Busy Monday, Including Sewing Projects!

 This morning as I was immersed in Scripture study, there was a quote that caught my attention.

This is the quote, and it is a LONG one!  The speaker was Elder Ronald Rasband from a General Conference in Salt Lake City in 2017.

"Fourth, we must act on the first prompting.

"Remember the words of Nephi. “I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless,” he said, “I went forth.”

"And so must we. We must be confident in our first promptings. Sometimes we rationalize; we wonder if we are feeling a spiritual impression or if it is just our own thoughts. When we begin to second-guess, even third-guess, our feelings—and we all have—we are dismissing the Spirit; we are questioning divine counsel. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that if you will listen to the first promptings, you will get it right nine times out of ten.

"Now a caution: don’t expect fireworks because you responded to the Holy Ghost. Remember, you are about the work of the still, small voice.

"While serving as a mission president in New York City, I was with some of our missionaries in a restaurant in the Bronx. A young family came in and sat near us. They appeared golden for the gospel. I watched our missionaries as they continued to visit with me, then noticed as the family concluded their meal and slipped out the door. Then I said, “Elders, there’s a lesson here today. You saw a lovely family come into this restaurant. What should we have done?”

"One of the elders spoke up quickly: “I thought about getting up and going over to talk to them. I felt the nudge, but I didn’t respond.”

"“Elders,” I said, “we must always act on our first prompting. That nudge you felt was the Holy Ghost!”

"First promptings are pure inspiration from heaven. When they confirm or testify to us, we need to recognize them for what they are and never let them slip past. So often, it is the Spirit inspiring us to reach out to someone in need, family and friends in particular. “Thus … the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things,” points us to opportunities to teach the gospel, to bear testimony of the Restoration and Jesus Christ, to offer support and concern, and to rescue one of God’s precious children.

"Think of it as being what is called a first responder. In most communities the first responders to a tragedy, disaster, or calamity are firefighters, police officers, paramedics. They arrive with lights flashing, and may I add, we are so incredibly grateful for them. The Lord’s way is less obvious but requires just as immediate a response. The Lord knows the needs of all His children—and He knows who is prepared to help. If we let the Lord know in our morning prayers that we are ready, He will call on us to respond. If we respond, He will call on us time and time again and we will find ourselves on what President Monson calls “the Lord’s errand.” We will become spiritual first responders bringing help from on high."

As I was reading this a thought came into my mind.  I decided it was the still small voice trying to help me have a good day and become productive.  As a result, I leaped out of my chair when I was done studying, put on clothes and socks and shoes, and headed out on foot to the closest store to get some milk.  I had two options and found milk at the closest store!  Within an hour I was home again and got some yogurt started in the Instant Pot.  This was just regular milk, not ultra-pasteurized.  It looks like it worked. It is now chilling in the refrigerator.  One productive item from the To Do list I make each day in my electronic journal (I use Day One and love it!).  That made me happy.

The second productive  item from my whispered list-- Today was the day to make a zippered bag for a small knitting project.  I ended up making three.  All of them are not that great, but they are all small bags and they do have zippers and "handles" on each of them.

The sunflower bag was first, then blue, then floral.  They all have issues but they all work.  

The third bag was more or less from this reel.  I made some of my own changes--mainly I did a French seam at the ends instead of sewing on strips of fabric to enclose the seams.

Making these bags makes me want to figure out a good bag. I used fat quarters for these, though the floral bag came from two half-yard cuts so I made my own fat quarters.