I loved meeting with the missionaries. They were on fire. They had the Spirit. They wanted to do good. What a thrill it was to serve as a mission president in England and then return to preside over the Provo MTC and feel the Spirit of the disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ. The joy of experiencing the Spirit in these meetings is truly delicious. We want to do good, walk humbly, do justly, and judge righteously. Our mind is enlightened and we feel joy (see D&C 11:12–13). We experience that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22–23).
These are the feelings of the Spirit. We can experience these feelings as we come to our meetings prepared to feel the Spirit. “He [Heavenly Father] will, however, stand by us forever to help us see the right path, find the right choice, respond to the true voice, and feel the influence of his undeniable Spirit. His gentle, peaceful, powerful persuasion to do right and find joy will be with us” (Howard W. Hunter, The Teachings of Howard W. Hunter, ed. Clyde J. Williams [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1997], 79).
Yes, it is the Spirit that will direct our lives if we but follow the counsel of king Benjamin. The individual falls short unless he “yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the Atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19).
The Spirit is the key. May we ever prepare ourselves in all things to be worthy of His Spirit by always remembering our Savior and our Heavenly Father, keeping our covenants and commandments which we have been given … and we will always have His Spirit to be with us. (Ed J. Pinegar)