Take upon us the name of Christ, bear one another’s burdens that they may be light, willing to mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort, stand as a witness to God at all times and in all things and in all places (even until death), and keep the commandments.

God promises us that we may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that we may have eternal life. And most importantly of all, He may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon us. (Mosiah 18:8-10)

After being baptized of water, we are confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and then given the gift of the Holy Ghost by the power of the priesthood.

This is what Jesus was talking about, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)

We are baptized with water and then we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to always be with us. This is conditional, as the Spirit can only be with us when we are worthy of his companionship. If we choose to do something that is not, the Spirit will leave. We have to repent and change for the Spirit to return.

In April 2018, there was a General Conference on Easter Sunday. Our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson gave a talk titled Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives. In this talk, he said something that has come to my mind over and over again.

He said, “I am optimistic about the future. It will be filled with opportunities for each of us to progress, contribute, and take the gospel to every corner of the earth. But I am also not naive about the days ahead. We live in a world that is complex and increasingly contentious. The constant availability of social media and a 24-hour news cycle bombard us with relentless messages. If we are to have any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and philosophies of men that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation.

Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in the coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” (emphasis added)

I have spent the last several months learning to hear the Spirit in my life. It has been an amazing process. I have found that my Heavenly Parents and Jesus Christ are eager to share things with me. Through the gift of the Holy Ghost that I received at my baptism, I am able to have that connection as long as I am worthy of his companionship.

Making good choices with my music and media, getting enough sleep, and taking care of my body are all crucial to me being in a state a mind to hear the Spirit more clearly. If this is something you need to work on, take heart. It is easier than you think. Start small. Once you start eliminating some of this junk from your life, you will feel lighter. Do you know why?

All of those things can prevent us from feeling God’s love and from feeling the Light of Christ. I can say this because I was there. I loved movies and tv. I was addicted to it. What a waste of time. It was such a struggle for me to pull away from that. Don’t give up.

The life that I have now is incredible. I see miracles every day. I see God every day in the world around me. The Spirit guides me daily. It is so much more exciting than any tv show. It is also reality to me. It isn’t something that a person wrote, and people acted out that make a good story. It is my real life.

God is there. Jesus Christ is real. They are crowded out by all of the things in this world that keep us distracted. It doesn’t take much to distract us in this world that we live in. It takes effort to get yourself to a place where you can hear Them. Don’t give up. I promise you that it is worth it. It will change your life.

In the beginning of the post, I wrote about the covenants made at baptism. I started the post this way because on Tuesday, we elected a new president of the United States of America. Some people woke up on Wednesday with excitement and some people woke up with a completely different feeling.

There is already a lot of hate and contention in the world. What if we decide to choose something different this time. For those of us that wanted this presidential outcome, please be willing to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.

For those of us that wanted a different presidential outcome, have hope. I’m sure that sounds impossible at this moment, but there is one thing that keeps me going when I am in my lowest moments.

Jesus Christ is coming again. He will come back to the earth, and He will lead us in “majesty and glory”. I can think of no other person I want leading us than Him. Be patient, get prepared- spiritually and temporally, and have hope.