Speaking in Church.

About a month ago Andre and I were called in to the bishop's office. We figured that Andre would get a new calling because he was just released from one. Neither of us were given a calling, we were asked to speak in sacrament meeting. I spoke on the gift of the Holy Ghost and Andre spoke on Using the scriptures to guide us. I don't know where Andre's talk is or even if he put it on the computer, but this is mine. I kind of abbreviated it, but to get the full meaning I didn't get rid of much.

So, here it is...


“Sometimes people say that living the gospel is hard. We need to remember that it’s not living the gospel that’s hard. It’s life that’s hard. The gospel is the thing that helps us cope with the mistakes, the heartaches, the disappointments we can expect to experience here. Membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has its privileges”. The one that I will be talking about today is that “we have been promised the constant companionship of the third member of the Godhead and hence the privilege of receiving revelation for our own lives." (Sherri Dew)What a great blessing in a life that can be overwhelming at times. Lorenzo Snow said, it is the “grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint to have the manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives [so] that we may know the light, and not be groveling continually in the dark”

We have been given many things by our Heavenly Father when we came to this world. One of them is the ability to choose and another is the ability to act on those choices.

You might say that those are really the same thing - but at least in my life, they are rather different. I can choose to have the Ensign come each month so I can have the word of the living prophet in my home. I need to act and read it for it to be effective. Or, we may choose to play the piano, but we have to act and take piano lessons and practice daily.

In this last conference Elder Gerald Lund talks a lot about the importance of opening our hearts to the Spirit. The Holy Ghost is an incredible gift. It comforts, teaches, warns, enlightens, and inspires us. Nephi said, “If you will…receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.” We need the help of the Holy Ghost to safely make it through this world and back to our eternal home. So we need to Act and figure out how we can hear what he has to say. The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit. This allows him to dwell in our hearts and communicate directly with our spirits. The voice of the spirit is described as still and small and one that whispers. The spirit almost always speaks to our minds and to our hearts instead of to our ears.

In 2 Nephi 33:1 it says, “the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.” Notice how it says that the Holy Ghost brings the message “unto” our heart and not into it. Ultimately the content of the message enters the heart only if we allow it in. Individual agency is so important to our Heavenly Father that he will never force the human heart. In other words, God allows us to be the guardians, or gatekeepers of our own heart. We must of our own free will open our hearts to the spirit, because God will not force us to.

Elder Lund gives us 3 ways to help us open the gate to our hearts so that the Holy Ghost can enter.

The first thing we need to open our hearts is:
1. Meekness. In Mormon 8:26 it says, “Because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost.” This means that we need to be willing to hear the spirit. A lot of times we think that we know what is best and we want God to back us up. But we should be willing to accept that sometimes we are wrong and listen to Him. Alma teaches, “He that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word.” I would love to have the greater portion of the word! I think that I need to look at my heart and see the state it is in. Is it hard in some ways? How can I change that? How can I become more meek and trusting so that the Spirit to come in more often.

Another thing we need to prepare our hearts is to be:
2. Pure in heart. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior said, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” If something is pure, it is not polluted by things that do not belong to it. We need to work on eliminating impurity, or push out things that do not belong there. I take this as choosing the right. We always have choices of the things we think of, listen to, and look at. We need to choose the things that will improve us and the state of our heart. What a great promise- to be able to see God. This is something we can all work for.

The last thing that Elder Lund talks about is to:
3. Avoid pride. In Doctrine and Covenants 121: 34-35 it says, “Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men.” Many of us live in prosperous and peaceful circumstances. In the Book of Mormon we read over and over that prosperity often led the people away from the Lord. If we want to open our hearts to the Holy Ghost we need to see what is more important to us. If we are worried about when to buy the next “great thing” or how other people view us, or if our job is impressive, or our clothes are expensive, then we might not be worrying about letting the Holy Ghost guide us. Pride quickly desensitizes our hearts to spiritual promptings.

As I was preparing for this talk I came across a couple more things we can do to hear the Holy Ghost.

4. Listen: President Eyring says that the key to hearing answers to our prayers is to develop a listening ear. He says, “We’ve got to be quiet and listen. In my life when I have failed to receive a clear feeling or have missed the voice of the spirit, it is because I was too busy, too noisy inside, and too full of my own world.” All of us are busy and it seems that we are constantly running back and forth, listening to all kinds of media, or busy juggling the many jobs, callings, and activities that we have. Because of all the craziness that we have around us, it is important that we stop to hear the still small voice.

5. Work: “President Hinckley has often said that the only way he knows to get anything done is to get on his knees and plead for help and then get on his feet and go to work. That combination of faith and hard work is the consummate curriculum for learning the language of the Spirit. The Savior taught, “Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost” (3 Nep 12:6). Hungering and thirsting translate to sheer spiritual labor. Worshiping in the temple, repenting to become increasingly pure, forgiving and seeking forgiveness, and earnest fasting and prayer all increase our receptivity to the Spirit. Spiritual work works and is the key to learning to hear the voice of the Lord.” (quote by Sherri Dew)

The condition of our hearts directly affects our sensitivity to spiritual things. Let us make it a part of us everyday to act by opening our hearts to the spirit. We are the guardians of our hearts. We can choose to let the Holy Ghost in. And when we do hear what he has to say, it is up to us to act on those promptings.