I feel incredibly blessed for the knowledge I have received about this subject. I express my gratitude for my husband who is the one who spent years studying this and days sharing his knowledge about it with me. First I would like to say that "I do not boast of myself but I will boast of my God." (Alma 26:12) I am sharing what I have learned and my experiences because I love my God and I love my Savior. I cherish the knowledge that I have received from the Holy Ghost that Christ lives and that He is my personal Savior. And I do so with humility, love and respect.
The baptism of fire is also known as receiving the Holy Ghost or being spiritually reborn. The guide to the scriptures says: "To have the Spirit of the Lord causes a mighty change in a person’s heart so that he has no more desire to do evil, but rather desires to seek the things of God." Receiving the Holy Ghost or the baptism of fire is much more than the laying on of hands, Elder David A. Bednar says:"The Holy Ghost does not become operative in our lives merely because hands are placed upon our heads and those four important words are spoken. As we receive this ordinance, each of us accepts a sacred and ongoing responsibility to desire, to seek, to work, and to so live that we indeed “receive the Holy Ghost” and its attendant spiritual gifts."
Just because we have had hands placed on our head and received the Holy Ghost, it does not mean that, that gift is present in our lives, as Elder Bednar says. I do not share this to discount the laying on of hands or to make the ordinance seem "unnecessary" or "non important". I testify that the ordinance of the laying on of hands is essential and it is our duty to seek to obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost. I share this with the intent of helping others and myself be committed to seek the Holy Ghost continually in our lives, and for those who have not yet received this gift to give them the desire to seek it for themselves.
To help me explain what being baptized by fire is, I will use a few examples:
First, Alma the younger. He tells his son Helaman about his days when he was "seeking to destroy the church of God". Alma says that he was visited by an angel and as a result of that visitation, Alma was reminded of all his sins and iniquities. In his own words he says: (Alma 36:15-23)
15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.
16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.
17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.
22 Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there.
23 But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God. (Bold added)
The prophet Alma felt the pains of a dammed soul, he felt the sadness and frustration that we feel when we sin and when we feel like we can no longer bear the pains that sin brings. Alma plead with God for his forgiveness, he asked Jesus to redeem his soul. The answer to his prayer was the baptism of fire, he had a perfect knowledge that his sins had been forgiven and he felt exquisite joy because of this knowledge. Alma says that it was after this experience that he was born of God.
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin shared an experience about the baptism of fire in a talk in April of 2003 titled "The Unspeakable Gift":
"A friend of mine once told me about his experience in coming to know and understand the gift of the Holy Ghost. He had prayed often and longed to know the truth of the gospel. Although he felt at peace with his beliefs, he had never received the certain knowledge for which he hungered. He had reconciled himself to the fact that he might be one of those who would have to walk through this life relying upon the faith of others. One morning, while pondering the scriptures, he felt something surge through his body from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. “I was immersed in a feeling of such intense love and pure joy,” he explained. “I cannot describe the measure of what I felt at that time other than to say I was enveloped in joy so profound there was no room in me for any other sensation." Even as he felt this outpouring of the Holy Ghost, he wondered if possibly he was just imagining what was happening. “The more I wondered,” he said, “the more intense the feelings became until it was all I could do to tearfully say, ‘It is enough.’”
The feelings that this man felt were very similar to Alma's experience, he says he was enveloped with joy just like Alma was. I know that this feeling that came over him was the baptism of fire, I know that this is when a man can know if they have been forgiven of their sins, I know that through this experience this man grew closer to God and his Savior.
Elder Wirthlin says in the same talk:
"As with all gifts, this gift must be received and accepted to be enjoyed. When priesthood hands were laid upon your head to confirm you a member of the Church, you heard the words, “Receive the Holy Ghost.” This did not mean that the Holy Ghost unconditionally became your constant companion. Scriptures warn us that the Spirit of the Lord will “not always strive with man.” When we are confirmed, we are given the right to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, but it is a right that we must continue to earn through obedience and worthiness. We cannot take this gift for granted."
I know that as we seek to have this spirit, as we seek, study and obey we can be baptized by fire and make the Holy Ghost our constant companion. The reception of the Holy Ghost IS the baptism of fire. I know that if a person has already received the holy Ghost, they can still strive continually to be baptized by fire and continue in their quest of keeping the Holy Ghost in their lives. Alma said: "And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" (Alma 5:26) Those who have been baptized by fire and had their very nature changed, it is their duty to retain the baptism of fire and "feel so" forever.
To finish I would like to share an experience that changed my life forever.
At the beginning of the year 2013 I had decided I was going to serve a full-time mission for my church. I was preparing to turn my mission papers in and all I needed was to decide on an availability date. My plan was to spend all summer at home having fun and when summer was over and all the fun I could have was had, I would leave on a mission to serve God. I thought it was a great plan. One day as I was studying the scriptures and watching a video about missionaries I had an unexplicable urge to pray. I knelt down and began pouring my soul to my Heavenly Father, I explained my plan, I explained the yearning I had to serve Him. As I prayed, I felt the most wonderful peace, love and happiness. Though these are all very common feelings, there were intensified, I had never that love, that happiness and that peace in my entire life. In that moment I received a perfect knowledge that God was my Father, I knew that Jesus Christ truly was my personal Savior.
I not only felt, but KNEW that I had been forgiven of my sins and that I was clean and worthy to take upon me the responsibility to represent my Savior. Because of the knowledge I had received I felt an urge to serve God, I felt that it was unnecessary to wait any longer to serve my God and my Savior. Because of this experience I decided to make my availability date April (a month and a half from the date of this experience.) I know that what I experienced at that moment was the baptism of fire, it came with knowledge, it came with a remission of sins, it came with a change of heart and a change of nature. The baptism of fire made me "spiritually minded" I no longer wanted to do what was pleasing to me, but I wanted to do what was pleasing to God. I know that this baptism of fire was a gift from God, little wonder that we call it the gift of the Holy Ghost.
I know that in order to live with God again we must fill our lives with the Holy Ghost. I know that it is our quest to become more like our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ. I testify that the very thing that will bring us closer to Him and change our nature is the baptism of fire. I urge ALL who read this post to seek the baptism of fire again in their lives. If you have felt it recently, seek more. If you've had this experience, I ask with the prophet Alma "can ye feel so now?". If you have never had this experience, if you have never felt this, I plead with you to seek it. I testify that it is one of the greatest gifts that God can give a mortal man/woman. I do not consider myself an expert scriptorian by any means, but I suggest the following "steps" as we seek the baptism of fire and seek to have the Holy Ghost in our lives.
1. Read from the scriptures every single day. Seek for knowledge. Seek for answers. Seek to know your Savior better.
2. Repent daily. Seek forgiveness for your wrong doings, seek for the redeeming power of the Atonement. Humbly pray unto Christ for the remission of your sins.
3. Pray with all the energy of your heart and ask for the spirit, ask Heavenly Father to "baptize you with fire" to make His spirit a part of your life. (Moroni 7:48)
4. Seek to always do His will.
I seek a change of heart, I seek for a change in my nature, I seek to have the experience that made Alma say that he was born of God (Alma 36:15-23). I seek the experience Enos had after praying ALL day long for forgiveness (Enos 1:4-8). I seek the experience the entire people of King Benjamin had that made them plead for forgiveness and desire to be born of God (Alma 5:2). I seek to have the experience that made a KING be willing to give up his entire kingdom just to experience this mighty change to be able to know God, when in days previous this very king was only willing to give up half of his kingdom in exchange for his life (Alma 20:23, 22:15).
I know that this is the only way I can live a happy life, a life that is filled with the Spirit of God and a life that my Heavenly Father wants me to have. I testify God lives, I know with all the assurance and energy of my heart and being that Jesus is the Christ, and that this King of King lives! We have a living Savior,a Savior who stands triumphant over death, a Savior who loves.
I seek the Holy Ghost to become like Him.
"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." (Mosiah 3:19)
