"Commentary on D&C 46:7–9 Because the new converts in Kirtland held an unusual regard for spiritual gifts, the Lord takes time in these verses to explain several principles of spiritual gifts. The first counsel He gives the Saints is to earnestly seek the best gifts. The spiritual gifts a person receives in this life are not set in stone. It is true that premortal experiences may predispose a person to one or more gifts of the Spirit. It is also true that sin and transgression may cause a person to lose a spiritual gift. The Lord emphasizes here that men and women have the power to seek gifts that will help them build the kingdom and progress toward eternal life. What kind of gifts should a person seek? President George Q. Cannon provided this counsel: If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make them perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of them. What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct these imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. … No man ought to say, “Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.” He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength [is] to correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them … for this purpose he gives these gifts, and bestows them upon [those] who seek after them, in order that they may be a perfect people upon the face of the earth, notwithstanding their many weaknesses.”"

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