"What is the purpose of the Priesthood?" the Sunday School teacher asked; and I answered, "To enable one to serve others."  She then wanted to know what experiences we'd had with the Priesthood.  I have lots of thoughts about the Priesthood, and feel the need to write them down.

The first thought that I have is that the Priesthood is such an important thing that the word should be capitalized, in my opinion, as is done in the book of Abraham.  (See Abraham 1:4, 18, 26, 27, 31 and 2:9, and 11).  Why the word is capitalized there, and not in other scriptures, bothers me.  The Priesthood is such an important, basic thing that it should be set apart, reverenced, and given respect.  It is the power by which God does all things, and He has delegated it to His faithful children, both men and women.

The Priesthood is the authority by which we are baptized, and by which our sins are taken away.  The Priesthood is the authority through which we receive the inestimable gift of the Holy Ghost.  The Priesthood is the authority by which we become eternally sealed to God, and to one another.  The Priesthood is the authority by which we and the Earth were created, by which we will be resurrected, and which we can use to heal the sick and to raise the dead.  The Priesthood is God's power.  It blesses all mankind.

Exactly one year following my baptism I was invited to an interview with Bishop Hansen of the Pacific Grove Ward in California.  He told me that he was recommending that I be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood.  I was next interviewed by the stake president.  He informed me that my name would be presented to the stake for sustaining to the office of Elder the next Sunday.

The interview took place on Friday, March 8, 1968.  As I left his office a horrible depression settled down upon me.  It was the same old depression that had debilitated me, and had made me dis-enroll from college at Oregon State University.  It was a horrible cloud that had refused to lift, and which was only dissipated by the coming of the Book of Mormon into my life.  I had been completely free of that monster since my baptism, and felt a sense of panic at its return.

What was wrong?  Was I unworthy?  I couldn't accept ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood feeling like that.  I began a fast, and went for a long walk in the hills.  I didn't want to be around people.  I had to be alone.  I needed to sort out my feelings.  I was desperate.  I prayed and I prayed.

On Saturday evening my friend was to be baptized.  I didn't want to go to the baptism.  I didn't want to see or talk to anyone.  The oppressive cloud said, "Don't go."  But this was my friend, and I had helped in his conversion.  My sense of duty made me return to the barracks, to get ready, and to go to the baptism.  I will be forever grateful that I did so, because of the lesson I learned there.

A man had been assigned to speak on the topic of the gift of the Holy Ghost.  In the course of his talk he mentioned that during the events of the Atonement the Holy Ghost had been taken from the Savior, and He had to endure that awful trial all alone.

The instant that he said that, I knew what had happened to me.  For those 24 hours I had been deprived of that sacred companionship which I had enjoyed for one whole year.  I was being shown what the gift of the Holy Ghost entailed.  I was shown how crucial that gift is.  I was shown how important, and how sacred, the Melchizedek Priesthood is.  I was shown the importance of my being worthy to hold and to use that Priesthood.

In that instant the Holy Ghost returned.  In that instant light dispelled the dark cloud.  I was instantly happy again, and was vastly relieved.  I had learned perhaps the most valuable lesson of my life.  I learned how sacred the Priesthood is, and that I must never take lightly the fact that I would be allowed to hold it.

I have seen many miracles occur as I have given Priesthood blessings.  Broken bones have rearranged themselves while my hands have been on an afflicted boy's head.  A comatose and dying woman in the hospital leaped to her feet and went home to tend to her baby five minutes after I'd administered to her.  A woman who had lost the use of her legs, to whom I gave a blessing, walked over a mile to work the next day.  Comfort, reassurance, and direction were given to others.  A growth plate was healed.  A non-breathing, purple drowning victim took a breath as I completed an administration.  A baby was safely delivered which would otherwise have been taken by an operation.  A scheduled operation was canceled following a blessing and a follow-up x-ray.

Perhaps the most impressive lesson of all was the miracle that didn't happen when I administered to another comatose woman in the hospital.  I was there at the daughter's request.  The woman was apostate.  She was bitter and vindictive, and had led her sons down forbidden roads.  With my hands on her head I struggled mightily to find the words to speak.  My thoughts were jumbled, disconnected, and incoherent.  I was ashamed.  The daughter, who listened to the blessing, asked or said afterward, "So, what did that mean?"

I replied that I didn't know, and left.

I was deeply disturbed.  What on earth was wrong with me?  That "blessing" had been complete nonsense.  I had failed, and had let those people down.

About a mile from the hospital I can still point out the spot where the Spirit said to me, "I have no blessing for that woman!"

Relief flooded over me.  I was not at fault at all.  I was taught that it isn't me who gives the blessings.  I'm simply the mouthpiece.  As a patriarch I have learned that the Spirit puts the thoughts into my head, and leaves it up to me to find the words to express them.  Every word that I speak in a blessing or an administration will be ratified by the Lord, and the promises given will come to pass.

This is a very humbling concept.  I tell the people to whom I give patriarchal blessings that every promise that I pronounce upon them will come to pass, contingent upon their faithfulness in seeking those blessings.

The Lord trusts me to use His Priesthood righteously , and ratifies every word that I speak when my hands are on a person's head.  As an ordinance worker in the temple I was authorized to pronounce blessings in the initiatory ordinances that are breath-taking, eternally binding, and significant.  My wife used the same authority to pronounce the same blessings upon the heads of women.

The Priesthood is the greatest power in the world.  Its power exceeds that of lightning, earthquakes, gravity, volcanoes, water and tides, nuclear bombs, and the sun itself.  We get to hold and use that Priesthood.  We must do it worthily.