Holy Ghost

The Apostle also answered the question, “What is the greatest thing you can do for your children?”

“We know that the space between His arms has been consecrated through His loving, atoning sacrifice, as a place for us.”

While living in Russia and struggling to find purpose, Morgan Choi couldn’t shake the thought of a children’s book about the Book of Mormon.

God gave me a late-night thought that led to my son’s life-changing diagnosis. But I couldn't figure out how I "earned" this significant prompting.

Ariana and Briana Mendez share a lot of things as twins, but they never anticipated finding and sharing a belief in the restored gospel.

One commenter said, “Maybe God [isn’t] half bad if He gave us this.” And another added, “I just don’t [know] what’s more grateful, my spirit or my ears.”

Here’s a nugget of wisdom from this week’s Come, Follow Me study of Paul’s epistle to the Galatians.

Starting over in a new country is far from easy, but the Maradiaga family soon found a new source of hope by following a prompting to focus—literally—on the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple.

The thought of creating a holier home may seem daunting, but don’t let that deter you. Here are three actionable ideas that can help you get going.

What should we share in church meetings? These five ideas can help guide you on how to talk about your personal experiences in meaningful ways.

Elder David A. Bednar has spoken many times about the principle of receiving personal revelation. But there’s one question he’s heard more than any other: “How do I know if it’s me or the Spirit?”

Experts share their insights on how to stay open to the Spirit and prevent anxiety from getting in the way.

During WWII, one American bomber pilot single-handedly saved the lives of 90 men by listening to the promptings of the Spirit. That pilot was my grandfather, Ronald S Beckstrom.

Parley P. Pratt once taught, “The gift of the Holy Ghost ... quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections. ... It inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation, and social feeling. It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens, and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.”1

The October pick for LDS Living Book Club is Spirit by David Butler. Follow the LDS Living Book Club Instagram for more insights with the author.

Although anyone can feel the power of the Holy Ghost and be guided by it, it's not until we are baptized that we are promised the gift of the Holy Ghost: the ability for the Spirit to stay with us at all times if we are worthy to receive Him. This is a promise so incredible that at times it can be hard to wrap our minds around, much less apply. What, exactly, does it mean to have the gift of the Holy Ghost daily, and how can it help us?

The most important lesson I have learned from COVID-19 is the tangible reality of spiritual presence and the deep loneliness of spiritual absence.

Editor's note: The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.

I was taught, as were many girls, that you should always say yes to a boy who asks you to a dance and even a casual date. Although times have changed, that idea still persists, and while on the surface it seems great, I want to explore what we are teaching our teens—both girls and boys—when we enforce that rule.

The following is an excerpt from Elder John H. Groberg’s book Fire of Faith, which details his experiences as he served as a mission president and later as a general authority.

From the time he was a little boy, President Henry B. Eyring's life has been guided by powerful moments of personal revelation. About seeing his wife for the first time, President Eyring shared in an address delivered at the Vatican, "I saw in the crowd a young woman. I had never seen her before, but the feeling came over me that she was the best person I had ever seen. That evening she walked into our church meeting in Cambridge. Another thought came to my mind with great power: 'If I could only be with her, I could become every good thing I ever wanted to be.'" That woman was Kathleen Johnson, and that inspiration changed the course of President Eyring's life.

The following is an excerpt from Elder John H. Groberg’s book Fire of Faith, which details his experiences with his family as he served as a mission president in Tonga. During his service, Elder Groberg helped plan a jubilee celebration for the Saints in Tonga and promised the missionaries that, leading up to the jubilee, 500 people would be baptized into the Church in one month. The number seemed impossible. In 1966, the total number of members baptized into the Church for the entire year was 604. In 1967, the number rose to 833, but Elder Groberg understood the Lord was working miracles to move His work forward in Tonga. Below is one of those miracles that helped bring 507 people into the Church in one month in Tonga.

My husband and I recently had our carpets cleaned by a gentleman from Peru who moved to the United States when he was eighteen. After he finished cleaning the carpets, we engaged in what I thought was simple small talk. I asked him about his family, his background, and his transition to the United States. He told me that when he first moved to Utah, he really struggled. There were so many temptations in the United States that did not exist in Peru, he related. “If it were not for the teachings of my mom, I would never would have made it, physically or spiritually.” I asked what his mother did that made such an impact on his life. He responded with a story.

During the early years of my marriage, I was often overcome with feelings of disappointment that my relationship with my husband wasn’t very strong. In fact, as time continued, I grew apprehensive whenever we had to be together for any length of time. I wasn’t enjoying life, my children, or my marriage. It seemed to be all work and no fun.

In December 1839 the Prophet Joseph Smith and Elias Higbee traveled to Washington D.C., to seek redress from the government for the losses suffered by the persecuted and beleaguered Latter-day Saints. In their meeting with President Martin Van Buren, Joseph recorded that the president “interrogated us wherein we differed in our religion from the other religions of the day.” If you had been in the room and had been asked to respond to President Van Buren’s question, how would you have answered?

Daniel, Pilate's wife, Lehi—there is definitely more than one recording in the scriptures of people receiving revelation through dreams.

What do we understand about the Personage we know as the Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead? Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: “Prophets and saints in all dispensations have seen the Lord Jesus Christ in both the dreams of the night and the visions of the day, and also face to face as a man looketh upon and speaketh with his friends. Some have even been privileged to see the Father also. But with the Holy Ghost it is otherwise. His voice is heard; his influence is felt; his presence is manifest—but his person is kept hidden from view in all but rare instances.”1

I have been concerned over the years that too often our youth (and, unfortunately, even some of our more experienced members) are prone to confuse sentimentality with spirituality, tears with testimony. Let me illustrate. One Mutual night as I came out of my bishop’s office, I noticed that the members of the Laurel class were huddled in the hall and in the midst of what seemed to be quite a fascinating discussion. They appeared to be talking about one of the young women in their class who had, during the last year, slipped out of Church activity.

Missionaries need to recognize the Spirit and teach by the Spirit more than at any time in our history, said President M. Russell Ballard during the 2019 New Mission Leadership Seminar on June 24.

Some angels are on God's errand; some are from the realm of Satan himself. “Believe not every spirit,” John counseled, “but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). The problem that most men have is to discern the spirits so that they may know what is of God and what is not.

After years of fighting one kind of illness after another, my wife finally met a doctor who diagnosed her with Cushing’s disease. We found out that she had a tumor growing in her brain and that the only hope for recovery was considered, at best, a long shot. She would have to undergo brain surgery, and, if she survived, she would be bedridden for at least a year.

Verdi was working the graveyard shift. He was relatively new to the police force—only two years in—and on this particular night, he was alone: no partner and no immediate backup.

Anxiety can make our thoughts and feelings jumbled. But here’s the difference between feelings from the Spirit and feelings from anxiety.

In A. J. Russell's iconic photograph of the celebration following the driving of the golden spike, Samuel S. Montague, chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad, is shaking hands with Grenville M. Dodge, chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad. Somewhere in the crowd is Leland Stanford, who first missed and then tapped the golden spike into a pre-drilled hole in a special railroad tie made of polished California laurel.

The following modern stories from the lives of real people show how intimately the Lord knows us and watches over His children, even those who do not hold high position in the Church. Some of these examples are really quite remarkable. Others show that the Lord intervenes even in things some might not consider worthy of an earthly parent’s attention, let alone a Divine One’s. Yet, they truly show “that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen” (1 Nephi 1:20).

Before I went on my mission to France, I read the Book of Mormon, fasted for a day, and prayed to have God reveal to me whether it was true or false. Nothing happened. I had read in the book of Moroni that I would get an answer, and I assumed it would be clear, convincing, and probably somewhat physical. I had forgotten the earlier passages in the Book of Mormon that suggested that its truth could come instead through a more experiential, lengthy process (see Alma 32, for one example).

Brenda Walker, a caregiver in Danville, Virginia, had survived another exhausting day at work. Like most of us at the end of another long slog, Walker had just one thought: Walk in the front door and collapse.

Sitting in the Newport Beach California Temple on a Friday afternoon, Neil Stokoe was completely enveloped in the Spirit.

As 52,000 people fled their homes as the deadliest fire in California history raged around Paradise, California, one Latter-day Saint drove toward the flames.

While speaking at an LDS Business College devotional, Sister Sue Clark, wife of Elder Kim B. Clark, shared a powerful prompting she received in the middle of the night that helped her seek help for the depression she had been struggling with all her life.

For more information on this topic read "Opening Our Hearts" by Gerald N. Lund, Ensign, May 2008, 32-34.

The Holy Ghost will give us very specific guidance if we will hear and act upon it. One woman tells of a personal commandment, or prompting, that she felt compelled to obey:

One question that Alma asked the people of Zarahemla is “Do you look forward with an eye of faith?” (Alma 5:15). What does this mean, and how can we look forward with an eye of faith?

I serve as a bishop in Woodstock, Virginia, and working with youth is easily the highlight of the calling. What could be better than linking arms with the future of the Church?

Even now, so many years later, I believe my grandpa wanted to let me know he received my message and then was allowed to send me one of his own.