An email.
My wife and I, with some other believers, were baptized recently. I fully expected that now I could receive the power of the Holy Ghost. I believed what you said, that "today is once again a day of salvation, and He has set His hand again." If today is a day of salvation then surely He will now hear my prayers and pour out his Spirit upon us who are striving, with all our hearts, to come unto Him.
It has been over two weeks since my baptism. The entire time I have been pleading with the Lord to forgive my sins and allow me to enter in at the gate. I have felt nothing. I talked to one of the other couples that were also baptized that day. They told me that they had felt their baptism was pleasing to God, as they saw a white dove fly by their car as they drove to the chosen spot that day. Yet, they likewise have received no outpouring of the Spirit. This has been very discouraging for them and for me. The husband of that couple remarked to me that he has been thinking, "Is this just another pantomime? Have we been following another illusion?". I have also read the experiences of others on forums, Facebook, etc. who have been similarly baptized since your last lecture. There seems to be a lack of outpourings of the Spirit or baptism of fire experiences.
Your words from your books and your recent talk speak to me, as they do to others. I'm willing to accept that they come from God. I just don't understand why He isn't following through with His promises.
I desire to receive the baptism of fire and to take the Holy Spirit as my guide. I've tried to keep the commandments to the best of my knowledge and I believe others have as well. I don't know what we are doing wrong.
______________________
I gave this response:
The Holy Ghost has as the primary effect giving intelligence to man. It is true there are many "gifts" from the Holy Ghost, but the first, most important and clearest effect is to increase intelligence, or in other words light and truth.
The Holy Ghost "grows" in light as we give heed and diligence to the light. (These are all paraphrases of TPJS and D&C.)
Ask yourself:
-Do you believe you understand better now than before your journey began?
-Do you believe you can see more clearly what you need to do next?
-Do the scriptures reveal more to you now than before you began this process?
-Is there any more "intelligence" or light and truth in your life today than before?
If you can answer any of these "yes" then do not doubt, but press on. I have labored decades to learn what I have learned, and I spend some time daily now studying, praying, contemplating and pondering. Although I have had remarkable experiences, I continue to study because the the things of God are deep, and require careful, patient, solemn and ponderous thought to acquire some of what He has made available.
I believe He will not give an original revelation to reveal what He has already revealed to us in scripture. Instead He requires us to first study His words, then when scripture becomes unable to answer the inquiry, He shows us by revelation how to see what is there before us. Some of the greatest things I have beheld by revelation I have then found to be already described in scripture. I just did not have the eyes yet to see it.
Trust God, but follow His pattern.
If on the day of His resurrection Christ spent the day expounding scripture;
And if Moroni spent the night teaching and reteaching from the scriptures;
And if I spent a year on an assignment expounding scripture;
THEN look to your scriptures. See if you have any assistance studying them. Let them prove to your satisfaction the Holy Ghost can and will speak to you.
____________________________
As I reflected further on this email and my response I thought of Oliver Cowdery's effort to translate the Book of Mormon. The Holy Ghost does not relieve us of great effort, but instead equips us to obtain truth as the yield from our effort.
Joseph Smith proved the pattern true. He investigated all the religions. He attended their meetings, spoke with the ministers, and paid attention to their claims. He could not determine the truth. Then he "labored" over the scriptures. "At length" he finally decided to do as James asks and prayed. His prayer was answered because he did the preliminary work, the required study, and put in the necessary labor.
For three decades I studied and taught the scriptures. Each week between 10 and 40 hours were invested as I prepared to teach a 50 minute class. I labored, the scriptures yielded to study, and I learned more and more about God. The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead found in Section 138 was likewise obtained by study and prayer.
The scriptures are a Urim and Thummim designed to provoke revelation. You cannot divorce the process of getting revelation from necessary scripture study. God made no such thing known to Laman, Lemuel or us when we do not search the scriptures and invest our heart and mind in learning His ways.
I have studied the scriptures for years. By now, they inform most every thought.
Fill yourself with scripture and see what the Holy Ghost can do then. Read them now and see how they open to you. If you take no thought except to ask and expect God to do the work, you do not understand the difference between "magic" and salvation. We are saved no quicker than we gain knowledge.
Study the scriptures. Include the Lectures on Faith as part of that curriculum. Study Joseph Smith. Prepare your mind first, then see what God will reveal to you.
Joseph Smith proved the pattern true. He investigated all the religions. He attended their meetings, spoke with the ministers, and paid attention to their claims. He could not determine the truth. Then he "labored" over the scriptures. "At length" he finally decided to do as James asks and prayed. His prayer was answered because he did the preliminary work, the required study, and put in the necessary labor.
For three decades I studied and taught the scriptures. Each week between 10 and 40 hours were invested as I prepared to teach a 50 minute class. I labored, the scriptures yielded to study, and I learned more and more about God. The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead found in Section 138 was likewise obtained by study and prayer.
The scriptures are a Urim and Thummim designed to provoke revelation. You cannot divorce the process of getting revelation from necessary scripture study. God made no such thing known to Laman, Lemuel or us when we do not search the scriptures and invest our heart and mind in learning His ways.
I have studied the scriptures for years. By now, they inform most every thought.
Fill yourself with scripture and see what the Holy Ghost can do then. Read them now and see how they open to you. If you take no thought except to ask and expect God to do the work, you do not understand the difference between "magic" and salvation. We are saved no quicker than we gain knowledge.
Study the scriptures. Include the Lectures on Faith as part of that curriculum. Study Joseph Smith. Prepare your mind first, then see what God will reveal to you.