General Conference: Saturday Afternoon - Elder Bednar
From Elder Bednar:
Baptism represents a covenant with God. We do not decide the nature or elements of the covenant – using our agency, we can simply accept the terms as God has set them.
Fundamental conditions:
- Witness a willingness to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ
- Always remember him
- Keep his commandments
Blessing:
- We may always have his spirit to be with us
“Receive the Holy Ghost” is a directive to strive for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. The physical performance of the ordinance is only a first step. Joseph Smith said, “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting the Holy Ghost.”
If something we think, see, hear, or do causes us to stop feeling the Holy Ghost, then we should not think, see, hear, or do that anymore.
Do we view feeling the Spirit as a rare or exceptional event? We often speak as if we do. Fallen men and women living in a mortal world will not have the Spirit constantly, but it is realistic to strive for its presence more often than not.
In the Book of Mormon contains the story of Lehi and his family, Israelites who left Jerusalem and travelled to America. They were guided by a ball given them by the Lord. This ‘liahona’ told them where to go, but only as long as they were being righteous. When they were rude, irreverent, or immodest, the liahona stopped providing direction. The Liahona served as an outward, physical manifestation of the obedience and internal attitude of the family of Lehi.
The Holy Ghost is our modern liahona — our vehicle for receiving personal direction from God. The same factors that impaired the functioning of the liahona impair our own sensitivity to the Holy Ghost.