Laying on of hands for gift of the Holy Ghost

The principle of the laying on of hands for the bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost generally is not understood by people who are not members of the Church. At the April 1982 general conference, Elder LeGrand Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve addressed this topic as he spoke of two experiences that he had as a young missionary in Holland.

He told of how a minister, who disagreed with the LDS Church's teachings about the priesthood, invited him to speak for 20 minutes to his congregation in Amsterdam. Elder Richards said it was obvious that the minister was trying to trick him with cunning and craftiness.

Elder Richards noted that he spoke to the people about the foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "I hurried over faith and repentance — I thought they believed in them," he said. "I spoke on baptism by immersion for the remission of sin until everybody was giving me accord.

"Then it came to the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. And they didn't believe in that. I never found a church that did believe it outside of our Church — they think the Holy Ghost comes just like the breezes that blow over the head. I quoted them the passage saying that when the Apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God through the preaching of Philip, they sent Peter and John. And when they came, they prayed for them, they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

"And when Simon the sorcerer saw that the Holy Ghost was conveyed by the laying on of the Apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying: 'Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.' " (Acts 8:19-20.)

Elder Richards said that he gave the congregation more references to scriptures pertaining to the laying on of hands, and invited the minister to "settle with [his] people for what had transpired." The minister couldn't refute what the young missionary had taught.

Further in his conference address, Elder Richards spoke of another experience as a young missionary. "Over in Utrecht, Holland, they had a seminary where they trained ministers, and the young men who were studying for the ministry used to come and stand outside our meetings and listen. . . . I convinced one of those young men that baptism was to be by immersion for the remission of sins, and of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost — he hadn't been taught that and he didn't believe it."

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