2023 October General Conference, Sunday Morning Session

Our Constant Companion
President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency

Main Points

• President Eyring offers a brief letter to his posterity in hopes it will help them when he is no longer with them. This talk is meant to share with them (and us) what he has personally come to know in hopes it will help them in difficult days ahead.
• We can be taught by the Spirit line upon line
• When a task from the Lord seems greater than our capacity and experience, we can take courage that the Spirit will guide us.
• The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost is not easy to achieve.
• The Lord sends the Holy Ghost when we turn to Him in faith.
• When we are willing to serve the Lord, the Holy Ghost can and will guide us.

Gospel Principles taught

Our Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ, The Holy Ghost, Repentance, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, Sacrament, Service

Gospel Doctrine taught

The Godhead, God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost

Scriptures

Helaman 11:23, 1 Nephi 3:7, 1 Nephi 4:5–6, Doctrine and Covenants 20:77, John 15:26, Doctrine and Covenants 121:45–46

Related talks: 

• Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives
• Lessons from Liberty Jail
• We Can Do Better and Be Better

Other sources cited: 

• At times I have difficulty feeling the Spirit because I feel numb. Does this mean I am doing something wrong and have lost the Spirit?

Look for Jesus Christ:

• Testimony of Christ.
  • Of all the things of which the Holy Ghost testifies, the most precious for us is that Jesus is the Christ, the living Son of God.
  • As a witness of Jesus Christ, I know that He lives and He leads His Church.
• Description of His Teachings.
  • The Savior promised, “When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.”
  • Jesus Christ did pray to the Father to send the Holy Ghost to guide, comfort, and testify of truth to us.
• Description of His Atonement.
  • I try to remember the Savior’s sacrifice and His love for me. Then, when I pray to Heavenly Father to give thanks, I feel love and assurance that my prayers are heard and that I will receive whatever is best for me and those I love. It strengthens my testimony.
• Description of His relationship with us.
  • I testify that the Lord has kept His promise. The Holy Ghost is being sent to the faithful covenant members of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Inspiring Words & Phrases

• the Lord speaks to us personally through the Holy Ghost.
• We can be taught by and learn from the Spirit line upon line, receiving what we need, and then when we are ready, we will receive more.
• Nephi’s experience with the Holy Ghost on that errand has given me courage many times when I have embarked on tasks I knew were assignments from the Lord but which seemed far beyond my past experience and beyond what I saw as my capacity.
• We each think and say and do things in our daily lives that can offend the Spirit. When that happens, as it will, we may feel disapproval from the Lord. And we may be tempted to feel we are alone. It is important to remember the sure promise we receive each week as we repent and partake of the sacrament: “That they may always have his Spirit to be with them.”
• When I feel distant from the Lord, when answers to my prayers seem delayed, I have learned … to review my life for opportunities to repent.
• Our motives need to be driven by the pure love of Christ.
• I bear my witness that God the Father lives. He loves you. He hears your every prayer.
• I pray that we may have that blessing and the companionship of the Holy Spirit this day and every day of our lives.
• I love you.

Lists

The Holy Ghost’s role is to:

• Enable us to survive spiritually
• Guide us
• Direct us
• Comfort us
• Influence us constantly
• Testify of truth

I bear my witness:

• God the Father lives.
• God the Father loves you.
• God the Father hears your every prayer.
• Jesus Christ did pray to the Father to send the Holy Ghost.
• The Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith.
• The prophet Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God.
• Heavenly messengers restored priesthood keys.
• President Russell M. Nelson is the prophet of God for all the earth.
• Jesus Christ lives.
• Jesus Christ leads His church.

We can have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost as we:

• Remember the Savior
• Love the Savior
• Repent
• Ask for the Savior’s love to be in our hearts

Invitations/Challenges

• “Daily repentance is the pathway to purity, and purity brings power.” (Nelson)
• I pray with all my heart that your confidence will grow.

Equations

• Daily repentance →purity→power

Warnings

• We each think and say and do things in our daily lives that can offend the Spirit. When that happens, as it will, we may feel disapproval from the Lord. And we may be tempted to feel we are alone. It is important to remember the sure promise we receive each week as we repent and partake of the sacrament: “That they may always have his Spirit to be with them.”
• If you want to receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost, you must want it for the right reasons. Your purposes must be the Lord’s purposes. If your motives are too selfish, you will find it difficult to receive and sense the promptings of the Spirit.

Blessings/Promises

• As we pray and then heed the Spirit’s promptings, we gain greater insights and blessings to guide us through the increasingly difficult days ahead.
• We can be taught by and learn from the Spirit line upon line, receiving what we need, and then when we are ready, we will receive more.
• If you have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost today, you may take it as a sweet evidence that the Atonement is working in your life.
• If you find yourself having difficulty in feeling the Holy Ghost, you might ponder whether there is anything for which you might repent and receive forgiveness.
• You can pray with faith to know what to do to be cleansed and thus more nearly qualify for that constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.
• Now, your experiences will be unique, and the Spirit will guide in the way best suited to your faith and capacity to receive revelation for you and for those you love and serve.
• You and I have the opportunity to have the Holy Ghost as our constant companion and to have those truths confirmed as we remember and love the Savior, repent, and ask for His love to be in our hearts.

Stories:

• Invited us to think about and pray about the story of the sons of Helaman, Nephi and Lehi, and those laboring with them. They faced opposition, served in a wicked place and dealt with deceptions. But they were “taught and guided by a series of experiences with the Holy Ghost.”
• Reminded us of Nephi’s experience in being “led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things” he was supposed to do.
• The story of a young woman who had moved far from home; her mother and her home teachers had felt concern on her behalf. The home teachers felt inspired that she was about to make choices that would lead to sadness and misery, so they went to see her. Under the influence of the Spirit, they pleaded with her to repent and choose the Lord’s path for her.

Application Ideas

1. Study the story of the sons of Helaman (Helaman 5 & 11 especially). Take notes in your journal or scriptures. Write down any impressions you have, and then follow President Eyring’s invitation to pray about this story.
2. After your study and prayer, make a goal of how you can apply this story to your life.
3. In the last three paragraphs of his talk, President Eyring testifies of many of the fundamental truths of the gospel. Then he says, “You and I have the opportunity to have the Holy Ghost as our constant companion and to have those truths confirmed as we remember and love the Savior, repent, and ask for His love to be in our hearts.” If those truths have been confirmed to you, consider writing those experiences in your journal. If any of those truths have not yet been confirmed to you, consider following President Eyring’s suggestion to love the Savior, repent, and ask for the Savior’s love to be in your heart. 
4. Whenever you feel alone, think of the words of the sacrament prayer: ‘that they may always have His spirit to be with them.’
5. Reframe how you think about repentance. For the next week, try to notice the things you say and do that may offend the spirit, and ask for forgiveness. Write about your experience in your journal.

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