Boyd K. Packer

It is not wise to wrestle with the revelations with such insistence as to demand immediate answers or blessings to your liking. You cannot force spiritual things. Such words as compel, coerce, constrain, pressure, demand, do not describe our privileges with the Spirit. You can no more force the Spirit to respond than you can force a bean to sprout, or an egg to hatch before it’s time. You can create a climate to foster growth, nourish, and protect; but you cannot force or compel: you must await the growth.

Do not be impatient to gain great spiritual knowledge. Let it grow, help it grow, but do not force it or you will open the way to be misled.

Boyd K Packer, The Candle of the Lord, Ensign. Jan. 1983

Joseph Fielding Smith

When a man has the manifestation from the Holy Ghost, it leaves an indelible impression on his soul, one that is not easily erased. It is Spirit speaking to spirit, and it comes with convincing force. A manifestation of an angel, or even the Son of God himself, would impress the eye and mind, and eventually become dimmed, but the impressions of the Holy Ghost sink deeper into the soul and are more difficult to erase.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:151

Theodore M. Burton

Whenever you get red in the face, whenever you raise your voice, whenever you get "hot under the collar," or angry, rebellious, or negative in spirit, then know that the Spirit of God is leaving you and the spirit of Satan is beginning to take over.

Theodore M. Burton, Ensign, Nov 1974, 77

B.H. Roberts

Faith is trust in what the Spirit learned eons ago.

B. H. Roberts, “Scriptural Notebook,” BYU Special Collections under “F” as quoted from

Truman G. Madsen, “Souls Aflame: The Prayer Heritage of the Latter-day Saints,” New Era, Jul 1984, 44