This “baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost” here spoken of by Nephi [2 Nephi 31:6, 7, 12, 13] effects the great change in the hearts of men referred to by Alma. It converts them from carnality to spirituality. It cleanses, heals, and purifies the soul. It is the sealing and sign of forgiveness. It is the spiritual rebirth spoken of by Jesus to Nicodemus. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, and water baptism are all preliminary and prerequisite to it, but it is the consummation. To receive it is to have one's garments washed in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ … This “mighty change” wrought by the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost should and does, if the proselyte is prepared to receive it, occur when he is baptized by immersion for the remission of sins and receives the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost—the two required ordinances for being “born of water and of the spirit.”