From Robert L. Millet’s book ‘The Holy Spirit’ he quotes:
“President Russell M. Nelson taught that the purpose of the Church is threefold. It is the means by which the gathering of Israel will occur. It is the means by which gathered Israel will be sealed in the holy temples. And the Church is the means by which people of the world will be prepared for the Second Coming of the Lord. (Teachings of Russell M. Nelson, p.59)
Receiving the Holy Ghost
After a person is confirmed a member of the Lord’s Church, as part of the same ordinance he or she is instructed to “Receive the Holy Ghost.” While this ordinance is necessary in order to receive the higher light that comes through the covenant gospel, the pronouncement “receive the Holy Ghost” is not a command to the Spirit to take up his work within the newly baptized Saint. Rather, it is a sacred charge—and obligation, responsibility, assignment, Christian duty—extended to the new member to reach up, to do all within his or her power to obtain and maintain the companionship of the Spirit.
There are many ways, large and small, by which we invite and cultivate the Spirit. Some of these are the following:
Pray for the Spirit. Nothing could be simpler nor more important than to pray often and intently for the Spirit to be with us. We go before our Heavenly Father in great humility, expressing our keen awareness or our limitations; we plead with him to send his Spirit to be with us. As baptized and confirmed members of the Church, we make it regular and consistent practice to request the Spirit in everything we do. The request for the Spirit to be with us becomes our spiritual lifeline, our direct connection to Deity.
The very act of prayer is really a surrender, a submission to a Being greater and holier and more powerful than oneself. In this sense, prayer is a form of worship in which the supplicant is looking to and acknowledging God’s divine standing and one’s absolute dependence upon the Lord. . . .
Search the scriptures. Few endeavors on our part will prove to be more efficacious in our quest to receive and enjoy the Holy Spirit than spending time with holy writ. The standard works are a grand collection of divine revelations and instructions given to holy men in times past. Our immersion in them regularly, however, does more than teach us history, as important as history (especially sacred history) is. The words of God are holy; reading those words, pondering those words, praying about those words, and memorizing and repeating those words will, through the years, make us a holy people. That is, as we encounter earlier revelation and focus our attention on it, we open ourselves to receive current revelation.
The same Spirit that brought light and understanding to Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and Isaiah can and will bring that same light and understanding to you and me. . .”When we want to speak with God,” Elder Robert D. Hales taught, “we pray. and when we want Him to speak to us, we search the scriptures; for His words are spoken through His prophets. He will teach us as we listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.” ~ Robert L. Millet, The Holy Spirit, His Identity, Mission, and Ministry (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019), 58-60
(Much more wisdom on this subject, by Robert L. Millet, shared within the pages of this chapter titled; “The Upward Reach for the Spirit” (Chapter 5) share common sense and counsel we all need to revisit from time to time.
