The Gift of The Holy Ghost - Sanctifies and Keeps The Atonement Active In Us

Hello Family,

It's great to be be able to write y'all once again on P-day. We had such a great week filled with miracles and uplifting experiences that have helped my companion and I to really feel the Savior's love and His peace in our lives. Yesterday, we were able to have a baptism of a returning member/part member family. B. A. was baptized and confirmed yesterday evening surrounded by her immediate and ward families.

It was such a neat experience to see a young girl like her glow and be so excited about taking that first step enabling her to be together with her family eternally. She asked me to perform the confirmation.

Through daily scripture study, pondering, fervent prayer, much fasting, faith, President Harding's teaching and example, and the spirit, I have grown so much in knowledge of the gospel on the mission. I have learned to more fully realize the importance of the Holy Ghost and in particular the Gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives and the unmistakeable connection to our repentance and the Savior's atonement at baptism and more so beyond thus helping us endure to the end. The scriptures teach us that we are saved by the Grace of Jesus Christ, no question. The Savior through His atonement, and death and resurrection enable us to be cleansed from our sins and to be rescued from both physical and more importantly spiritual death. Spiritual death is brought on by sin. Baptism is the entry way to the Kingdom as well as accessing the fullness of the Savior's atonement where we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. While the Savior makes it possible to be cleansed from sin through His suffering and atonement, it is the Holy Ghost that does the actual "cleansing," the scriptures refer to it as sanctification by the Holy Ghost. After all we can do to repent of our mistakes, the Savior's atonement kick's in and we can be sanctified, or cleansed by the Holy Ghost. What a blessing it is as part of the Godhead and plan of salvation that we can have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost if we are worthy to let us know the atonement is active in our lives after baptism.

• 2 Nephi 31:17 “For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.”

• Alma 5:54 “they have been brought into this church, having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

• Alma 13:12 “Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence.”

• 3 Nephi 27:20 “Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.”

This isn’t just a Book of Mormon doctrine. The apostle Paul referred to it multiple times as well in the New Testament:

“That the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:16) 

“But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Perhaps my favorite one does come from the Book of Mormon, however: “And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ” (Moroni 6:4).

With this knowledge I believe the most important ordinance performed this night was, as in all baptisms, the confirmation. Confirming B.'s baptism with its accompanying first covenant allows B. to have the greatest and most important blessing we can have in this life, the gift of the Holy Ghost. Again this will help her (and us) endure to the end. 

So many great miracles are happening here in the mission field providing further evidence of the divinity of this work. The Lord doesn't ask us to labor by ourselves; or to do it by any other way than His way. As the prophet Isaiah wrote: the Lord's thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways..as the heavens are higher than the earth so to are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts.

I bare testimony to y'all that this is the Lord's work and that He is at the head of this missionary army making the glorious climb up the mountain; where we are in a fierce battle against the Lord's enemy even the adversary, making the adversary our enemy as well. Consequently, there is only one intelligent thing to do; follow our captain and our leader and rescue those who are searching for the answers that come through the Restoration of the Gospel!

Have A Great Week!

Love, Elder Gautavai