A Greater Gift

Just three months before that Christmas, I had been given another gift far more important and consequential than a bicycle. I had been baptized and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. In those early years and perhaps too often in the many years since then, I was like the Lamanites the Savior described as being “baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not” (3 Nephi 9:20).

Jesus stressed the incalculable value of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). And to ease the difficulty of His announcement to His disciples that He would shortly leave them, the Savior promised this heavenly gift: “I will send him [the Comforter] unto you” (John 16:7).

This is a gift of enormous power. From the scriptures we learn what this gift will bring to those who eagerly receive it: “The Holy Ghost … beareth record of the Father and of the Son” (D&C 20:27; see also 1 Corinthians 12:3; 3 Nephi 28:11; D&C 42:17). The Holy Ghost teaches us all things and brings all things to our remembrance (see John 14:26). He guides us to truth and shows us things to come (see John 16:13). He enlightens our mind and fills our soul with joy (see D&C 11:13). By His power we may know the truth of all things (see Moroni 10:5). He will unfold the mysteries of God unto us (see 1 Nephi 10:19).

He shows us what we should do (see 1 Nephi 4:6; D&C 8:2). He inspires those we teach (see 2 Nephi 33:1). More important, the remission of sins comes through the Atonement “by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost” (D&C 19:31; see also 2 Nephi 31:17), allowing us finally to be sanctified by this gift and to stand spotless before Christ at the last day (see 3 Nephi 27:20).

This gift of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost is available only to those who have been baptized and confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.1 The Holy Ghost can influence at times all seekers of truth, but the gift of the Holy Ghost is reserved in its fulness for those who have taken upon themselves the covenants of the restored gospel.2 This gift is real. It is a supernal blessing to members of the Church.

The Holy Ghost is not a gift reserved only for the few—the patriarch, the devoted visiting teacher, the inspired friend—but is promised to all of us if we diligently seek our way back to our heavenly home. President Wilford Woodruff (1807–98) emphasized the need every Saint has for the Holy Ghost: “Let us labor to obtain the Holy Spirit. … This is the Spirit that we must have to carry out the purposes of God on the earth. We need that more than any other gift. … We should pray to the Lord until we get the Comforter. This is what is promised to us when we are baptized. It is the spirit of light, of truth, and of revelation, and can be with all of us at the same time.”3