It is a privilege for Sister Hall and me to be in your presence today and to be in this magnificent building. Four years ago, as we were preparing to leave BYU-Idaho for our mission. We asked Wayne Clark to arrange a tour for us of this building. At the time it had not been completed. They were just beginning to install the seating. For me this experience of seeing every inch of this building was impressive. But it was also personally significant. I knew after my mission I would not return to BYU-Idaho. My time here was completed. I had been here to personally experience the announcement that Ricks College would become BYU-Idaho. As was mentioned, I served in administration where I was permitted to see the fulfillment of prophecy daily as we experienced the transition to BYU-Idaho. The completion of the BYU-I center represented the completion of foundational phase or transition of Ricks College to this great teaching institution. BYU-Idaho serves the young people of this Church as a Disciple Training Center.
In reflection, our family, our time at BYU-Idaho, and our mission has been the greatest experiences of our lives. As was mentioned in the introduction, Sister Hall and I served in the Florida Orlando Mission. While we were gone our grandchildren would tell their friends that their grandpa was the Mission President of Disney World. We came to love the many different people there. We cherish our relationship with the great stake and ward leaders that we served with and we really learned to love palm trees. Most importantly, we became eternally connected with 617 faithful dedicated missionaries. Many of them are here today.
In my final interview with the missionaries, I would ask where they would continue their schooling when they returned home. If they were unsure I would tell them "I have the perfect school for you." I would remind them that they were Florida Orlando missionaries and to be sure to select the Spring/Fall track when applying.
When we returned home parents and priesthood leaders would often ask us how to better prepare youth for missionary service. In the Florida Orlando Mission we tried to be focused on being a Preach My Gospel mission. But in addition to Preach My Gospel I developed a list of things that I think help prepare young people for missionary service.
Eight Principles in Preparing Young People for Missionary Service.
- They are preparing to be Authorized Representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ not just to go on a mission.
- Teach them faith - that comes from loving and serving others.
- Teach them the gospel of repentance and help them become clean and worthy through this principle. Don't help them take shortcuts.
- Teach them to understand and respect priesthood keys.
- Teach them how to establish goals. Teach them how to plan their days, weeks, and months to accomplish their goals with the influence of the Holy Ghost.
- Let them experience hard things, and teach them that they can overcome any challenge with the help of the Lord. Teach them not to depend upon others to fix their problems.
- Teach them how to recognize the Spirit.
- Teach them to communicate spiritual truths to the level of others understanding.
As you read this list may I suggest that these principles will strengthen you wherever you serve in the kingdom. I would like to focus my remarks today on the fourth principle on this list - To Understand and Recognize Priesthood Keys. To better understand the Priesthood let us review some doctrine and principles.
Priesthood is the Power of God.
"The priesthood is the eternal power and authority of God. Through the priesthood God created the heavens and the earth. By this power the universe is kept in perfect order. Through this power God accomplishes "His work and Glory" to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39)."[1]
The priesthood has been delegated to man to act for the salvation of the human family.
The Priesthood is the power that blesses all of God's children, men, women and children.
"Our Heavenly Father delegates His priesthood power to worthy male members of the church. The priesthood enables them to act in God's name for the salvation of the human family. Through it they can be authorized to preach the gospel, administer the ordinances of salvation and govern God's kingdom on earth."[2]
Let me read from True to the Faith:
"The most important exercise of the priesthood takes place in the family. Each husband and father should strive to be worthy to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. With his wife as an equal partner, he presides in righteousness and love. Serving as the family's spiritual leader he works with his wife to teach the children and help them prepare to receive the ordinances of salvation.
"Many members do not have faithful Melchizedek Priesthood holders in their homes. However, through the service of home teachers and priesthood leaders all members of the Church can enjoy the blessings of priesthood power in their lives."[3]
Priesthood holders who have priesthood keys govern priesthood authority.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said:
"ultimately, all the keys of the priesthood are held by the Lord Jesus Christ, whose priesthood it is. He is the one who determines what keys are delegated to mortals and how those keys will be used."[4]
"Priesthood keys are the authority God has given to priesthood holders to direct control and govern the use of his priesthood on earth."[5]
President Joseph Fielding Smith taught:
"The president of the church holds the keys over all the church. In him is concentrated the power of the priesthood. He holds all the keys of every nature pertaining to the dispensation of the fullness of times. All the keys of former dispensations, which have been revealed, are vested in him."[6]
Elder Russell M. Ballard explained:
"Those who hold priesthood keys literally make it possible for all those who serve faithfully under their direction to exercise priesthood authority and have access to priesthood power."[7]
Everything done under the direction of priesthood keys is done with priesthood authority.
In Doctrine and Covenants 107:5 it says that "all other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to this priesthood", speaking of the Melchizedek priesthood.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught about priesthood authority in the last General Conference. He said:
"We are not accustomed to speaking of women having authority of the priesthood in their callings but what authority can it be when a woman young or old is set apart to preach the gospel as a full time missionary. She is given priesthood authority to perform a priesthood function. The same is true when a woman is set apart to function as an officer or teacher in a church organization under the direction of one who holds the keys of the priesthood. Whoever functions in an office or call received from one who holds priesthood keys exercises priesthood authority."[8]
Priesthood power results from authorization by priesthood keys and fulfilling those responsibilities with principles of righteousness.
We read in Doctrine and Covenants section 121:
"That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the Priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; "By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile--
"Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;
"That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.
"Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly;"
And then the promise when we develop these principles in our relationships as we carry out our callings.
"Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
"The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever."
I find it interesting that these principles of righteousness seem to describe the nature of our sisters more than most men. Men seem to have to work harder to develop these characteristics.
At the conclusion of one of the classes Sister Hall and I taught at Institute, one of our wonderful students used this analogy to clear some confusion in the class over priesthood, priesthood keys, priesthood authority and priesthood power. He likened this process to a light fixture.The light bulb represents the priesthood or a calling by the priesthood. The light switch represents the keys of the priesthood. The electricity is priesthood authority and finally the light from the light bulb represents the power of the priesthood.
So one holding the keys of the priesthood flips the switch and authorizes someone by their call to function with priesthood authority. If this authority is used righteously it produces priesthood power or the light in fulfilling their responsibilities. I took the liberty to expand this analogy. If all of the things we just mentioned happen but the light is not tightly secured in the socket or the filament is damaged it will never produce light or priesthood power. The light bulb must be secured tightly to the principles of righteousness. A filament that has been damaged because of unworthiness must be repaired through repentance before it can illuminate.
I would like to share with you three principles of priesthood keys that bless our lives. Hopefully, these principles will help you in recognizing and respecting priesthood keys.
Principle 1: Priesthood keys not only govern God's work but also express His love for His children individually.
When we returned home from our mission I had a friend ask if I was able to have a personal relationship with each of my missionaries. With 230 missionaries in the mission it was impossible to spend the time you would like with each individual missionary. Before entering the MTC, like most mission presidents I was determined to be as prepared as possible to efficiently interview the missionaries. Knowing that time would be limited, I prepared a list of questions that I could ask in interviews to really get to know the missionaries.
I worked hard and had my questions ready. The day after we arrived in the mission field we had thirteen new missionaries arrive. After a welcome dinner, I took the first missionary into the office for their initial interview. I started with my questions to guide our conversation. About three minutes into the interview something happened. A spiritual feeling came over me; I knew this missionary as well as I had ever known anyone. I had a deep feeling of love for them. That love I can only describe as the kind of the love I have for my own children. I recognized their strengths, weaknesses and more importantly their potential. I had similar experiences with the other twelve missionaries that night. This same thing happened each time I interviewed our missionaries. I came to understand one of the powers of priesthood keys is to convey God's love and His personal concern for His children. I would later try to express this by saying, priesthood keys allow you to think things you wouldn't normally think, to see things you wouldn't normally see, to say things you wouldn't normally say, and to feel things you wouldn't normally feel. That was my experience everyday of my mission. No wonder those missionaries became like our own sons and daughters. I related more with the Book of Mormon account of Helaman describing those valiant young men he served with as his sons.
Principle 2: Different priesthood keys must be aligned with each other and work in unity and harmony.
Learned as we visited the wards and stakes in our mission, members and leaders were excited about doing their part in missionary work. Most of them would ask what can we do for your missionaries? This often translated into meals, transportation, and joining them in a few lessons with investigators. As important as these things are, there are more important things members need to be involved in. If you search the handbooks of the Church you will learn that the primary work of members in missionary work as directed by the keys of the Stake President is to find and prepare people to be taught by the missionaries. The primary role of the missionaries, directed by the keys of the mission president, is to teach and prepare investigators to be baptized. It is then the responsibility of the members as directed by the keys of the stake president and the bishop to fellowship converts, give them a calling and help them be accepted into their ward family.
So the mission president really should be the one asking the question to ward and stake leaders what can we as missionaries do to help you fulfill your missionary responsibilities?
Elder David A. Bednar taught some important principles of priesthood keys working together to mission presidents in 2012. He taught there is a difference between the keys for missionary work and keys for the work of missionaries. The stake president has the keys to direct missionary work in his stake. The mission president has the keys for the work of the missionaries in teaching and preparing investigators to be baptized. The same principle applies to temple presidents. The temple president does not hold the keys for temple work. He holds the keys for the work in the temple. The stake president holds the keys for temple work in his stake.
Elder Bednar concluded his teaching with these two valuable principles:
- When two sets of keys operate at cross-purposes it blocks the powers of heaven and the powers of heaven are constrained and diluted.
- When priesthood keys are aligned properly, when they work together in unity and harmony then heaven blesses the work in a remarkable way.
I learned when the priesthood keys directing members and full time missionaries worked together appropriately the results were powerful.
To illustrate consider these statistics. In our mission if the missionaries found an investigator on their own, usually by tracting, they had around a 10% chance of baptizing them. If members gave a name of someone they knew or "tell them we sent you" the missionaries had a 25% chance of baptizing them. But, if members had worked with neighbors and friends and invited them to listen to the missionaries in their home there was over a 90% chance they would be baptized.
There are some things behind those statistics that are just plain common sense. But most importantly, those statistics are evidence of the power of heaven that results when God's work is done in priesthood order. In working with less active members missionaries that understood priesthood keys would go to the bishop and ask which members he wanted them to work with. When a bishop said just go visit anyone in the ward, we had limited success. But when a bishop had discussed it in ward council, prayed and then gave the missionaries a list of names we were almost 100% successful.
Principle 3: Priesthood keys are essential in the repentance process for serious sin.
Unfortunately, there are a few missionaries that come into the mission that have not fully repented of serious sins. We all know the pressures to go on a mission. Sometimes the embarrassment and guilt of serious sin causes some young people to make a very poor decision. The decision that they will take care of their repentance themselves or worse deny them when confronted by priesthood leaders in worthiness interviews.
They come into the mission field burdened with sin. As they are asked to represent the Lord Jesus Christ and teach the gospel of repentance they are finally brought to their knees in humility. They seek relief--they seek forgiveness--they seek to become clean so they can be a worthy representative of the Savior.
I would share with you that the mission field is not the best place for missionaries to repent of serious sin. Many are asked to return home to take care of their repentance and put their lives in order by working with priesthood leaders who hold keys that direct their repentance process.
I remember years ago a young woman who had committed a very serious sin. Because of the anticipated public scorn, it was decided to take care of this as a family matter. The thought was to go to the bishop but he was not someone they identified with or felt comfortable with. Without really knowing it they declined the power and blessings of the keys of the priesthood that would have guided and directed her through this difficult process. Now years later not one of this sister's children or grandchildren have the blessings of the gospel in their lives.
Conclusion: The Restoration of Priesthood Keys
In 1820, a fourteen-year old boy possessing great faith knelt down in prayer to ask God which of all the churches was true. This simple act of faith ushered in the dispensation of the fullness of times. Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God. Through him the fullness of the gospel and the doctrines of salvation were restored. This work of the final dispensation could only be completely established and carried out through priesthood authority and priesthood keys.
First, in May 1829 after inquiring concerning baptism, John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry and bestowed the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood. A short time later, Peter, James and John bestowed the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood by virtue of which the Church was organized in 1830.
It is interesting that shortly after the Church was organized the Lord commanded the saints to build a house in His name. The saints not knowing the urgency of the Lord's mandate did not immediately go to work on the temple in Kirkland. Six months later as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants Section 95, we read the Lord's rebuke:
"For ye have sinned against me a very grievous sin, in that ye have not considered the great commandment in all things, that I have given unto you concerning the building of mine house;
"For the preparation wherewith I design to prepare mine apostles to prune my vineyard for the last time, that I may bring to pass my strange act, that I may pour out my Spirit upon all flesh"
The saints responded and went to work with what little they possessed to erect a house to the Lord. And for what purpose? It was a holy sanctuary where Jesus Christ could visit His people and where he could send His servants, holy prophets, to commit the keys that would direct the work of God in these last days.
One week after the dedication of the Kirkland Temple we read in Doctrine and Covenants 110. Christ appeared to Joseph and Oliver after they had retired to the pulpit after Easter Services. He accepted His House. Next Moses appeared and gave to Joseph and Oliver the keys of the gathering of Israel. After Moses, Elias came and conferred his keys and brought the gospel and the promises made to father Abraham Next Elijah the Prophet who held the sealing power bestowed that power, or the power to use the priesthood to bind on earth and seal in heaven. The Lord concludes this revelation by saying to Joseph:
"therefore the keys of this dispensation are committed unto your hands". Joseph Smith stands at the head of this final dispensation. The Prophets prophet .....As we sing in the hymn "Praise to the Man", "Great is his glory and endless his priesthood, ever and ever the keys he will hold. . . "
Priesthood and priesthood keys are essential in the true and living Church. May we better understand the priesthood, priesthood keys, priesthood authority and priesthood power. May we respect and honor the priesthood and the keys that control its power as we assist to move this great work forward as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are blessed to live in the dispensation of the fullness of times; this day has been foretold and looked forward to by all the ancient prophets. All the keys of their dispensations have been restored through Joseph Smith to the earth.
Those keys have been transferred from prophet to prophet until this day of President Thomas S. Monson. He holds all of the keys and is the only one authorized to dispense or delegate their use. That authority comes through the organization of the Lord's Church to those chosen by the keys of revelation to accomplish God's work on earth. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Gospel Principles PG 67
[2] Gospel Principles PG 67
[3] True to the Faith pg 125
[4] Ensign, May 2014, pg 50 "The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood"
[5] Church Handbook 2, "Administering the Church", 2.1.1
[6] "Priesthood Restoration of Keys, Deseret News, September 16, 1933, Church Section 4.
[7] "Men and Women in The Work of the Lord", New Era, April 2014, 4.
[8] Ensign, May 2014, pg 51. "The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood"