Learning by the Power of the Holy Ghost

Henry B Eyring shared the following key to being a lifelong learner:

“Because I am clean, the Holy Ghost can teach me.

“I imagine many of you have had some experience where you were taught by the Holy Ghost. You have had times in your life when you were keeping the commandments of God and the Holy Ghost could be close to you and teach you easily. If you persisted, you felt the power of the Holy Ghost adding to your capacity to learn. You felt the Holy Ghost nudging you in the direction of truth, confirming truth when you found it, even bringing ideas directly to your mind. That may not have happened often to you and it may not have lasted long. But if it has happened to you once, you know it is possible.”

I know this is true, that “by the power of the Holy Ghost [we] may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5)

Perhaps the most powerful experience I have had with learning through the power of the Holy Ghost is when I began my mission at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah.

I was to serve a Spanish-speaking mission in Nicaragua. I remember my first night at the MTC very vividly. I was sitting in a room with a group of nine or 10 other missionaries. We had begun our first Spanish lessons. As we practiced some basic Spanish, I quickly realized that I was going to fall behind quickly. The rest of the elders seemed to be picking up the language quickly, while I was struggling. A sense of fear came over me. I am not a quick learner. I felt that if I fell behind it would be extremely difficult for me to be successful in learning he language.

However, I had a great desire to serve the Lord “with all [my] heart, might, mind and strength” (D&C 4:2). I knew that a critical component of achieving that goal was to learn the language as quickly as possible. I remember having a profound feeling that night that I couldn’t learn it on my own.  I was going to have to rely on the Lord to help me learn. I would give Him the glory for helping me learn the language.

That night before I laid down in bed, I knelt and said one of the most sincere, faithful, humble and hopeful prayers of my life. I told Heavenly Father that if I was to learn Spanish, it would not be because of my own efforts or my own intelligence, it would be because he had blessed me with the ability to learn the language.

I had faith that he would do just that because I knew he wanted me to be an effective and successful missionary as much, probably even more, than I wanted to. My faith was also bolstered by my confidence that I was living in a way that kept me clean and worthy to learn through the power of the Holy Ghost.

I slept well that night. I had turned my fears of failure over to the Lord and knew that he would help me.  Beginning the next day, I began to carry a prayer in my heart that the Holy Ghost would help me to learn the language. Though I had to work very hard, I never again felt that I could not learn the language or keep up with the class. My abilities and confidence in speaking the language expanded every day.

These blessings continued as I began my missionary service in Nicaragua. I memorized and delivered the discussions in Spanish to the wonderful Nicaraguan people day after day. I made great efforts every day to understand and make myself understood. Though I often say that I had a headache for the first 6 months of my missionary service in Nicaragua, every day I “felt the Holy Ghost nudging [me] in the direction of truth, confirming truth” and helping me learn the language. Meanwhile my understanding and appreciation for the basic principles of the gospel distilled upon my soul. The truth and beauty of the Plan of Salvation sank deep into my heart. May the glory be to God for the many blessings He pours out upon his children.

I am so thankful for this experience. It has given me a great sense of the love Heavenly Father has for me and all of his children. It has given me confidence in my ability to learn through the power of the Holy Ghost. I have had similar experiences since then. In fact, I have felt that same influence of the Holy Ghost as I have participated in in the Pathway program.