Enhancing Spiritual Communication

Life often confronts us with difficult decisions that cause us to become reliant on spiritual communication with God. Elder Richard G. Scott teaches us how to better enhance our spiritual interaction.

Fast, Pray and Seek. “When I am faced with a very difficult matter, this is how I try to understand what to do. I fast. I pray to find and understand scriptures that will be helpful. That process is cyclical. I start reading a passage of scripture; I ponder what the verse means and pray for inspiration. I then ponder and pray to know if I have captured all the Lord wants me to do. Often more impressions come with increased understanding of doctrine. I have found that pattern to be a good way to learn from the scriptures.”

Avoid Anger. “…yielding to emotions such as anger or hurt or defensiveness will drive away the Holy Ghost. Those emotions must be eliminated, or our chance for receiving revelation is slight.”

Be Careful with Humor. “Another principle is to be cautious with humor. Loud, inappropriate laughter will offend the Spirit. A good sense of humor helps revelation; loud laughter does not. A sense of humor is an escape valve for the pressures of life.”

Use Quiet Speech. “Another enemy to revelation comes from exaggeration or loudness in what is stated. Careful, quiet speech will favor the receipt of revelation.”

Use Good Health Practices. “…spiritual communication can be enhanced by good health practices. Exercise, reasonable amounts of sleep, and good eating habits increase our capacity to receive and understand revelation. We will live for our appointed life span. However, we can improve both the quality of our service and our well-being by making careful, appropriate choices.”

Avoid Distraction. “It is important that our daily activities do not distract us from listening to the Spirit.”

Through improving our spiritual communication with God, we will be better able to make correct decisions and develop a better relationship with Him.

*Quotes taken from Richard G. Scott’s, “How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for your Personal Life“, April 2012 General Conference

How to Increase Your Ability to Remember Names

Remembering the name of someone you have just met takes a conscious, consistent effort. You must make a commitment to remember their name. You can remember names if you want to and work at it.

Concentrate. When they tell you their name initially, focus on it. If you miss it or find a few seconds later that you've already forgotten it, say "I'm sorry, I missed your name. Can you give it to me again?" If you still have trouble with it, say, "I'm sorry, but would you spell that out for me?" After getting a grip on the name, focus to get a clear, detailed impression of the person. The more vividly you observe a person's physical characteristics, the more likely you are to remember them. By paying closer attention to the details around you, you will increase your skills of observation, improve your eye contact and increase your ability to remember the person.

Repeat. Repetition helps engrave the name in your memory. When you first hear the name, use it immediately, then repeat it silently to yourself. Use the name at least three times in your initial conversation. Do your best to use it occasionally in the conversation without overdoing it, and then use it again when leaving.

Associate. Associate their name with a unique feature of that person, such as a facial feature or physical attribute of some sort. It’s best to use something that is likely to be a permanent feature versus something that might change, like an article of clothing or piece of jewelry. Link the name and feature, and then visualize the connection.

Get Creative. Create a picture in your mind. What’s unique about that person? Make up a story about them in your mind, or create a rhythm that will help you remember that person’s name. 

Exercise Your Brain. Consistently exposing the brain to new things improves the brain’s ability to search and retrieve information efficiently. Similar to building muscle strength, the best way to strengthen memory is to provide the brain with regular work outs. Things such as a daily word search or a crossword puzzle, starting a new hobby, learning a foreign language or picking up a new musical instrument can help. These are all things that involve the brain thinking in new ways. They will not only improve memory, but overall brain health. 

All it takes to remember names is time and energy. It makes people feel important when you remember their name, and it opens the door to successful relationships.

What Type of Exercise is Recommended?

To have well rounded physical health it is important to do multiple types of exercise. These include cardio strengthening, weight training and stretching. Each type of exercise contributes to health in different areas of the body, and when all performed create a well-rounded exercise program.

Cardiovascular Exercise (Cardio)

Recommendations: Adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. Exercise recommendations can be met through 30-60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (five days per week) or 20-60 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise (three days per week). Moderate-intensity means you are working hard enough to raise your heart rate. One easy way to tell if it is moderate- intensity is if you can still talk while exercising but not sing. Some examples of moderate-intensity aerobic activity is walking fast or pushing a lawn mower. Examples of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity would be swimming laps, playing basketball, running, or playing singles tennis.

It is important to note, that even those who don’t meet these recommendations will still benefit from some activity. Also, it is okay to break up the requirements of cardio exercise to at least ten minute increments to accumulate the desired amount of exercise. 

Benefits of Cardiovascular Exercise: 

•  Improves overall health but especially heart health and decreases risk for heart disease
•  Lowers blood pressure, cholesterol, and LDLs 
•  Strengthens lungs and blood flow 
•  Increases quality of sleep 
•  Reduction in back pain
• Aids in weight loss
•  Increases life expectancy with regular cardiovascular exercise
• Physical exercise can increase levels of the brain's "feel good" chemical called serotonin, which can help a person feel happier and less depressed

Resistance Exercise (Weight Training)

Recommendations: Train each major muscle group (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms) two or three days each week for 20 minutes. It is best to wait at least 48 hours between resistance training sessions.

Benefits of Resistance Exercise:

• Protects muscle mass and bone health. 
•  After puberty, whether you are a man or a woman, you begin to lose about 1 percent of your bone and muscle strength every year.

•  Improves bone density and decreases risk for osteoporosis 
•  Improves posture 
•  Prevents disease 
•  More muscle built contributes to a higher metabolism

Flexibility Exercise (Stretching)

 

Recommendations: Adults should do flexibility exercises at least two or three days each week for 10-30 minutes. Studies have shown that holding a stretch for 30 seconds to the point of tightness is most effective, and holding a stretch for more than that will not likely exceed original benefits. Flexibility exercise is most effective if the muscle is already warm so it is best to do them after cardio or resistance exercises. 

Benefits of Flexibility Exercise:

• Improves range of motion which is lost as we age 
•  Improves balance and also contributes to muscular strength
•  Reduces muscle soreness
•  Improves blood circulation
•  Increases production of synovial fluid which is a lubricant for your joints

*These recommendations came from the ACSM and CDC.