REXBURG— Mike Sessions is a BYU-Idaho faculty member in the Design and Construction Management Department. He loves his job at BYU-Idaho, and says he enjoys working with students, watching them grow and progress. But along with is professional career, Sessions is a patriarch for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Sessions says he stays spiritually ready to give patriarchal blessings by doing the simple things like everyone else.
“I read scriptures daily. I serve in the temple here, so I've been doing that for about ten years. And the temple is always a great place to recharge my spiritual batteries,” Sessions said. “And probably, like everybody, I fast and pray.”
When someone is preparing to receive their own patriarchal blessing, Sessions says the individual should prepare spiritually by doing a few things on their own.
“Well, if it helps you to feel the spirit, then I would suggest you fast before you come and certainly pray about it. There are several really excellent talks a person could read,” Sessions said. “And it'd be worthwhile to just chat with the bishop about what you might learn, what things to consider before a blessing.”
Sessions says that a patriarchal blessing is personal scripture for the person receiving the blessing, and that they should treat it as such.
“It's kind of like a text message from Heavenly Father to you. And if you got a text message from Heavenly Father, you'd probably read that a lot. So read it frequently,” Sessions said. “But if you're like me, when you read the scriptures, I have to note things down. It helps me to just stop. Stop and pause and think, what could that be telling me? What might I need to do differently? And you might just write notes right on the side of your patriarchal blessing.”
Sessions views his calling as very important, but he also knows that it is not much different than any other calling within the Church.
“When people ask me the question, like you did, how do you prepare spiritually? I don't see myself as more or less spiritual,” Sessions said. “I see myself as having a calling like anybody else. And you prepare in certain ways, and the Lord helps you to magnify your calling.”