Notable quotes:
“The priesthood is a divine power and authority held in trust to be used for God’s work for the benefit of all of His children.” “The family organization and the Church of Jesus Christ have a mutually reinforcing relationship. The blessings of the priesthood, such as the fulness of the gospel and ordinances like baptism, confirmation and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, the temple endowment, and eternal marriage, are available to men and women alike.” “We should follow the Savior’s invitation to seek and ask to understand the truths of eternity. He promises that our Father in Heaven is willing to teach everyone the truths they seek.” Summary points:
- All of Heavenly Father’s children are eligible for the blessings made possible by the exercise of the Lord’s priesthood.
- Fathers can best further the mission of the Church by magnifying their priesthood within their own family. Keeping the commandments gives fathers the power to give blessings and bless their family members.
- By listening to messages of “the truths of eternity,” one can be filled with the Savior’s light.
Talk summary:
The priesthood is a divine power and authority, held in trust, to be used for God’s work for the benefit of all His children.
“Priesthood is not those who have been ordained to a priesthood office or those who exercise its authority. Men who hold the priesthood are not the priesthood. While we should not refer to ordained men as the priesthood, it is appropriate to refer to them as holders of the priesthood.”
All blessings of the priesthood — including essential ordinances — are available to men and women alike.
The principle that priesthood authority can be exercised only under the direction of the one “who holds the keys for that function” is fundamental in the Church — but does not apply to families.
“A father presides and exercises the priesthood in his family by the authority of the priesthood he holds. He has no need to have the direction or approval of one holding priesthood keys in order to perform his various family functions.”
The same principle applies when a father is absent and a mother is the family leader. She presides in her home and “is instrumental in bringing the power and blessings of the priesthood into her family through her endowment and sealing in the temple.
“While she is not authorized to give the priesthood blessings that can only be given by a person holding a certain office in the priesthood, she can perform all of the other functions of family leadership.”
General conference offers “brief shelter from our mortal concerns” with a devastating pandemic.
“We have been taught great principles of eternity. I encourage each of us to have our eye ‘single’ to receive these truths of eternity so that our bodies ‘shall be full of light.’ ”
In the news:
- At the Brigham Young University Church History Symposium on March 13, President Oaks shared what he has learned after 50 years of writing about the Prophet Joseph Smith.
- President Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, spoke to youth, their leaders and their parents on Feb. 28 in a worldwide Face to Face broadcast about the new Children and Youth program.
- On Dec. 8, 2019, President Oaks spoke at the annual First Presidency Christmas Devotional, sharing a message on how to attain peace.
- He addressed Spanish-speaking members of the Church in the Chicago area at a devotional on Nov. 23, 2019, emphasizing leaders’ awareness of the difficulties faced by immigrants as they are often separated from loved ones in other countries.
- Speaking as the honorary chair of the 2019 Utah Philanthropy Day on Nov. 19, 2019, President Oaks highlighted the importance of private charitable contributions.
About the speaker:
- President Dallin H. Oaks was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1984.
- As a young man, President Oaks obtained a radiotelephone operator’s license and later worked as a radio announcer and engineer.
- President Oaks was a law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren of the U.S. Supreme Court and later served as a justice on the Utah Supreme Court until his call to apostleship in 1984.
- President Oaks and his late wife, June Dixon Oaks, are the parents of six children. She died July 21, 1998. On August 25, 2000, he married Kristen M. McMain in the Salt Lake Temple.
Recently on social:
- On March 24, President Oaks shared on Instagram his testimony of personal and prophetic revelation in preparation for general conference.
- He tweeted a message about the importance of faith in God’s plan, especially when seeking answers to questions, on Jan. 12.
- In a Facebook post Dec. 8, 2019, President Oaks wrote that peace comes from individual righteousness.
- On Dec. 2, 2019, he cautioned young men and women in an Instagram post to beware of labeling themselves with a temporary identity. “Our single best quality by which to characterize ourselves is that we are sons or daughters of God,” he wrote.
