ights and powers will be conferred.For example, a person who holdsthe priesthood is not able to conferhis office or authority on anotherunless authorized by one who holdsthe keys. Without that authorization,the ordination would be invalid. Thisexplains why a priesthood holder—regardless of office—cannot ordaina member of his family or administerthe sacrament in his own home withoutauthorization from the one whoholds the appropriate keys.With the exception of the sacredwork that sisters do in the templeunder the keys held by the templepresident, which I will describe hereafter,only one who holds a priesthoodoffice can officiate in a priesthoodordinance. And all authorized priesthoodordinances are recorded on therecords of the Church.Ultimately, all keys of the priesthoodare held by the Lord JesusChrist, whose priesthood it is. He isthe one who determines what keys50are delegated to mortals and howthose keys will be used. We are accustomedto thinking that all keys of thepriesthood were conferred on JosephSmith in the Kirtland Temple, but thescripture states that all that was conferredthere were “the keys of this dispensation”(D&C 110:16). At generalconference many years ago, PresidentSpencer W. Kimball reminded us thatthere are other priesthood keys thathave not been given to man on theearth, including the keys of creationand resurrection. 6The divine nature of the limitationsput upon the exercise of priesthoodkeys explains an essential contrastbetween decisions on matters ofChurch administration and decisionsaffecting the priesthood. The FirstPresidency and the Council of theFirst Presidency and Quorum of theTwelve, who preside over the Church,are empowered to make manydecisions affecting Church policiesand procedures—matters such asthe location of Church buildings andthe ages for missionary service. Buteven though these presiding authoritieshold and exercise all of the keysdelegated to men in this dispensation,they are not free to alter the divinelydecreed pattern that only men willhold offices in the priesthood.IV.I come now to the subject of priesthoodauthority. I begin with the threeprinciples just discussed: (1) priesthoodis the power of God delegatedto man to act for the salvation ofthe human family, (2) priesthoodauthority is governed by priesthoodholders who hold priesthood keys,and (3) since the scriptures state that“all other authorities [and] offices inthe church are appendages to this[Melchizedek] priesthood” (D&C107:5), all that is done under the directionof those priesthood keys is donewith 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 theTwelve Apostles, said this: “Whilethe sisters have not been given thePriesthood, it has not been conferredupon them, that does not mean thatthe Lord has not given unto themauthority. . . . A person may haveauthority given to him, or a sister toher, to do certain things in the Churchthat are binding and absolutely necessaryfor our salvation, such as thework that our sisters do in the Houseof the Lord. They have authority givenunto them to do some great and wonderfulthings, sacred unto the Lord,and binding just as thoroughly as arethe blessings that are given by themen who hold the Priesthood.” 7In that notable address, PresidentSmith said again and again that
women have been given authority. Tothe women he said, “You can speakwith authority, because the Lord hasplaced authority upon you.” He alsosaid that the Relief Society “[has] be<strong>eng</strong>iven power and authority to do agreat many things. The work whichthey do is done by divine authority.”And, of course, the Church work doneby women or men, whether in thetemple or in the wards or branches, isdone under the direction of those whohold priesthood keys. Thus, speakingof the Relief Society, President Smithexplained, “[The Lord] has given tothem this great organization where theyhave authority to serve under the directionsof the bishops of the wards . . . ,looking after the interest of our peopleboth spiritually and temporally.” 8Thus, it is truly said that ReliefSociety is not just a class for womenbut something they belong to—adivinely established appendage to thepriesthood. 9We are not accustomed to speakingof women having the authority of thepriesthood in their Church callings,but what other authority can it be?When a woman—young or old—isset apart to preach the gospel as afull-time missionary, she is givenpriesthood authority to perform apriesthood function. The same is truewhen a woman is set apart to functionas an officer or teacher in a Churchorganization under the directionof one who holds the keys of thepriesthood. Whoever functions in anoffice or calling received from onewho holds priesthood keys exercisespriesthood authority in performing heror his assigned duties.Whoever exercises priesthoodauthority should forget about theirrights and concentrate on their responsibilities.That is a principle needed insociety at large. The famous Russianwriter Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is quotedas saying, “It is time . . . to defendnot so much human rights as humanobligations.” 10 Latter-day Saints surelyrecognize that qualifying for exaltationis not a matter of asserting rights but amatter of fulfilling responsibilities.V.The Lord has directed that onlymen will be ordained to offices in thepriesthood. But, as various Churchleaders have emphasized, men arenot “the priesthood.” 11 Men hold thepriesthood, with a sacred duty to useit for the blessing of all of the childrenof God.The greatest power God has givento His sons cannot be exercisedwithout the companionship of oneof His daughters, because only to Hisdaughters has God given the power“to be a creator of bodies . . . so thatGod’s design and the Great Plan mightmeet fruition.” 12 Those are the wordsof President J. Reuben Clark.He continued: “This is the placeof our wives and of our mothers inthe Eternal Plan. They are not bearersof the Priesthood; they are notcharged with carrying out the dutiesand functions of the Priesthood; norare they laden with its responsibilities;they are builders and organizersunder its power, and partakers of itsblessings, possessing the complementof the Priesthood powers and possessinga function as divinely called, aseternally important in its place as thePriesthood itself.” 13In those inspired words, PresidentClark was speaking of the family. Asstated in the family proclamation, thefather presides in the family and heand the mother have separate responsibilities,but they are “obligated tohelp one another as equal partners.” 14Some years before the family proclamation,President Spencer W. Kimballgave this inspired explanation: “Whenwe speak of marriage as a partnership,let us speak of marriage as a fullpartnership. We do not want our LDSwomen to be silent partners or limitedpartners in that eternal assignment!Please be a contributing and fullpartner.” 15May <strong>2014</strong>51
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- Page 44 and 45: easonable amount of time, each of u
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the team ever believes that it does
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Too often we think of obedienceas t
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Priesthoods, elders, high priests,d
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In working with many membersover th
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their works ye shall know them; for
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thoughts. Because He redeemed usfro
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By President Thomas S. MonsonUntil
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Stay standing, girls, while everyon
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By Bonnie L. OscarsonYoung Women Ge
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Her bishop solemnly replied, “Sis
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By President Henry B. EyringFirst C
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from seeing that a sister and daugh
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Conference Story IndexThe following
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overcome “spiritual whirlwinds,
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ARTISTS INVITED TO ENTERCOMPETITION
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Technology and Social MediaExpand W
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The Mexico City Temple Visitors’
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Church AppliesWelfare Principlesin
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Elder Lynn G.RobbinsPresidency of t
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