176th Semi-Annual General
Conference
Priesthood Session Talk Excerpts
A Priesthood Quorum
Elder Henry B.
Eyring
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Click on Photos to Enlarge
I am grateful to be with you in
this great priesthood meeting. All of us are members of a quorum
in the priesthood. That may not seem remarkable to you, but
it does to me. I was ordained a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood
in a tiny branch of the Church. There was only one family in
the branch. We had no chapel. We met in our house. I was the
only deacon and my brother the only teacher.
So, I know what it is like to exercise
the priesthood alone, without serving with others in a quorum.
I was content in that small branch without a quorum. I had
no way to know what I was missing. And then my family moved
across a continent to where there were many priesthood holders
and strong quorums.
I have learned over the years that
the strength in a quorum doesn’t come from the number of priesthood
holders in it. Nor does it come automatically from the age
and maturity of the members. Rather, the strength of a quorum
comes in large measure from how completely its members are united
in righteousness. That unity in a strong quorum of the priesthood
is not like anything I have experienced in an athletic team
or club or any other organization in the world.
The words of Alma, recorded in
the book of Mosiah, come closest to describing the unity I have
felt in the strongest priesthood quorums.
“And he commanded them that there
should be no contention one with another, but that they should
look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism,
having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards
another” (Mosiah 18:21).
“Rise Up, O Men of God”
Elder D. Todd Christofferson
Of the Presidency of the
Seventy
Years ago, when my brothers and
I were boys, our mother had radical cancer surgery. She came
very close to death. Much of the tissue in her neck and shoulder
had to be removed and for a long time it was very painful for
her to use her right arm.
One morning about a year after
the surgery, my father took Mother to an appliance store and
asked the manager to show her how to use a machine he had for
ironing clothes. The machine was called an IronRite. It was
operated from a chair by pressing pedals with one’s knees to
lower a padded roller against a heated metal surface and turn
the roller, feeding in shirts, pants, dresses, and other articles.
You can see that this would make ironing (of which there was
a great deal in a family of five boys) much easier, especially
for a woman with a limited use of her arm. Mother was shocked
when Dad told the manager they would buy the machine and then
paid cash for it. Despite my father’s good income as a veterinarian,
Mother’s surgery and medications had left them in a difficult
financial situation.
On the way home, my mother was
upset. ”How can we afford; where did the money come from; how
will we get along now?”
Finally Dad told her that he had
gone without lunches for nearly a year to save enough money.
“Now when you iron,” he said, “you won’t have to stop and go
into the bedroom and cry until the pain in your arm stops.”
She didn’t know he knew about that.
I was not aware of my father’s
sacrifice and act of love for my mother at the time, but now
that I know, I say to myself, “There is a man.”
The prophet Lehi pled with his
rebellious sons saying, “Arise from the dust, my sons, and
be men” ( 2 Nephi 1:21, emphasis added). By age, Laman
and Lemuel were men, but in terms of character and spiritual
maturity they were still as children. They murmured and complained
if asked to anything hard. They didn’t accept anyone’s authority
to correct them. They didn’t value spiritual things. They easily
resorted to violence, and they were good at playing the victim…
We who hold the priesthood of God
cannot afford to drift. We have work to do. We must arise
from the dust of self-indulgence and be men! It is a wonderful
aspiration for a boy to become a man, strong and capable — someone
who can build and create things, run things; someone who makes
a difference in the world. It is a wonderful aspiration for
those of us who are older to make the vision of true manhood
a reality in our lives, and be models for those who look to
us for an example.
The Great Plan of Happiness
Elder Marcus B. Nash
Of the Seventy
Several
years ago when I was a deacon like many of you young men, my
father and I hiked to a mountain stream to fish for trout.
As my dad attached the bait to the hook on the end of my fishing
line, he told me that I would need to set the hook in the fish’s
mouth when it tried to take the bait or it would get away.
I did not understand what it meant
to set the hook, so he explained to me that the hook needed
to be imbedded in the fish’s mouth when it struck at the bait
so it could not shake the hook loose, and that the hook would
be set if I quickly pulled back on the pole when the fish tried
to take the bait. Now, I really wanted to catch a fish, so
I stood on the bank of that mountain stream like a coiled spring,
every muscle taut, waiting for the telltale movement at the
end of my pole which would signal that the fish was trying to
take the bait.
After a few minutes, I noticed
movement in the end of my pole and, in that instant, I jerked
back on the pole with all of my strength, expecting a big fight
with the fish. To my surprise, I watched at that poor trout
— with the hook now set firmly in his mouth — was launched from
the water into the air over my head, and landed on the ground
flopping behind me.
I have two observations from that
experience: First, a fish out of water is miserable. Although
its gills, fins, and tail work very well in water, they are
all but useless on land. Second, the unfortunate fish I caught
that day perished because it was deceived into treating something
very dangerous — even fatal — as worthwhile, or at least sufficiently
intriguing to warrant a closer look and perhaps a nibble.
My dear brethren of the Aaronic
Priesthood, there are a couple of lessons to be learned from
this: first, a basic purpose of your life as Lehi taught, is
“to have joy” (2 Ne. 2:25)
In order to have joy, you need
to understand that, as a child of your Heavenly Father, you
inherited divine traits and spiritual needs — and just like
a fish needs water, you need the gospel and the companionship
of the Holy Ghost to be truly, deeply happy. Because you are
the offspring of God (Acts 17:28), it is incompatible with your
eternal nature to do wrong and feel right. It cannot be done.
It is part of your spiritual DNA, as it were, that peace, joy,
and happiness will be yours only to the degree you live the
gospel.
Now to the second lesson from my
fishing experience. Just as a fish in a mountain stream must
be careful of the lures placed in its path to avoid being pulled
from the water, so must you and I be wise in order to avoid
being pulled away from a happy, gospel-centered life.
He Trusts Us!
Elder Stanley G. Ellis
Of the Seventy
Several
years ago Sister Ellis and I were called to preside over the
Brazil Sao Paulo North Mission for three years. Given our family
and business situation, we were impressed to keep our home and
business in Houston rather than sell them.
As we began to make the necessary
arrangements, it became clear we would need to have our lawyer
prepare a “power of attorney.” That is a legal document that
gives someone else the authority to do anything in our name.
The person with this document could sell our home or other assets,
borrow money in our name, spend our money, or even sell our
business! The thought of giving someone that much power and
authority over our affairs was scary.
We decided to give our power of
attorney to a person we trusted, our good friend and partner,
who exercised that power and authority very well. He did what
we would have done if we were there.
Brethren, think of what the Lord
has given us — His authority and power! The power and authority
to act for Him in all things pertaining to His work!
With this priesthood power, and
when necessary, the authorization of those with the appropriate
keys, we can perform the ordinances of salvation in His name:
baptize for the remission of sins, confirm and confer the Holy
Ghost, confer the priesthood and ordain others to priesthood
offices, and perform temple ordinances. In His name we can
administer His Church. In His name we can bless, home teach,
and even heal the sick.
What a trust the Lord has placed
in us! Think of it, brethren, He trusts us!
Spiritual Nutrients
President James E. Faust
2nd Counselor
in the First Presidency
In our uncertain physical environment,
we need to increase our spiritual nutrients, nutrients that
come from the knowledge of the fullness of the gospel and the
powers of the holy priesthood. When such knowledge penetrates
our souls, we not only draw closer to God but we also want to
serve Him and our fellow men.
Some years ago a priests quorum
decided to gather food for the needy as a service project. Jim,
one of the priests, was excited to participate and was determined
to collect more food than anyone else. The time arrived when
the priests met at the chapel. They all went out at the same
time and returned at a specified time later in the evening.
To everyone’s surprise, Jim’s cart was empty. He seemed rather
sober, and some of the boys made fun of him. Seeing this and
knowing that Jim had an interest in cars, the adviser said,
“Come outside, Jim. I want you to look at my car. It’s giving
me some trouble.”
When they got outside, the adviser
asked Jim if he was upset. Jim said, “No, not really. But
when I went out to collect food, I really got a lot. My cart
was full. As I was returning to the chapel, I stopped at the
home of a nonmember woman who is divorced and lives within our
ward boundaries. I knocked on the door and explained what we
were doing, and she invited me in. She began to look for something
to give me. She opened the refrigerator and I could see there
was hardly anything in it. The cupboards were bare. Finally,
she found a small can of peaches.
“I could hardly believe it. There
were all these little kids running around that needed to be
fed, and she handed me this can of peaches. I took it and put
in my cart and went on up the street. I got about halfway up
the block when I just felt warm all over and knew I needed to
go back to that house. I gave her all the food.”
The adviser said, “Jim, don’t you
ever forget the way you feel tonight, because that’s what it
is all about.” Jim had tasted the nutrient of selfless service.
True to Our Priesthood Trust
President Thomas S. Monson
1st Counselor
in the First Presidency
Young Rupert stood by the side
of the road watching an unusual number of people hurry past.
At length he recognized a friend. “Where are all of you going
in such a hurry?” he asked.
The friend paused. “Haven’t you
heard? He said.
I’ve heard nothing,” Rupert answered.
“Well,” continued the friend, “the
King has lost his royal emerald. Yesterday he attended a wedding
of the nobility and wore the emerald on the slender golden chain
around his neck. In some way the emerald became loosened from
the chain. Everyone is searching, for the King has offered
a reward to the one finds it. Come, we must hurry.
“But I cannot go without asking
Grandmother,” faltered Rupert.
“Then I cannot wait. I want to
find the emerald,” replied his friend.
Rupert hurried back to the cabin
at the edge of the woods to seek his grandmother’s permission.
“If I could find it we could leave this hut with its dampness
and buy a piece of land up on the hillside,” he pleaded with
Grandmother.
But his grandmother shook her head.
“What would the sheep do,” she asked. “Already they are restless
in the pen, waiting to be taken to the pasture. And please
do not forget to take them to water when the sun shines high
in the heavens.
Sorrowfully, Rupert took the sheep
to the pasture, and at noon he led them to the brook in the
woods. There he sat on a large stone by the stream. If I could
only have had a chance to look for the King’s emerald, he thought.
Turning his head to gaze down at
the sandy bottom of the brook, suddenly he stared into the water.
What was it? It could not be! He leaped into the water, and
his gripping fingers held something that was green, with a slender
bit of gold chain. “The King’s emerald!” he shouted. “It must
have been flung from the chain when the King, astride his horse,
galloped across the bridge spanning the stream and the current
carried it there.”
With shining eyes Rupert ran to
his grandmother’s hut to tell her of his great find. “Bless
you, my boy,” she said, “but you never would have found it if
you had not been doing your duty, herding the sheep.” And Rupert
knew that this was the truth.
The lesson to be learned from this
story is found in the familiar couplet: “Do your duty; that
is best. Leave unto the Lord the rest.”
“Rise Up, O Men of God”
President Gordon B. Hinckley
The First Presidency
I recently listened on television
to a concert by the BYU Men’s Chorus. They sang a stirring
number entitled “Rise Up, O Men of God.” It was written in
1911 by William P. Merrill, and a version of it is found in
our hymnbook.
The words carry the spirit of the
old English hymns written by Charles Wesley and others. The
text reads:
