This past Sunday a gospel teacher and friend of mine conveyed that he didn’t remember anything about his baptism which took place when he was 8-years-old (he admitted he is now close to sixty-years-old). However, he did remember the ordinance following—that of receiving the Holy Ghost by the laying of hands. Over 50 years later he can recall the accompanying feelings of that moment. Why?
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “The gospel requires baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, which is the meaning of the word in the original language—namely, to bury or immerse. … I further believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, [as evidenced] by Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:38. You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.”
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