in spite of the other noises

David A. Bednar: I once was traveling to a stake conference assignment on a small and noisy commuter airplane. Seated in the row just in front of me on the plane was a woman with three young children ranging in age from an infant to a four-year-old. Because the plane had only two seats on each side of the center aisle, the mother was situated quite some distance from her oldest child, a cute little boy who obviously was flying on an airplane for the very first time. His nose was pressed firmly against the window so he would have a good view of everything that was taking place, and he delighted in describing what he was seeing to his mother as the engines started and as we taxied down the runway for takeoff. The little boy’s eyes were wide and his voice was full of excitement as the plane climbed into the sky.

During all of this time, however, the mother was busy with the two youngest children, getting them buckled into their seats, finding toys, and responding to their needs and requests. The mother consistently had been responding to the little boy’s enthusiastic exclamations in a calm, soothing voice. But because of the noise of the engines and the clatter of the small airplane, the little boy could not hear his mother’s responses. After we had been in the air for about five minutes, and thinking that his mother was not paying adequate attention to him, the little boy blurted out, "Mom, you’re not listening to me!"

I then observed a very interesting thing. The wise mother continued to respond and talk to her son in the same calm tones, never raising her voice. Eventually the little boy was able to hear his mom’s voice in spite of the engine and other noises on the plane. The mother’s voice did not change; rather, the little boy’s ability to hear her voice in the midst of the noise increased. It took some time, but the little boy learned how to block out the distracting noises around him and focus upon the familiar voice of his mother.

Brothers and sisters, as we desire and invite the Holy Ghost into our lives and learn to heed simple promptings quickly, we too can block out the distracting noises of the world and clearly focus upon the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

(“Receiving, Recognizing, and Responding to

the Promptings of the Holy Ghost,”
Ricks College Devotional, August 31, 1999)