Highway from Palm Springs

The Gifts of the Holy Ghost, A Personal Testimony

by Robert Rosskopf
The gift of the Holy Ghost is a great gift. Not everyone who has received the gift through the laying on of hands by proper priesthood authority can immediately feel the Holy Ghost. A degree of spiritual sensitivity is required. It has been compared to a radio station; the gift is the radio, but we still have to tune it, before we can clearly hear the station. Sin negates the gift. Repentance restores it.

God answers prayer through the Holy Ghost. Once I needed to buy a birthday gift for someone I didn't know. I didn't have much money. I prayed for guidance, and then followed the promptings. I ended up in front of a display of emergency flashlight/beacons. I took it to the register - the cost with tax was the exact amount of money that I had in my pocket. When I gave the gift to the birthday boy, I found out he had just gotten a car...

The Holy Ghost testifies to truth. When I was in South America, working as a missionary, I heard a rumor that blacks could now receive the priesthood. It seemed unlikely to say the least, but the spirit immediately testified to me that it was true. The Holy Ghost has never led me astray.

The Holy Ghost is a revelator and allows someone to hear the words of Christ. After the revelation on blacks receiving the priesthood was announced, I was invited by a young member to look at his journal. He had gone to the Lord in prayer many months previously, upon discovery that his financee had black ancestry. He knew this would prevent them being married in the temple. The Lord told him through the Holy Ghost not to worry - that the priesthood would shortly be given to blacks. He faithfully recorded the revelation that was given to him, just as Joseph Smith recorded the revelations that were given to him.

The Holy Ghost teaches doctrine. It has taught me how to help people who have been sexually molested, among other things. I now know how to help people confront and move beyond the taint of molestation. Sexual molestation is like a poison, and has far reaching effects on the lives of its victims. There is a way for the victims to recover fully, and the spirit has shown me the way.

The Holy Ghost warns of danger. I remember once when I had gone to Palm Springs for some kind of singles event. It was 115 degrees outside, and the air burned just to breathe it. The activity was over and I was heading back home, when I had the distinct impression that I shoud turn around and go back to Palm Springs. Looking down I noticed that the car's fuel gauge was showing empty. I returned of course and got the needed fuel. There were no gas stations at the time between Palm
Springs and the next nearest town - something like 50 miles away. Had I not listened to the spirit, I would have been stranded in the desert in 115 degree heat.

The Holy Ghost can give someone the ability to speak in a foreign language. When I was a new missionary in Peru, no one could understand me at all. After six weeks of studying Spanish people still gave me that blank "I don't speak English" look when I spoke in my best Spanish. One night as we were teaching a gospel discussion, the spirit loosened my tongue and inspired my mind, and suddenly I could speak this beautiful fluent spanish. I knew that my words were understood as I looked into the eyes of the investigators. It was a remarkable experience, and the family was later
baptized.

The Holy Ghost can prompt a person to help someone else. I remember the first time this happened to me. Young single members of my ward were planning to go canoeing down the Colorado river. As I was sitting in class one day, the spirit prompted me to invite the student who sat in front of me to go with us. I was very shy, and I didn't know the person at all. The spirit finally prevailed upon me, and I got up my courage and asked her. She accepted my invitation, and came with us, and was befriended by the young single sisters of the ward. She took the discussions and was baptized with her sister about three months later.

The Holy Ghost is the spirit of prophecy. Every time I lay my hands on someone's head to give them a priesthood blessing, I listen for the Holy Ghost, and it tells me what to say. Often I am inspired to give prophesies of the future.

The Holy Ghost is truly a remarkable gift. I can remember how life was before I felt its peaceful presence, and I never want to return there. It would be like living in hell after living in heaven.