Seventy Tells BYU–Hawaii Students to Seek the Holy Ghost Above All Else

Contributed By Aubrey Eyre, Church News contributor

  • 23 March 2018

Elder Allen D. Haynie, General Authority Seventy, greets BYU–Hawaii students.  Photo by Monique Saenz, BYU–Hawaii.

Article Highlights

  • Christ desires most for us to seek the Holy Ghost in our lives.
  • Invite the Holy Ghost to guide your prayers and important decisions.
  • We must repent fully and frequently and actively prepare for the sacrament each week.

“The Holy Ghost can provide the cleansing, purification, and rebirth that is the intended blessing of the mission of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. The consistent companionship of the Holy Ghost will lead us safely back to the presence of our Heavenly Parents.” —Elder Allen D. Haynie, General Authority Seventy

Fully aware of the topic of Elder Allen D. Haynie’s devotional speech to the students at BYU–Hawaii on Tuesday, March 20, Sister Deborah Haynie, who introduced her husband, pleaded with students to open themselves to being taught by the Spirit. She joked, “Even Elder Haynie would agree that the Holy Ghost is a way better devotional speaker than he will ever be.”

Explaining the core of his message to the students, Elder Haynie, a General Authority Seventy, stated, “We should desire the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost more than anything else in this life.”

And the reason it should be the thing individuals desire most, he explained, is because “it is precisely what Christ desires most for each of us.”

In both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, before Christ departs from among the people and His Apostles, He pleads with the Father to give the Comforter to His people. And that plea, said Elder Haynie, “should help us understand the magnitude of Christ’s desire that we receive and retain the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

The companionship of the Holy Ghost, explained Elder Haynie, is precisely what “the Book of Mormon teaches is most important in our lives.”

And in applying that to the world now, Elder Haynie challenged students to call on the power of the Holy Ghost when they pray and to “invite the Holy Ghost to inspire you as you pray.”

Elder Allen D. Haynie greets students following the devotional at BYU–Hawaii. Photo by Monique Saenz, BYU–Hawaii.

“Attempting to navigate the complexities of life without allowing the Holy Ghost to exercise all His divinely delegated duties on our behalf is, to be blunt, both dumb and dumber,” Elder Haynie said.

But while the companionship of the Holy Ghost may be the most important thing to work for, Elder Haynie consented that it is not always easy to do and that part of that struggle comes from a lack of understanding for what is required to have the Comforter’s presence remain.

Elder Haynie explained to listeners that if they “repent more completely and more often” they can “begin to feel more regular companionship of the Holy Ghost, and then we’ll begin to feel more whole.”

If they have not felt the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost recently in their lives, much like on the day of baptism, then perhaps, Elder Haynie said, “we may not be repenting as often or as fully as we should.”

As individuals fully repent and welcome back the companionship of the Holy Ghost into their lives, “partaking of the sacrament [can] be a weekly, life-changing experience,” Elder Haynie said.

Indicating his many shortcomings and mistakes in life, Elder Haynie expressed gratitude for his wife, who has “found a way to still love me and retain hope that in the eternities through Christ’s Atonement and His generous grace, I can become a man of holiness.”

And it is thanks to the cleansing power and comfort of the Holy Ghost that he is daily reassured of Christ’s love and sacrifice.

“The Holy Ghost can provide the cleansing, purification, and rebirth that is the intended blessing of the mission of Jesus Christ and His Atonement,” Elder Haynie said. “The consistent companionship of the Holy Ghost will lead us safely back to the presence of our Heavenly Parents.”

Elder Allen D. Haynie and Sister Deborah Haynie greet students following the devotional at BYU–Hawaii. Photo by Monique Saenz, BYU–Hawaii.

  Listen