“Our Constant Companion”

President Russell M. Nelson warned us, “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost” (“Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” General Conference, April 2018).

It’s not hard to find evidence in support of this warning. There are many disturbing signs that life is getting harder and more confusing and will continue to do so.

President Henry B. Eyring recently encouraged us to find hope in the story of Nephi retrieving the brass plates in the Book of Mormon.

After Nephi’s family abandoned their home and set up camp near the Red Sea, he and his brothers returned to Jerusalem to obtain a spiritual record. After two failed attempts and threats on their lives, his brothers were ready to give up, but Nephi was convinced that the Lord wanted them to complete this assignment and that He would help them do so.

Leaving his brothers outside the walls of the city at night, he “crept into the city” and walked cautiously toward the home of the man who had threatened them. What was his plan? It was simply to follow the direction which he believed he would receive from God. “I was led by the Spirit,” he later wrote, “not knowing beforehand the things which I should do” (1 Nephi 4:6).

President Eyring said:

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….

I have been encouraged by knowing that Nephi was guided by the Spirit minute by minute through the night on the Lord’s errand

“Our Constant Companion,” General Conference, October 2023

Every Sunday, as we partake of the sacrament, we receive again the promise that we “may always have [God’s] Spirit to be with [us]” (Moroni 4:3). When we act in a way that is incompatible with His companionship, we have the opportunity to repent and experience that guiding and comforting influence again.

Today, I will be cognizant of the influence of God’s Spirit in my life. I will strive to act in a way that invites His influence and to repent quickly when I fall short.