Lorenzo Snow Lesson 4: Strengthened By The Power of the Holy Ghost

In his first general conference address as President of the Church, Lorenzo Snow taught, we are dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord to aid us and to manifest to us from time to time what is necessary for us to accomplish under the peculiar circumstances that may surround us. 

This past week, one day Makenzie was practicing her piano.  She had some new songs, and she was having trouble with one of them.  After working on it for awhile, she asked me to come in and help her.  As I watched her try to play the song, I could see immediately what the main problem was.  The song was in Middle D position.  Although Makenzie has learned to play songs in several different keys, including Middle C, Middle D position is not used often, and it was unfamiliar to her.  More importantly, it is so near to Middle C, that she kept shifting her fingers to the more familiar keys. 

I tried to explain to her what was happening, but she got so worked up, she wouldn’t listen to what I was saying.  Each time she would do it wrong, I would tell her to try again, which made her angrier and angrier.  Rather than trying to get it right, she just wanted to move on to the next song.

As I lay in bed that night, I thought how similar that experience was to the Holy Ghost in our lives. 

Just like Makenzie, we make mistakes.  Just  like Makenzie, we need assistance .

Often, we recognize our mistakes, or challenges, and ask for help.  Often, however, we are so intent on the problem that we can’t or won’t hear the answer, which may often be a simple solution.

Just like Makenzie, there is someone available to help us.  Because of our baptism, every Latter-day Saint can have the Holy Ghost as a friend to give counsel.  We need the assistance of the Holy Ghost as we endure trials, fulfill our duties, and prepare for Celestial glory.

President Snow said:

“We need assistance.  We are liable to do that which will lead us into trouble and darkness, and those things which will not tend to our good, but with the assistance of that comforter which the Lord has promised his Saints, if we are careful to listen to its whisperings, and understand the nature of its language, we may avoid much trouble and serious difficulty.”

Now, a lot of our problems we can and do, work out through our own struggles.  The very next morning I heard Makenzie playing the song, and she had figured it out, but it was not with out a lot of tears.

However, President Snow has a better answer:

We ought to understand, and I presume that we generally do, that the work which we have come into this life to perform cannot be done to the glory of God or to the satisfaction of ourselves merely by our own natural intelligence.  We are dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord to aid us and to manifest to us from time to time what is necessary for us to accomplish under the peculiar circumstances that may surround us.

It would be simply foolish indeed to expect the Latter-day Saints in these days to comply with the celestial law, with the law that proceeds from God, and with his designs to elevate the people into his presence, except they were sustained by a supernatural [heavenly] power. The gospel promises this. It promises the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is divine in its character, and which is not enjoyed by any other class of people, and which we are told by the Saviour, should lead into all truth, and inspire those who possessed it, and give them a knowledge of Jesus, a knowledge of the Father, and of things pertaining to the celestial world; that it should inspire those who possessed it with a knowledge of things to come, and things that were past; and inspire them to an extent that they should enjoy supernatural gifts.

President Snow emphasizes:

“There are many important things required at our hands, and many things which we can do, when assisted by the Spirit of the Lord, which  may at times seem almost impossible to accomplish.”

Through the gift of the Holy Ghost, we are led to all truth and strengthened in our faith.

President Snow said:

Persons come to me very anxious to receive counsel upon some subject or other. They need not come to me always, for the Spirit is within them to bring about good and to accomplish the purposes of God. … It is not always necessary (to go to a church authority) to get counsel; they have it within them; there is a friend that knows just exactly what to say to them. From the time we receive the Gospel, go down into the waters of baptism and have hands laid upon us afterwards for the gift of the Holy Ghost, we have a friend, if we do not drive it from us by doing wrong. That friend is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, which partakes of the things of God and shows them unto us. This is a grand means that the Lord has provided for us, that we may know the light, and not be groveling continually in the dark.

Among the many associations with the Holy Ghost, one of the most prominent is Light.  On the Mormon Channel website, Elder David A. Bednar presents a series of 3 video clips entitled “Patterns of Light”, each focused on a different aspect or role of the Holy Ghost.

The topic of the first video is The Light of Christ:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1737858982001

  

After  the video, I’ve asked a sister to share an experience

The topic of the second video is Discerning Light.  

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1737858984001

After the video, I've asked a sister to share an experience

The topic of the third video is The Spirit of Revelation.   

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1737858986001

After the video, I've asked a sister to share the following story, and her thoughts:

(Light Switch)

In 1864, Elders Lorenzo Snow and Ezra T. Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles went on a mission to the Hawaiian Islands. They were accompanied by three other missionaries: Elders Joseph F. Smith, William Cluff, and Alma L. Smith. When their ship anchored off the coast of the island of Maui, all but Joseph F. Smith boarded a smaller boat to go ashore. As they approached the island, high waves struck, causing the steersman to lose control of the boat. The boat capsized, and all the occupants were thrown into the water. Soon everyone surfaced except Elder Snow. A group of islanders rushed to help, taking William Cluff and Alma L. Smith in a lifeboat to search for their friend. Elder Cluff related:

“The first I saw of Brother Snow was his hair floating upon the water around one end of the capsized boat. As soon as we got him into our boat, we told the boatmen to pull for the shore with all possible speed. His body was stiff, and life apparently extinct.

“Brother A. L. Smith and I were sitting side by side. We laid Brother Snow across our laps, and, on the way to shore, we quietly administered to him and asked the Lord to spare his life, that he might return to his family and home.

“On reaching the shore, we carried him a little way to some large barrels that were lying on the sandy beach. We laid him face downwards on one of them, and rolled him back and forth until we succeeded in getting the water he had swallowed out of him. …

“After working over him for some time, without any indications of returning life, the by-standers said that nothing more could be done for him. But we did not feel like giving him up, and still prayed and worked over him, with an assurance that the Lord would hear and answer our prayers.

“Finally we were impressed to place our mouth over his and make an effort to inflate his lungs, alternately blowing in and drawing out the air, imitating, as far as possible, the natural process of breathing. This we persevered in until we succeeded in inflating his lungs. After a little, we perceived very faint indications of returning life. A slight wink of the eye, which, until then, had been open and death-like, and a very faint rattle in the throat, were the first symptoms of returning vitality. These grew more and more distinct, until consciousness was fully restored.”

Looking back on this experience, Elder William Cluff knew why he and Elder Alma L. Smith were able to save Elder Snow’s life. “We did not only what was customary in such cases,” he said, “but also what the Spirit seemed to whisper to us.

(Rising Sun)
 

Back in November, I shared with you how Keaton was having such a struggle.  I was so grateful for the inspiration of the Spirit to keep him in his school.  But then, of course, we still had to deal with the issues.  As I looked for a solution,  I can tell you that I truly studied it out in my mind.  Based on the information, I tried to find what fit the symptoms.  I looked at the possibility of drugs, but immediately felt that was not it.  I went back and looked for patterns, I tried to determine if I could see a starting point.  Looking at it in this way, I could see a clear 180˚ change immediately after he broke his hand.  He went from happy and excited about school, friends and so on, to grouchy, poor grades, feeling down and depressed.  That’s when I realized it was depression.  I remember having a clear impression in my mind of Post-surgical depression.”  I looked it up on the computer, and knew what I would find—post surgical depression is a real thing.  We went to the Doctor, and the Doctor agreed.  He talked to Keaton for a long time about how an injury affects males, especially teenagers.  They can’t deal with the fact that they are not invincible, and they get depressed.  Just that visit was the turn around point, and now he is just back to normal.

A sister will then share her thoughts on the Spirit of Revelation.

I would like to close with these words by President Snow:

If we keep the light of the Spirit within us, we can so walk in the gospel that we can measurably enjoy peace and happiness in this world; and while we are traveling outward, striving for peace and happiness that lies in our path, in the distance, we shall have a peace of mind that none can enjoy but those who are filled with the Holy Spirit.