I feel blessed to be in this meeting
with those who hold the priesthood of God.
The devotion, the faith, and the selfless service
of this body of men and boys are a modern miracle.
I speak tonight to priesthood holders, old and young,
united in wholehearted service to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord grants His power to those
in all priesthood offices who worthily serve
in their priesthood duties.
Wilford Woodruff, as President of the Church,
described his experience in the offices of the priesthood:
"I heard the first sermon I ever heard in this Church.
The next day I was baptized.
...
I was ordained a Teacher.
My mission immediately commenced.
...
I went through that whole mission as a Teacher.
...
At the conference I was ordained a Priest.
...
After I was ordained a Priest I was sent ...
on [another] mission to the southern country.
That was in the fall of 1834.
I had a companion with me, and we started out
without purse and scrip.
I traveled alone a good many miles and preached the Gospel,
and I baptized a number that I could not
confirm in the Church, because I was only a Priest.
...
I traveled some time preaching the Gospel before I
was ordained an Elder."
Now, he said, "I have been some fifty-four years a member
of the Twelve Apostles.
I have traveled with that and other quorums
now for sixty years."
And he went on to say: "I want to say to this assembly
that I was just as much sustained by the power of God
while holding the office of a Teacher,
and especially while officiating in the vineyard as a Priest,
as I ever was as an Apostle.
There is no difference in this so long as we do our duty."
That wonderful spiritual possibility of no difference
is suggested in the Lord's description of the Aaronic
Priesthood as an "appendage" of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
The word appendage means the two are connected.
This connection is important to the priesthood becoming
the force and the blessing it can be, in this world
and forever, for it "is without beginning
of days or end of years."
The connection is a simple one.
The Aaronic Priesthood prepares young men
for an even more sacred trust.
"The power and authority of the higher,
or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold
the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church--
"To have the privilege of receiving
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
to have the heavens opened unto them,
to commune with the general assembly
and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion
and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator
of the new covenant."
Those priesthood keys are fully exercised
by only one man at a time, the President and presiding
high priest of the Lord's Church.
Then, by the President's delegation,
every man who holds the Melchizedek Priesthood
can be endowed with authority and the privilege
of speaking and acting in the name of the Almighty.
There is infinity to that power.
It is concerned with life and death,
with family and the Church, with the great nature of God Himself
and His eternal work.
The Lord is preparing the Aaronic Priesthood holder
to become an elder serving with faith, power,
and gratitude in that glorious Melchizedek Priesthood.
For elders, deep gratitude will be
essential to playing your part in full priesthood service.
You will remember your days as a deacon, teacher, or priest when
those who held the higher priesthood
reached back to lift and encourage you
in your priesthood journey.
Every holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood has such memories,
but the sense of gratitude may have diminished with the years.
My hope tonight is to rekindle that feeling
and with it a determination to give all you can
the same kind of help you once received.
I remember a bishop who treated me
as if I was already what I had the potential
to become in priesthood power.
He called me one Sunday when I was a priest.
He said he needed me to be his companion
to visit some members of our ward.
He made it sound as if I was his only hope for success.
He didn't need me.
He had excellent counselors in his bishopric.
But we visited a penniless and hungry widow.
He wanted me to help him reach her heart,
challenge her to make and use a budget,
and promise her that she could rise
to be in a position not only to take care of herself
but to help others.
We went to comfort, next, two little girls living
in a difficult situation.
As we walked away, the bishop said quietly to me,
"Those children will never forget that we came to them."
At the next house, I saw how to invite a less-active man
to come back to the Lord by convincing him
the ward members needed him.
That bishop was a Melchizedek Priesthood holder
who was raising my sights and giving me a boost by example.
He taught me to have the power and the courage
to go anywhere in service for the Lord.
He is long gone to his reward, but I still remember him
because he reached down to lift me up
when I was an inexperienced Aaronic Priesthood holder.
I learned later that he saw in me a future priesthood path
of greater responsibilities, then beyond my own vision.
My father did the same thing for me.
He was a seasoned and wise holder
of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Once he was asked by an Apostle to write a short note
about the scientific evidence for the age of the earth.
He wrote it carefully, knowing that some
who might read it had strong feelings that the earth was
much younger than the scientific evidence suggested.
I still remember my father handing me what he had written
and saying to me, "Hal, you have the spiritual wisdom
to know if I should send this to the apostles and prophets."
I can't remember much of what the paper said,
but I will carry with me forever the gratitude
I felt for a great Melchizedek Priesthood
holder who saw in me spiritual wisdom that I could not see.
One night, some years later, after I
had been ordained an Apostle, I was in Japan
with the prophet of God.
He called me on the phone and asked
me to read something that had been
written about Church doctrine.
He had spent the night reading the chapters of a book.
He said with a chuckle, "I can't get through all of this.
You shouldn't be resting while I'm working."
And then he used almost the same words
my father had years before: "Hal, you are
the one who should read this.
You will know if it is right to publish it."
That same pattern of a Melchizedek Priesthood holder
raising sights and giving confidence
came one night at a speech festival
sponsored by the Church.
I was 17 years of age.
I was asked to speak to a large audience.
I had no idea what was expected of me.
I wasn't given a subject, and so I
prepared a talk that was way beyond what I
knew about the gospel.
As I spoke, I had a sinking feeling.
I realized I had made a mistake.
I can still remember, after I spoke,
my feeling of having failed.
The next and final speaker was Elder Matthew Cowley
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
He was a great orator--beloved across the Church.
I still remember sitting there next to him,
looking up at him from my seat.
As he stood at the rostrum,
he began in a powerful voice.
He said that my speech had made him feel that he
was at a great conference.
He smiled as he said it.
My feelings of failure left and were followed by confidence
that I might someday become what he seemed to think I
already was.
The memory of that night still leads
me to listen carefully when an Aaronic Priesthood
holder speaks.
Because of what Elder Cowley did for me,
I always expect that I will hear the word of God.
I am seldom disappointed and often amazed,
and I can't help but smile, as Elder Cowley did.
Many things may help strengthen our younger brothers
to rise up in the priesthood, but nothing
will be more powerful than our helping them develop the faith
and confidence that they can draw on the power of God
in their priesthood service.
That faith and confidence won't stay with them
from a single experience of being
lifted by even the most gifted Melchizedek Priesthood holder.
The ability to draw on those powers
must be cultivated by many expressions of confidence
from those who are more experienced in the priesthood.
The Aaronic Priesthood holders will also need daily and even
hourly encouragement and correction from the Lord
Himself through the Holy Ghost.
That will be available to them as they
choose to remain worthy of it.
It will depend upon the choices they will make.
That is why we must teach by example and by testimony
that the words of the great Melchizedek Priesthood leader
King Benjamin are true.
They are the words of love spoken
in the name of the Lord, whose priesthood this is.
King Benjamin teaches what is required of us
to remain pure enough to receive the encouragement
and correction of the Lord:
"And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may
commit sin; for there are divers ways and means,
even so many that I cannot number them.
"But this much I can tell you," said King Benjamin,
"that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts,
and your words, and your deeds, and observe
the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what
ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord,
even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish.
And now, O man, remember, and perish not."
We all are aware of the fiery darts
of the enemy of righteousness being
sent like a terrible wind against the young priesthood
holders we love so much.
To us they seem like the stripling warriors, who called
themselves the sons of Helaman.
They can survive, like those young warriors did,
if they keep themselves safe, as King Benjamin urged them to do.
The sons of Helaman did not doubt.
They fought bravely and came off conquerors
because they believed the words of their mothers.
We understand the power of the faith of a loving mother.
Mothers provide that great support to their sons today.
But we holders of the priesthood can and must
add to that support with our determination
to answer the charge that as we are converted,
we are to reach down to strengthen our brethren.
My prayer is that every Melchizedek Priesthood holder
will accept the opportunity offered by the Lord:
"And if any man among you be strong in the Spirit,
let him take with him him that is weak,
that he may be edified in all meekness,
that he may become strong also.
"Therefore, take with you those who
are ordained unto the lesser priesthood,
and send them before you to make appointments,
and to prepare the way, and to fill appointments
that you yourselves are not able to fill.
"Behold, this is the way that mine apostles, in ancient days,
built up my church unto me."
You priesthood leaders and fathers of Aaronic Priesthood
holders can work miracles.
You can help the Lord fill the ranks of faithful elders
with young men who accept the call to preach the gospel
and do it with confidence.
You will see many you have lifted
and encouraged stay faithful, marry worthily in the temple,
and in turn lift and prepare others.
It will not take new activity programs, improved teaching
materials, or better social media.
It will not require any call beyond what you have now.
The oath and covenant of the priesthood
gives you power, authority, and direction.
I pray you will go home and study carefully
the oath and covenant of the priesthood, found in Doctrine
and Covenants section 84.
All of us hope that more young men
will have experiences like Wilford Woodruff, who
as an Aaronic Priesthood holder taught the gospel of Jesus
Christ with converting power.
I pray that we will rise to our call
to lift others to prepare them for their glorious service.
I thank with all my heart the wonderful people
who have lifted me and shown me how to love and lift others.
I testify that President Thomas S.
Monson holds all the keys of the priesthood on earth
at this time.
I bear witness that he, over a lifetime of service,
has been an example for us all of reaching
to lift others as a holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
I am personally grateful for the way he has lifted me and shown
me how to lift others.
God the Father lives.
Jesus is the Christ.
This is His Church and kingdom.
This is His priesthood.
I know this for myself by the power of the Holy Ghost.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.