“Strengthened
by the Power of the Holy Ghost”
Teachings
of Presidents of the Church
Lorenzo
Snow
Lesson
by Andrea
Andrea started her lesson by
asking what are the qualities of a best friend.
Here are the responses:
Loyalty Inspiring
Trust Patient
Shared experiences Willing to
listen
Kindness Understanding of
you
Acceptance Generous
There for you Telling
you the truth
Longevity Easy to talk to
Sensitive Comfortable even
in silence
Balanced Forgiving
Non-judgmental Complete
empathy
No envy; happy for you Know you completely
Lorenzo Snow said, “From the time
we receive the Gospel, go down into the waters of baptism and have hands laid
upon us afterwards for the gift of the Holy Ghost, we have a friend, if we do
not drive it from us by doing wrong.
That friend is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, which partakes of the
things of God and shows them unto us.
This is a grand means that the Lord has provided for us, that we may
know the light, and not be groveling continually in the dark.”
When you think of the Holy Ghost,
do you think of the qualities listed above for a best friend? Or do you think of the Holy Ghost outside this
holy sphere. We know the Holy Ghost is
here to give us comfort and guidance but do we think of him as our best friend?
John 14:26-27: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring
all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
“Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Not only is the Holy Ghost our
friend but he is Heavenly Father’s messenger.
The Holy Ghost gives counsel and bears witness of the Father and the Son
and the truth of all things.
“The Holy Ghost will reveal to us
even in the simplest of matters what we shall do by making suggestions to us,”
said President Snow.
Andrea said that The Holy Ghost is
our constant companion if we are living as we should. How many of us think of him as our constant
companion?
He is our source of personal
revelation and an important part of our relationship with the Holy Ghost.
President Snow said, “…The
foundation upon which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is built
is the rock of revelation—upon the rock that Jesus said He would build His
church, and the gates of hell should not prevail against it (see Matthew
16:17-18). We have not received this
knowledge through flesh and blood, we have not received this testimony from
man, we have not received it through the reading of the Bible…or Book of
Mormon, but we have received it through the operations of the Holy Ghost, that
teaches of the things of God, things past, present and to come, and that takes
of the things of God, making them clearly manifest unto us.”
We receive personal revelation
through the Holy Ghost. He is our friend
and he is the messenger of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. He is always available to us.
How can we get to know the Holy
Ghost better? One suggestion Andrea gave
was to quiet your mind, release all external noise and just listen to the Holy
Ghost. He is your companion and take
comfort in his presence. How does the
Holy Ghost speak to you? It takes
practice to recognize his promptings.
How can we lean on the Holy Ghost
more as a friend and to be able to recognize how he works in our lives?
Andrea told us of a story of when
she was in high school and a new driver.
She was about to make a right turn legally on a green light. Andrea heard a very loud voice that spoke to
her, telling her to look to her left.
Had she not listened, Andrea would have been hit by a large sedan who
had run the red light.
This experience helped Andrea
recognize the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost is our personal
translator, he is our confidant and will steer us along the right path. Each Sunday we partake of the Sacrament to
remember and have His spirit to be with us.
Often when we appeal to the Holy Ghost we may not receive immediate or
forceful impressions or responses. We
need to get to know our relationship with the Holy Ghost so we can recognize
his promptings.
Our beauty comes out through the
light we’ve been given. He brings out
the best in us when we follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
One sister told of when she had
been dating her boyfriend (now husband) for some years. They had met in high school, she had joined
the church and he had gone on a mission.
When he returned, he began talking about getting married. She was still in college and gave that excuse
for not getting married right away. This
went on for a while and one day while riding the bus, out of the blue, she was
strongly prompted by the Holy Ghost, that she should get married to her
boyfriend. She followed these promptings
and they were married within the year.
Andrea told a story about her
work. She is being recognized for being
a team leader. Andrea recognizes this as
the Holy Ghost working through her. It
is a powerful gift. He is always there
for us. The Holy Ghost helps us with
problem solving.
Andrea closed by re-reading John
14:27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Andrea prayed that we take time to
get to know the Holy Ghost as our friend and the peace that he can
provide. She encouraged us to take time
to reflect on our relationship with the Holy Ghost.
