I didn't check the online student guide with the actual student guide, we were supposed to read section 9. So, today I'll post about both. Plus, I had a crazy day yesterday!
I love to talk about how people feel the spirit. It seems to be a little different for everyone and many times different with every circumstance, which keeps us on our spiritual toes! I am really grateful that the Savior has provided us with guidelines to understand guidelines. Here are some of the ways listed in sec 9 and 11 in which we can feel the Holy Ghost:
- It will feel right
- your bosom shall burn
- your mind will be enlightened
- your soul will be filled with joy
- He will lead you to do justly
- He will lead you to walk humbly
- He will lead you to judge righteously
- He will lead you to do what is good
There are many other ways that people receive answers through the Holy Spirit: words come to your mind, feelings come to your heart, your skin gets prickly, etc. It is my opinion that crying is not feeling the Holy Ghost, but one's reaction to feeling the Holy Ghost. I had a friend who didn't cry very often. She didn't share her testimony in sacrament meeting much because she was afraid that if she didn't cry people would think her testimony wasn't strong or relevant. Bah!
The Savior, thankfully, also provides us with the opposite of feeling the Holy Ghost, just so we have that distinction in helping us along the path:
- you will not have burning in bosom
- you will not feel that it is right
- you will have a stupor of thought
- you will forget the thing which is wrong
There is one other thing I think is worthy of note. Oliver Cowdery was told to study it out in his mind, then to ask if it is right. This, in my opinion, does not mean that the formal answer will come after the formal question is asked. The process of studying it out in you mind is like taking a long conversational walk with the Holy Ghost. There may be little enlightenments along the way that must be credited to the Holy Ghost, not just the epiphany at the end of a quest. While sometimes I get impatient with the longer walks I've taken, I can appreciate that I won't know answer y until I know what to plug into the equation. Sometimes I start with knowing some of the variables, sometimes I don't know any of the variables. But I have confidence in the promise "knock and ye shall receive" where ever I am in the process of investigation.
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