TANYA - What exactly happens when we are confirmed to the church? We hear "receive the Holy Ghost," so what exactly is it we receive? I found this and I am going to paste it.
President Charles W. Penrose at the April 1922 General Conference said,
"Now, let us understand this clearly in our own minds: When we lay hands upon an individual and say, ‘Receive the Holy Ghost,'. . . what is it? Do you mean to say that upon every child that is confirmed, you give the personality of the Holy Ghost, as a personage of spirit? Not at all; it is the universal Spirit in a higher degree that is conferred."
(This does not sound right to me?)

JOEL - Two things happen at the moment we are confirmed. First, we officially become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and second, we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost. This means we "receive" the right to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost if we keep ourselves obedient to gospel principles. The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost means that His spiritual influence(or as Penrose said "Universal Spirit") can always be with us.
President Penrose was simply saying that the personage of the Holy Ghost, who is a separate and distinct member of the Godhead, does not personally enter a child's body, since His spirit personage can only be in one place at a time.
The Holy Ghost can temporarily influence anyone, baptized or not. Penrose was also saying that we receive a higher degree of companionship with the Holy Ghost, compared to someone who is not baptized and confirmed.

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