The Comforter

D&C 75:10

The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote, “The Elders seemed anxious for me to inquire of the Lord that they might know His will or learn what would be most pleasing to Him for them to do, in order to bring men to a sense of their condition; for, as it was written, all men have gone out of the way, so that none doeth good, no, not one.”[1] Joseph’s statement suggests that the elders were meeting with individuals unwilling to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. Such was the case with Elders Orson Pratt and Samuel Smith in the spring of 1832. “Wherever we were received and entertained, we left our blessing,” wrote Elder Pratt but added, “wherever we were rejected, we washed our feet in private against those who rejected us, and bore testimony of it unto our Father in heaven.”[2]

Their question was how they could know whether their actions were pleasing to the Lord. The answer is found in this section: “Calling on the name of the Lord for the Comforter, which shall teach them all things that are expedient for them” (D&C 75:10).

The Comforter is the Holy Ghost. The Comforter is a teacher. The “Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour” (Luke 12:12), and the “Holy Ghost ... shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance” (John 14:26). It is “not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth” (1 Corinthians 2:13). It is the Holy Ghost who “will show unto you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:5), for “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5).

President Henry B. Eyring, in his general conference address in April 2006, spoke of being taught by the Holy Ghost:

I prayed through the night to know what I was to choose to do in the morning. I knew that no other choice could have had a greater effect on the lives of others and on my own. I knew what choice looked most comfortable to me. I knew what outcome I wanted. But I could not see the future. I could not see which choice would lead to which outcome. So the risk of being wrong seemed too great to me.

I prayed, but for hours there seemed to be no answer. Just before dawn, a feeling came over me. More than at any time since I had been a child, I felt like one. My heart and my mind seemed to grow very quiet. There was a peace in that inner stillness.

Somewhat to my surprise, I found myself praying, “Heavenly Father, it doesn’t matter what I want. I don’t care anymore what I want. I only want that Thy will be done. That is all that I want. Please tell me what to do.”

In that moment I felt as quiet inside as I had ever felt. And the message came, and I was sure who it was from. It was clear what I was to do. I received no promise of the outcome. There was only the assurance that I was a child who had been told what path led to whatever He wanted for me.

I learned from that experience and countless repetitions that the description of the Holy Ghost as a still, small voice is real. It is poetic, but it is not poetry. Only when my heart has been still and quiet, in submission like a little child, has the Spirit been clearly audible to my heart and mind.[3]