The Lord set in motion the pattern of administration in the Church, said President Boyd K. Packer.
Speaking Sunday morning, the day after the Church's solemn assembly, President Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve related how shortly after the death of President Gordon B. Hinckley, 14 apostles met in the upper room of the Salt Lake Temple to reorganize the First Presidency. "There was no question about what would be done. No hesitancy. We knew that the senior apostle was the president of the Church," he declared.
President Thomas S. Monson was sustained by the Quorum of the Twelve as the president of the Church. He nominated his counselors, who were, likewise, sustained. During this conference, the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve was filled by Elder D. Todd Christofferson.
"He now joins that sacred brotherhood in that sacred circle and the circle now stands filled.
"The calling of an apostle goes back to the Lord," President Packer continued. He quoted from Luke 6: 12-13: "He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles."
To Peter were given the "keys of the kingdom of heaven," and to the apostles, the "power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases."
With the deaths of the apostles, President Packer explained, "came the dark centuries of apostasy. The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve — the priesthood keys. For the Church to be His Church, there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and can confer them on others."
Then came the First Vision and Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood by Peter, James and John. President Packer quoted from the Doctrine and Covenants, "Verily I say unto you, the keys of the dispensation, which ye have received, have come down from the fathers, and last of all, being sent down from heaven unto you" (Section 112:32). Ever since, there has been an unbroken line of authority, President Packer explained. "The priesthood keys given to the apostles have always been held by the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve."
President Packer related how, in 1976, in conjunction with an area conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, President Spencer W. Kimball visited the Vor Frue Church where stand the Thorvaldsen statues of "The Christus" and the Twelve Apostles. In Peter's hands, depicted in marble, is a set of keys. After explaining to those present, including then-Elder Packer, Elder Rex D. Pinegar and Copenhagen Stake President Johan Helge Benthin, the meaning of the keys, President Kimball turned and pointed at President Benthin and said, "I want you to tell everyone in Denmark that I hold the keys! We hold the real keys, and we use them every day."
The apostles today, President Packer said, are all ordinary men from a variety of occupations who are "students of the gospel of Jesus Christ." He said that the scriptures describe the Twelve as "traveling councilors" (Doctrine and Covenants 107:23).
"I am no different from my Brethren of the Twelve, the Seventy, and the Presiding Bishopric with whom I have served for 47 years when I tell you that the records show I have been in Mexico and Central and South America more than 75 times, in Europe over 50 times, Canada 25 times, the Islands of the Pacific 10 times, Asia 10 times, Africa four times, and China twice; to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Baharain, the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia and many, many other places around the globe. Others have traveled more than I have.
"While the Apostles hold all of the priesthood keys, all leaders and members alike may receive personal revelation. Indeed, they are expected to seek it through prayer and to act on it by faith."
