Elder Spencer J. Condie
Of the Seventy
I pray that you wonderful young men will not only be worthy to receive ministering angels, but that you . . . will become a ministering angel in the lives of others.
As a young man of 27, Wilford Woodruff was ordained a
priest on November 5, 1834. Eight days later he began a two-year mission in
the southern states.1 One night
he and his companion found lodging with a family who provided them with a bare
floor for a bed, which he described as "pretty hard after walking sixty miles
without anything to eat."2
The next day they walked 12 miles through the rain until
they came to the house of a man who happened to be a member of the Missouri
mob. Brother Woodruff said: "The family were about to sit down to breakfast
as we came in. In those days it was the custom of the Missourians to ask you
to eat even though they were hostile to you; so he asked us to take breakfast,
and we were very glad of the invitation. He knew we were Mormons; and as soon
as we began to eat, he began to swear about the Mormons. He had a large platter
of bacon and eggs, and plenty of bread on the table, and his swearing did not
hinder our eating, for the harder he swore the harder we ate, until we got our
stomachs full; then we arose from the table, took our hats, and thanked him
for our breakfast. The last we heard of him he was still swearing. I trust the
Lord will reward him for our breakfast."3
At the end of the first year of that mission he recounted
that he had "traveled three thousand two hundred and forty-eight miles, held
one hundred and seventy meetings, [and] baptized forty-three persons."4
His first mission to the southern states was followed
by two brief missions to the Fox Islands off the coast of Maine,5
and then subsequently two missions to England.6
During his latter mission in England, in 1840, he acknowledged that, "through
the blessings of God," he had been an instrument in bringing over 1,800 souls
into the Church within a period of eight months.7
Wilford Woodruff claimed the Book of Mormon promise that
"God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles;
therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings."8
My young brethren of the Aaronic Priesthood, I would remind you that our Father
in Heaven not only wants you to be good, but to be good for something, to serve
and bless the lives of others, and to become a benefit to your fellow beings.
We read in the Gospel of Luke that "Jesus increased in
wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."9
Inasmuch as our earthly quest for perfection involves becoming more like the
Savior, then we, too, should increase in wisdom and stature, and in favor with
God and man.
Priesthood quorum activities and Mutual activities with
the young women, when carefully and prayerfully planned and discussed in the
bishopric youth committee,10
will help every young man and young woman to grow in wisdom as they gain a greater
appreciation for the scriptures and the words of the living prophets and as
they participate in Mutual activities involving "anything virtuous, lovely,
or of good report or praiseworthy."11
Counseling together in the bishopric youth committee also
provides valuable training for an entire generation of future leaders who learn
to work effectively together in councils.
You young men will grow in stature and physical strength
as you engage in folk dancing, sports, and wholesome, friendly athletic competition
characterized by good sportsmanship. You will grow in favor with God as you
engage in family history research, perform baptisms in the temple for deceased
ancestors, become a faithful home teacher, frequently clean the chapel, visit
nursing homes, and help beautify your communities. As you do so, you will exemplify
King Benjamin's counsel that "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings
ye are only in the service of your God."12
A wise youth leader will place less emphasis on fund-raising activities and
a much greater emphasis upon rendering selfless service to others.
You young men will increase in favor with man and become
better prepared for missions, marriage, and future employment as you learn more
about various careers and develop greater self-confidence through giving speeches,
participating in original one-act plays, and talent shows.
Our youth activities should reflect our belief that "men
are, that they might have joy,"13
and we should be willing to share that joy with others. Not long ago I met a
woman from the East who is now living in the Salt Lake Valley. She is a devout
member of another Christian church, and I asked her how she enjoyed living among
the Latter-day Saints. She said: "My husband and I get along fine, but I worry
about our teenage daughter. Each Wednesday evening about seven o'clock, several
girls in our neighborhood walk right past our home headed somewhere together,
and not once have they stopped to invite our 14-year-old daughter to go with
them."
I said, "My dear, this is your lucky day; I am in a position
to get that problem fixed." She readily gave me her daughter's name and address,
and we made contact with both the stake president and the seminary principal.
Our friends and neighbors are children of a loving Father
in Heaven who desires that all of us return to Him. Can we be content when not
all the members of our quorum are in attendance Sunday morning? Surely we can
extend ourselves to the less active and those of other faiths and warmly invite
them to our Young Men and Young Women Mutual activities, seminary, Sunday School
classes, and sacrament meetings.
When Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the Aaronic
Priesthood under the hands of the resurrected John the Baptist, they received
"the keys of the ministering of angels,"14
and so did you when you were ordained. I pray that you wonderful young men will
not only be worthy to receive ministering angels, but that you, like
young Wilford Woodruff, will become a ministering angel in the lives
of others as you exercise your faith in working "mighty miracles," thereby becoming
a "great benefit" to your fellow beings.
Satan would diminish your faith and dilute your priesthood
power to work mighty miracles, but a loving Heavenly Father has provided you
with providential protection—the gift of the Holy Ghost. In the first chapter
of the Book of Mormon we learn that as Lehi read the scriptures "he was filled
with the Spirit of the Lord."15
Nephi later promises us that as we "feast upon the words of Christ . . . the
words of Christ will tell [us] all things what [we] should do."16
You may be facing decisions regarding a mission, your
future career, and, eventually, marriage. As you read the scriptures and pray
for direction, you may not actually see the answer in the form of printed words
on the page, but as you read you will receive distinct impressions, and promptings,
and, as promised, the Holy Ghost "will show unto you all things what ye should
do."17
Satan would have you surrender your moral agency to various
forms of addictive behavior, but a loving Heavenly Father has promised you through
His prophet Isaiah that through sincere fasting, as you subdue your physical
appetites, He will help you "loose the bands of wickedness" and "break every
yoke."18 Claim that promise
through fasting. Our emptiness will provide more room for the fulness of the
gospel. The hollowing precedes the hallowing.
Scripture study and fasting, preceded and followed by
prayer, really can "change the night to day."19
The entire life of the Prophet Joseph Smith demonstrates the power of prayer
and the fulfillment of the Lord's promise that "if thou shalt ask, thou shalt
receive revelation upon revelation."20
One important revelation you will receive will be insight into how you can best
touch the lives of others who have lost their way. In so doing, it is well to
remember President Hinckley's wise counsel: "The Holy Ghost is the Testifier
of Truth, who can teach men things they cannot teach one another."21
President Gordon B. Hinckley considers good friends to
be one of the key ingredients in retaining new converts and in reclaiming the
less active, and Robert Browning eloquently described how this is so:
Were I elect like you,
I would encircle me with love, and raise
A rampart of my fellows; it should seem
Impossible for me to fail, so watched
By gentle friends who made my cause their own.22
Late in life, as President of the Church, Wilford Woodruff
declared: "It does not make any difference whether a man is a Priest or an Apostle,
if he magnifies his calling. A Priest holds the keys of the ministering of angels.
Never in my life, as an Apostle, as a Seventy, or as an Elder, have I ever had
more of the protection of the Lord than while holding the office of a Priest.
The Lord revealed to me by visions, by revelations, and by the Holy Spirit,
many things that lay before me."23
My young beloved brethren, I pray that each of us, through
our faith, will use our priesthood power to work mighty miracles through sharing
the gospel and serving others, thereby becoming a great benefit to our fellow
beings, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
NOTES
1. See Matthias F. Cowley, Wilford
Woodruff: History of His Life and Labors (1909), 47.
2. Quoted in Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, 50.
3. Quoted in Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, 50.
4. Quoted in Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, 58.
5. Quoted in Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, 70–86.
6. Quoted in Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, 99–113; 114–28;
129–46.
7. Quoted in Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, 119.
8. Mosiah
8:18.
9. Luke
2:52.
10. Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood
and Auxiliary Leaders (1998), 318–19.
11. A
of F 1:13.
12. Mosiah
2:17.
13. 2
Ne. 2:25.
14. D&C
13:1.
15. 1
Ne. 1:8–12.
16. 2
Ne. 32:3.
17. 2
Ne. 32:5.
18. Isa.
58:6.
19. "Did You Think to Pray?" Hymns, no. 140.
20. D&C
42:61.
21. Gordon B. Hinckley, "The
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," Ensign, Mar. 1998, 7.
22. "Paracelsus," in The Poetical Works of Robert Browning,
2 vols. (1902), 1:25.
23. "Discourse," Millennial Star, 5 Oct. 1891, 628–29.
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