Lesson 12: The Gift of the Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. He has a body of spirit rather than of flesh and bones. Because He is a spirit, you cannot see Him. But you can feel Him with you. The Holy Ghost has many names. Some of them are the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, and the Comforter.

After you are baptized, you are confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Having this glorious gift means that if you live righteously, you can have the Holy Ghost with you always.

When you have special friends, you want to be with them. You might invite them to your home. You might prepare for their visit by cleaning your house. You might plan to do things to make them feel comfortable and welcome. When your friends arrive, you listen carefully to them. You probably tell them how glad you are to be with them.

The Holy Ghost is a special friend to you. To invite the Holy Ghost to be with you, you can sincerely pray and ask Heavenly Father to send Him. You can prepare for Him by remembering Jesus Christ, choosing the right, keeping the commandments. The Holy Ghost can bring feelings of warmth, love, peace, joy, and wanting to do good. (See Gal. 5:22–23; D&C 11:12–13.) When you feel the Holy Ghost with you, thank Heavenly Father for this blessing. The Holy Ghost is one of the greatest gifts Father in Heaven can give you.

Lesson 11: Baptism

A covenant is a two-way promise between Heavenly Father and us, His children. The covenants He makes with us are sacred and holy. In them He promises glorious blessings to us. When we make covenants with Him, we show our love for Him and promise to keep His commandments.

The baptism covenant is the first gospel-ordinance covenant you make with Heavenly Father. When you make this sacred covenant, you show your love for Him. You also promise, or covenant, to take the name of Jesus Christ upon you, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. (See D&C 20:37.) You should also be willing to bear testimony of Him, and to love and serve Him by loving and serving others. (See Mosiah 18:8–10.)

After you make your baptismal covenant (are baptized), you are confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Heavenly Father always blesses you with His spirit when you keep your baptismal covenant. Each Sunday you can remember and renew your baptismal covenant as you partake of the sacrament.

Lesson 10: Repentance

When you disobey the commandments or hurt others, the Holy Ghost cannot be with you and you may feel sad, guilty, lonely, or afraid. To change these feelings, you need to turn from doing wrong to doing right. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will help you change. This changing is called repentance.

Repentance begins inside of you—in your thoughts and in your heart. When you know you have done something wrong, think about it until a feeling of sorrow comes into your heart. Do not excuse yourself or blame someone else. Tell Heavenly Father what you have done and how you feel. Tell Him how much you love Him, and ask for His help. If you have hurt someone or something, try to make it better. Promise Heavenly Father that you will try, with all your heart, to do what is right from now on.

Repentance begins on the inside, but usually it shows on the outside as well. When you promise Heavenly Father that you will do what is right, you keep your promise by changing the way you act. You treat others with more love and kindness. You keep the commandments. These actions will help you feel good about yourself and others.

You will need to repent many times throughout your life. As you turn away from wrong and try to do what is right, you will grow closer and closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ has promised that if you repent, He will bless you and remember your wrongs no more. (See Hel. 13:11; D&C 58:42.)

Lesson 9: Priesthood Blessings and Ordinances

Imagine walking up to this car. You are told the car is yours to take you to the place that would make you the most happy. One problem--no keys and no license to drive!

Heavenly Father has promised us something even better than a cool car. He has promised us that we can live happily with Him forever. Just like the car, we need to be able to unlock the doors to that promise.

The Priesthood is the power of God that allows worthy men to act in the place of our loving Heavenly Father. Since the beginning of time, Heavenly Father has allowed worthy men to hold the KEYS to this sacred power. For a time, after Christ's death, the priesthood was taken from the earth. The gates were again locked.

Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the priesthood KEYS with its power has been restored on earth and is a special gift from Heavenly Father to bless our lives. Through priesthood authority and power, we can receive the ordinances and blessings necessary to live again with Heavenly Father and live better lives here on earth.

Lesson 8: The Church of Jesus Christ Has Prophets to Teach Us

Throughout the scriptures we hear prophets warn the people of upcoming dangers and tell them how to avoid disasters. One such prophet was Noah who spent years trying to help the people repent. Because of the people's wickedness, the Lord was going to cover the earth in water. Not only did the Lord send Noah to warn them, the Lord also had Noah prepare away for the people who did repent to be safe.

Elder W. Don Ladd taught: “When it starts raining, it is too late to begin building the ark. … We … need to listen to the Lord’s spokesmen. We need to calmly continue to move ahead and prepare for what will surely come. We need not panic or fear, for if we are prepared, spiritually and temporally, we and our families will survive any flood. Our arks will float on a sea of faith if our works have been steadily and surely preparing for the future” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 37; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 29).

Heavenly Father still wants to warn and protect us. God tells the prophet what we should do. If we follow the prophet, we will be happy and Heavenly Father will bless us. Following the prophet means to do the things he tells us to do even when it isn't convenient.

Lesson 7: Faith in Jesus Christ

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Reading from the scriptures and learning about people who have seen Jesus helps us to have faith in Jesus. Even though we may not have seen Jesus with our own eyes, we can have faith that he lives and loves us because of the testimonies of those who have seen him and have told us about him in the scriptures. We can know in our hearts that Jesus is our Savior when we ask our Heavenly Father in our prayers.

Lesson 6: Jesus Christ’s Church Has Been Restored

When Jesus lived on the earth, he wanted the people to learn and obey his teachings. These teachings would help the people learn what they must do to return and live with him and Heavenly Father again. Jesus organized his Church to help the people learn to live his teachings. After Jesus and his Apostles died, the people did not live by what Jesus taught. People changed his teachings so that the true Church was lost. Jesus took his priesthood from the people on the earth. This meant that people could no longer be baptized with the proper authority. Also, without that priesthood authority, people could not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, be sealed in the temple as a family, or have a prophet to speak for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ on earth.

Because Heavenly Father loves His children, He promised to restore His Gospel. Many good people continued to search for the restoration of His gospel and the Priesthood authority. When Joseph Smith went into the grove to pray, he was given the answers that many were seeking for--The truth needed to be restored and Heavenly Father would work through His prophet to bring back the light and knowledge that had long been taken from the earth.