Isn\u2019t this a beautiful phrase?\u00a0 What exactly is the tongue of angels, and how do we receive this gift?\u00a0 According to 2 Nephi 31:13 we learn that when we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, we will be able to \u201cspeak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.\u201d\u00a0 Well, I have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, but I don\u2019t feel I speak with that heavenly tongue very often.<\/p>\n
In 2 Nephi 32:3, we are told that \u201cangels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 In verse 4, we are given a great tip:\u00a0 \u201cif ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock:\u201d \u00a0So, now I know, I\u2019m not working hard enough to receive this gift.<\/p>\n
In one of the first meetings of the Relief Society in Nauvoo, Joseph Smith told the sisters that we (females) have been given the Charity Gene (my words, not his).\u00a0 It is in our DNA.\u00a0 By using this innate gift, we will be living up to our privileges.\u00a0 And by living up to these privileges, \u201cthe angels cannot be restrained from being your associates\u201d.\u00a0 It is through innocence, standing before God, being pure, that we can mingle with heaven.\u00a0 Surely then, our communion will be as the angels.<\/p>\n
Joseph continues that only then will we have power to command Queens among us.\u00a0 The power is a godly power to be spread by our purity, our righteousness, and our personal connection with the Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n
Boyd K. Packer said, \u201cNephi explained that angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, and you can speak with the tongue of angels, which simply means that you can speak with the power of the Holy Ghost. It will be quiet. It will be invisible. There will not be a dove. There will not be cloven tongues of fire. But the power will be there.\u00a0 Remember what Joseph Smith said: \u2018You 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\u2014that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
So, each of us who has been baptized AND had hands laid upon our heads, and been confirmed, have been given this power.\u00a0 Our job is to realize this power, learn about it, practice it, seek to use it for good, seek to use it regularly, always strive for purity, humility, and righteousness, and we will speak with the tongue of angels.\u00a0 Maybe we have already, and not even realized it.<\/p>\n
In 2007, Elder Holland gave a tender talk on bridling our tongue.\u00a0 He warned women, especially:<\/p>\n
\u201cWives, what of the unbridled tongue in your<\/em> mouth, of the power for good or ill in your<\/em> words? How is it that such a lovely voice which by divine nature is so angelic, so close to the veil, so instinctively gentle and inherently kind could ever in a turn be so shrill, so biting, so acrid and untamed? A woman\u2019s words can be more piercing than any dagger ever forged, and they can drive the people they love to retreat beyond a barrier more distant than anyone in the beginning of that exchange could ever have imagined. Sisters, there is no place in that magnificent spirit of yours for acerbic or abrasive expression of any kind, including gossip or backbiting or catty remarks\u2026 Speak(ing) with a new tongue, the tongue of angels. Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith and hope and charity, the three great Christian imperatives so desperately needed in the world today.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019ll recall, last summer, we had a lesson about the origins of our organization.\u00a0 Half the lesson discussed the necessity for women to control their tongues, that the Spirit might stay among us.<\/p>\n Our early sisters must have grasped this concept and run with it.\u00a0 Bathsheba Smith told the sisters of the Pioneer Stake that Joseph Smith gave \u201cthe sisters instructions that they could administer to the sick and he wanted to make us, as the women were in Paul\u2019s day, \u201cA kingdom of priestesses.\u00a0 We have the ceremony in our endowments as Joseph taught.\u201d<\/p>\n We have a record, throughout our history, of women healing others through a blessing and the laying on of hands.\u00a0 Clearly, the women were given this privilege at that time. \u00a0Was this how the \u201ctongue of angels\u201d was manifest for them at that time?\u00a0 Is the \u201ctongue of angels\u201d manifest for us in different ways in our day?<\/p>\n We don\u2019t have to be concerned about HOW Jesus Christ lays out His gospel; He is in charge.\u00a0 What we do have to concern ourselves with is our worthiness.\u00a0 The blessings will come in their own due time.\u00a0 We can have comfort in the knowledge that our Savior speaks to each one of us through the power of the Holy Ghost.\u00a0 We must learn to recognize the Spirit in our own lives, and only then can we proclaim His goodness with the tongue of angels.<\/p>\n Information taken from:<\/p>\n Minutes of the Nauvoo Relief Society, Apr. 28, 1842<\/p>\n \u201cThe Gift of the Holy Ghost: What Every Member Should Know\u201d, Pres. Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Aug. 2006<\/p>\n \u201cThe Tongue of Angels\u201d, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, May 2007<\/p>\n Pres. Bathsheba Smith, speaking at a Pioneer Stake Relief Society Conference, printed in the Women\u2019s Exponent, Jul-Aug 1905, p. 14.<\/p>\n *Many stories of women hearing the angels sing, and performing healings, can be found in the article, \u201cTemple Workers\u201d, The Young Woman\u2019s Journal, Apr. 1893, p, 289.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Isn\u2019t this a beautiful phrase?\u00a0 What exactly is the tongue of angels, and how do we receive this gift?\u00a0 According to 2 Nephi 31:13 we learn that when we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, we will be able to \u201cspeak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,6],"tags":[348],"class_list":["post-1904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conference-talks","category-scriptures","tag-holy-ghost"],"yoast_head":"\n