At this conference, we've seen the release
of some faithful brothers, and we
have sustained the callings of others.
In this rotation, so familiar in the Church,
we do not step down when we are released,
and we do not step up when we are called.
There is no up or down in the service of the Lord.
There's only forward or backward.
And that difference depends on how we accept and act
upon our releases and our callings.
I once presided at the release of a young stake president who
had given fine service for nine years
and was now rejoicing in his release and in the new calling
he and his wife had just received.
They were called to be the nursery leaders in their ward.
Only in this Church would that be seen as equally honorable.
While addressing a women's conference,
President Linda K. Burton of the Relief Society said,
"We hope to instill within each of us
a greater desire to better understand the priesthood."
That need applies to all of us, and I will pursue it
by speaking of the keys and authority of the priesthood.
Since these subjects are of equal concern
to men and to women, I'm pleased that these proceedings are
broadcast and published for all members of the Church.
Priesthood power blesses all of us.
Priesthood keys direct women as well as men.
And priesthood ordinances and priesthood authority
pertain to women as well as men.
President Joseph F. Smith described the priesthood
as the power of God delegated to man
by which man can act in the earth for the salvation
of the human family.
Other leaders have taught us that the priesthood
is the consummate power on this Earth.
It is the power by which the Earth was created.
The scriptures teach that this same priesthood, which
was in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world also.
Thus, the priesthood is the power
by which we will be resurrected and proceed to eternal life.
The understanding we seek begins with an understanding
of the keys of the priesthood.
Priesthood keys are the authority
God has given to priesthood holders
to direct, control, and govern the use
of his priesthood on the Earth.
Every act or ordinance performed in the Church
is done under the direct or indirect authorization of one
holding the keys for that function.
As Elder M. Russell Ballard has explained,
"Those who have priesthood keys ...
literally make it possible for all who serve faithfully under
their direction to exercise priesthood authority and have
access to priesthood power."
In controlling the exercise of priesthood authority,
the function of priesthood keys both enlarges and limits.
It enlarges by making it possible
for priesthood authority and blessings
to be available for all of God's children.
It limits by directing who will be given
the authority of the priesthood, who will hold its offices,
and how its rights and powers will be conferred.
For example, a person who holds the priesthood
is not able to confer his office or authority on another
unless authorized by one who holds the keys.
Without that authorization, the ordination would be invalid.
This explains why a priesthood holder, regardless of office,
cannot ordain a member of his family or administer
the sacrament in his own home without authorization from
the one who holds the appropriate keys.
With the exception of the sacred work that sisters do
in the temple under the keys held by the temple
president--which I will describe hereafter--only one who holds
a priesthood office can officiate in a priesthood
ordinance.
And all authorized priesthood ordinances
are recorded on the records of the Church.
Ultimately, all 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.
We're accustomed to thinking that all keys of the priesthood
were conferred on Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple.
But the scripture states that all that was
conferred there were the keys of this dispensation.
At general conference many years ago,
President Spencer W. Kimball reminded us
that there are other priesthood keys that have not
been given to man on the earth, including the keys of creation
and resurrection.
The divine nature of the limitations
put upon the exercise of priesthood keys
explains an essential contrast between decisions
on matters of Church administration
and decisions affecting the priesthood.
The First Presidency and the Council of the First Presidency
and Quorum of Twelve, who preside over the Church,
are empowered to make many decisions affecting
Church policies and procedures, matters
such as the location of Church buildings
and the ages for missionary service.
But even though these presiding authorities hold and exercise
all of the keys delegated to men in this dispensation,
they are not free to alter the divinely decreed pattern
that only men will hold offices in the priesthood.
I come now to the subject of priesthood authority.
I begin with the three principles just discussed.
One, priesthood is the power of God delegated
to man to act for the salvation of the human family.
Two, priesthood authority is governed
by priesthood holders who hold priesthood keys.
And three, since the scriptures state
that all other authorities and offices in the Church
are appendages to this Melchizedek Priesthood,
all that is done under the direction
of those priesthood keys is done with priesthood authority.
How does this apply to women?
In an address to the Relief Society,
president Joseph Fielding Smith, then
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
said this: "While the sisters have not
been given the Priesthood, it has not
been conferred upon them, that does not mean that the Lord has
not given unto them authority.
...
A person may have authority given to him,
or a sister to her, to do certain things in the Church
that are binding and absolutely necessary for our salvation,
such as the work that our sisters do
in the House of the Lord.
They have authority given unto them
to do some great and wonderful things sacred unto
the Lord and binding just as thoroughly
as are the blessings that are given by men
who hold the Priesthood."
End of quote.
In that notable address, President Smith
said again and again that women have been given authority.
To the women, he said, "You can speak with authority
because the Lord has placed authority upon you."
He also said that the Relief Society ""[has] been given power
and authority to do a great many things.
The work which they do is done by divine authority."
End of quote.
And of course, the Church work done by women or men,
whether in the temple or in the wards or branches,
is done under the direction of those who hold priesthood keys.
Thus, speaking of the Relief Society,
President Smith explained, "[The Lord] has given to them this
great organization where they have authority to serve under
the direction of the bishops of the wards ...
looking after the interests of our people,
both spiritually and temporally."
End of quote.
Thus, it is truly said that Relief Society is not just
a class for women but something they belong to--a divinely
established appendage to the priesthood.
We are not accustomed to speaking
of women having the authority of the priesthood in their Church
callings.
But what other 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 calling received
from one who holds priesthood keys
exercises priesthood authority in performing
her or his assigned duties.
Whoever exercises priesthood authority
should forget about their rights and concentrate
on their responsibilities.
That is a principle needed in society at large.
The famous Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
is quoted as saying, "It is time to defend not so much
human rights as human obligations."
Latter-day Saints surely recognize
that qualifying for exaltation is not
a matter of asserting rights but a matter of fulfilling
responsibilities.
The Lord has directed that only men will
be ordained to offices in the priesthood.
But as various Church leaders have emphasized,
men are not the priesthood.
Men hold the priesthood with a sacred duty
to use it for the blessing of all of the children of God.
"The greatest power God has given to His sons cannot be
exercised without the companionship of one of His
daughters, because only to His daughters has God given
the power "to be a creator of bodies ...
so that God's design and the great plan might meet
fruition."
Those are the words of President J. Reuben Clark.
HE CONTINUED, QUOTE: "This is a place of our wives
and of our mothers in the Eternal Plan.
They are not bearers of the Priesthood.
They are not charged with carrying out
the duties and functions of the Priesthood;
nor are they laden with its responsibilities;
they are builders and organizers under its power,
and partakers of its blessings, possessing the complement
of the Priesthood powers, and possessing a function as
divinely called, as eternally important in its place,
as the Priesthood itself."
End of quote.
In those inspired words, President Clark
was speaking of the family.
As stated in the family proclamation,
the father presides in the family, and he and the mother
have separate responsibilities.
But they are obligated to help one another as equal partners.
Some years before the family proclamation,
President Spencer W. Kimball gave
this inspired explanation: "When we speak of marriage
as a partnership, let us speak of marriage
as a full partnership.
We do not want our LDS women to be
silent partners or limited partners
in that eternal assignment.
Please be a contributing and full partner."
End of quote.
In the eyes of God, whether in the Church or in the family,
women and men are equal with different responsibilities.
I close with some truths about the blessings
of the priesthood.
Unlike priesthood keys and priesthood ordinations,
the blessings of the priesthood are
available to women and to men on the same terms.
The gift of the Holy Ghost and the blessings of the temple
are familiar illustrations of this truth.
In his insightful talk at BYU Education Week
last summer, Elder M. Russell Ballard
gave these teachings: "Our Church doctrine
places women equal to and yet different from men.
God does not regard either gender
as better or more important than the other.
...
When men and women go to the temple,
they are both endowed with the same power,
which is priesthood power.
...
Access to the power and blessings of the priesthood
is available to all of God's children."
End of quote.
I testify of the power and blessings
of the priesthood of God, available for His sons
and daughters alike.
I testify of the authority of the priesthood, which
functions throughout all of the offices
and activities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
I testify of the divinely directed function
of the keys of the priesthood, hailed
and exercised in their fulness by our prophet, President
Thomas S. Monson.
Finally, and most important, I testify
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
whose priesthood this is and whose servants we are.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.