Examples of how the Holy Ghost works daily in the lives of members of the Church are numerous and inspirational. Most are quiet and personal, seen only as dramatic when we look back at the changes they brought. Think of your own experiences as you read a sampling of experiences that have been shared with me.
• A woman had been thinking about some of the job options she might pursue as her children returned to school. As she sat in sacrament meeting, the stake president stood to bear his testimony. He read a scripture: "Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you" (Alma 39:14). That verse sank deep into her heart that Sabbath day as a spiritual confirmation of the things she should pursue during the coming year.
• An eight-year-old child was baptized and then confirmed a member of the Church, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost at the hands of his father and grandfather. As the boy happily stood to share his testimony, he unexpectedly felt such emotion that he could scarcely speak. A brother recounting that experience said, "I felt the feelings of the Spirit so strongly at that time."
• A missionary and his companion knocked on the door of an investigator to whom they had given a Book of Mormon. As the elderly woman answered the door, the missionary felt a powerful feeling flood over him. The woman welcomed the missionaries and explained that she had read and believed what they had taught her. The young missionary was so affected by the feeling he felt that he prayed, "Dear Father, please let me never forget the feeling I have felt today."
• A young college student far from home had begun to feel terribly alone. She pleaded in her prayers that she might receive help in her crisis. One morning in class, she felt an extraordinary feeling of comfort. A thought came into her mind: "You are never alone." Her prayers were answered, and her feeling of homesickness was gone.
• A faithful father was en route to help a son who had made some wrong choices and now would suffer the consequences of his choices. In the long silent hours it took him to reach his son, the father prayed as he anguished over his son's mistakes. Then came into this father's mind clearly and distinctly this thought: "He is My son also."
• A 16-year-old Laurel sat in a Sunday School class listening to a teacher. It was Easter time, and the teacher had prepared a lesson on the Atonement. Speaking about the suffering the Savior had endured, he talked about what it meant to bleed at every pore, to be scourged, and to suffer on the cross. The young woman had never thought about the Atonement in such detail. There came into her mind a mental image. More than 25 years later, she spoke emotionally about the experience: "On that day the Holy Ghost testified to me that Jesus is the Christ."