Some people don't believe that God speaks to mankind today. Others don't believe that God has ever spoken to mankind. However, I know that God loves us because I have seen His hand in my life time and time again. Because He loves us, He wants to communicate with us. I love communicating with my family because I love them. Likewise, it is only logical that a loving Heavenly Father would find joy from communicating with us, His children. God's love is unceasing, so He never stops speaking to us.
I have had many people ask me over the years how I can have such great confidence in my religious beliefs; how do I know that I am not wrong? My response is beautifully simple: God has told me so. Now don't worry, I'm not a schizophrenic that needs to be locked up in a high-security psychiatric facility. I am not claiming that God has come down from heaven and made a personal visit to me. God only physically speaks face to face with people in very, very special circumstances. He also occasionally speaks to people through visions and visits by angels. Most of the time, however, He communicates with men, women, and children through the Holy Ghost and prophets.
When we pray sincerely, God listens. When the time is right, He responds to our concerns and questions through the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is a spirit, so He can speak to us spiritually. We can recognize His answers by listening carefully to our thoughts and feelings. The scriptures tell us what the Holy Ghost feels like: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:22-23). I have had the Holy Ghost speak to me many times in response to my prayers.
In addition to giving answers to people through the Holy Ghost, God also speaks through prophets such as Adam, Noah, and Moses. God speaks to the prophet, then the prophet delivers the message to everybody else. The prophets words are recorded in the scriptures.
I once had somebody ask me why we need a prophet if we have the Holy Ghost. I responded by telling him that the world is like an enormous auditorium. God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are on the stage, speaking to the world. Unfortunately, only those that are close to the stage by their obedience to God's commandments can hear Them speaking. However, there is a prophet in the room really close to the stage. He listens to what God is saying and then repeats these words into a microphone. Even though only some people can hear the Holy Ghost, everybody can hear what the prophet is saying.
Because God loves His people today just as much as He loved the people in the time that the Bible was written, God has called a prophet to speak to the people on the earth today. His name is Thomas S. Monson. A few months ago, I watched a video about His life. I felt the Spirit powerfully testify to me that he really is a prophet of God. You can also come to know that he is a prophet. You can watch him speak each April and October during LDS General Conference. You will feel the Spirit and learn how to draw closer to God.
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