The Gift of the Holy Ghost

Imagine with me for a minute that you recently learned about a trail. You talked to others about the trail, and they told you it leads to the top of an extremely high mountain. They said the trail can be very difficult at times, but the views from the top are exhilarating. You learned of a guide who knows the trail well and has guided many to its top. With him as your guide, you start the climb with a large group. Soon many were distracted by the wildflowers along the way. Against the counsel of the guide, they left the trail to get a closer look. Once off the trail, they were distracted by other things and often never returned to the trail. Sometimes the climb was steep and exhausting, and it took everything you could do to continue. Many left the path to find an easier way to the top. Always, those other paths eventually led downward. You faithfully continued to follow the guide until you arrived at the peak of the mountain. The views from there were more beautiful than you thought possible. The trail was difficult but so worth it. Meticulously following the guide’s instructions was essential to getting to the top.

We have such a guide. When you are confirmed, you receive the commandment and blessing to receive the Holy Ghost. This is the Gift of the Holy Ghost. From that moment forward you can always hear the voice of this member of the Godhead. He is always one with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. With His help, you can always recognize good, right, and truth when you see them. Joy can always be your companion. We are constantly exposed to worldly philosophies and strategies that are designed to lead us away from God. These falsehoods are carefully thought out and expertly presented to make them appealing and even confusing to us. Without the discernment of the Holy Ghost, you will be deceived by them. With the Holy Ghost as your guide, you can always recognize evil, falsehood, and lies for what they are. As you are making the important decisions in life, you can have the voice of God guiding you and helping you see that which cannot readily be seen. I have come to recognize feelings that I call “warm fuzzies” and “cold pricklies”. Messages from the Holy Ghost cause me to feel warm and fuzzy inside. It includes feelings of love and peace. When I have a thought that doesn’t come from God, I feel cold and prickly inside. When I feel cold and prickly I have learned to stop and figure out when the feeling started and fix the action or thought that caused it. The Spirit’s guidance is always right. 

Let me share a few stories.

One Sunday, Kathy, my wife, was talking with the various women at church. One conversation left her with the strong feeling that her friend was depressed and needed to know that she was loved. Kathy knew she needed to do something for her. But what? The next day the impression came to her mind that she should take a cake to her…now. Kathy doesn’t bake so she headed to a bakery to buy a cake. She went to the sister’s home with the cake in her hands. Her friend opened the door and saw the cake and immediately got excited and said, “You remembered”. She then disappeared into the house for several minutes and left Kathy alone at the door with the cake in her hands. Her friend then came back and said, “He would like you to come back and visit.” As she was taken back to her friend’s ailing husband, Kathy saw signs on the wall indicating that it was her husband’s 80th birthday. And Kathy had brought the birthday cake. Kathy had no idea it was his birthday. But the Lord knew. Kathy acted on an impression from the Holy Ghost and left with a family feeling loved and remembered. For Kathy no one is a project, but everyone is a friend.

My dad, with his 7th-grade education, became maintenance manager over a large and complicated chemical plant that covered many acres and with hundreds of employees. When there was an equipment breakdown, he would always pray for understanding as he traveled to the broken piece of equipment. He was accused of having a magic wand because he always knew what was needed by the time he arrived. With the help of his crew, the equipment was soon running smoothly. He told me that these answers were revealed to him by the Holy Ghost because of his prayers. When he retired, they replaced him with a college degreed engineer who quickly became overwhelmed with the workload. An additional engineer was hired to fill his spot. His role had been enhanced by the Holy Ghost who guided him.

In my own life, I have learned that the Holy Ghost is my guide and teacher. He has warned me many times of troubles coming for me or my family. He has helped me understand at a new level the things I study in the scriptures or other prophetic writings. He has reassured me when I think life is drowning me. He has given me joy when I have experienced illness and pain. 

It is important to develop practices in your life that attune you to His voice. Examine the music you listen to, the books and magazines that you read, and the movies and shows that you watch. Your choices expand or restrict the flow of joy, knowledge and wisdom from God.

When we pray, we are not coming to a casual friend, and we should not approach God like He is our peer. We are being given the chance to have a conference with the President of the universe. How should we prepare for such a meeting? We can’t just “shoot from the hip.” We need to prepare by thinking of our day, our blessings, our needs and the needs of others we serve. Even our Savior, Jesus Christ, prayed to our Heavenly Father for strength and approached Him humbly. His prayers were never casual. Our Father’s guidance through the Holy Ghost can help us see what God sees and we can miss. What a privilege it is to come before our Maker in frequent prayer.

The Holy Ghost has a quiet voice that we must listen carefully for. I have found that each time I act on the guidance of the Holy Ghost, I hear the next prompting more easily. We need a regular quiet place and time where the noise of the world will be silent, and the Spirit of God will be felt. It is important to respond as soon as you recognize His voice. Write down what you are told. You may wonder if the thought is from the Holy Ghost or if it is just your own thinking. It is simple. If your thought is to do something that will make someone’s life better, it is from the Holy Ghost. Even if it’s a little thing. If the feeling is selfish or hurtful towards anyone, including yourself, it comes from the adversary, and you can make it go away as you push it out of your mind. I used to think it was OK to allow negative or hateful thoughts towards myself because I thought I deserved them. But then I came to realize they came from Satan who never wants me to be happy. I now find them very offensive and foreign when they try to come. With practice you will gradually get better at pushing these negative thoughts out of your mind and encouraging positive ones. Often the strongest promptings wake me up in the middle of the night. I keep telling the Lord how much more convenient it would be to prompt me after I get up in the morning. He seems to disagree. Maybe my mind is only quiet enough while I’m asleep. 

The Holy Ghost can make us one with our Heavenly Father, our Savior, and our fellow believers. Our Heavenly Father is real. He is our Father who loves us infinitely. He doesn’t love all of us collectively. He loves each of us individually. He knows our name, challenges, trials, health problems, loneliness, weaknesses, and the abuses we have endured. He sees our strengths and potential, which is always so much more than we ever see in ourselves. And He will guide us to become the person He sees. He wants to influence and heal us, yet He will not violate our right to choose good or evil. We must open the door to allow Him in. He and our Savior look forward to our triumphant return to them. Because of Jesus Christ’s infinite sacrifice, each of us can return victorious no matter where we are now or what our life’s experiences have been. They have placed the gospel and its commandments here as our roadmap back to their presence. And the Holy Ghost is our GPS. As we follow the directions we receive from the Holy Ghost and continue with faith in Jesus Christ we will be sanctified and return to them pure and free of guilt. 

Talk given by Ron Goodlad at baptism service in September 2024