Please see the disclaimer.
Of everything I am going to write in this series, this is the point on which I am most sure, and it will be a theme in every other post.
The current Prophet of the Lord (as I write this) is President Russell M. Nelson. In his first General Conference as Prophet, he said,
In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.
How is this to be done?
The fourth Article of Faith contains the beginning of the answer:
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The first step is to have faith in Christ.
The second step is to repent of our sins.
The third step is to be baptized.
The fourth step is to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
This step is so crucial. With the Gift of the Holy Ghost, a member of The Church is qualified for the constant direction of the Holy Spirit.
But as crucial as that step might be, it is not enough. To always have the Spirit with us, we must not chase Him away through any kind of unrighteous conduct.
Avoiding unrighteous conduct is going to be the subject of future posts; since there are many ways to lose the companionship of the Holy Ghost, I cannot confine them to one post. And continually improving our conduct will be essential to our preparation in other ways as well.