When the Spirit Speaks

Last week I had a certain friend on my mind  for quite a few days. I hadn't talked to her in a while but for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about her.

I happened to talk to her sister a few days later and during our small talk I asked her how her sister (my friend) was doing. She said she was doing great. That was good to hear but for some reason I still couldn't get her off of my mind. I didn't know why.

The very next day I woke up in the morning and pulled up my author blog. I was very shocked, confused and a bit embarrassed at the nameless post I found. I thought it was a prank. I had just spent the day before heavily promoting my author blog and this post was going to taint my professional reputation. A very personal post about someone's frustration with her husband and marriage was starring back at me. Whomever it was, was clearly in a state of depression and she spoke of unkind things about herself. It was very sad to read and I didn't know who had written it. At first I thought it was my friend who shares the blog with me. I reached out to her and she had no clue who had written it. Then I thought it was some kind of joke or that someone had hacked into our blog. I hurried and changed the password.

As the day wore on, I read through it again and noticed that this person stated the names of her children and their ages. As I thought about the names it finally clicked that this cry for help was from the very friend I had been thinking about all week - it was a match. She had posted this the night before - the day I was most concerned about her. But how did this post end up on my blog?

I realized instantly that it was the spirit who had sent her very words to me. The spirit wanted me to reach out to her but I wasn't putting any urgency into it as everything appeared to be okay. So, the spirit needed to show me exactly what was going on so that I would make it a priority and know how to help. I remembered that a week prior I had written her on facebook and asked her to troubleshoot a bug on my blog. She needed my username and password so she could take a look - she must have forgotten to log out.

Right away I went to go visit my friend and bring her a treat to cheer her up. I struggled about how I was going to share with her what had happened without making it awkward for her. She didn't answer the door so I left the treat on her porch and called her. She didn't answer the phone so I left her a message. Later she called me to thank me for the treat - I asked her how she was doing and she said she was fine. It was then I told her what had happened and that I knew.

My friend began to profusely apologize and said that it was an accident. She kept a private online journal and didn't realize she was still logged into my blog. Realizing that her private plea for help had been so very public really worried her. I assured her that I had taken it down early in the morning and I doubted anyone had seen it. I then told her it was a good thing because the spirit had been trying to tell me all week but I wasn't understanding - so this needed to happen. I told her that my heart ached for her and I wanted to help. She became emotional and in her tear filled voice told me that she had been suffering from depression and was having a very hard day that day (the day I asked her sister how she was doing). She thanked me for asking and being so willing to help - and though there was nothing she felt I could do for her at the moment at least she knew that I was aware and that her Heavenly Father was aware and that we both cared.

This was an amazing testimony builder for me that the spirit speaks to us often even when we think it's just our own thoughts and we brush them off.  I don't believe in coincidences and I believe that our thoughts are not always our own. When the spirit speaks we need to act and if we don't we might be missing out on a very important opportunity to help someone. If we are trying to act on a thought or prompting but we don't know how or we don't understand it, we can pray to know what to do. In my case the spirit needed to speak in a very loud way to get my attention. When the spirit speaks - heed the prompting. You may never know what resulted from your efforts or in my case you may have some intense revelation - either way you will be blessed and you will be blessing others.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Prayer and Protection

The other night my youngest daughter Cambrey woke up at 3:30 A.M screaming my name. I ran into her room to see what the matter was. It was the worst screaming I had ever heard, almost as if someone was trying to kidnap her.

I ran into the room, hit the light and she reached up for me. I asked her what the matter was and she replied, "A monster vampire was in my room." I asked where he was and she said that he came out of the closet and went back in when I came.

It's my job as a mom to believe what my children tell me and I believed her. What ever it was had terribly frightened her. These things always tend to happen at 3:30 A.M. from my personal experience. I believe that evil can manifest in real life and in dreams - either way, I knew this was real and I needed to do something.

I checked the closet just to make sure and then I asked her if we should say a prayer and she happily said, "yes". I asked her to say it and my two year old said the most amazing prayer I have ever heard her speak. She was wide awake, very alert and spoke very clearly. She prayed that she would be safe from the monster and protected. After the prayer was over she said I could go back to bed and I could turn out her light. Talk about faith.

She happily went right back to bed as did I, and everyone slept peacefully until morning.

I know that calling on the Lord in prayer and asking for protection, works. If we have the faith that our prayer will be answered - it will. My two year old can testify without a doubt that Heavenly Father listens and answers. I say this in Jesus' name amen.

My New Bestselling ebook!

Just had to put in a plug for my new book The Realm!It was just released as an ebook on Monday and is already a #2 bestseller in it's category! The reviews have been amazing so far. The best part is, it's FREE on Amazon until Friday the 12th!!

The Realm:Secrets Unlocked is a Young Adult series based on true events that happened within my family. Combined with the components of romance, paranormal activity and suspense  it's a story that will leave you on the edge of your seat after each chapter.

Here's the summary:

Meet Celeste Day, a beautiful college hopeful who may look like your average girl next door - but in her cozy New England town she’s been harboring a lifelong gift and deep secret that is about to be exposed. Being raised in a family where image is everything, her whole world is about to be turned upside down overnight as Celeste decides to take the summer off to "fix herself". When the good looking and mysterious “Ezra” moves to town things only get more complicated as Celeste is confronted by secrets from her past, unexplained phenomenon and dark paranormal forces beyond her control. Saving her reputation and proving her sanity is the least of her worries when she quickly learns she is a part of something much bigger than she could have ever imagined - something that will forever alter her future and change the world…and there is no turning back!

Written by best selling author Lindsey K. Rietzsch, this story is not your typical young adult paranormal romance. Based on true events, The Realm will take you on an incredible journey to another world that will forever change the way you think about life after death.

Click on the book cover below to get your free download. Please share with your friends and leave a review on Amazon. Thanks so much!!

Hastening the Work - My Own Little Journey

I attended the worldwide leadership training yesterday on "Hastening the Work". It was at the stake center and there were only enough there to fill the chapel. It was an invitation for all members to attend if they wanted to, but it seems like only those with leadership callings were there. I can never pass up a chance to hear the prophet and apostles speak - so I had to go.

Between the lessons in church and this broadcast, yesterday was very interesting indeed! There were so many "coincidences" that happened, it really seems as though the Lord was preparing me for this message. At the end of the day, I felt the overwhelming desire to be a missionary!

Here's the link to the broadcast below. There were so many beautiful stories shared and I received so much revelation as to what I need to be personally doing to help build the kingdom of God. What a powerful testimony that this work is real and the leaders of the church are truly called of God.

I'm so excited and I've already put together a plan of what I'm going to do to help out the Lord. Now that I've replaced all of my afternoon time with things that are more meaningful and eternal, I feel a huge sense of joy and purpose. I sense great things around the corner. Stay tuned as I'll be sharing my experiences with you :)


http://www.lds.org/church/news/members-and-missionaries-to-partner-in-work-of-salvation?CID=HPL2P01W01032&lang=eng

My Newest Project - How You Can Help

This is an exciting novel that I just finished writing - it's about good vs. evil. The story behind why I wrote it is almost as good as the story itself. I think this is a great way to get people interested in learning more about the reality of good vs. evil in our world and how it effects us in ways we could have never imagined. It's quite the eye opener for most people.

The best part is - it's based on real events that happened to my family and people I know. I plan for it to be a trilogy. With vampires, witchcraft, mythology and violence popularizing young adult fiction today - I am hoping this book will be a refreshing change!

You can click here to check it out - if you'd like to help me get this book published please share this link! Thanks so much!!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1301308256/the-realm-an-intense-fiction-novel-based-on-true-e

A Link I Reccommend

Here is a link I came across today to a Mormon Belief Wiki that covers a wealth of insight and information about Mormon beliefs. You can order FREE Bibles, Book of Mormons and DVDs. Check out the link and share! 

http://www.religionresourcesonline.org/religious-beliefs-wiki/mormon-beliefs/Mormon_Beliefs

Success and Failure

For the last few months I have missed attending Relief Society on Sunday's due to baby blessings, family birthdays and getting asked to sub in primary. Finally, last Sunday was going to be a Sunday where I could attend - I was thrilled!

Then, I got asked to sub primary. Caught of guard I didn't know what else to say but - yes. It wasn't until a few minutes later I remembered that my mom was coming up to visit and she was going to spend the night and go to church with us - and I wanted to go to Relief Society with her. So, I went to my friend's house and apologized and let her know I wasn't going to be able to sub. She was very kind about it and I felt a sense of guilt (like I was being selfish) and had to remind myself that I sub every month and it was okay to let someone else have the opportunity to sub. I really felt like I was supposed to go to RS on Sunday and I couldn't ignore that feeling.

Now I know why I was supposed to go. It was lesson written just for me! When the lesson began, our teacher wrote the words "success" and "failure" on the board. She then asked if anyone wanted to share an experience they have had with success or failure. The first thing that came to my mind was."Well, I wrote an entire book about this - which experience should I share?"

Then the RS president who is also my neighbor said, "Did you know that Lindsey wrote a book called Successful Failures? I'm so glad I read it because it helped me to understand why certain things happened in my life the way that they did and learning to seek the will of the Lord."

The teacher didn't know about my book, but I felt a little sheepish because lately I sure could use my own advice. You see, lately I have struggled as I see things that I have no control over (but I have invested so much blood, sweat and tears into) never reach fruition. It's hard not to feel like a failure. It's hard not feel frustrated especially when I have entrusted those projects into other people's hands, and I no longer have much of a say. It's hard when other people are relying on me and those projects to be successful so that it can bless them (as they too have invested so much blood, sweat and tears into my projects). It's hard when I know that the Spirit prompted me to take on those projects and led me to those people to involve them and things just are working out how I hoped. It's really hard to chew on.

I try my best to look for the good, remain positive and remember everything I wrote in my book. Sometimes though, I feel like I need to hear an answer from God Himself in order to feel better. That's what happened with this lesson.

The first quote from the lesson (the Lorenzo Snow Manual) that stood out was, "when we seek God's will, we follow a course in which there will be no failure". Yes, our vision of failure is much different than God's. If I have been following the promptings of the Spirit and seeking God's will, how can I be frustrated? If I have become frustrated than it's because I have been seeking my own will.

I think sometimes, I just hope and assume that God's will and my will are the same. Because my desires are righteous, our wills should be the same - right? How easily we forget that God knows everything, he sees the big picture and everything that we can't see or understand.

My mom told me that I still need to be positive and have faith that the things that I ask for will come to pass - because without faith that God will answer my prayers, He can't answer them. At first that seemed to contradict itself. If I am having faith that he will grant my will - well, what about His will? What if they are not the same? I truly believe that I need to put my faith in His will. I can still ask for things but at the same time put my faith in Him, that however He chooses to answer my prayers is okay with me because I trust His will. So, rather than putting my faith in the things that I want and that they will happen the way I want them to, I need to put my faith in God that he hears my prayers and will give me what's best for me on His timetable.

This lesson helped remind me that if I seek to build the kingdom in EVERYTHING I do, His will and mine will be come more closely aligned. Another quote I enjoyed was, "As we obey God's will, He gives us power to succeed in His work."

Yes, this lesson was exactly what I needed to hear. Sometimes we know things inside and out but we just need gentle reminders along the way. We are human and we get forgetful.

I know that God has a wonderful plan for all of us, and if we seek to know what it is and we ask for guidance, we will see
success happen in our lives. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.