I speak to the fathers of the families and to families
everywhere in the Church.
Years ago we began a correlation under the
direction of President Harold B. Lee.
At that time, President Thomas S. Monson said: "Today we are
encamped against the greatest array of sin and evil that
ever assembled before our eyes.
The battle plan whereby we fight to save the souls of men
is not our own.
It came through the inspiration and revelation of
the Lord."
During those years of correlation, the whole
operating face of the Church was changed.
The entire curriculum was restructured.
The objectives and relationships of organizations
one to another was redefined.
The key word during those years of correlation and
restructuring was "priesthood."
President Monson spoke of Gideon, a
hero of the Old Testament.
Gideon was chosen to lead the armies of
Israel, thousands strong.
But of all of them, he chose only 300 men.
Gideon had an interesting way of selecting his recruits.
When the men drank water at a stream, most
bowed down to drink.
Those he passed over.
A few scooped up water in their hands and drank,
remaining completely alert.
Those were the ones chosen.
We live in a day of wars and rumors of wars and earthquakes in
diverse places.
As prophesied, the whole earth is in commotion, and Satan is
abroad in the land.
He seeks to destroy all that is good and righteous.
He is Lucifer, who was cast out of the presence of God.
Against all of that, we have very positive feelings about
what lies ahead.
Gideon's small army force succeeded because, as the
record records, "they stood every man in his place."
This dispensation of the fulness of times opened with the
appearance of the Father and the Son to
the boy Joseph Smith.
Next the angel Moroni showed Joseph where the plates containing
the Book of Mormon had been buried.
Joseph was given power to translate them.
During the translation Joseph and Oliver
Cowdery read about baptism.
They prayed to know what to do.
There appeared to them an angelic
messenger, John the Baptist.
He conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood, which
holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the
gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins.
The Apostles Peter, James, and John, who were closest to the
Lord in His ministry, appeared and conferred upon Joseph and
Oliver the higher priesthood,
the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God.
The priesthood, the scriptures direct, was to be named after
Melchizedek, the great high priest to whom
Abraham paid tithes.
This then became their authority.
Through the keys of the priesthood, they had access to
all of the powers of heaven.
They were commanded to carry the gospel
unto all the nations.
It has never been easy to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It was not easy when He lived, and it was not easy in the
early days of the Church.
The early Saints were subjected to unspeakable
suffering and opposition.
It's been 180 years since the priesthood was restored.
We now number nearly 14 million members.
Even so, we are a tiny fraction when compared to the
billions of people on the earth.
But we are who we are, and we know what we know, and we are
to go forth and preach the gospel.
The Book of Mormon makes it clear that we never will
dominate by numbers, but we have the power of the
priesthood.
The prophet Nephi wrote, "It came to pass that I beheld the church of the
Lamb of God, and its numbers were few;
nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints
of God, were also upon all of the face of the earth;
and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small."
President Joseph Fielding Smith said, "It may be said
that we are but a handful in comparison to the world, yet
we may be compared with the leaven of which the Savior
spoke, which eventually will lift the whole world."
We can and in due time certainly will influence all
of humanity.
It will be known who we are and why we are.
It might seem hopeless;
it is monumentally difficult;
but it is not only possible but certain that we will win
this battle against Satan.
Some years ago, I gave a talk entitled "What Every Elder
Should Know: A Primer on Priesthood Government." Later,
when it was published, I changed the title to read
"What Every Elder Should Know--and Every Sister as Well."
I include the sisters because it is crucial for everyone to
understand what is expected of the brethren.
Unless we enlist the attention of the mothers and daughters
and sisters who have influence on their husbands and fathers
and sons, we cannot progress.
The priesthood will lose great power if
the sisters are neglected.
Priesthood is the authority and the power which God has
granted to men to act for Him on earth.
When priesthood authority is exercised properly, priesthood
bearers do what He would do if He were present.
We've done very well in distributing the authority of
the priesthood.
We have priesthood authority planted nearly everywhere.
We have quorums of elders and high priests worldwide.
But distributing the authority of the priesthood has raced, I
think, ahead of distributing the power of the priesthood.
The priesthood does not have the strength that it should
have and will not have until the power of the priesthood
is firmly fixed in the families as it should be.
President Harold B. Lee stated: "It seems clear to me
that the Church has no choice--
and never has had--
but to do more to assist the family in carrying out its
divine mission,
not only because that is the order of heaven, but also
because that is the most practical contribution we
can make to our youth--to help improve the quality of
life in the Latter-day Saint homes.
As important as our many programs and organizational
efforts are, these should not supplant the home;
they should support the home."
President Joseph F. Smith made this statement about the
priesthood in the home:
"In the home, the presiding authority is always vested in
the father,
and in all home affairs and family matters there is no
other authority paramount.
To illustrate this principle, a single
incident will suffice.
It sometimes happens that the elders are called in to
administer to the members of a family.
Among these elders there may be presidents of stakes,
apostles, or even members of the First
Presidency of the Church.
It is not proper under these circumstances for the father
to stand back and expect the elders to direct the
administration of this important ordinance.
The father is there.
It is right and his duty to preside.
He should select the one who is to administer the oil, and
the one who is to be mouth in prayer,
and he should not feel that because there are present
presiding authorities of the Church that he is therefore
divested of his rights to direct the administration of the
blessing of the gospel in his home.
If the father be absent, the mother should request the
presiding authority present to take charge.
The father presides at the table, at prayer, and gives
general directions relating to his family life whoever may be
present."
During the Vietnam War, we held a special series of
meetings for Church members who were called into
military service.
After such a meeting in Chicago, I was standing next
to Present Harold B. Lee when a fine young Latter-day Saint
told President Lee that he was on leave to visit his home and
then had orders for Vietnam.
He asked President Lee to give him a blessing.
Much to my surprise, President Lee said, "Your father should
give you the blessing."
Very disappointed, the boy said, "My father wouldn't know
how to give a blessing."
President Lee answered, "Go home, my boy, and tell your
father that you are going away to war and want to receive a
father's blessing from him.
If he does not know how, tell him that you
will sit on a chair.
He can stand behind you and put his hands on your head
and say whatever comes." The young
soldier went away sorrowing.
About two years later, I met him again.
I do not recall where.
He reminded me of that experience and said, "I did as
I was told to do.
I explained to my father that I would sit on a chair and
that he should put his hands on my head.
The power of the priesthood filled both of us.
That was a strength and protection in those perilous
months of battle."
Another time I was in a distant city.
After a conference we were ordaining and
setting apart leaders.
As we concluded, the stake president asked, "Can we ordain
a young man to be an elder who's leaving
for the mission field?"
The answer, of course, was yes.
As the young man came forward, he motioned for three brethren
to follow and stand in for his ordination.
I noticed on the back row a carbon copy of the boy, and
I asked, "Is that your father?"
The young man said yes.
I said, "Your father will ordain you."
He protested,
"But I've already asked another brother to ordain me."
I said, "Young man, your father will ordain you, and you'll
live to thank the Lord for this day."
Then the father came forward. Thank
goodness he was an elder.
Had he not been, he soon could've been.
In the military, they would call that a battlefield
commission.
Sometimes such things are done in the Church.
The father did not know how to ordain his son.
I put my arm around him and coached
him through the ordinance.
When he was finished, the young man was an elder.
Then something wonderful happened.
Completely changed, the father and the son embraced.
It was obvious that had never happened before.
The father, through his tears, said, "I didn't get to ordain
my other boys."
Think how much more was accomplished than if another
had ordained him, even an Apostle.
While the priesthood is presently all over the world,
we call on every elder and high priest, every holder of
the priesthood to stand, like Gideon's small but powerful
force of 300, in his own place.
We must awaken in every elder and high priest, in every
quorum and group, and in the father of every home the
power of the priesthood of the Almighty.
The Lord said, "The weak things of the world shall come
forth and break down the mighty and strong."
The prophet Nephi also told of "the power of the Lamb of
God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the
covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the
face of the earth" and said that "they were armed with
righteousness and with the power of God in great glory."
We need everyone.
The tired or worn out or lazy and even those who are
bound down with guilt must be restored through repentance
and forgiveness.
Too many of our priesthood brethren are living below
their privileges and the Lord's expectations.
We must go forward, confident of the supernal power of the
priesthood.
It is a source of strength and encouragement to know who we
are and what we have and what we must do in this mighty work
of the Lord.
The Lord has said, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do
what I say;
but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."
Homes without the priesthood are to be watched over by and
ministered to by the quorums of the priesthood.
In this manner, no blessing will be found wanting in any
dwelling in the Church.
Years ago a family gathered at the bedside of an ancient
little Danish woman.
Among them was her middle-aged, wayward son.
For the past number of years, he had been living at home.
Tearfully he pleaded, "Mama, you've got to live.
Mama, you can't die.
Mama, you can't go.
I won't let you go."
The little mother looked up at her wayward son and in her
broken Danish accent said, "But ver is yo powah?"--
where is your power?
Paul said: "We are built upon the foundation of apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord:
in whom also ye are builded together, for an habitation of
God through the Spirit."
That the work of the Lord will
prevail is not a question.
That we must marshal all of our efforts and unify
ourselves is given.
The authority of the priesthood is with us.
After all that we have correlated and organized, it
is now our responsibility to activate the power of the
priesthood in the Church.
Authority in the priesthood comes by way of ordination;
power in the priesthood comes through faithful and obedient
living in honoring covenants.
It is increased by exercising and using the priesthood in
righteousness.
Now, fathers, I would remind you of the sacred nature of
your calling.
You have the power of the priesthood directly from the
Lord to protect your home.
There will be times when all that stands as a shield
between your family and the adversary's mischief will be
that power.
You will receive direction from the Lord by way of the gift of
the Holy Ghost.
The adversary is not activity disturbing our Church
meetings--perhaps only occasionally.
By and large we are free to assemble as we wish without
much disruption.
But he and those who follow him are persistent in
attacking the home and the family.
The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is that
a man and his wife and their children might be happy at
home, protected by the principles and laws of the
gospel, sealed safely in the covenants of the everlasting
priesthood.
Every law and principle and power, every
belief, every ordinance
and every ordination, every covenant, every sermon and
sacrament, every counsel and correction,
the sealings, the calls, the releases, the service--
all these have as their ultimate purpose the
perfection of the individual and the family, for the Lord
has said, "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man."
And so it shall be.
I bear witness of the power of the priesthood given to the
Church to protect us and guide us.
And because we have that, we have no fear of the future.
Fear is the opposite of faith.
We move forward, certain that the Lord will watch over us,
particularly in the family.
In Him I bear witness, in the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.