A Listener’s Spiritual Confirmation of the Holy Ghost

During an open-air meeting, an Elder spoke to a crowd in a park. Two ladies heard the preaching; one initially speculated it was Baptist doctrine. Another bystander identified the speakers as Mormons. One of the ladies, despite the negative reputation of the Church, declared that the speaker was clearly speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 50, No. 30 (23 July 1888), p. 474):

Soon after they had joined the audience, one expressed a wonder as to what sect the men were of. The other replied, “I don’t know, but that is good Baptist doctrine he is preaching now; they must be Baptists.” “No,” said a sister standing next to them, “they teach the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and I think the Baptists do not teach that.” “Oh, no,” replied the one addressed, “they don’t teach that; they can’t be Baptists.” “Why,” said a man standing near, and who had heard the foregoing conversation, “these men are Mormons, they believe in a man having more than one wife!” “Well,” said the lady who had first spoken, and who had been listening attentively to the Elder for some moments; “I don’t care who they are, or how many wives they believe in having; that man is speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost.”