The Holy Ghost

Today was my first official "second Sunday" instructor Sunday in the Elder's Quorum.  It was the third time I have taught Elders Quorum in the last 7 weeks.  I don't know if they are growing weary of hearing from me.  I guess they have a solid month before I will be in front of them again. That is good. 

Anyway, the lesson today was Chapter 14 from the Joseph Fielding Smith manual, the topic being The Holy Ghost.  This was an excellent chapter and the instruction and life experience shared were powerful and truly enlightening.  I really quite enjoyed the lesson material and would encourage anyone who wants a better understanding of the Holy Ghost, the mission of the Holy Ghost, the blessings of companionship of the Holy Ghost, the responsibilities we have to receive the Holy Ghost and to live worthy of his companionship and the promised blessings that are ours as we are worthy, yes, all of that, I would encourage you to pull up this lesson and spend some time in it.  You can find it at www.lds.org .  In fact here is a link to the lesson itself. 

https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-joseph-fielding-smith/chapter-14-the-gift-of-the-holy-ghost?lang=eng

We started out our lesson by looking at the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew Chapter 25.  My friend Annie Draper went to Israel this summer and came home with a lamp and vessel for oil that were consistent with those that were used at the time of the parable.  They are quite small and certainly not what I saw in my own mind when reading or hearing this parable.  I always pictured huge lamps and drums of oil.  Not so, the lamps are tiny and the vessel of oil contains just enough to refill the small lamp. 

After we read through that and looked at the lamp and vessel I shared an experience when entering The Hard Rock hotel for a music concert after returning home from my mission I felt very strongly the absence of the Holy Ghost when I walked through the doors.  It was very uncomfortable and I always have felt fortunate that I was quite naïve and didn't think that I needed to purchase tickets in advance.  I should have simply been brave enough to turn around right when I felt the spirit leave but wasn't.  Fortunately there was no way into the concert which was sold out and we departed shortly after entering. 

Finally we took a look at the story shared in the lesson linked above from The Life of President Joseph Fielding Smith.  It is the story of how his son Reyn stepped out of school with a friend one day and gave in to the temptation to light up a cigarette.  His father just happened to pull up at that very moment.  There is more to the story then just what I have written here but the point is that President Joseph Fielding Smith was directed by the Holy Ghost to drive in front of the school that day.  Doing so allowed him to protect his son. 

I went on to talk about these three things, the lamps, the Spirit departing and then the Spirit protecting.  We have only so much time in our lives.  We need to fill our lives with things that are good, things that will draw us nearer to God, things that will qualify us for the companionship of the Holy Ghost so that we are worthy of His direction, so that we have tuned our ears to hear and so that we are ready to act.  We can find ourselves doing things that drive the Spirit away or we can fill our vessel with good things that will keep it near. 

We went on to discuss much more of the lesson.  There were some great comments shared by the brethren.  I felt like I learned a lot and hope that the brethren left the meeting feeling the same.  I know that the Holy Ghost is real.  I am grateful for his companionship.  One of the things I remember very clearly when I was confirmed a member of the Church and given the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands was the smile that I had on my face and the feelings of joy that filled my heart.  I am grateful for the instruction given by President Joseph Fielding Smith and encourage any who desire to have a greater understanding of the Holy Ghost to spend some time in that lesson.