Anonymous Elder, Inspiration During Street Preaching

President Nye describes how inexperienced Elders, initially trembling and terrified when preaching on the street, are suddenly filled with an unseen power and the Spirit of God, which makes their voices firm, their faces radiant, and their words powerful, often astonishing onlookers.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

I have seen their faces blanch, and noted the nervous twitching of their lips and cheeks, while they trembled from head to foot. But as they begin to speak the Spirit of God rests upon them, their voice becomes firm. An unseen power thrills them from head to foot; their hearts are full of joy and their countenances fairly beam with the love of God that fills their soul. Their words are the words of eternal life, and to the average listener, seem to be accompanied by a power not of man. This is the experience of many of our Elders who are called to preach the Gospel in the streets of the cities of the world. They go out in their weakness, but they return in the strength of the Lord, having been made instruments in His hands of bringing many souls to a knowledge of the truth.