The Priesthood, a Choice Gift

I am impressed, my brethren, today with the great gathering which is here and which was here yesterday, and I am thinking that perhaps there will never come into the lives of men that they may build a thing so perfect even as we now see it constructed before us — I speak of the organization of the Church. Here, according to President McKay this morning, is every officer of the two Priesthoods, the Aaronic and the Melchizedek, represented in this building. ¶

Priesthood a Choice Gift ¶

This Priesthood is referred to as "being without father, without mother, and without descent, and has neither beginning of days or end of life." Each of us is called with a peculiar calling, each in his respective calling to do vastly different things. Every appointment and calling in the Priesthood is of such importance that all of the time devoted by each man to his designated sphere, in close application to his work, will not begin to encompass the greatness and eternal decrees of God. ¶

One thing, however, of which we must ever be wary is the warning which God has given. That warning is that "all other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to this priesthood" (D. & C. 107:5), and then again, God gave a revelation to the Prophet Joseph and told him this: "For I have conferred upon you the keys and power of the priesthood, wherein I restore all things, and make known unto you all things in due time" (D. & C. 132:45). And, yet, I am sure, my brethren, that we zealous and energetic laborers in the work of God are tempted at times to exaggerate our own importance, to accomplish personal ambitions, but we should adopt the humble attitude of standing still "to see the glory of the Lord pass by"; this would accomplish a great deal more. We grow despondent with what we think is delay, forgetting momentarily that since the very beginning of time God has planned and wrought with patience, and has seen afar the very time in which we now find ourselves. ¶

Let us remember that we are blessed with the choicest of God's gifts, the inestimable calling in the Priesthood which we ourselves hold; "that the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness" (D. & C. 121:36) . ¶

It is a revealing and marvelous thing that God has brought about the many miracles that we see performed in our midst this day. ¶

A Land Blessed of the Lord ¶

When we consider the early sending forth of the Priesthood bearers and the scattering of the membership of this Church and Priesthood, which then we looked upon as a calamity, to the various parts of the earth, and the gathering of it all here and concentrating its executive power in this locality, and then to look at the beauty of our land compared with what it was, to realize that it has become an inviting, charming place, and behold these buildings, now in our midst, we must give fervent thanks to God. This surely is the land of Joseph, the land which God gave and blessed in the beginning that all men who came here might enjoy it who would lend ear to that which God has given us, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only land, my brethren, which is surrounded on all sides by friends and not enemies, God's blessed land. ¶

Present Need for Missionaries ¶

Now, in this turmoil through which we are passing, we have a need, a great calling, to put to work that thing which God has given us, the Priesthood. We need missionaries to teach these hungry, eager people, strangers within our midst, something of the Gospel, to let them know how it came about and was restored, and why God's children are here doing what they are. ¶

I am very sure that in our council, the First Council of the Seventy, every man is keenly alert to this situation. Notwithstanding the two thousand-odd who were baptized last year by our stake missionaries, we have not touched the surface. ¶

God will bless us in this work if we will put our mind and attention to it, and I sincerely trust and hope and pray that this may be the case, and that we may recognize in this strained and trying condition that besets us the privileges which are ours now, and that will be, for they were given by the Lord, even as He says: "Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence" (D. & C. 107:99). ¶

I pray that God will give a keen desire to each man to serve in his own sphere to the best of his ability, that His work may roll on and that these blessings which are ours may be given to others, which I do in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶