdom of heaven. And
except we become acquainted with those laws, and live in harmony with
them,
we need not expect to enjoy these privileges;...
These are correct principles. There is no question about that in
my mind. It is according to the Scriptures; it is according to
the
revelation of god to the Prophet Joseph Smith; and it is a subject
upon
which we may dwell with pleasure and perhaps profit ourselves, provided
we have the Spirit of God to direct us.
End Quote
To learn more about communication methods please see my articles on NLP.
Turn
Around
and They're Gone
Preparing
Our Youth For Adulthood
God's
Commandments and Parents' Rules
Scripture
Study with Teens
Service
the Real Job
Young
Adults and Still At Home
Youth
and Communication
Protecting
and Preparing Personal Temples
Did
You
Say Dating?
Every
Young Man
Marriage
For Eternity
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