The Holy Ghost

I was asked to speak at a baptism back in February.  It was our wards turn to do the talks, so Brother Peterson called me and my team teacher to ask if we would speak.  It made sense, we teach one of the little girls who was getting baptized.  I found this little talk on the Holy Ghost on Pinterest that I thought would be perfect:

I was so nervous on the day of the Baptism.  I do not like to get up infront of people.  I was to talk second.  My team teacher talked about Baptism.  She did a wonderful job.  Then it was my turn.  I started to speak, and my voice was shaky, and hands and legs were shaky.  I started speaking really fast.  Then when it came to share my Grandpa Zollingers experienc of when he received a warning from the Holy Ghost, I started to speak slower and was calmer.  My Grandpa's experience is very poweful.  Here it is:

I want to share a story about my Grandfather.  My grandpa liked to deer hunt, but wasn’t doing it as much as he used too.  One day he had heard one neighbor after another tell of their success with their deer hunts.  My Grandpa thought to himself that he would get in his jeep and go up Dry Canyon to see what he could do in just a few hours.  There was a lot of snow on the ground where he had to leave the jeep.  So he started climbing up the slope of the mountain.  He was constantly looking into the trees to see if he could spot a deer.  The sun was starting to set, so he had to push as hard as could while hiking up the mountain. 

Finally he spotted a deer lying down under a tree.  He sat down steadied his gun on his knee and shot.  My Grandpa knew he had hit the deer because it jumped up and hobbled off down the hill.  His better judgment told him to sit down and let the deer stiffen up and lay down, but instead of doing that he kept thinking of the time and thought he could get close enough to the deer to get off another shot.  So my Grandpa followed the deer nearly all the way down the canyon, then crossed over and went up the south slope of Logan Canyon.  It was there that my Grandpa was able to get another shot off killing the deer.    He cleaned the deer, and then wondered what he would do with it.  The sun was nearly down and his jeep was at least 2 miles up the canyon.  He thought should I leave him on the steep mountain; or go get the jeep and come back another day to get the deer? 

My Grandfather studied the area around him.  He could see two rocky ridges- one on each side of the hollow he was in.  Those ridges angled down toward each other forming a long V.  It looked like they never did meet at the bottom, but left a narrow pathway between.  As far as I could see there was a clean, unbroken path all the way to the bottom where the Logan River flowed.  My Grandfather remembered another time when he shot an elk near the summit of Mt. Logan and was able to ride it to the bottom by sitting on its body, pulling its head back and holding on the antlers while holding his gun in the other hand.

This looked like the answer.  He would ride it to the bottom, cross the river and hail a ride home and pick up his jeep tomorrow.  My grandfather dragged the buck into the bottom of the hollow, got hold of an antler, and oh, what a ride!  As they shot toward the opening of the V, my grandpa distinctly heard a voice say only one word.  “JUMP” Instantly he threw his gun and grabbed a limb of a shrub as he shot by.  The speed that he was going stretched him straight out.  He pulled himself up to a sitting position.  He couldn’t see the deer sliding down the narrow path.  Where was it?  My Grandfather crawled back up and got his gun and then started sliding on his backside down the path the deer had taken.  About 50 feet beyond the point where he had jumped off the dear, he found himself looking over a 50 to 60 foot cliff.  The deer was lying on a rock pile far below.  My Grandpa probably would have been killed if he hadn’t listened to that prompting from the Holy Ghost warning him of danger.  I’m so thankful for my Grandpa’s example in listening to the Holy Ghost so he could be safe, and that the Holy Ghost kept him safe.

I finished by sharing my testimony about the Holy Ghost.  I felt great when I was done and could sit down.  I'm so thankful to have the Holy Ghost in my life.  I'm grateful to have him testify to me when things are right, warn me when I'm in danger, and give me a red light when I need to stop what I'm doing and do something else.