What does it feel like?

Posted by Dalene | June 27, 2008 | 11 Comments

Wanted: More reader submissions for Ask Nine Women. Please submit yours at askninewomenATgmailDOTcom.

Today’s question for Ask Nine Women comes from Wendy, who writes the following:

I need to hear some experiences or insight into the difference between the Gift of the Holy Ghost that LDS are given and the influence of the Holy Ghost.

I know what the manuals have to say about it, but I don’t understand how that looks on a day-to-day basis.

There are many non-LDS who receive promptings from the Holy Ghost, as well as guidance, comfort, peace, etc. How is that different from the Gift of the Holy Ghost?

I have been wondering about this for a long time, so I finally asked my re-baptized Dad about this. He said he began to feel peace when he decided to pursue getting re-baptized. He couldn’t identify feeling any different after he received the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

It seems that if a non-LDS person is not a spiritual person, joining the church and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost would feel drastically different. But what about non-LDS who are spiritual, close to God, etc.? How is what they (non-LDS) feel different from what we can feel?

Does anybody have any personal experience to share that will help me understand this better? I would so appreciate any wisdom on this subject.

Thanks for your question, Wendy.

Category: Ask Nine Women

Comments

11 Responses to “What does it feel like?”

Karen
June 27th, 2008 @ 3:03 pm

I had a friend in High School who was not a member of the LDS Church. She attended sunday meetings, mutual, seminary and girls camp. She wanted to be baptized but her parents said no. So she waited until she was 18 and then was baptized. Years later she told me that she had always heard the lessons on the Holy Ghost, but never understood, until she was baptized and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was like, wow, that’s what it feels like.

I would have said she was a spiritual person before, she stuck with the gospel even when she had no family support. Yet the gift of the Holy Ghost made a big difference to her.
Wendy
June 27th, 2008 @ 6:40 pm

Thank you, Karen. Yes, that’s the sort of thing I was wondering about. I imagine the difference is hard to explain. And . . . I don’t want to find out from first hand experience! Thanks again!
Julie R.
June 27th, 2008 @ 7:06 pm

For me, I think the difference is that the gift of the Holy Ghost helps me DO things, whereas simply feeling his influence might just reaffirm decisions or provide a “warm fuzzy” when I witness something that comes from God. For example, I know it was the gift of the Holy Ghost that helped me remember what I studied for comps, helped me learn French on my mission, and compels me to anticipate needs of my friends. I have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost at Midnight Mass, while looking at artwork, while hiking, etc.

I’m not explaining it very well, but it makes sense in my head.
Lindsay
June 27th, 2008 @ 7:40 pm

I converted 11 years ago. Up to that point I had felt the influence of the Holy Ghost throughout my life. It lead me to question the practices and beliefs of my previous religious affiliations, offering me priceless insights into how I would later come to know which church contained the fulness of the gospel. For lack of a proper, or perhaps more appropriate way to express my experience, I would say that the Holy Ghost was more of an intermittent tour guide. I felt such influences sporadically and they seemed to fade rather quickly, guiding me as I learned to make better and better choices. Kind of like a taste of what was to come.

So, I found the church (and boy howdy was it a hunt!) and got baptized. I remember at my confirmation being commanded to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and how I felt it wash over me, almost tangibly and in a way language cannot describe. It was truly a fulness of what I had only previously experienced in part as the “warm fuzzies” mentioned before. It changed me.

Since then I have recognized the value of this gift as I have made decisions, studied and sought greater knowledge and insights into principles I had never before considered. It seems to serve as a purifying agent, guide and teacher whereas before I only felt the influence leading me forward.

Hope it helps. It’s a bit difficult to articulate.
jendoop
June 27th, 2008 @ 8:45 pm

The previous comments are great, I don’t know that I can add much.

I think being an active member for so long, the Gift of the Holy Ghost is largely taken for granted in my life. I can feel comfort, assurance, guidance and revelation on a continuing basis daily as I keep my covenants. The light of the Holy Ghost shines on me as consistently as the sun in the day(but I get it 24/7). Whereas the influence of the Holy Ghost would be like the clouds occasionally parting on a cloudy day.

We have many baptisms in our spanish speaking branch and I love to hear those new converts confirmed- “Recieve tu spirit De Santo”. I’m sure my spelling and pronunciation is horrific, I don’t actually speak spanish but I love hearing those words. How we are commanded to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost as a member of the household of faith. Without that gift the Lord’s church wouldn’t function as a living church and the members couldn’t receive personal revelation.
Sally
June 27th, 2008 @ 9:52 pm

As a life long member, I have also wondered what it would feel like without the Holy Ghost, wondering if I even feel it on a daily basis because I don’t know what it is like without it. But I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago who told me she had been excommunicated a few years ago. She immediately felt an emptyness, and when people would say that the spirit was strong in a meeting, she says she would feel nothing. When she was reinstated and received the HG again, it was an immediate outpouring and that there is a night and day difference between having the gift and not.
Wendy
June 28th, 2008 @ 8:39 am

Julie, I really like your explanation of the difference between the two.

Lindsay, what you wrote helped a lot. I can picture what you described. Thanks for responding and explaining!

Jendoop, I take the Gift for granted in my life, too, and I like your sun/clouds idea.

Sally, I’d heard similar things about people who’ve been ex’d, that they had no idea how much the Spirit was a part of their life until it was gone.

Thank you everybody for your input. I’ve been reading some really lovely fictional books about a small-town minister of another faith; his experiences with the Spirit sounded so similar, that I really started thinking about this. It has made me consider on a deeper level that I probably do not utilize my Gift as much as I could, as well as bringing this whole question to mind. Thanks again!
m&m
June 28th, 2008 @ 7:38 pm

I think another element of the gift vs. the power of the Holy Ghost is the ability to really have our natures be changed with the gift. It’s not that people don’t make spiritual progress without it, but the gift of the Holy Ghost is a necessary ordinance to receive for eternal life — it is through the gift of the Holy Ghost that we are cleansed from our sins. We cannot be “purified from all stain” without it.

I don’t know what it would feel like not to have that gift, but I think understanding the doctrine behind what that really means can help me appreciate it more. When I really came to understand that it’s not just for my comfort or help with decisions, but absolutely essential in the quest to become more like the Savior, that really influenced the way I view the gift vs. the power of the Holy Ghost.
Wendy
June 29th, 2008 @ 10:58 am

Lindsay and M&M, I really like what you both said about the Holy Ghost’s purifying role. I have thought a bit lately about how much I need that, but hadn’t put it in this context yet.

Dalene, I love your askninewomen idea. This has been really helpful for me. I love this forum!
Dalene
June 29th, 2008 @ 12:00 pm

Thanks Wendy. I appreciate your question–it gave me something to think about even though I didn’t really have any answers. I did recall one testimony meeting when someone mentioned how easy it is to take the gospel for granted. He said it was like we were fish in the water and we had no idea what it felt like to be out of the water. For some reason I especially thought about the gift of the Holy Ghost when he said that.
Sage
June 29th, 2008 @ 8:54 pm

I love this group. It is great to be able to ask something sincerely (or read another person’s sincere question) and read faithful responses. My only addition would be to share what a missionary said in our ward once. He too wondered about what the Gift of the Holy Ghost really gave him. So he prayed and asked the Lord to take it from him so he could know how other people felt. He said it was awful for him to be cut off from the Spirit when the Lord answered his prayer. He quickly prayed for the lesson to be over. It’s great to be reminded to utilize this gift more frequently and to show more gratitude for it.