- Because of the power of the priesthood my family has been sealed together for all eternity in the Temple of God.
- Because of the power of the priesthood, I have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament each week and renew my covenants with the Lord.
- Because of the restoration, we have living oracles, namely prophets and apostles, just as in the New Testament times, who hold the holy priesthood and act in the name of God.
- I have personally been witness to miracles being performed by the power of the priesthood, which are too sacred to me to explain on this site.
To commemorate the restoration fo the priesthood, I thought I would post a scripture surrounding the event.
"We still continued the work of translation, when, in the ensuing month (May, 1829), we on a certain day went into the woods to pray and inquire of the Lord respecting abaptism for the bremission of sins, that we found mentioned in the translation of the plates. While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a ccloud of light, and having laid his dhands upon us, he eordained us, saying:
"Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the aPriesthood of bAaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of cbaptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of dLevi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in erighteousness.
"He said this Aaronic Priesthood had not the power of laying on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, but that this should be conferred on us hereafter; and he commanded us to go and be baptized, and gave us directions that I should baptize Oliver Cowdery, and that afterwards he should baptize me.
"Accordingly we went and were baptized. I abaptized him first, and afterwards he baptized me—after which I laid my hands upon his head and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood, and afterwards he laid his hands on me and ordained me to the same Priesthood—for so we were commanded.
"The amessenger who visited us on this occasion and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called bJohn the Baptist in the New Testament, and that he acted under the direction of cPeter, James and John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which Priesthood, he said, would in due time be conferred on us, and that I should be called the first dElder of the Church, and he (Oliver Cowdery) the second. It was on the fifteenth day of May, 1829, that we were ordained under the hand of this messenger, and baptized.
"Immediately on our coming up out of the water after we had been baptized, we experienced great and glorious blessings from our Heavenly Father. No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery, than the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and aprophesied many things which should shortly come to pass. And again, so soon as I had been baptized by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when, standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of this Church, and many other things connected with the Church, and this generation of the children of men. We were filled with the Holy Ghost, and rejoiced in the God of our salvation."
I am humbled that the Lord has made it possible for me to hold that priesthood...not just me, but also my sons when they are of age. The priesthood is a call to service. I have found great joy in my service thus far, and I look for future opportunities. I thank the Lord for his mercies, wisdom and grace!
