Latest / STRONG / FSY Sept. Week 2: Understanding Priesthood Keys & Restoration of Authority (feat. Gwen Heyborne)

Transcript

FSY Sept. Week 2: Understanding Priesthood Keys & Restoration of Authority (feat. Gwen Heyborne) · STRONG

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Strong, where we follow the For Strength of Youth curriculum to help you get a little closer to Jesus Christ and a little more ready for what's ahead.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: You got the temple, a mission, and the life that you're building.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: I'm Kirby Hayborn.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: This week in your class, the For the Strength of Youth curriculum covers something big.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: The priesthood disappeared from the earth for hundreds of years, and then God brought it back.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: This is the reason you have access to God's power right now.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: A few years ago, my wife was traveling alone internationally for the first time.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: She was going to Mexico with some friends.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: On the flight out, a flight attendant who only spoke Spanish handed her this required international form.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: My wife didn't understand what it was for.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: She watched everybody else around her put it into their bags, so she did the same thing.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: And then she forgot about it.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: She had a great time with her friends, but by the time it was time to come home, she got to the airport to fly back, and uh they stopped her at the gate.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: They said, Oh, can you give us that form that was handed out?
1:12
SPEAKER_00: And she needed that form in order to get on the plane.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: No form, no flight home.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: She got out of line and she searched through a backpack.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: She's looking through every pocket.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: She's trying to remember, did I put it in the front?
1:24
SPEAKER_00: Did I put it in the top?
1:25
SPEAKER_00: Where is it?
1:26
SPEAKER_00: Where is it?
1:26
SPEAKER_00: And she's getting nervous.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: She couldn't find it.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: She searched and searched and nothing.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: She was told that she needed to go get a new form in another line.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, no one was working at that other line.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: The final boarding call was announced.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: She's nervous.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: She's alone in a foreign country where she didn't speak the language, and she's watching this line to get on the plane disappear through this door that was about to close permanently.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: So she said a prayer.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: And then she reached into her backpack without even looking and pulled out the form.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: She pulled it out, she found it.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: The friends that she'd made in this new line, they saw her holding this form up so high and they screamed, Ron! So she ran and she barely made it.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: All right, here's the thing.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: My wife didn't know what that form was when she put it in her bag.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: She didn't know exactly what she had.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: She only knew that she needed it when she realized she couldn't get home without it.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what the world looked like during the great apostasy.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: The authority was gone.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: Most people didn't even know that it was missing.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: They just knew something wasn't working.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: Now, most people think that the restoration it's just Joseph Smith.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: He's reading the Bible and then he's deciding to start a new church.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: But the real story is a beautiful story.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: It's God sending heavenly messengers to return his authority to the earth.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: So this wasn't a reformation.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: It was a restoration.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: Those are two different things.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: A reformation improves what exists.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: A restoration brings back what was lost.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: It was intentional.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: It was systematic.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: Nothing was left to chance.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: God sent specific messengers to return specific authority for specific purposes.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: My daughter Gwen and I are gonna get a taste of what this feels like to try to put something back together when you can't see what you're doing.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: All right.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: Are you blindfolded?
3:45
SPEAKER_07: Yes, sir.
3:45
SPEAKER_07: Are you?
3:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm getting there.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: Are you here?
3:49
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: All right.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: I am here with my daughter Gwen, who's amazing at everything.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: Gwen, um, you saw right before we got blindfolded that there are two flashlights here.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: You've seen flashlights before, right?
4:00
SPEAKER_00: I have, yes.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: Are you looking at me?
4:02
SPEAKER_07: I am in your direction.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: So, what the challenge is, is Gwen and I are going to assemble these flashlights blindfolded.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna put the batteries back in.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: And the first one to get the flashlight on uh is the winner.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
4:18
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay, are you ready to lose?
4:20
SPEAKER_07: I'm ready to win.
4:21
SPEAKER_07: I don't know if you're ready to lose.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: Okay, you you count us down.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: Let's go from three.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: And oh, I already missed something up.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay, here we go.
4:27
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
4:28
SPEAKER_06: Are you ready?
4:29
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we're going on go, zero, three, okay.
4:32
SPEAKER_06: After one.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: After one, okay.
4:34
SPEAKER_06: Three, two, one, go.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I got it.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm screwing it on.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: Here we go.
4:45
SPEAKER_06: Oh, oh, oh shoot, I have two.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: This isn't on a screw on.
4:57
SPEAKER_06: Okay, I got it.
4:58
SPEAKER_06: I got that, I got that, I got that.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: This is not going to be a little bit.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: This is on this one.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm gonna get it here we go, here we go.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, what did I do wrong?
5:13
SPEAKER_07: Take it off.
5:16
SPEAKER_07: They won't have to go the same way.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: They weren't going the same way.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: This one goes like that.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: Alright.
5:23
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
5:24
SPEAKER_07: It's on you said twisted.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Twisting.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to twist.
5:28
SPEAKER_07: It just keeps bringing out.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: Is it okay, okay, okay?
5:32
SPEAKER_00: Am I on?
5:33
SPEAKER_07: Yes, you got it.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's- I can see it through this.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we did it! Oh, thank you.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: You're so fast.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: Good job to you too.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what what did you learn from that?
5:46
SPEAKER_07: Well, we had all the pieces, but we couldn't see, obviously, so it was hard to put them all together because we didn't know where they went or how they went.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: Right.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: You apparently did.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: A little bit faster, but yeah, you were faster.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: But that's what we're talking about today.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, when the priesthood was gone, when the apostles died, um, there's no more authority on the earth.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: So for centuries, people were trying to assemble things in the dark, and they were well-intentioned too, and they were trying their best, but they were blindfolded.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't until God revealed how it needed to be put together that the blindfolds came off.
6:21
SPEAKER_07: And the light came back on.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, nice.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, good job.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: So I want to show you just what that light turning back on looks like today.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: My daughter Gwen, she received her mission call.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: That's probably why she was so good at putting the flashlight together.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: Her call came through a prophet who holds keys.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: And those keys were restored by Peter, James, and John in 1829.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: So, Gwen, tell me where you're going.
6:53
SPEAKER_07: I got called to the Argentina Mendoza mission.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: That was such a fun night, so exciting.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: So many people there celebrating with you.
7:00
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: Why are you going?
7:01
SPEAKER_00: Why are you deciding to go on a mission?
7:03
SPEAKER_07: I want to go on a mission because I know the gospel has made, has turned my life around.
7:08
SPEAKER_07: I have so much joy that comes from the gospel, and I want to help people in Argentina come closer to Christ and make covenants with him and just have a better relationship with him.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: Is there something in particular?
7:18
SPEAKER_00: I know you've dove into all things Argentina.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: What are you most excited about?
7:23
SPEAKER_07: I'm excited just to get to know new people and to get into the culture because I've never been to Argentina.
7:29
SPEAKER_07: So I'm just excited to meet new people and bring the light of Christ to Argentina.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: That's so amazing.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: So we talk about where you're going and why you're going and why you said yes.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: So now let's talk about the chain that made that call possible.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: Because it didn't start with President Oaks.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: It didn't start with Joseph Smith.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: It started a long time before either of them.
7:56
SPEAKER_07: John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry.
7:59
SPEAKER_07: He gave them the Iranic priesthood and the keys for the ministering of angels and for the gospel of repentance and baptism.
8:08
SPEAKER_07: He's a resurrected being who is physically present there.
8:11
SPEAKER_07: And I actually have a scripture that I love.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: She's a missionary.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: She's ready to go.
8:16
SPEAKER_07: I'm so ready.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:17
SPEAKER_07: It's Doctrine and Covenant, section 13.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: Who's talking here?
8:20
SPEAKER_07: Verse 1.
8:21
SPEAKER_07: John the Baptist is talking to them.
8:23
SPEAKER_07: And it says, Upon you, my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels and the gospel of repentance and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins.
8:36
SPEAKER_07: And this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: It shall never be taken again from the earth.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: I love that promise.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: Shortly after that, Peter, James, and John appeared, and they restored the Melchizedek priesthood.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: Now these are the same men who walked with Jesus Christ.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: They had the same authority that they held.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: And I love what is said here in Doctrine and Covenant, section 27.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: Peter, James, and John, this is the Savior speaking, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: And this is the beautiful part special witnesses of my name.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: As a missionary, that's what you are going to be.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: And that's all because of this priesthood that was restored, this gospel that was restored.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: Now there are a lot of great things that appeared.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: Keys were restored in Kirtland.
9:31
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
9:32
SPEAKER_07: We've been there.
9:33
SPEAKER_07: We went to Kirtland a few years ago, and I just remember the spirit that we felt in the temple.
9:38
SPEAKER_07: It was just amazing knowing that Jesus appeared in that temple, the same place that we were sitting at, and we were able to sing a song together there, and the spirit was just so strong.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: It was so beautiful.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: And that I love that you said that.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: We walked where Jesus walked.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: We visited Jerusalem together as well.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: So we walked there.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like there was the same power there at the Kirtland Temple that I felt in Jerusalem.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: And that was such a special thing to share with you.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: And it was in the Kirtland Temple that Moses restored the keys of the gathering of Israel.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: That's you.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: You're gathering Israel as a missionary.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: And then Elias, he restored the keys of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: Elijah restored the keys of the sealing power.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: Each of these men they unlocked something specific.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: They unlocked the gathering, the covenants of Abraham, and the sealing of families for eternity.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: And each piece had a purpose.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: This chain of authority shows that every priesthood holder can trace their authority back to Jesus Christ.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: That's something that's really special.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: I was ordained by my father, who was ordained by his father, and it goes all the way back to Peter, James, and John restoring that priesthood authority.
10:55
SPEAKER_07: Every ordinance available to us today exists because of what happened in those moments in the Kirtland Temple.
11:01
SPEAKER_07: The baptism, sacrament, the temple, and just getting blessings for being sick, all this traced back to that chain from Jesus Christ.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you what's one thing that you know now about the church that you didn't know a year ago?
11:19
SPEAKER_00: And how did you find out that it was true?
11:30
SPEAKER_04: I appreciate many things about the English of Jesus Christ, but I thought I see this idea in my world.
11:38
SPEAKER_04: So I decided to use the more serious.
11:53
SPEAKER_04: But now I have a certainty that this is verdict.
12:04
SPEAKER_04: I think that not so you, but all the children, those, those people have a testimony.
12:19
SPEAKER_05: Something I know about the church now is that I was not aware that you wear different clothes during endowments and ceilings.
12:27
SPEAKER_05: And I was a little confused at first when I found this out, so I asked my parents and they were so kind to explain it to me, and I found out that it actually symbolizes a lot more than I thought about our life and the life before ours and how we're all connected to each other.
12:41
SPEAKER_05: And I think it's so special, and I just try to look for that symbolism every single day now.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: Gwen, your mission call came from the prophet, and that prophet holds the keys that trace directly back to this chain.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: There's Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John, Moses, Elijah, now all the way to you.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: Having you go where Jesus Christ wants you to go.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: Knowing that this chain exists.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: How does that make you feel about your call?
13:11
SPEAKER_07: It makes me just want to go even more, just knowing that it came from Jesus and He knows me personally, and He knows the people of Argentina, and He knows that we can help each other grow, help each other come closer to Christ.
13:23
SPEAKER_07: And I'm just really honored I get this opportunity to go serve and share my love of the gospel.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: Oh, and you do.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: That's one thing that I've loved seeing your whole life you've prepared to be a missionary and seeing you prepare even more now, knowing that that call came from our Heavenly Father.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: Um it's been powerful seeing the dedication that you're putting into it.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be hard, but it's gonna be worth it.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: I think it's gonna be harder for mom and me than it will be for you because you'll be there blessing and spreading the gospel um and bringing souls to covenants that came through this restoration.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: So I'm proud of you and I'm excited for you.
14:06
SPEAKER_07: Thank you.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for teaching with me.
14:08
SPEAKER_07: Thanks for having me.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay, here's a question that maybe you won't want to raise your hand and ask in class.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: But the question is the restoration feels like history and tradition to me.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: It's not something that's actually happening to me.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: I just grew up with it because of my parents.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: The people 200 years ago saw it for themselves and it just got handed to me.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: How can I feel that it's true?
14:36
SPEAKER_00: Joseph Smith asked God a question and he got an answer.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: He got the Holy Ghost.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: And the reason that heavenly messengers came back with priesthood keys instead of just God preserving the story in a book is so that the same spirit that confirmed the truth to the first generation is available to you right now.
14:58
SPEAKER_00: At twelve, thirteen, fourteen, eighteen.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: You're sitting in a class that feels familiar.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: But that was never the proof of it.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: The the witness of the Holy Ghost was the proof.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: They had to ask for it.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: So do you.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: So remember the form that my wife was carrying?
15:18
SPEAKER_00: She had it in her backpack the whole time.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: She just didn't know what she had until the moment she needed it.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: A lot of you are carrying the same thing.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: You've grown up with the priesthood in your home.
15:30
SPEAKER_00: You've grown up with the sacrament, with the temple, the witness of the spirit.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh and it's all right there in the bag.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: It's it's so familiar that maybe you've stopped noticing it.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: So the answer isn't to get you to to go get something that you're missing.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: It's right there.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: It's in your bag.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: It's something that you've been holding the whole time.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: You might feel like you're at the end of a 200-year-old story that started with Joseph Smith, but the restoration is ongoing.
16:01
SPEAKER_00: It was built so that there is no end.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: Every person who receives the Holy Ghost stands exactly where Joseph Smith stood, asking and getting an answer.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: Moroni didn't write his promise to the people who already knew.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: He wrote it to you.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: Ask God with real intent, and he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: But that promise, you know, it doesn't have an expiration date.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't weaken with distance, whether it's thousands of years ago or two hundred years ago.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: It's still powerful and strong.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: And familiarity doesn't make it less true.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: It just sometimes makes it harder to feel.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: You've maybe been in this your whole life.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: So the peace that you feel at church and that comfort and the calm when someone prays, maybe you've stopped noticing it the way you stopped smelling your own house, you know?
17:02
SPEAKER_00: It's still there.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: There's a thing that I learned that you don't know that your house, that you and your family, you have a particular smell, but other people coming into your house can smell it.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Um it just becomes so familiar to you.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: That's what noseblind means.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: So that's exactly what you might be feeling.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: Finding out it's true, it may not start with a feeling of uh something that's brand new.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: It might start with just paying attention to what you've been feeling all along.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: It's right there in your bag.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: You just heard my daughter Gwen uh answer that question.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: She's 18, but she's the same 200 years away from Joseph Smith that you are.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: She grew up in the same way you did, going to church every Sunday and going to activities every week.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: And she found out for herself because she asked.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: The invitation to know for yourself that is built into the restoration itself.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: So I wrote a song wanting to capture those feelings that all of us have had where we um felt something strong, but then because we continue to feel it, maybe we don't notice it anymore.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's how sometimes appreciating the restoration feels.
18:21
SPEAKER_00: That there might have been a time in your life that you felt really strongly about it.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, but then you go to church every Sunday, you go to your mutual uh during the week, and maybe because it's so common now, you're not feeling as strong.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: So I wrote a song about that, and I've invited Gwen to sing it with me!
18:53
SPEAKER_01: Same song, but I can't find the meaning in it.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: So long since I felt anything at all.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: Words fall, but I can't hear the meaning of the same gray confidence, the same gray hauls.
19:18
SPEAKER_01: I've been told that I am something special.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: I've been blind to feel in it all.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: All right, now it's your move.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: This week, I want you to pick one ordinance that you'll actually be a part of.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: Could be taking the sacrament uh or seeing someone's baptism, or it could be a blessing that you receive.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: Now, before it happens, I want you to remember what you've learned.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: This exists, this ordinance exists because real keys were restored by real messengers and it traces all the way back to Jesus Christ.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: Then I want you to pay attention to what you feel instead of just letting it pass.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: So you got your assignment.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: Be aware of the ordinance that you're going to be doing, and then write down what you feel.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: Then I want you to do one more thing.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: Ask Heavenly Father if this power is real, if it's for you.
22:21
SPEAKER_00: Then I want you to watch for the answer in the way that Moreau and I promise that it will come.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: You've been carrying this your whole life.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: It's been in your bag.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: This week, reach in.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: That's strong for this week.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: Remember, you are a beloved son or daughter of God, and he has a work for you to do.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: Go do it.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: I'd like to thank our sponsors, Jared and Holly Swain, for making Strong possible.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: Visit strongyoutfoundation.com for episodes and more.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next week.