Mission Stories
Get insights on having a powerful and successful full-time LDS mission. This podcast shares inspiring stories and practical principles for embracing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, overcoming challenges, and building a strong foundation for lifelong discipleship. Faith-promoting stories and lessons from real full-time LDS mission experiences to inspire and teach. Based on The Mission Prep Series by Shawn Record.
Mission Stories
Discerning the Spirit's Love and Power in an ASL Mission - Sister Emma "Wild Child" Stanford
This episode of Mission Stories Podcast features returned missionary Sister Emma Stanford, focusing on the theme "Revelation Leads to Conversion". The discussion explores how God communicates through the Holy Ghost and the transformative power of discerning and acting upon that revelation.
Sister Emma Stanford's Mission and Boldness: Emma served in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission, called specifically to speak American Sign Language (ASL). Due to the niche nature of ASL, her team found investigators creatively through social media videos and member referrals. Emma was known as "the wild child" during her training due to her boldness as a missionary.
Discerning and Experiencing the Holy Ghost:
Emma suggests there are "no such thing as coincidences because I think God's always in the fabric of our lives", often recognizing promptings after acting on them.
Lauren adds that the Holy Ghost is present for the faithful due to baptismal covenants, even if one cannot always "recognize these promptings".
Emma most strongly recognized the Holy Ghost when testifying to investigators or promising blessings. She described feeling "power," "truth," and an "amped" energy, sometimes being brought to tears.
Profoundly, Emma describes her personal experience of the Holy Ghost as feeling "the love of Christ"—an "incomprehensible," "overpowering" love. Lauren affirms that Christ's teaching with love is the "most powerful tool in conversion".
The Holy Ghost is confirmed wherever charity and service are present, as well as in ordinances of the priesthood.
Emma exemplifies acting with faith and boldness, believing the Lord will "back me up" without needing to wait for a discernible "nudge". She shared a story of "putting her foot in the door" of a reluctant lady's house, an act she describes as being "led by the spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do" (1 Nephi 4:6). This bold action immediately changed the lady's demeanor, leading to an "awesome lesson".
Shawn shares a similar experience of boldly promising an investigator a job if he read scriptures, believing the Spirit confirmed God would "not make me a liar".
Lauren emphasizes that the Holy Ghost "will always share his voice when we testify with ours," fulfilling the promise that when one speaks "by the power of the Holy Ghost, the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men" (2 Nephi 33:1). This is especially encouraging for missionaries learning new languages, as the message will still get through.
A practical tip for missionaries is to sing hymns and then ask, "How do you feel?" to help people recognize the peaceful presence of the Spirit.
Spiritual Discerning of Truth: The episode delves into 3 Nephi 11, where the voice of God spoke from heaven to thousands. Initially, they "understood not the voice which they heard with their ears," even though it was not harsh or loud. However, despite being a "small voice," it "did pierce them... to the very soul, and it caused their hearts to burn". It was not until the third time that they "did open their ears to hear it" spiritually and fully understood.
The host explains that God communicates directly with our spirits. Emma adds that the goal is to help people "see" (understand spiritually) rather than just "looking" (perceiving physically).
The host recounted a pivotal MTC experience where a teacher helped him recognize the Holy Ghost's presence by asking "Do you feel that?", helping him realize he had been feeling the Spirit his "whole life" without discerning it.
Go forth with boldness and faith in God, trusting that He will empower them and that the Holy Ghost
All right, welcome back, Mission Prep Podcast. We have some good guests today, but we'll wait to introduce our really, really powerful, no pressure, great, amazing, spiritual, articulate, no pressure guest. Because Lauren, you told me something just right before we started. Please tell me again, what happened today?
SPEAKER_02:Friends, I have a cool story for you today.
SPEAKER_00:Sure.
SPEAKER_02:So today I'm sitting in my kitchen. I get a text from one of my previous companions and she's currently serving in a branch that I spent six months in. And I see a picture and the little text next to it. I was like, look what we did today. And I look at the picture and I zoom in and it's four of my recent converts standing in front of the temple just with her. And the smile on their faces, I'm just like, oh, yes.
SPEAKER_00:When's the last time you saw them?
SPEAKER_02:Eight weeks ago.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, that's a good interval. So then what happened when you saw them?
SPEAKER_02:I got emotional. And? And it made me think of Alma 26. Wait a
SPEAKER_00:minute. You said you burst into tears.
SPEAKER_02:I said I had the desire to, but I didn't actually do it.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, but why? Why?
SPEAKER_02:But I said a prayer of gratitude after, and then I burst
SPEAKER_00:into tears. Yeah, explain. What were you feeling when you saw that?
SPEAKER_02:Gratitude.
SPEAKER_00:It was
SPEAKER_02:gratitude.
SPEAKER_00:Just joy and happiness.
SPEAKER_02:Joy. I
SPEAKER_00:mean, this is what we talk about all the time on the podcast is when we come to Christ, right? And how do we come to Christ? Again, missionaries listening, your only purpose as a missionary is to lead souls to Christ. And the only way to come to Christ is is faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The faith leads to repentance. And when you are a repentant soul, that's the only way to receive joy in this world. That's it. When we learn the brokenhearted, contrite, condition of our souls and we repent, then and only then can we feel joy because that's the condition Christ has for us to come unto him, right? Then we enter into covenants. So you are thrilled because not only did you go through that process yourself of conversion, but you are working with all these people that you just fall in love with and you see them come unto faith and unto repentance and unto the covenants. And so you see them at the temple, which means even more, right? Not just salvation, but exaltation, that path. And how does it make you feel, Lauren?
SPEAKER_02:There's like no words to explain the joy that you feel when you see someone else finding the same joy that you once found. And I individually reached out to each of them. And one of my recent convert, her name's Deanna, she responded and she sent me a voice memo and she just said, And I'm going to Hendricks. I felt the presence of the person I was doing baptisms for. Like I felt their gratitude. I felt their appreciation. I felt their love for the gospel when I was there. Oh, so cool. I'm sitting here like screaming in my car, like, oh my gosh, it was so awesome. But I had mentioned earlier, it reminded me of Alma 26. And this chapter is one that I read for two weeks every single day before I came home from the mission. My last two weeks in the field, I read it every day because it talks about Ammon. It's basically his reflection on his mission. And the very first verse is my favorite because he says, um, my brothers and my brother and behold, I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice me in this moment. Okay. Then it continues saying for, could it, For could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings? And it goes on to say that the such great blessings that he received are the people that he was able to help be converted. And I can't help but think of that every time I see one of the people that I talk to in the street or someone that I saw get baptized or that I helped taught just feel this joy of the gospel truly be converted through faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost. And it's just, I had no idea Listeners, you have no idea the blessings that you're about to receive by serving the Lord. And the blessings just come tenfold when you serve with all your heart, mind, and strength.
SPEAKER_00:And I always love, Lauren, how you talk about you had no idea two years ago or a year and a half ago what true joy, what true love of others and true love of God was like. And now... You're this return missionary and a true disciple of Christ who's been truly converted. And the things that bring you such, not just joy, but the deepest joy you can possibly feel are based in conversion in Christ and others coming to Christ and receiving that same joy. I'm so happy to see you get that text, look at that photo, showing me these pictures. And it's just, your heart is changed because of how much joy you have in other people's success and joy. Loads of joy, people. That's awesome. Thank you for sharing that. That's amazing. All right. So today we are joined by a very special guest. Why don't you introduce yourself?
SPEAKER_02:Hello. My name is Emma Stanford. I served in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission. Has a couple of states like Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas. It's like the whole South.
SPEAKER_00:So we're a different country than what most of us know of.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. I loved it. And I spoke American Sign Language. So
SPEAKER_00:wait, were you called to speak American Sign Language or did you get out there and they were like, um, we need you to learn this language?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I was called to American Sign Language.
SPEAKER_00:Because you, and beforehand you had spoken it or you knew some of it?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I studied it in high school and I studied it in college.
SPEAKER_00:Isn't that amazing? Okay, so then you got called to speak ASL. Yes. And so just for our listeners to just, just to get the practical information out of the way. So why? how do you find people? How do you, it's deaf people, correct? Right. How do you find people on a mission? Cause one of the principles, this is interesting, right? Lauren, one of the principles, our third principle is open your mouth and talk to everyone. So how do you,
SPEAKER_01:well,
SPEAKER_00:how do
SPEAKER_02:you,
SPEAKER_00:yeah. How do you find people on your mission?
SPEAKER_02:Well, um, in my mission, at least we had two deaf areas, like we're assigned like ASL, like in that specifically in the area because there was a deaf school right next to it. Cool. But we didn't really utilize that as much as we could have. There's a lot of rules because I was on other college campuses too, like Ole Miss. And there's so many rules that you have to go through to like proselytize on a college campus. So we weren't really, and especially with like deaf kids, like kids and missionaries, like there's just like a lot of different rules. So we had to get creative over like social media. So we would do like sign language videos, sign language, like, music videos.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, cool. And then you'd get referrals from those social media videos?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, or members. I think a lot of our good, steady friends came from members being like, oh, there's a deaf lady down my street.
SPEAKER_00:That's so cool. That is awesome.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, it was always fluctuating how you could find new deaf people to teach because it's just such a niche. Lines in the water, baby. Oh, yeah. Fascinating.
SPEAKER_00:We tried everything. Okay, good. Well, we're excited to hear some of your stories and experiences. Real quick, before we start, I wanted to share, since we have something in common from our experiences. So when I was in Ukraine, back in the 90s, my first area, I was learning Russian language, just stumbling through it. One day, me and my companion were out working, and it was real late, not very many people out, and I'll set the scene, because this is a little creepy. We get on what's called a A tramvai, which is like an electric...
SPEAKER_02:Tram.
SPEAKER_00:Tram. Thank you. But it's a Soviet electric tram. So it's dark and we're in this remote area, kind of a little scary. We get on this tram. We're the only ones there. We're exhausted. It's kind of hot and sweaty. We take off ready to go home. No one to talk to. We usually talk to people on the trams, but no one was there. So we're just driving, going, going, and then all of a sudden it stops and these two guys get on all the way down to the other end. And we look and kind of make eye contact. And my attitude at that was always like, great, someone to go talk to. But when they looked at us, it was kind of menacing a little bit because they kind of stared. They stared and stared, and then they started walking our way. And we're like, uh-oh, uh-oh. Because that usually either means they're mafia, which means trouble, or it means they're cops, like 18-year-old cops, and that's definitely trouble. Or it means they're drunk. So we're like, okay, what's going to happen? So these two guys come up to us. And before he gets an earshot of us, he stops, pulls out a piece of paper and a pen, and he starts writing something down. And we're like, oh, man, what is going on? This is not good. Charades. Yeah. So he writes something down, then he comes up and he hands it to us. And it says in Russian, I have a devil. I have a devil.
SPEAKER_02:Oh my gosh. I feel like you shared one of these at Mission Prep before.
SPEAKER_00:Did you remember this story?
SPEAKER_02:I think so.
SPEAKER_00:So he says, I have a devil. And we were both like, oh, what? This is creepy and dark and scary. And so we spoke to him and he just kind of shook his head. And we're like, what is happening? What is going to happen here? And then he took it again and he wrote something and he said, your church tells me that I have a devil because I am deaf. And we're like, oh, no way. And then I look at my companion, Elder Melcher, And he shocks the heck out of me. He brings his hands up and he starts sign language, sign languaging with this guy. What's the right? What do I say that?
SPEAKER_02:I guess just using a sign.
SPEAKER_00:He starts using sign and they're communicating back and forth. And I'm like, what the heck is happening? Like, and I asked him like, what are you doing? He's like, I, I didn't tell you. I, I've, I found some, some deaf Russian people. And I, before I got with you, I, go to their little, so the Soviets would put them all in these like crappy houses in this one area. And so there's like hundreds of these deaf people.
SPEAKER_01:Whoa.
SPEAKER_00:And he's like, so I would just, I've been going there and teaching them and I've learned the language. Like, that's insane. That's impressive. That's incredible. So they started to discuss. And what this man was simply telling us was, look, I've been told my whole life from the Russian Orthodox Church, from the Orthodox churches, that because I was born the way I was born with this issue, that means there's a devil in me.
SPEAKER_02:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And so he was asking us, do you believe that I have a devil? And what a great time for us to say, heck no, you don't have a devil. You are a beloved son of God. And in fact, we have a message for you. And so we started teaching him.
SPEAKER_02:You know, what's actually funny is we taught a Slovakian deaf guy. So I learned French sign language to communicate with him. And he was like, it wasn't that different. But then he was like, actually, I went to school in America, and I know American Sign Language. And so we're like, okay, well, because we were teaching him in French Sign Language, but you spell out a lot of things like fingerspelling. We would spell it out in Slovakian.
SPEAKER_00:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. But then he's like, I actually know ASL. We're like, okay, well. Yeah,
SPEAKER_00:this will be easier. So today we're going to focus on principle number two, revelation leads to conversion. And it's a fascinating subject because before we started, I mean, you and I were talking about experiences you've had throughout your life with the Holy Ghost. And you shared a story with me that happened a couple of days ago. with some friends in the temple. Would you mind just sharing that real quick? Cause that'll, that kind of got us on this track that I think was going to be interesting to go on.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, me and my friend Marin were discussing on where we should go to the temple cause we needed to go before we both went back home and we were like, Oh, we should go to, you're in Provo, BYU in Provo. And there's so many temples here. The temple is like an hour and a half away. It's far. But, um, so we're like, Oh, let's do the 8am. And Marin said, no, I, I have to do that. Let's do the 9am. So like, okay, just making these small decisions. And then, um, long story short, we did our temple session and we're about to leave. And we saw this like door closing of like people going in to see like what they can do, like what work needs to be done in the temple. And it was our other best friend, Mandy. And I didn't even think this is like a big thing at all, but Marilyn was like, oh my goodness. Like, I didn't think I was going to say bye to her before I left for the, like for the whole summer. And, It was a big deal to Maren because we all hugged and rejoiced in the middle of the temple. So it was just kind of fun. And even she, she was going to go to the Draper Temple. She wasn't going to be at that temple at that time.
SPEAKER_00:So the fascinating thing about then the discussion you and I got into after we told that story is this. And listeners, this is what we're going to focus on today. The principle of revelation leads to conversion. This discussion is going to, we're going to go deep in Obviously, Revelation is God communicating to us through the Holy Ghost. So we're going to have a deep discussion about how do we know that it's the Holy Ghost or not? How do we discern the Holy Ghost? And the reason your story became really interesting is because I kind of asked you and says, well, how do you know, right? You're a faithful person, like probably more faithful than anyone I know. How do you know Oh, Lauren just got angry. You're in that category too. How do you know that that experience wasn't just coincidence, just luck? How would we know that the Holy Ghost was involved there, like influencing your brains to say, let's go to the nine o'clock session instead of the eight o'clock session? Because that's the miracle you believe happened was God's, what'd you call it? God's-
SPEAKER_02:A God wink.
SPEAKER_00:A God wink in saying Mandy and Maren- You know, it means a lot to these people who love each other to see each other. Right. So that kind of sparked this discussion you and I got into that we're going to get into really deeply here is how do we know when the Spirit is present or we're experiencing it? Because if we can discern it and recognize it for ourselves... That's a miracle. We know God's communicating to me. And we'll be able to help others on our mission, help them feel the Holy Ghost. Because my experience on my mission was when we helped someone feel the Holy Ghost and we helped them recognize it, this was probably the best times I've ever had on my mission. When I saw someone's eyes light up and recognize that they're feeling the Holy Ghost, this revelation from God, that started the path to faith, which then led to repentance and baptism and so on, more than anything. So let's get into it because I had a story of a friend who one day said to me, hey, Sean, I'm moving out of state. I'm like, oh, all of a sudden, why? He's like, well, you know, I've been praying about it. It's not working out here for me and my family. So we've been praying about it. And, you know, I was driving down the street the other day and I was praying about it. And then I looked up and there was a billboard on the side of the freeway. And it said the state that I was thinking of moving to right on that billboard. And I'm like, that's it. God answered me. I was like, oh, whoa, that's a faithful response. But then I stepped back and said, again, like I asked you, wait, how do you know that that was from God as opposed to just a coincidence? And it boiled down to Hebrews 11.1 that Lauren, you just showed me. Hebrews 11.1 describes faith, which is the component of revelation, obviously it has to exist. It describes faith as... the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And so I've kind of been obsessed my whole scriptural study pursuit with this idea that the Holy Ghost, there will be a substance and an evidence for us to know and discern what is the Holy Ghost. So for example, I just was reading 1 Corinthians 2.14. It says, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, Because they are spiritually discerned. That's a fascinating thing. What he's saying is our spirit can discern when we're feeling the spirit or when it's revelation. Okay, so some questions for the two of you. What do you think? Do you think that the Holy Ghost, if the Holy Ghost is involved in our lives, will we always be able to discern it? Or is it sometimes there and we don't even recognize it or see it or understand it, but it's there functioning? What do you all think?
SPEAKER_02:Me, you? Okay. I think like I was kind of sharing some of my other mission stories with you. Like there are so many opportunities and times where like I kind of just did things. Like I wasn't like being like, well, that's the spirit convincing me. I guess I got to go do it.
SPEAKER_00:You weren't standing in the middle of the street going, I'm not doing anything until I recognize the spirit telling me what to do. You were just, I'm doing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you kind of have to do it. And then sometimes, I guess you can have that discernment, you can recognize it even after it happens, or you never even see the results, or you never even think about it. But we also learn from the scriptures that all good things come from God. So, I think like in a sense, like there's no such thing as coincidences because I think God's always in the fabric of our lives. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:See, that's why I said you're one of the most faithful people I know because your attitude is simply, I just, when I know that I'm doing the Lord's work, like on a mission, or if my heart is in the right place, I'm going to the temple, the Holy Ghost is going to guide me in every aspect of it. Right. For example, to go see one of my friends that I won't see for a while. Right? Yeah. And you're saying, I don't need the discerning people. recognizable feeling of the Holy Ghost, I just know it's there.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Is that kind of what you're
SPEAKER_02:saying? I think that's always a good thing too when you feel it kind of pushing you, but I feel like it's just also... I don't know. I think sometimes I'll mostly feel it afterwards when I do things, being like, oh, that was a prompting. I'm glad I acted on it.
SPEAKER_00:Nice. Good. And I'm going to ask you a lot about that in a minute here. But what do you think, Lauren?
SPEAKER_02:I totally agree with that. I think almost every experience I've ever had where I've been able to recognize that it was the Holy Ghost prompting me, it was always after the fact, like after I acted, after I did this, I was just kind of like, oh, okay. oh my gosh, funny how that worked out. But it reminded me of a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants. It's section 84, it's verse 46. And it says, and the spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world. And the spirit enlighteneth every man through the world that hearkeneth to the voice of the spirit. And I think of the spirit as light. So after those, like, for example, those experiences I've had when I felt that light, I was like, okay, that has to be the spirit. Or I just, now I correlate, light with, with the spirit. I remember in the very beginning of my mission when I was in training, my trainer, like I remember we're biking through the streets of Shelbyville, Indiana, and we're at this very like rundown neighborhood, like really nasty. Like it was just, I was like, what am I doing here? And we walk up these in, in Indiana, it's weird. They'll have like houses, but you walk into the house and like, there's four like different doors. So it's like a house, but they make it into an apartment complex. And so I remember I went to go knock on the door in this random house and she grabbed my wrist and she's like, don't touch that door. I was like, what the heck? And she's like, the spirit's telling me like, we need to leave. And I was like, what the heck? And I asked her, I'm like, how many times have you had instances like that where the spirit like tells you to do or not do something? She's like, oh, that happens all the time. And I'm kind of sitting there like, dang, how far along in my mission do I have to be for that to start happening to me? But I remember talking to her about this. I was like, Sister Latham, I cannot feel the Spirit. Like, I cannot recognize these promptings.
SPEAKER_00:I remember you emailed me around this time and says, hey, I'm kind of struggling with identifying and feeling the Spirit.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, good.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Wait, wait.
SPEAKER_00:I can pull up the
SPEAKER_02:email. No, that's okay. You don't have to. But I remember at the end of the transfer, she had wrote something in my transfer journal. She had written a letter to me, and she said, I know that you carry the Spirit with you, even if you're not able to feel it. And not only because I see the light that you carry with you, but also you covenanted when you were baptized that if you did your part, Heavenly Father would bless you with the Holy Ghost. Heavenly Father would bless you with the Spirit. And so that changed my perspective forever. the rest of my life, it's going to change that because although I might not be able to recognize it, I know that as I'm faithful and obedient, as I renew my covenants, when I do mess up, I have the Holy ghost promised to me. And I know that heavenly father keeps his promises.
SPEAKER_00:Fascinating. Okay. This is leading us into fasting because that's exactly what you and I were talking about before the episode, Emma, because you were saying though, that in your life, you often will just act on faith and And then there's either a feeling or an experience or confirmation afterwards. Or even if you don't, you're like, look, if I'm doing the will of God, the Holy Ghost is, I have the right to it. I've covenanted to have it, right? But then I asked you something interesting. I asked you, when on your mission did you actually recognize and discern and feel the Holy Ghost? And what did you say?
SPEAKER_02:Was that the one where I was like, I think just testifying to our friends? Yes. So I think what I mostly felt it was when I was testifying to our friends about what we had taught them or when we promised them blessings. Because we were very forward when we had promised our friends blessings because obviously when you invite them to do something, you want them to do it out of like the goodness.
SPEAKER_00:But also to insert, again, such a faithful person you are. You were very bold. What was your nickname on your mission?
SPEAKER_02:I was named the wild child in my training.
SPEAKER_00:Because you were so... Bold. I
SPEAKER_02:was a bold missionary.
SPEAKER_00:Like you'll tell us a story in a little bit about how you, what do you do? You kick down someone's door? I
SPEAKER_02:just put my foot in the door.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, same thing. Some old lady's door. Okay, you'll tell us that story. But okay, so you have this faith of like just boldness because you feel like, look, we're doing the work of the Lord, the Spirit's with me. Having
SPEAKER_02:that confidence of, and when we promise people things, we say, we promise you because we're authorized representatives of Jesus Christ. Faith. Amen. Faithful, like it's so faithful. That's a pretty, like you can't say no to that. You can't be like, okay, okay, well, I'm not going to go read my scriptures because you said, you know, I would listen to them.
SPEAKER_00:But you're saying because you have this faith.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:you're saying, look, I don't, yeah, like you were saying before, I don't need to wait and sit around and wait until I feel the spirit nudge me or push me or confirm something. I'm just going to go act and believe that the Holy Ghost is going to not make me a liar when I say I have the authority to promise you that you will X, Y, and Z. Yeah, I had an experience too. We were working with this guy in Dnepropetrovsk and he truly cared about what we were doing. Like he was interested, but I could tell he was super stressed because he's like, look, look guys, I have a family. I I was let go from my work. It's been like two months. I don't have any work. Like I can't really focus on this religion stuff. I need to figure out how to take care of my family. And I got excited. I was like, oh, hey, this is going to help you. It's going to solve all your problems in life. Come to the Lord and he's going to bless you. Well, it got to the point where he just wasn't keeping any of the commitments that lead to feeling the spirit. And so one day out of frustration and kind of faith, I pulled an Emma. I did. I pulled an
SPEAKER_02:Emma. What does that mean? I'll tell you. He kicked down the door.
SPEAKER_00:I kicked down the door. No, I sat there and I just felt the same kind of faith you did. Like, look, God, you love this man. I love this man. I want so badly for him to be able to, he needs a job. How about he needs a job? So I looked at him and said, look, I am an authorized servant of the Lord. So I pulled an Emma.
UNKNOWN:Cool.
SPEAKER_00:I have authority to give you a promise right now. And I says, I promise you that one week from today, you will have the job that will take care of your family. If you will read the scriptures, we ask you to read every single day for the next seven days. And my companion looked at me and goes, what are you doing? And I'm like, pray about it. Like I feel the Holy ghost confirming that God won't make me a liar. He will cause the miracle to happen in exchange for this guy to show his faith and read the scriptures.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Now, Emma, I wish I had a good ending to that story. because after a week of us coming back, as soon as we sat down in that first meeting and he did his little stress, he put his hand on his forehead and was scratching it, I knew that he didn't do it. And I was so heartbroken because I believe with my whole heart and the Spirit confirmed he would have had a job and that faith of him reading would have led him down the path that leads to Christ. So I'm so sad that he didn't do it. Okay, so I pulled an Emma.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome, I love it. Keep saying
SPEAKER_00:it. So you had this faith. And you just believe that no matter where I was going or what I was doing, I don't need confirmation of anything. I'm just going to go and do the work, right?
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:So then I asked you, though, when did you actually discern and feel the Holy Ghost? And you said, well, when I testified to people. So tell us a little bit about that. Because what I think throughout this discussion, what we'll learn is this. My contention is this, and this is not doctrine, but as I read the Scriptures, my belief is this. There's one God. There's one Holy Ghost, right? Right. I believe that the way that God and the Holy Ghost communicates to all of us, I believe it's the same. But I believe we all react to it differently, right? Some of us react with these emotions. Some of us react with these emotions, right? If I am experiencing the Holy Ghost and it makes me cry, it's not the Holy Ghost that, you know, when I cry, that doesn't mean the Holy Ghost. That's just my reaction to the Holy Ghost. And I think evidence of this is if you go out there at all the times of Scripture where people are trying to describe Christ, them feeling the Holy Ghost, it's always different. Elijah, there was a still small voice. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus, did our hearts not burn within us? Now, these are all really inadequate ways of describing something spiritual. Joseph Smith at his first vision, brightness and glory, defying, like I can't describe the brightness and glory I'm experiencing. Inadequate ways to experience what he's feeling. The day of Pentecost, there was a mighty rushing wind. That's an inadequate way of expressing how I feel the Holy Ghost. Yet, I think we all feel it the same. This is just everyone trying their best to express how they feel it or how they experience it. So I asked you, Emma, and I'll ask you again, how you said that when you recognize the Holy Ghost throughout your mission, it was when you testified to people or gave them bold, bold promises or commitments. So what is it that confirmed? What did you feel?
SPEAKER_02:Like how, like my reaction?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. I think that's also so interesting because everyone will try and describe it differently and that's why it goes to everyone. It's like, oh, everyone feels the spirit differently. Yeah. So that's such an interesting concept. I like that. How I would react to the spirit would, when I'm like promising these things, I would just kind of feel like, not feel powerful, but just like feel like, kind of that confirmation of like, yes, what I'm promising is true or yes, what I'm testifying is true. And like, I almost felt like, so like, yeah, the church is true. Like, I think it was more like that, like kind of amped about it, at least in the moment when I was testifying or have these tender moments where I'm testifying to these friends that I've grown with and cared so much about that, like I'd be even brought to tears in some of the lessons that we had. It just kind of depended on either the person or what I was testifying about, something that was more personal to me or more personal to that friend that I knew about. So I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:So I love it. So again, like if we go through all these scriptures and they're doing their best to use mortal words to explain a spiritual experience and they use words like burning or still small voice in 3 Nephi when Christ comes and they hear his voice, but they didn't understand. They heard his voice a second time. They didn't understand. Third time, didn't understand. And then it says, then it did pierce them to their very centers. Like that's inadequate of explaining a spiritual experience. You just said two words. power, truth. Oh, you three. Then you said something like I'm amped. I have energy. Like those are inadequate words. Cause I go, I, yeah, I kind of, I kind of connect with that. Like when I feel the Holy ghost, it's a power, but that's such a, like I, that doesn't mean anything to anybody. Right. It's just our inadequate mortal ways of expressing this spiritual experience. So that's interesting. So you chose the word power. So you did, you felt like a power or an authority or a truth.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Amazing. Okay. So then I asked you, Throughout your whole life, like growing up, I asked you, I says, you're so faithful. The Holy Ghost had to be involved in you getting to a point where you're so faithful that you could just go on your mission and go, look, I'm just moving forward. And I know the Holy Ghost is with me. And I said, but so what was it that grew your faith? Because again, this principle is revelation leads to conversion. You were converted, right? But what was it that led to your faith? And you had a good answer. You talked about your family and tell me about that.
SPEAKER_02:All right. So I was, I was, I grown up in the church and I'm convinced that I wouldn't have found the church anywhere else unless I was, or I probably would have been a little bit too stubborn to listen to the spirit, but.
SPEAKER_00:Great. Wild child. What was your name?
SPEAKER_02:The wild child. You were the wild child. I stand by that. Um, but I think it was just a little, like the little seeds, like when you're planting like a tree, it's just a little seeds and like watering it and slowly over by time, just like doing things like family home evening or prioritize Yeah. Yeah. You're praying like five million times a day to feel it.
SPEAKER_00:But then I asked you, I said, okay, well, if you look back on all these experiences, right? Pick a moment where you're with your parents, they call you down to do scripture study. Wild child, Emma was like, ugh, right? I don't want to do this. But you go down and do it. You get through that with them. And I asked you like, okay, if those are the building blocks, the seeds that grew into the faith that you have now, I asked you like, was it just the cognitive, like were you just like, My parents are the two coolest people I know, which, by the way, they're not that cool. Just kidding. They are cool. I'm just kidding. They are cool.
SPEAKER_01:I love your mom.
SPEAKER_00:I know. They're amazing. But was it cognitive? Or were you like, oh, okay. The reason this has built my faith is because they're really cool. If they're reading the scriptures, then it must be a good thing. Or was there something else, something that you look back on and recognize? Was that different? You used a really interesting, powerful word when you were originally telling us.
SPEAKER_02:What? The love of Christ.
SPEAKER_00:Tell me about that. So you, so, okay. So just clarify when you felt all these seeds being planted, right? Right. You, you told me before that you did feel something and you described it as the love of Christ.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Every time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Explain that.
SPEAKER_02:So I think like, I think the more, what I also say, like being familiar with it, just like, like I think the more I did those things when I was younger, um, It's just like creating a better foundation for me when I was on my mission. But I just think when I did those things, like reading the scriptures, going to church, doing all the good things like that, I think I just kept growing the love I have for Jesus Christ. And I kept feeling the love that he has for me. I kept like recognizing that. So I think, yeah, did I hit it?
SPEAKER_00:Well, yeah. Like the fact that you choose, like, okay. So if I like, we step back from this whole discussion and I say, Emma, what do you experience when the Holy Ghost is present? And you've used the word power and you've used this, but this time you use the words, I feel love. I feel the love of God. And because your mortal self is trying to express spiritual experience, which is powerful, they're inadequate, right? Our words are inadequate, right? That's why Joseph said, their brightness and glory defied description. Why couldn't he describe it? Because mortally, we're not having mortal experiences when the Holy Ghost is there. What do you feel or experience when you say the love of God? I
SPEAKER_02:don't know, just love. What do you say? Love for God, love for Jesus Christ, and love for the Spirit, and then just the love that they have for me. But I think that's so much love that we can't even comprehend it as mortals.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I won't even be able to explain that to you until later on.
SPEAKER_00:But that is the Holy Ghost. That is. Yes. That is the power of the Holy ghost. It is the love of Christ shed abroad in the hearts of men, right? It is the power of the Holy ghost. So I guess part of the point here is, um, if you look throughout, so for our listeners, right? If, if your goal out there is to go and, and lead people to revelation, help them recognize and get revelation so that their faith will be built under repentance, under baptism and get the Holy ghost. I think one thing to understand for your own journey, as well as your investigator, your friend's journey is, um, I believe firmly that in Hebrews 11, 1, faith or revelation is discernible because there is a substance and an evidence to it. It's something there, but you don't see it, right? It's not what you see with your eyes or you hear with your ears. There's a spiritual substance or evidence to it. And I love hearing you talk about, it's just love. Like I just feel loved and I feel the love of God and I feel the love of Christ. That is substance and evidence. Do you see that love?
SPEAKER_02:No.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. How can you possibly? Lauren, what are your thoughts on all
SPEAKER_02:this? I... I appreciate so greatly that Jesus Christ didn't just teach about love, but he showed it in everything that he did, right? And so when his followers and his disciples, when the people that were listening to him heard his teachings, it wasn't just, oh, I really appreciate that he just said that. That touched me to my core. They felt his love because it was tangible. Obviously, like you said, it's not something that you can see, but you can feel it, just like how Emma is saying. It's something that just is so overpowering. And as a missionary, that same power that Christ used by teaching with love is the same love that we can use to help others be converted. Because I will like die on this hill that it's the most powerful tool in conversion. If you can get your friends to feel the love of Christ, and if you can feel that love for them, holy, you'll change some lives. Seriously.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Yeah, so I love it. Your word, and yeah, because if you asked, if you lined up 10 very faithful people and says, describe to me what the Holy Ghost is, everyone's going to say it differently, right? Elijah would say it was a still, small voice, right? He was on the mountaintop, and there was this earthquake, and then it said, but the Lord wasn't in the earthquake, and there was thunder, and the Lord wasn't in the thunder, and there was a great fire, and the Lord wasn't in the fire, but then there was a still, small voice, right? Elijah expresses it like, these great and mighty things that I could see and hear and feel, like a you know, with my hands and my feet. Tangible. Tangible things. The power of God wasn't in those things. It was, though, in this stillness of my heart, in this smallness of the voice, yet it was more powerful than those big, crazy things. And that is, so he would express it that way, whereas you would say it's just love. Like, you're like Lehi. You and Lehi are buddies. Remember? Yeah, we are. Yeah, the vision of the tree of life. Yeah, we are. You confirm it?
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Because what did he do? He took the fruit and the best way he could describe it was just brightness and light and love. And later Nephi confirms, well, that tree, that fruit represents the love of Christ shed abroad in the hearts of men. Yeah, so you and
SPEAKER_02:Lehi. I love this topic because I think that charity is so transformative. And Elder Uchtdorf in his most recent general conference shared a talk and he gave this story about This lady that he knew, he invited her to church and she came for the first time. And he was so focused. You'll feel this when you're out in the field as missionaries. When your friends come to church for the first time, you want everything to be perfect. But We're not perfect people, okay? So it never will be. And he's sharing this story about how the person that was speaking didn't do a great job and kids were screaming and people were irreverent, whatever, all this stuff. And when they got in the car afterwards, he was just about to open his mouth to just start apologizing for all the things that weren't perfect in his eyes. And his friend that he invited, she ended up saying... I love the way that the people of your church treat each other. And he said in his talk that she told him, I know that this is how Jesus Christ would have his church. I know that this is Jesus Christ's church because of the way that you guys treat each other. And that's the charity, right? That's that charity aspect. That's that love of Christ.
SPEAKER_00:I think that the Holy Ghost will always be present when charity is happening. Right? When that pure love of Christ. Very good. The Holy Ghost will always confirm into those hearts that feeling of Emma's words, power or love or let's even go to the scriptures, right? What are the fruits of the spirit? It's long suffering. It's peace. It's joy. It's all these things. Wherever there is charity and service, wherever there is ordinances, right? In the power of the priesthood, no, in the authority of the, no, in the ordinances of the priesthood is the power of godliness manifest. Well, what does that mean, power of godliness manifest? That means the Holy Ghost. So if I'm at the sacrament table and I'm really locked in faithfully, repentantly, the power of godliness will be manifest to my heart every time, and that will be the Holy Ghost. Um, I just found this. What do you think of this, Emma? I think there's a scripture in DNC that speaks about Emma. Emma's in the DNC. You're in the DNC.
SPEAKER_02:And it's not Emma
SPEAKER_00:Smith. The other Emma, you, it says this, this reminds me of you, but a commandment I give unto you that you shall declare whatsoever you declare in my name in solemnity of heart and in the spirit of meekness and all things. And I give unto you this promise that in so much as you do this, the Holy ghost shall be shed forth. in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say. Tell us about you bearing forth that record. Tell us about putting your foot in the door and being a wild child. Tell us about that.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, boy. Well, first off, I just want to say, being as a missionary, you have to be... I mean, okay, there's so many things to be as a missionary, but you have to be yourself, I guess, is what you have to do. Not to say a wild child. I gained so much confidence over my mission.
SPEAKER_01:Nice.
SPEAKER_02:But... Oh boy, where's it going to go with this? Okay, so are you guys familiar with the, I don't even know how to pronounce it, the Riccardi letter? The Ricciardi letter? I
SPEAKER_00:am. My son loves that letter.
SPEAKER_02:However you would like to say so. I'm pretty sure he was the one who shared it with me. Oh,
SPEAKER_00:was he? It's a letter about this kid who had a companion who he was just such the best missionary, right? And just worked hard. Awesome missionary. Okay, so the letter's all about what this missionary did.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, and I would read it with my trainees too and make them listen to it and all because I just thought he was like the coolest missionary. But I remember reading he like totally like burst himself into a house and like turns off the TV and makes himself very welcome. But I just remember reading that and kind of passing him I'd be like, that is crazy. Who would do that? Wild. Um, and I guess like in the South, I mean, I don't know if other Southerns can relate with me on this, but it's already kind of been like an invasive thing. Like, yeah. Yeah. You get it? The culture? I mean, you wouldn't go knock on their front door. You'd go around their side and knock on the side door.
SPEAKER_01:Oh.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I carried a golf ball in my prof's sliding bag to knock on the grates to be, like, obnoxious. I mean, you would knock the doors, right?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, interesting.
SPEAKER_02:Interesting, huh? So, like, if you'd be walking around the neighborhood, they'd invite you to their neighborhood seafood bowl if you didn't want to hear the gospel. Wow. So, very awesome community. Love the South. Yeah, hospitality is 10 out of 10. Love it. But there's no way stepping your foot in the door is socially accepted either, but I remember We're knocking on this lady's door. We're trying to find like a referral, like someone put in a social media request. And we're looking for this guy, probably her husband. I think we eventually found him at one point, but we're knocking on the door. She's like, no, no, not you Mormons. I don't want to hear from you. And she's kind of being a little bit, you know, ruthless to us. But I was at that point, I was a little bit used to it. But I remember like, I don't even know what happened, but I think, wait, I have the scripture. Okay. In first Nephi. where Nephi's like, I don't know what to do. But he's, 1 Nephi 4, 6, it says, And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. And I remember reading that and being like, I feel like this every day. There's so many things I do that I'm just like, I don't know, but I'm going to trust. And I do not recommend this to any missionary, but there are so many things that the Spirit, like, I just did. But after I realized it was okay. I don't think there was ever a time that I did something and it wasn't okay.
SPEAKER_00:You never regretted your faithful wild child actions. Good.
SPEAKER_02:Nope. No regrets. But I remember just like putting my foot in his door because like
SPEAKER_00:she went to actually close the door.
SPEAKER_02:Yes because we knocked again and I was like hey I don't know if you heard us the first time and then she's going to close. She's like I think I told you guys no. So she closed the door. I just jammed my foot in the door and I say sorry.
SPEAKER_00:Emma you are not a large person.
SPEAKER_02:I'm not.
SPEAKER_00:You're like three foot two.
SPEAKER_02:Probably.
SPEAKER_00:Or five one. Legally. So this is a bold thing for this little thing to.
SPEAKER_02:Yes and I was not the senior companion for only a few months in my mission.
SPEAKER_00:So what'd she say or do?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I said, we are authorized representatives of Jesus Christ, and we have the gospel to share with you. And I just remember me being like, what am I doing? This is not okay. But the lady was like, she immediately, her face changed immediately. And she's like, yes, come on in, girls. It was so weird. But it was awesome. We had an awesome lesson with her about the Book of Mormon and how it had more to testify of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00:Wow. That's
SPEAKER_02:amazing. And she's awesome.
SPEAKER_00:So this is a good example of, okay, I love your faith because this concept of revelation leads to conversion. Your idea is, look, if I'm faithfully doing the work of the Lord as a missionary, the Spirit's just going to back me up in everything I do. And you would make these bold statements and movements and promises, and you're just like, I just have faith. The Lord won't make me a liar. He won't make me ineffective. He's going to support these things I do, and the Holy Ghost will be there.
UNKNOWN:Right.
SPEAKER_00:I kind of was at the point where, like I have companions like Elder Barnes, like we'd be out working and on our way to a discussion and he'd just stop and I'd look around and go, what are you doing? And he's just standing there in the middle of the road. I'm like, what are you doing? We're late. He's like, wait a minute. Elder Records, say a prayer. I think we're supposed to contact her for a little bit. I'm like, oh, okay. And I'd say a prayer. Sure enough, there was the Holy Ghost. Yeah, start contacting. And then it'd be funny because we'd do it for like 20 minutes. We're late to our meeting. And then Elder Barnes would come to me and be like, all right, we can go now. Oh, all right, let's go. And so I have no idea why. I have no idea. But he was so, that's the way that he sought the Spirit, right? Which is different from the way you seek it. You're just like, no, I move, I go, I act, I'm bold. The Lord will be there and the Spirit will be there. I think both our ways are right. But I love that we pinpointed that you only have the faith that you have because the discernible power of the Holy Ghost is It was in your life at age zero and one and two and three. All these seeds that were planted were the discernible feelings of the Holy Ghost. And I'm so grateful that you're willing to share those and say, the way I experience the Holy Ghost is love. I feel the love of Christ. What a powerful, powerful thing. So thanks for sharing that. That's really amazing. Yeah, what do you got, Lauren?
SPEAKER_02:I just, I love that story because... I'm a firm believer that, you know, the Holy Ghost will always share his voice when we testify with ours.
SPEAKER_00:Amen.
SPEAKER_02:And there's a scripture that I love.
SPEAKER_00:Because when we testify, we're speaking truth. Amen. And the Holy Ghost is promised to verify truth.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, speaking of that, in 2 Nephi chapter 33, very first verse says, For when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost, the power of the Holy Ghost carryeth it unto the hearts of the children of men. And so in instances like in Emma's story or in, you know, missionaries, you're going to have moments where where you have opportunities to testify of Jesus Christ. You have opportunities to testify of his restored gospel. And you just have to be confident that the Holy Ghost will carry your message, especially for you missionaries learning a language. You might think, I don't know enough vocab. I don't know how to conjugate this. If you're speaking truth, the Holy Ghost is carrying that, regardless of how well you know the language. It might be choppy, but the message will get through. And
SPEAKER_00:if I've learned something from this podcast episode from Emma, it's be bold in speaking. Knowing this, right? Know that the Holy Ghost will carry that. It'll carry to the heart, that truth to the hearts of people. So if you testify of Joseph Smith, the Holy Ghost is there to carry it and be bold and help them recognize it. Hey, what are you feeling right now? Like we did that so many times. We've got to the point where we were like, okay, all we're doing, I realized like, oh, all we're doing is helping people keep commitments to feel the Holy Ghost. And then their faith will grow, and then they'll repent and get baptized. And so we would even get to the point like, okay, what can we do to bring in the Holy Ghost and help them recognize it? And one thing we would always do is, can we sing a song for you? And we're like, this is going to be so embarrassing and so weird. And their faces were like, what? Like these ex-communist Ukrainians were like, who are these two young kids in my living room wanting to sing to me right now? But every time, Emma, we would sing a hymn, and we'd stop and go, how do you feel? And every time, they'd kind of be shocked and go, oh, actually, it feels pretty peaceful right now. And we'd go, that's the Holy Ghost. Can we say a prayer? And we'd pray. And we'd say, how do you feel now? And they'd go, actually, it feels like something.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And so we'd constantly be like, how do you feel? How do you feel? Read a scripture. How does that make you feel? We knew that if we could help them learn to recognize that love of God, or spirit, or the still small voice, spirit, or the burning in the bosom, the spirit, then we knew that that revelation was leading them to faith and then to repentance onto covenants. Beautiful and powerful. Yeah. So how about this? We'll end with the scripture and you guys tell me what you think or how this makes you feel. This is 3 Nephi. This is the most, 11, the most important part, in my opinion, of the Book of Mormon, right? You agree, Lauren?
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:So it came to pass while they, the people, the Nephites, were thus conversing with one with another. They had heard a voice as it came out from heaven and they cast their eyes around about, but they understood not the voice, which they heard with their ears, right? With their ears. And it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice. Now, do you think in that instance, the Lord is describing the audible? Like when he says it's not a loud or harsh voice, do you think he, I'm honestly asking, I don't know the answer to this. Do you think he's referring to the audible levels or? essence of that voice or do you think at this point he's starting to describe the spirit I'll read it again when the cash stars ran about they understood not the voice which they heard and it was not a harsh voice neither was it a loud voice
SPEAKER_02:I've always thought audible when I read it but that's just me
SPEAKER_00:you think audible
SPEAKER_02:I think just the spirit and the way he's reacting.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, we've got a debate going on here. This is good. It's not a
SPEAKER_02:debate.
SPEAKER_00:No, I'm just kidding. No. Okay, so it could be both. Okay, I'll go on. For they understood not the voice which they heard. It was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice, it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake, and it did pierce them to the very soul, and it caused their hearts to burn. I love the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Christ walked with them and they didn't discern. They didn't recognize him as the Savior, as God, until they ended and they took the sacrament with the Savior. And then he left and they went, whoa, whoa, whoa. They said, did our hearts not burn within us just like their hearts here in the third Nephi are burning while he walked with us and opened up the scriptures along the way. So what was the thing that brought in as a tangent that brought in the scriptures to the disciples on the road to Emmaus? It was the scriptures or bright in the spirit. It was the scriptures. And so here now God is appearing and the voice of God is speaking and it did pierce them and cause their hearts to burn. It came to pass that again they heard the voice and they understood it not and again a third time they heard the voice and did not and did open their ears to hear it. You think this means their physical ears? No. I don't think so, right? And their eyes were towards the sound thereof, and they did look steadfastly towards heaven from whence the sound came. And the third time they did understand the voice which they heard, and it said unto them, Behold, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name. Hear ye him. Fascinating, right? That audibly there's this voice, but it doesn't mean anything until they hear it with their spirit. Because the spirit is what delivers truth. And that's what we do as a missionary. So what do you guys, any thoughts on this? most powerful experience here?
SPEAKER_02:I love that. Sorry, wait, did you want to? No, you go, you go. I just love the, because in my mind this, what I picture is Heavenly Father communicating with us, right? Because he's getting his spirit and And it's not something we hear with our ears. It's not something we see. It's not something we can touch. But it's him communicating directly with what he created. He's communicating directly with our spirits, right? And so it's like how if I want to have a conversation with you, I'm either talking to you in person or if I call you over the phone, I need to be able to have access to those tools to be able to talk to you. But Heavenly Father... the tool that he uses is the spirit to speak directly to ours.
SPEAKER_00:In a personal way.
SPEAKER_02:In a personal
SPEAKER_00:way. Right? So that's what's fascinating is he's all these thousands of people and this voice comes. And so God is communicating with all these people, but that is not what helped them to discern truth. It was a personal one-to-one, what they experienced in their hearts and in their souls, the love and the power. And that's what we're doing as missionaries. So listeners, learn how to discern truth. the feelings or the experience of the Holy Ghost. And there's no better way to do that than to feast upon the words of Christ and to pray and ask God. Like I got to a point before the mission is like, I would read the scriptures, but I would ask God, help me actually feel the Holy Ghost. Help me know that I'm feeling it. And it wasn't until I was in the MTC, Emma, so this is fascinating. I told this last week, or last episode. My MTC teacher changed my life. She was so awesome and such a good teacher. But one day we were studying the Book of Mormon and she just stopped. And she says, wait, everyone close your eyes. We all closed our eyes. And she read these words of Christ again. And then she stopped and said, do you feel that? And she says, oh, the record. Do you feel that? That's the Holy Ghost. And no one had ever done that to me. And in that moment, it was so clearly power and love and the Spirit. And my life flashed back the prior 19 years or 18 years. And I remembered every time I felt this feeling Back then, I didn't recognize it as the Holy Ghost. But in that moment, I was like, oh my goodness, I've been feeling it my whole life. I just didn't discern it. And at that moment, I discerned it. And that changed my life forever. So it's a good, it's a powerful principle. And I'm glad that we can have this discussion to help future missionaries learn how to discern the Spirit. But also, I think the best principle here is what you taught us, Emma, which is go forth with boldness and faith In God. Faith. Believe that you are authorized and that he will not make you a liar and the spirit will be there to confirm those things.
SPEAKER_01:Totally.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That's awesome. Okay. Any other wise words, Emma, before we end this podcast?
SPEAKER_02:Just, I don't know. Something that was so cool about that scripture was how it was going to all those people and how they all felt it differently. It was all that love that he was sending to like everyone personally and like a big group. I just think that's so cool. And I think the people that we're trying to teach the gospel to are Like how it said in that scripture. I was just studying that on Sunday. But something that struck me was how they looked, but they didn't see. Like there's a difference of looking, but not seeing clearly. And so I think what we want to help our friends do, we want to help the people learn about the gospel, is we want to help them see. We don't want to help them just be looking around.
SPEAKER_00:Nice. That's what you got to do. And the only way to do that is the way they did it, which was feel it in your heart, right? Pierce it to the soul. And that's the Holy Ghost. What a great way to end. Thanks for joining us, Emma.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. Thank you.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
