Doctrine of the Priesthood

When I was 13 years old, two of my cousins were called home to their Heavenly Father after a fatal car accident.  It happened in the night, and I wasn't informed of the news until the following morning.  My parents had left in the middle of the night to go be with my aunt and uncle and assist them in whatever ways they could.  My sisters and I, were looked after by relatives and family friends.  After a time of going from home to home, I began to feel very homesick for my parents.  My youthful mind was also feeling guilty about an incident that had happened with my cousin that had caused him to be angry with me.  My last association with him had not been an ideal one.  I felt overcome with feelings of despair, guilt, and anxiety and I didn't have my parents with me to comfort me.  Although I was young, I distinctly remember that I wanted to exercise faith in the power of the priesthood and ask my Uncle Gordon for a blessing.  It was really the first time in my life when I could feel the strengthening power of the priesthood as my uncle blessed me with comfort.  It was a physical change that I had experienced.  I literally felt the power of the priesthood.

The Doctrine of the Priesthood

The doctrine of the priesthood is the knowledge of God.  It is knowledge of all things.  It is the creation of worlds, the order of family and marriage.  It is God's power that unlocks sacred ordinances that allow for us to become like Him.  It is His order that allows us to return to His presence and find rest.  It always has been and will always be.  "This high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things--" (Alma 13:7).

Fore Ordination

Those who are ordained were foreordained having displayed faith in the premortal existence.  Faith and the doctrine of the priesthood are inseparably connected.  As our faith increases, our knowledge increases and the doctrine of the priesthood (or our knowledge of all things pertaining to the order of Heaven) will be distilled upon the soul as dews from Heaven (D&C 121:45)... line upon line, precept upon precept.

A Faith-Filled Process to Become Like God and to Obtain All That Our Father Has

The doctrine of the priesthood is the process in which we become like God. Through faith we practice and perfect God-like attributes which then allows us to implement the doctrine of the priesthood as it was meant to be implemented.  "It is that we have power, by faith, to govern and control all things, both temporal and spiritual; to work miracles and perfect lives; to stand in the presence of God and be like him because we have gained his faith, his perfections, and his power, or in other words the fullness of his priesthood" (The Doctrine of the Priesthood, Bruce R. McConkie 1982).

Because it is God's power, one who holds the priesthood must be "led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering" (Alma 13:28).  As we perfect and practice these attributes, then we are promised that our confidence and our trust in God will be strong (see D&C 121:45).  As we strive to be like God, we come to know God.  As we come to know God, we come to trust him and our confidence in Him will increase our faith.

How This Pertains to Me As a Woman

I do not hold the priesthood.  However, none of our Heavenly Father's blessing will be withheld from the righteous.  So, as I also strive to perfect God-like attributes and as I grow in my faith, I am then able to participate in the priesthood ordinances which will allow for me to obtain "all that my Father hath".  I can trust Him and have confidence in Him that through the merits of His Son and through the power of the priesthood, I can have all of the blessings that He has in store for His children.  And that means to ultimately become like God through the doctrine of the priesthood.

Studying the doctrine of the priesthood has also helped me learn how to be a better mother.  In D&C 121:42-43, it reads, "By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile-- Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase in love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy..."  Teaching our children to grow in righteousness requires Jon Mark and I, as parents, to discipline them.  But, after discipline, we ought to always remember to show an increase in love.  Then, in verse 45, "Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon the soul as the dews from heaven." Charity, faith, virtue... all of these are important and necessary qualities to strive to perfect in order to maintain a Christ-like home and to instill Christ-like characteristics in our children.  As we do so, our home will be blessed by the power of the priesthood that my husband holds.