Restoration 03: Priesthood

What's next on our chain? First vision, coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the priesthood. While they are translating the Book of Mormon, they are reading passages that have to do with baptism and Joseph and all of her realize that they don't know about baptism. It's clearly important so they go out to ask the Lord about baptism and John the Baptist appears and restores the Aaronic priesthood. And then before the next circle is added, Peter, James and John will come and restore the Melchizedic priesthood as well. We will have the restoration of the priesthood. And so if we're taking, if we're making the assumption, as my testimony and Ezra Taffbenson's testimony, that things were restored in the order of importance and that my layers of understanding and commitment need to match that order. My testimony of the restoration needs to begin with what foundation? I know who God is. I have a relationship with him. I know who God is. I know who Christ is. I am connected to them. That has to be the Restoration's foundation in your life. Followed by, I know truth. I will not allow anyone to suggest that truth is more or less than it is. I will spend my life. I am committed to spending my life identifying the box that God has identified as his truth. Because if I want to place in his kingdom, what must I do? Live the truth that he has declared. I'm not going to be fooled into thinking something else that the truth is more or less than it really is. So, second foundation of a testimony is truth. Then comes keys and blessings of the priesthood. Now, I'm just my own personal observation. My personal frustration is Satan has made priesthood controversial because offices are held by males. And because there's a gender tied to it, he has made it controversial. We need to get past that and I'm going to do that. We're going to talk about to that. I don't want a single female in this room or in this church to think that priesthood is male. I want you to walk away saying priesthood is just as much for me as for anyone else. We will talk about holding an office. But I want to commend you that holding an office in the priesthood is the smallest part of exercising the priesthood. And that every single one in this room should know how to exercise authority and power in the priesthood. And we shouldn't take this controversy that I think has come from an impure source to twist and pit us against truth. So, tonight I would love to restore the dignity and the honor of priesthood and separate it from gender. Because I want everyone to walk in a way saying, "I claim the blessings, the authority and the power of the priesthood." Because can I share with you, would you open up to the April 2018 General Conference? Does that ring a bell? Why would this conference be significant? April 2018 was a solemn assembly because we were sustaining a brand new prophet. President Munson died in January of 2018 and President Nelson was taking over and this was his first general conference. Now, find the table of contents where it shows Saturday and Saturday morning, Saturday evening, priesthood, Sunday morning, Sunday. Tell me where in there do you think? Now, President Nelson had to make some announcements and so he would speak and just make a brief announcement. But where was his very first address? Which talk would you say was President Nelson's first official stand-up wearing the mantle of a prophet and speak to the people? Sunday morning he will give a phenomenal talk about revelation. But where was his first talk? Priesthood session. And again, do not limit what he said to the fact that males were invited to this meeting. Let's set that aside for a second. He is declaring something about priesthood. Would you open up that talk? President Nelson's priesthood talk. April 2018. Okay, let me stream this so we can see it together. Now, tell me how we start. This is President Nelson mantle of a prophet, very first talk. He starts by paying tribute to Thomas S. Monson, which is appropriate, right? He pays tribute to his predecessor. He honors him. He thanks him. He loves him. And then as soon as he is done paying tribute to President Monson, the first thing the new prophet says is, "I have a concern." His first declaration as prophet, I have a concern. What was his concern? What was the prophet's concern? Too many of our brothers and sisters do not fully understand the concept of priesthood, power and authority. His very first declaration as prophet is too many of us do not understand the concept of priesthood power and priesthood authority. Therefore, if we don't understand it, what else would go hand in hand with that? We are not claiming our privileges. We are not claiming rights and privileges that are ours through priesthood. So let's see if we can correct this to the degree that we can in an hour. Can we correct that and better understand priesthood authority and priesthood power? Primarily this one. It is my prayer and my hope that you walk away fully committed to exercising greater power in the priesthood. Now just a correction. If you're still in the habit, if you, those who hold an office of the priesthood lay hands on head and say, "By the power of the Holy Priesthood," please stop saying that. Please do not begin your blessings by the power of the Holy. What's the correct statement? By the authority. Priesthood power is something very different than priesthood authority. Now we'll define all of this tonight, but I just want to plead with you that you walk away claiming and understand. I will break this concern. I will be one that comes to better understand priesthood authority and priesthood power. Now we need to have two discussions. I'm going to begin with one discussion. Enter up that one to have the second discussion and then end with the first discussion. So the two discussions we need to have and please don't ask me to spell this. I am a horrible spanner, a speller. Okay? We need to understand that there are two priesthood functions. There are two priesthoods in the church and I don't mean aronic priest, Melchizedek. There are two priesthoods in the church. There is hierarchical priesthood, hierarchical priesthood and patriarchal priesthood. We exercise both of them, but very differently. Now I wish we could take the time and go to all the conference reports where these things are being taught. That might be a great. if you're interested in credit, that might be a great project. is where do they teach the difference between patriarchal priesthood and hierarchical priesthood. But here's the key. In the church, we exercise hierarchical priesthood. And we make some erroneous assumptions. We assume that because we practice hierarchical priesthood in the church, then we practice hierarchical priesthood everywhere else. And that is false doctrine number one. Because in the home, we do not practice hierarchical priesthood. In the home, we practice patriarchal priesthood. Now, let me illustrate that by talking about the one other place we practice patriarchal priesthood. In the temple. In the temple, we practice patriarchal priesthood. Now, let me give you an example. Those of you who went on a mission, can I see hands? Anyone who's recently come home within? Jake, can I pick on you? How long you been home? Okay. Your mission president was called as a mission president. And he was given keys. That is hierarchical. Tell me what role his wife plays in the mission. Does the mission president's wife preside when he's not there? Yes or no? Has it been a residence? Not sure. Did your mission president's wife have hierarchical authority and preside when he wasn't there? Couple more? Yes or no? No. What was she set apart as? Kind of. We don't set apart companions, right? What was she set apart when she was set apart to go on her mission? He was set apart as the president of the mission. She was set apart as a sister missionary. She has all the authority of a sister missionary. But in a hierarchical system, she does not preside in the mission. Now, let's contrast that with the temple. Anyone familiar with the temple president? My father-in-law was a temple president. Tell me what role his wife played. She was not a sister missionary. She was set apart as the matron of the temple, which means what? She presided over female ordinances. Now, we'll walk tenderly, but can I get a show of endowed sisters in this room? Remind me your name. Priyana. I was close. I knew it was a bee. Briana. Who performed the ordinance for you in the temple? What gender? A female performed a priesthood ordinance for you? A female performed a priesthood ordinance. Is that true of everyone else that's a female? Did a male perform any of the ordinance? When you went into the temple to meet with the presidency in preparation for your endowment, who'd you meet with? The matron. Not the temple president? The matron? How much authority does the temple president have over female ordinances? None. They preside how? Side by side. Now, you begin to see the difference between patriarchal and hierarchical priesthood. So, let's take that to the home. In the home, they preside side by side. Now, in that the home still has a part in the hierarchical priesthood, the church would make contact with which one. Usually the father, but in the home, how do they preside? Does he have any more authority than she does? Does she have presiding authority in the home? Russell Nelson comes to my house. Who presides? Okay. Russell Nelson comes to my house and I'm not there. He presides. Not Russell Nelson. He does not preside in my home. My wife presides. My wife would preside with any meeting that contained Russell Nelson in our home. Because that's patriarchal priesthood. And if I suddenly showed up, do I take over? No. No. We preside side by side. Always side by side. Do you see the power of patriarchal priesthood? So, tell me where the Lord puts women in the priesthood. At the very top. At the very top. As co-presiders in the most important organization in the church. In the home. And in the temple. So, pause. Let's finish that one at the end and jump into this discussion. Any thoughts or comments or questions here? Please, Charity. In the early church, Joseph Smith and all of them were so progressive compared to the rest of the country at that time. For women's power, for women's rights, all of that. We were ahead of the game back then. And now we feel like everything is a little different. And it's just crazy the way things have changed. But we haven't changed much. The world has around us and they can't handle it. So, let's pause and talk about the hierarchical priesthood. Now, let's compare the two. I am going to state what I believe is an absolute truth. And anyone who doesn't agree with that truth is going to struggle with the next few minutes of this conversation. The most important unit in time and in eternity is not the core of the 12 apostles or the first presidency or the state presidency. Not even close. The most important organization in time and eternity is the family. That I declare boldly. There is nothing that even compares. Every member of the core of the 12 apostles will spend a brief moment in the core of how long will he spend in his family. Eternity. What role will Jeffrey R. Holland play for the rest of eternity? Father, not Elder Holland. Everything we do in the church is very temporary to build the most important unit in all of eternity, which is the home. We believe that no organization in the church compares even in close proximity to the importance of the home. If you don't believe that, you're going to struggle with the next few minutes. But I need you to know that I believe it with my whole soul. Therefore, let me give you an image. The priesthood we practice in the church is scaffolding. That's all it is. It's scaffolding. It is scaffolding that helps build the most important thing, which is the family. Now, the problem is if you're driving downtown and you see a building covered in scaffolding, what might you think that the scaffolding is what's important? Is it? Is the scaffolding important only to the degree that it's building the most important thing, which is the family? This doesn't even compare an importance to this. But we do need order in the Lord's kingdom. So the Lord has chosen in the church, in the scaffolding to have a hierarchical priesthood. Now, what do we mean by that? What is hierarchical priesthood? The very term hierarchical would suggest what? A hierarchy, which means one presides and then one presides over and then the one presides over. Now that's a very dangerous organization in a worldly sense because that can turn to power and control. And Jesus said, "Let me very clearly take that off the table. I need to read this scripture." Everyone turned to Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20. So let's take. Anytime we have a hierarchical organization that's competitive and a struggle of power, we need to understand that is not what we see in the church. So everyone go to Matthew chapter 20. Starting in verse 25. Watch him lay his law down, ready? But it shall not be so among you. But whosoever would be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever would be chief among you, let him be your servant, even as the son of man, came not to be ministered unto but to minister. In the Church of Jesus Christ the latter day saints, does hierarchy on the hierarchy make you better? More important. Okay, that's truth number two. In our hierarchical system we are not talking about a hierarchy of importance. Do we believe that the stake president is no better off in the eternities than the nursery leader? How many of you believe that with your whole soul? That I am no better if I'm a stake president than if you know what my calling is in the church? I am the primary chorister. It is the greatest calling in the entire church. Now might the world look at that and say, that's a demotion? That I should be a stake president or a bishop or a general authority? And yet what's our attitude in the church? Do any of you believe that being primary chorister is somehow less than being stake president? Because we don't. I have the greatest calling in the church, music and children and Jesus. And if I die, I will die a happy man. Do you understand why I have that conversation? I have higher authority than you have because people would interpret that as, well, you're more important. But we do not believe that. Do we believe that apostles are more important than primary teachers? We do not. Do apostles believe that? They do not. Okay, so let's take that off the table and have a discussion about the order of higher or archaical priesthood. I would be saying that what we just talked about in Matthew 20. I read in 25, 26 through 28 talks about how the great among you like a leader minister, who is forever a bichee from among you and be your servant. And then how Christ is the example of that. And that is a patterned both in what you're talking about higher or archaical priesthood because it's a father and the apostles they serve more. Like they are the servants, but also you might say they're the greatest. Like fathers the head, the prophet is the head or the mouthpiece or whatever. But they're both, it's a, it's a new piece, not just a throne where you sit and say bring your table chips. But you can see where the criticism of the church comes from, right? You can see the criticism because they understand hierarchy as a hierarchy of importance. And that is not what we're talking about. I absolutely love this. What does the doctrine and covenants call your stake, page, your stake president? Look at verse 130. This is section 124 verse 134. The ordinance is instituted for the purpose of qualifying those who shall be appointed standing presidents or I love that. The higher you are on the higher arch, in our opinion you don't become more important, you become what? A greater servant. And then when you get to the top you are the greatest. You are, it's destined, you are asked to be the greatest of all servants. And then he does it again when it comes to your stake president. Where, let me see if I can find. What does he call the stake? First presidency, Cormor the Twelve, high council. There it is. He does it one more time. But the idea of, I am not a president in terms of I'm more important. I'm a president in terms of a greater servant. Okay. It's important to me that we have that conversation before we talk about hierarchy. The idea of a hierarchy is to create order in the church by pointing out who is in charge in this particular moment. So we have a hierarchy. Now we're going to have, let me do this, I want to define four terms. When we talk about the hierarchy, we've got to talk about four terms. And I want to do it this way. Okay. So over here we're going to talk about the word office. Over here we're going to talk about the word key. Prested office, prested key. And then we're going to talk about prested authority. And what goes right in the center? Power. Okay. So let's talk about office in order to have order in order to say, okay, we need someone to be in charge and to lead this organization all the way from the bottom to the top. So let's establish a hierarchy. And one of the ways we do that is with office and key. Go ahead. So we're going to talk about the organization. He has all the keys. You got it. That's exactly where we're going. We're going to do this. Okay. We're going to do those one at a time. So let's talk about office. There are in the church two priesthoods. Aronic priesthood, which is preparatory and Melchizedic priesthood. Oh, I'm going to need more room now. Let me move these out here. Aronic priesthood and Melchizedic priesthood. And they are broken down by office in a hierarchy so that there's order. So let's do Aronic. How many offices of the Aronic priesthood are there? Four. There are four offices in the Aronic priesthood. In their hierarchy, what are they? The very bottom, Deacon. Again, are they the least and the lowest? Are they less important? No. It's just that that assignment is going to be subject to that assignment. So that there's order in the kingdom. So the lowest in the hierarchy of the offices is Deacon. Then, teacher, I don't need to be so small. Teacher, priest, and bishop. Bishop. Bishop. You be a bishop and not hold the Melchizedic priesthood. Yes. You're looking at this, can you? Yes. But in order to do so, you have to be a direct descendant of Aaron. And we don't know that very many direct descendants of Aaron. And so what we do is we ask Melchizedic priesthood. Now, can anyone in the Melchizedic priesthood officiate in any of these offices? Yes. So could a high priest officiate in the office of bishop? So in the absence of a direct descendant of Aaron, who do we call as our bishops? High priests. But there is an office of bishop. And even though I'm a high priest, I am exercising that. office. Now each office contains certain authorities. So I may have authority in the priesthood from my office. Office brings authority. For example, priests can baptize. The office of priest in the Aronic priesthood has the authority to baptize. Can a teacher baptize? He cannot. He does not have that authority because of his office. That makes sense. So four offices are Aronic priesthood. Now in the Melchizedic priesthood, how many offices are there? Too many. Five. One is non-hierarchical. We pull one out of the hierarchy for purposes because it really does kind of come over on this side. So one of the hierarchies is kind of pulled off and really not hierarchical but it kind of is hierarchical. And what offices that? Patriarch. Okay, that is an office in the Melchizedic priesthood. So that would leave four hierarchical offices. And from lowest to highest it is elder, high priest, one before that. 70 and a apostle. So to what office in the priesthood does President Nelson hold? He is, President of the Church is not an office in the priesthood. So what office in the priesthood does he hold? Apostle. That is his office. His calling would be President of the Church. But his office is apostle. And those are hierarchical. So when does an elder stop presiding in any meeting? When a high priest is present and when would my state president stop presiding or when would my bishop stop presiding? If a high priest with, and we'll talk about one more thing comes in, then he would preside. But when would any high priest stop presiding? When a 70 is present? And when would any 70 not preside? When any apostle? And then within the corner of the twelve apostles, the hierarchy, hierarchy extends to appointment within the corner. So why is it that President Nelson is the President of the Church? He is the senior apostle. Now there's no question who the next prophet is. There's absolutely no question. Because the moment President Nelson dies, who would then be the senior ranking apostle? Dalin H. Oaks. He has hierarchical authority over anyone else. And so have you ever watched how they leave the conference center? They leave in order of hierarchy. So the senior most leaves first and then the second and then the third. In other words, if I'm David A. Bednar, I don't do anything until everyone with hierarchical authority over me is gone. And then I'm in charge and I'll leave. See how it works? Hierarchy from top to bottom by office. Now that's fine, but there's still chaos here. Unless within each office, we pick someone to be in charge. And so within every one of these offices, we pull out someone to be a key holder. Now office is simply, I have these privileges based on the office that I hold. Oh, side note. I taught three of President Nelson's grandchildren. I asked all three of them if their grandpa gave them their patriarchal blessing. What do you think the answer was? No. Russell Nelson did not give any of his grandchildren their patriarchal blessing. Because why? He has never been a point. He's never been ordained to the office of patriarch. Now could an apostle technically act in the office of patriarch? Well, that's a question, Mark, because we really don't put that one into a hierarchy. And so out of respect to the hierarchy, President Nelson says, I'm not a patriarch. And so they went to a patriarch to get their patriarchal blessing, even though their grandfather is the senior ranking apostle in the church. You see the respect for office? Now we're going to take each one of these offices and pull out someone to be in charge. So at the general level, so Melchizedek preached it over here. No, I'm going to do keys. At the general level, we're going to take an apostle and make him the single greatest highest key holder of them all. So the difference between office and keys is that the key holder is the one that is in charge and run. We need order in the church. Let me give an example. As a high priest, can I officiate in the office of priest? Does my office allow me to baptize my children? But what kind of organization would this be if I could baptize them anytime, anywhere I wanted to? Do you see the chaos that would ensue? So even though I have the authority, because of my office, what don't I have? The permission, the right to organize it and to run it. And so those are key holders. People who hold keys are the president of an office that's been designated as the one in charge of organizing everyone below that office. So the senior ranking key holder is president of the church. Everyone else is subject to his keys. He presides everywhere he goes unless it's the home, which is not a branch of the church. So now let's come back to, let's go down to the next office. Who would then be the next level of key holders? We have seven presidents of the 70. Now the president of the Cormor the Twelve Apostles is kind of this by extension. We separate first presidency Cormor the Twelve so we're just going to let that one cover them both. But we do have seven presidents of the 70 who organize the Cormors of the 70. And one of the seven presidents has authority over the other six. So now that's the general level, which really we don't dwell with. So the next office would be high priest. The president of one Corm of high priests is called the stake president. Your stake president is really the president of the high priests in your stake. There's only one Cormor of high priests in a stake. And the president of the high priests is in charge of that whole stake. So he has the key to organize the stake. For example, he calls patriarchs. But does he have the office of the patriarch? No. Could he give a patriarchal blessing? Could the stake president give a patriarchal blessing? But he's the one that sets the patriarch apart. So what's he exercising when he sets the stake president of the patriarch apart? His key, not his office, his key. And the key gives him the authority to organize the stake. Now, there are two other organizations like a stake where we appoint a president and give him keys to preside. One is the mission and the other is the temple. All the other, all the area presidencies fall under these keys. So the stake president, the mission president, how many of you just came home from your mission? Did you get a temple recommend before you left? How many people signed it? Just you and mission president. Because you didn't have a bishop. You didn't have a stake president. Your key holder was the mission president. Now, let's continue this one. because we've got a lot of organizations that need an order ahead, right? So what would be the next office? We've got an elders' Chorum President. We have an elders' Chorum President, who is president over the elders' Chorum. Now in our current organization, we're going to give the president of this office presiding authority over this one within the ward. So that's the Lord's choice. He could do it otherwise. But the bishop is president of the priest's Chorum. What is his first counselor called? His first assistant. Now he has counselors in the bishop's brick, but the office over which he's presiding has a priest, first assistant and a priest second assistant. But the bishop is the president of the priest's Chorum. And then underneath the bishop is. So these two have the same president, right? The priest's Chorum and the bishop have the same president. So now we have a teacher's Chorum President and a Deacon's Chorum President. So the Deacon's Chorum usually meets with an adult supervisor, right? Can you imagine a Chorum of Deacons and the adult. I'm the adult in the room who presides. Not me. Who presides? That Deacon's Chorum President has much more authority than I do. Because he holds keys. So these are a narrow version of an office so that there's order and organization and we do things in an orderly way. So my bishop runs my ward. Now, again, we got to go to a lower unit. We got to go smaller. So the bishop says, "I need a primary president to run the primary." Because I can't run the primary. So that is not an office. That is not a key holder. That's a calling. What does the bishop give the primary president authority? So I may receive authority in my calling. Does the primary president in my ward exercise priesthood? Yes. What else does she exercise? It's priesthood. She exercises priesthood now under what key? The bishop's key. It's not a male female thing. It's an order thing. And so when a key holder calls a primary president, what does she have? Authority. So, hypothetically speaking, I'm a primary teacher. Who presides over me? The primary president who is a female. Not a male female thing. The primary president presides over me. When do I leave the room? When the primary president excuses me. Because she has authority. Hierarchically speaking, she is above me. Now, sister missionary goes out. Even an elder. When I'm a missionary, if I'm a male missionary, what am I exercising? Am I exercising my office when I preach the gospel? No. What am I exercising? The authority of my calling and under whose keys? Initially, my state president set me apart. And now I'm functioning under this key holder. And do I have authority? Do I have, can I exercise the authority of the priesthood? Does that bring blessings into my life because I have priesthood authority? So if my key holder asked me to speak in church, that's a B. Why didn't you tell me to make it a B? Because we were talking about the priest's corner. My bishop. If my key holder asked me to speak in church. And I stand up at that podium. Tell me what I'm exercising. The authority of the priesthood to give a talk. Will, can I expect blessings to come my way? Because I am exercising priesthood authority. And I think that is part of what President Nelson is saying we are not claiming. If you have a calling or an assignment from a key holder, you can clean it with priesthood authority. And you can claim the blessings of having authority in the priesthood. That's power. Well, sorry, I didn't mean to use that word. That is commanding. I stand before you with authority in the priesthood. It is the authority of the priesthood that I'm exercising. So how many things happen at church where we're exercising the authority of an office? Take a typical Sunday. Name how many things? What percentage would you say is an exercise of authority based on office? The sacrament. That's pretty much it, right? Maybe a bishop functioning in his authority as a bishop. But what percentage of the exercise of authority on a Sunday is from office? Very small. What percentage of the exercise of authority is from an appointment or a calling from a key holder? Everything else. So do women hold the priesthood in this church? Just as much as anyone else. It is not a gender thing when you look at all that is going on. Now, for the sake of order, we do have key holders. And we do have office holders. But the vast majority of the exercise of authority has nothing to do with your office or your gender. Now, allow me to go one more step further. None of those have anything to do with whether or not you have power. It is my testimony that none of those, now other than the fact that I need to have authority. But authority does not bring power. Power does not come because you were given authority. In the language of the scriptures, many are called, but few are chosen. In other words, you are missing out on a critical concept. Authorities does not give you power. Office does not give you power. Now granted, I'm not going to have power if I don't have authority. But it is not authority that brings power. And the Lord made that very, very clear. Turn with me to section 121. Ironically written where in a jail where men had done what? Exerciseed unlawful authority over Joseph Smith. And so he writes, I'll start in verse 34. Section 121, verse 34. Let me bring him up so we can do this all together. Let's read this together. In Liberty jail, Joseph wrote, starting in verse 34. Behold, many are called, but few are chosen. Can I repress? Many have callings are appointed to an office. Many have authority. Every missionary who goes out has authority. Every sacrament speaker who has an assignment to speak has authority. Now you and I both know that not every sacrament speaker has power. They all have authority, but do they all have power? Every priest who blesses the sacrament with the bishops approval has authority. Have any of you seen a priest bless the sacrament with power? Stiffrin, isn't it? Have you heard a talk given with power? Not everyone who has authority has power. Now going back to President Nelson, we are not claiming our privileges. I think the invitation is every single person who gets an appointment or a calling needs to understand, I have priesthood authority. And that authority is bringing something to my effort. Help, divine assistance, protection, the authority of the priesthood that I am exercising is what keeps sisters safe and elders safe. There are blessings. If I have authority to give a talk, doesn't that assume that the Lord's going to help me with that talk and tell me what to say? Because I'm doing it with authority? Claim that authority. Anticipate that authority. Expect that authority. But whether or not you have power is a different thing. So let's find out what brings power. - This is a review. You should probably just write it out and talk about it later. How does the power authority to just fulfill your covenant claim? - Well, it's what we're going to. Power is not connected to any, it is connected, but its source is not any of these. - Yes, because of the ablital, it's baptized and has one calling in the church, but they are baptized and it covenants it to stand as a witness at all times, nothing else like this. And that is kind of like a calling. It's a duty because it's a covenant. So that age rolls has no, I can call in other than that. - Okay, I would respond briefly, we missed one here. If you read section 20 carefully, I would suggest there's another office in the priesthood, the office of member. It says that, it is the duty of the member. And I would suggest that that is an office of the priesthood that brings authority. I am exercising the office of my membership, but where does power come from? Few are called and many are chosen. Few, many have authority, few have power. Why? Don't focus here. This part of the verse sucks the power out of this one 'cause we get distracted. It's not our pride and our worldliness, that's the problem. Our pride and our worldliness prevent us from learning the lesson. So it's the lesson that we don't learn that I wanna focus on. The reason you don't have power is you haven't learned this lesson. If you want power, learn this lesson. What is the lesson we don't learn? What is the privilege we don't claim? The rights of the priesthood, male and female. The rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven. And the only way to claim that power is not office. It is not authority. It is not key. The way you claim power in the priesthood is righteousness. The difference between someone with authority and someone who has power is that individual's righteousness. Righteousness is what brings power from heaven. It is righteousness that brings power. A calling and an office brings authority. But righteousness brings power. And if you don't have power, it's because you're not living the way you should be living. So can I offer my faith, my belief? I have seen many of faithful mother with a sick child. Call an office holder in to give a blessing. I have watched office holders give the blessing and they give the blessing because they have authority. But the power and the miracle that comes is almost always in my opinion. Her. It is her faith and her righteousness that is bringing the blessing, not the office holder's laying on of hands. So who really exercised the priesthood that day? The dad who gave the blessing or the mom whose life demanded that heaven perform a miracle. Do you see my point? (congregation singing) You have power in the priesthood through righteous living. And the only way you lose that power is if you don't obey. You don't have to have an office. You don't have to have a key. I am grateful for the order that keys bring to this kingdom. When I baptize my children, it is because a key holder organizes it. And it's a beautiful thing then because it's done in an orderly way. And I'm grateful for key holders that keep us organized. But keys don't give you power. Authority doesn't give you power. Righteousness gives you power. You can claim the powers of heaven by the way you live your life. I believe that is what President Nelson is saying. We are not doing. I wonder how many miracles have occurred in this church because of the power of a woman. I don't think the source of that power was the office. I think it was the power of the righteousness of the individual. And that power is within your reach if you choose to live in such a way that you claim it. Now we don't have women lay their hands upon people. But suppose we did. Suppose a woman laid her hands on her child and said, "Lord, I don't have an office. I don't hold an office. But may the righteousness of my life bring down a blessing upon this child." Do you think the Lord would honor that? And heal that child? In the early days of the church, women did lay their hands upon people. Now what were they exercising? Their power. Now in that sense, could she possibly say by the power of the Melchizedek priesthood, not its authority? I bless this child. Now in a church of order, we don't do that because we're trying to establish an order, but do you see that we could? Do you see that priesthood is more than office? It is more than key. Priesthood is authority and priesthood is power. Now going back to President Nelson, I wanna go back and reread his concern. Nope, this one. Do you now see in the wording? Do you see it, Rachel? May I voice a concern? It is this. Too many of our brethren and sisters do not fully understand the concept of priesthood. Why did he choose that one first? And, authority. Go exercise power in the priesthood. Because you live righteously. It is God's power that your righteousness is unleashing. And that's power in the priesthood. Now let's finish coming back here. Allow me to say this, and I'm pretty confident no lightning will strike. Why are there no women in the core of the 12 apostles? Is it because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not value women? Can I say it this way? We don't value the core of the 12 apostles as much as we value what? The home. All of this is scaffolding to build this, the home. All of this is temporary. Where does the Lord put women? At the very peak, at the very highest of his most important organizations. Inside by side. Dalin H. Oaks learned this in a painful way. His dad died when he was young. His mom was so excited when he was ordained to the priesthood. She said, "I'm so happy to have a priesthood holder in my home." And he thought that he would begin to preside in that home. Guess what? He did not. He did not preside in that home. And he began to. Wait a minute. I thought I. And that was the beginning of his tutelage. And he realized that in the home we practice patriarch Oprih. Who was presiding over him? His mother. We have this erroneous concept in our head that dad organizes family home meaning. And dad calls on people to pray. Technically is that appropriate? Or are we missing something? Does dad preside over mom in the home? He doesn't. Now I get that home is connected to hierarchical. And if the church says, "Look, we're going to connect to the office holder." I get that. That's fine. But does that make dad more important than mom? Never. Now if I could, go ahead. So my dad was gone with the job and my mom needed someone to bless because she wasn't going to it. And she had a poor dean to ask me. You better believe she did. I love that. Now if I could, because the world uses priesthood and the fact that males hold offices as a negative controversial thing to tarnish this concept of priesthood, can I just go out on a limb and share one observation? In the Scriptures, when Jesus wants us to understand atonement, he compares it to the next closest thing on earth. Here's times in the Scriptures. When he says, "I want you to understand atonement." So let me compare it to something in your world that's the closest thing to atonement. Do you know what he compares it to? The closest thing to atonement is motherhood. Can I show you a few of those Scriptures? Turn to Moses chapter 7. Proof of Great Price, Moses chapter 7. Let me bring this one up together. Verse chapter 7, verse 59. Okay, sorry, Moses 6. I get those two all the time. I say 6, what do I mean? 7, 7, 1, and I say, Moses 6. Sorry. Moses 6, verse 59. Now watch what he compares atonement to. Ready? That by reason of transgression come at the fall, which fall bringeth death, and in as much as you were born into the world by water. Whose water brought me into this world? My moms, not my dads, my moms, and by blood. Whose blood brought me into this world? My hurts. And the spirit. Now that's me, that was my spirit. I brought myself. That was my spirit entering that tiny little body in her water and through her blood, I became a living soul. Now the next womb I go through is his, which I have made, and so it became of dust a living soul. And even so you must be born again into the kingdom of heaven of water. What water, what womb of water am I going to be encapsulated in to be born again? His baptismal water and spirit, that's the Holy Ghost, and be cleansed by blood. Two people shed their blood for me. Who are they? My mom and my savior. How does God feel about his daughters? Now I am grateful for fantastic men that have changed my life. Many of them were key holders who changed my life. I am so grateful for men who changed my life and gave me direction. One of them is named Russell. I love President Nelson. I am grateful for wonderful men who exercise keys in the office. And I am grateful for Heavenly Father's daughters who show me Jesus. Let's not turn it into a competition. It was never intended to be a competition. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-East Saints, equal does not mean same. We relish the difference between men and women. We relish the fact that men have an assignment, men have an assignment to exercise office and keys and bring order to this kingdom. And I honor those men. And we relish the symbol of Jesus in our lives. Tell me how similar Jesus and your mom are. You have an rough day. Where do you go? I have ten children. The single most common question I get asked in all my life. I have been asked one question more than any question, more than all other questions combined. I have been asked one question repeatedly and that question is, "Where's mom?" "My twenty-one-year-old would come in from the house and he'd say, "Where's mom?" And I'd say, "She's upstairs. I need to make a sandwich." Did you need her? No, I just need a sandwich. I just need to know she's there. That's Jesus. I wake up every morning and I say, "Where's Jesus?" And then I make a sandwich. I don't need him as much as I just need to know he's there, like my mom. We need this church needs righteous men to do what righteous men do. And we need righteous women. And it's not a competition. And no one should be jealous of the other. No one should be demeaned because they don't have the assignment given to the other. May we relish priesthood and office. May we claim authority. May we have power, every one of us in the priesthood. I bear testimony of the power of priesthood. It is not your calling. It's not your key. It's your righteousness. May you have more power of the priesthood in your life is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.