Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.
For our ordinances and covenants to be effective, we must enter into them with an honest desire to conform ourselves to the Lord's plan of happiness. We must have a real and abiding intention of following through. Please note that we do not have to be perfect in the execution of our covenants. God knows, and surely we should know, that we will be less than successful in our attempts to be perfectly obedient. It is the whole purpose of the Atonement to enable Christ to help us overcome our failures, mistakes, shortcomings, and sins. The Lord does not expect us to be perfect, but he expects us to want perfection and to strive for it. He will perfect us through his Atonement in his own time. In the meantime, we practice, which means we make mistakes, we receive feedback and correction, and we try again.
As we make a genuine and honest effort to comply with the commandments, the gift of the Holy Ghost will become more evident in our lives. As we qualify ourselves with Christ's help, we will draw ever closer and more consistently to the influence of the Spirit until eventually we will be enveloped by him. Just as we were immersed in the water of baptism, we will be immersed in the Holy Ghost. Thus, we are baptized with the Holy Ghost, the symbol of which is fire.
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