The following transcript is intended to aid in your study. However, while we try to go through the transcript, our transcripts are primarily computer-generated and often contain errors. Please forgive the transcripts’ imperfections.

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Segment 1

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Six years ago in the October, 2019, women's session of General conference, our prophet president Russell M. Nelson said this to all the women. I entreat you to study prayerfully all the truths you can find about priesthood power. You might begin with doctrine and S sections 84 and 107. Now in this talk he then referred to priesthood power as spiritual treasures, and then he made this awesome promise to us.

As your understanding increases and as you exercise faith in the Lord and his priesthood power, your ability to draw upon this spiritual treasure that the Lord has made available will increase. As you do so, you will find yourselves better able to help create eternal families that are united, sealed in the temple of the Lord, and full of love for our Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ.

Today we began our study of Doctrine & Covenant Section 84, the Oath and Covenant of the priesthood. And we are going to lean into those promises from our prophet because seriously, how many of us could use them right about now? Welcome to the Sunday on Monday Study Group, a Deseret Bookshelf plus original, brought to you by LDS Living where we take the come Follow Me lesson for the week and we really dig into the scriptures together.

I'm your host, Tammy Uzelac Hall. If you're new to our study group, please follow the link in our description and it's going to explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance your come Follow Me study, just like my longtime listening friend, Val Willson. Hi Val. I love meeting you and you're gonna love our guest today.

Another awesome thing about our study group is each week we're joined by two of my friends, so it's always a little bit different. And today I am so excited to introduce these women to you and they're regretting that they ever said hello to me at the Magnify event. I'm welcoming Kate Stoker and Kendra Nani.

Hello ladies. Hi. Hello. So excited to be here with you. I'm so excited you're here. Okay. How do [00:02:00] you two know each other? Um, over 18 years. Wow. So we met back in student housing while our husbands were in school and we had little toddlers. We would run around outside with them. And I have to tell you, Kate was literally the talk of the town.

She hosted everybody for dinner. She was like the world's best wife, the world's best mom. Everybody wanted to be like Kate. Mm-hmm. And we all aspired to like be her. She was so service oriented. She was loving and kind and inclusive, and I was lucky enough to become her friend. How sweet. That was like really sweet.

I didn't even ask you to say that. And I will say the best thing is I think my husband and I were the longest standing. Like residents in the University of Utah student apartments. We were there almost 10 years and we just, it was such an amazing thing, but there was always people kind of, kind of moving in and out in their lives.

And I remember, especially Kendra and her husband moving in because they had a different story. Mm-hmm. Um, they again had already had a job, had a house, had real life stuff. Kendra is a very amazing hairdresser. She had a full career and they decided to follow the spirit and their hearts and she fully financially supported, um, putting they.

They put their house up for rent. They sold cars. They Wow. Moved into the, you know, three bedroom student cinder block apartment with furry cement we call it, which is like the church carpet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, again, they had like a real [00:04:00] adult life and you know, as we're watching them move in, we're like, that's like a real couch.

That's not a di couch. Like they really committed. You know what? We made those student apartments look so good. Those walls that were painted over 17 times with who knows what, underneath, we made 'em look so good. We even had our little dishwashers that we would roll over to the sink and hook up to the faucet.

Wow. And we maybe got some carpet remnants and cut them into size for our family room room so our little toddlers could crawl around. It was fantastic. Oh my gosh. Okay. This is gonna be such a fun discussion because you've, I feel like you two found your people when they, when you moved in and now you guys, you're like the dearest of friends.

And for those of you listening, it's just pretty amazing how God works because we've had to reschedule this and work through, like it's been a while for us to get this episode together. And now knowing what we know about our lives and the fact that we're studying this specific section, it's all making sense for us now.

And so I am, I cannot wait for us to dive into this. Are you guys ready to do this? Oh my gosh, yes. It's gonna be good. So ready. We're ready. Okay, so if you wanna know more about my guests, make sure you go and read their bios, which are in our show notes, and you can find those at lds living.com/sunday on Monday.

So grab your scriptures and let's dig into Doctrine & Covenants section 84. All right, you two, what did the Holy Ghost teach you as you read and studied? Section 84, and we'll start with Kendra. Okay. The first thing that came to my mind as I was studying section 84 is that we are so blessed to have a church of order.

So blessed, we have these scriptures that map things out perfectly. I love in section 84 how it gets into the details. The details about the priesthood, the details of how it works, why it works, that all the offices are important. And [00:06:00] the overwhelming feeling to me was that. We have this perfect church.

We've been given all of the instructions and we just need to study and try to understand and use the Spirit and the Holy Ghost in our lives to understand the best that we can. Um, something that really stood out to me was verse 80. It says, and any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom and fail not to continue faithful in all things shall not be weary in mind.

Neither darkened, neither in body, limb nor joint, and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed, and they shall not go hungry. Neither or thirst. This first stood out to me because for those of you that don't know, I actually am recently divorced and this past year has been a wild roller coaster.

I don't know how many times I've text Kate and said, this life is a roller coaster ride and I am here riding it. I'm here, but I am doing it. And. The past year has been, um, rocky. My needs have not been met. I've had to move forward with faith not knowing how things are gonna work out. I've had to trust that the Lord is guiding me and blessing me, and he certainly has made sure that I haven't been weary, my needs have been met.

I've been blessed spiritually and temporally, and that I have been able to access the power of the priesthood even as a recently divorced single mom, and I'm so grateful for that. Wow. Thank you for sharing that. I put your name next to verse 80. I'm so glad that verse stood out to you. What about you, Kate?

Honestly, at first when I agreed to do the podcast, I was thinking to myself. I actually, I love the [00:08:00] DNCI love it so much. I had the privilege of being a very small minion working on the Joseph Smith papers in college. I was able to live in Navu and other church history sites, um, for about six months. So in a way I'm like, this is my jam.

I love this kind of stuff. But also it was an incredibly humbling experience. A when you first mentioned DOC 84, I was like, this has to be a joke because this is like, this is the meat, this is the everything of the gospel and shouldn't you have the General Relief Society president on? So I was really overwhelmed with a D four in particular.

I also was really, really quick to repent in the way that when we have knowledge and we lose it or we aren't actively seeking it out, like we, we lose it. I looked at AD four and I'm not gonna lie, I was like, I don't think I've ever read this section before. Mm-hmm. Which was comical 'cause I've literally studied it, um, for weeks and a time, and it was.

It was really humbling to me to, again, what you don't use, you lose. Yeah. I went to do Initiat and I just did one name so I could go into the celestial room and read the whole chapter to see what it was. What does the spirit wanna tell me? And it was actually a, an interesting situation. I actually felt more confused.

I felt like I actually am not sure what I'm reading at all. And I, I wish I had my own scriptures, my own notes and things. But the scripture that really popped out to me as I'm sitting here and panicking was verse 84 and 85. Therefore, let the Morrow take thought for the things of itself. Neither Takey thought beforehand, what you shall say, but treasure up in your minds continually, the words of life, and it shall be given to you in [00:10:00] the very hour, that portion that shall be meted unto every man.

I just had to laugh here. I was so stressing out. I'm going through all of my old binders from when I was living in Navu and these things, trying to find the things and, and really it was such a, a comfort to read that in a temple that, hey, stop worrying about what you're gonna say. Stop worrying about how it's gonna happen.

Because he totally knows. He totally knows what I'm thinking right now, and it's like, Ooh, take a step back, Kate. You're fine. Wow, that's so cool. What an awesome application of those two verses to your life. Ladies, you did great. That was a great discussion of those verses. I'm so thankful the Holy Ghost taught you those things because I've never considered those verses in that way before.

And so now your names are next to those verses in my scripture forevermore. So thank you. And like Kate said, this is the meat of the gospel and we're gonna get into some meat today, which I'm so excited about. So in the next segment then we're gonna just start and dive into section 84 and talk about all the goodness that we can partake from this section.

And I, I'm so excited to do it with you two. We'll do that next.

Segment 2

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So, Doctrine & Covenants, section 84, the first thing I want us to do is go to verse 39. This is where we want to mark the title for section 84. Kate, will you please read verse 39 for us? Sure. 39, and this is according to the oath and the covenant, which belongeth to the priesthood. Perfect. Okay, so underline oath and covenant, and I love that you said oath and the covenant because that is exactly what it says in the original 1835 version of the doctrine covenants.

It says the oath and the covenant. So then go back to the very beginning of [00:12:00] section 84 and write to the outside the oath and the covenant of the priesthood. That's what we're gonna discuss today. And before we get into any of these verses, I wanted to know from you women though, what, talk to me about the priesthood in your life.

How does God's priesthood power influence your life? Or how has it influenced your life? What has it meant to you growing up and has it changed? Isn't that so interesting to think about? All right, so the last several months I actually have had the opportunity of not having a priesthood bearer in my home, which has actually been really sad to me.

And at the same time, it's given me such great perspective on how I can access the priesthood as a woman. And I think that's something that women of the church want to know more about. Mm-hmm. And I, I loved studying it the past few weeks as we've gone through section 84, but something that I have used recently in these last several months being recently divorced and a single mom and trying to put together a home without the priesthood.

There. We have had such great blessings. We've had people come over and dedicate our house priesthood holders come over and dedicate our house. We've had ward members, Bishop Brook members, our bishop come over, my dad has come over. I have had blessings beyond what I can even share here today, and it has been the most beautiful thing to see that we still have the power of the priesthood in our home, even though we're missing the priesthood holder.

Mm-hmm. It's actually been very beautiful. Something you should know about me is I am terrified of the dark. Yes. I am 40 years old and I'm still afraid of the dark. I don't like to be alone and going through a divorce. There are nights where I am alone in a dark house, and I noticed as soon as we set our house apart.[00:14:00]

I just felt such a calming peace, and I haven't felt afraid. I haven't felt alone. I haven't felt like I was scared, and it's been so wonderful to feel that comforting peace that I think the priesthood brings into our lives. And even as women we have that, we have access to that and I'm so grateful for that.

Kendra, I have a question, a follow up question for you as you've been going through this experience, because when we met a year ago, you did tell me you were, you were just beginning the phase of going through a divorce, so it's been about a year now. As you were going through this heartache and this difficult, you know, situation in your life, tell me about the role that the temple played in your life with all the stuff you've been going through.

Okay, so prior to my divorce, I actually was working in the temple and I loved it. I went really early on Saturday mornings and there were, there were times where my shift was in the celestial room, first thing in the morning, and I got to just sit and read scriptures and feel the peace, and I would have time to pray for my family, pray for inspiration.

All of the things. It was like, it gave me just this quiet comfort. And throughout this experience, it's actually been, I don't know, eye-opening, mind-boggling. I have to tell you, I was praying really hard night and day that something would turn around, right? I didn't want my family to fail. I wanted everything to work out.

I wanted my family to be this beautiful, eternal blessing that I had worked so hard for, and my prayers weren't answered in the way that I thought they would be. Surprisingly, I really was praying for my spouse to have a change of heart, my spouse, to change his ways for him to do, I dare say this, be smacked upside the head by the spirit and say, get it [00:16:00] together.

Get it together. Absolutely. Yes. And instead, I actually got the smack upside the head. Wow. By the spirit and was told, you've done all that you can do. Hmm. You've done it. Your work is done. You've tried for 21 years. And I kept praying to love more, to try harder to not get tired, to continue to work and to have, um, spiritual inspiration and to better myself to make everything come together.

And when I got the spiritual impression that you've done all that you can do, and I am showing you who he really is. It was incredible. It was the scariest thing I've ever done because I know how the spirit speaks to me. I know what to do. And at the same time, that meant my entire life was going to change.

Wow. And I did. I went forward with faith and I said, okay, heavenly Father, I know how you speak to me. I have had so many blessings where these things happen to me. I listen and I follow, and I do the scary thing. And it all works out in the end, right? Yeah. And each day I've had to tell myself, I wake up and say, God's plan is greater than mine.

He knows. Mm-hmm. And in the back of my mind, Tammy, I think all of us women would feel the same. I had this thought, divorce is not God's plan. Right. How is this from the spirit? Divorce isn't God's plan. And I talk to my bishop a lot about this. He has been the biggest blessing. Um, so when I, when I was looking for a place to live, I prayed and prayed.

I went and looked at several places, and then I found this cute house for rent. And the second that I walked in, I knew I was supposed to live there. And I don't know if you've ever looked for a house before, but things don't generally [00:18:00] just like fall right into place. Right? Well, I went and saw the house.

Some things happened in my relationship and we had to move out in two days. Wow. I called the landlord and she said, perfect. I'm having the garage doors painted today. You can move into tomorrow. So I went and got the keys and it literally fell into place. So we moved in on a Thursday. I went to church on Sunday.

The cute bishop and his wife came over and it was, it was just another tender mercy. He said, Kendra, it's not an accident that you're here. I watched my wife go through this many years ago. She was divorced and had three kids when I met her, and I want to help. Please let me help. Oh, wow. Kendra. So Tammy, I looked at, I looked at this perfect couple, the bishop and his beautiful wife.

Mm-hmm. I never in a million years would've guessed no. That she had been divorced, that they had a blended family, that their life didn't look like the cookie cutter Mormon family that we all strive for. Mm-hmm. And it was just such a reassuring feeling that, you know what? She can do it. I can do it. Yeah.

The Lord placed people in my life to show me that I can do this. I loved, I actually counseled with him in his office and told him those exact words. I, I don't believe divorce is God's plan. And he said, Kendra, the Lord knows that. Yeah. And also it's not God's plan to have his daughters treated the way you've been treated.

Wow. And it was powerful. It made me really understand that God knows, he knows my heart. He knows I've given it all I had for years and years and years and years, and he's placed people in my life to help me see that He knows my heart. Kendra, I love your story because we are seeing [00:20:00] priesthood power in action as you've been talking about how Ev, how you've just been taken care of and you've been guided along the way.

And it's no coincidence that you were working in the temple and you are filling your spiritual bucket. And we're gonna talk about this in the next segment, but the blessings that come from attending the temple. So thank you for being a witness of the truthfulness of what our prophet's gonna teach us in the next segment and the power of the priest in your life.

That is awesome. All right, Kate, what about you? Talk to me about the priesthood in your life. All right. Well, honestly for me, whenever I. Approach a subject in the scriptures, whatever. I kind of need to know the context. Maybe that's just a historian in me. I'm kinda like, okay, what was happening at this time?

Mm-hmm. In this section again, what inspired then, what inspired all of this? Um, for me, I know that that sounds weird, but you know, it's like, well just read the scripture, but for me, I'm like, well, where is the context? Where are they at in times? Oh, I love that. Um, you know, in January of 1832, Joseph Smith received revelation, um, in which the Lord called 24 missionaries to serve throughout the United States.

And so that's in January of 1832. Then it's about nine months later that he is having this revelation where six of the missionaries have returned and they're having a little meeting. Then in May of 1832, Joseph Smith went back to Ohio. And then if you read the In the Saints, the mm-hmm. The book, the Saints, it's a crazy time.

Like during this month they're trying to go back and forth and get lands and secure things, and they're traveling the, anyways, they do a trip to Indiana and New Kay Whitney. There was a thing, he, he falls off the wagon. There was a rogue wagon and he gets his leg broken in several different places. Right.

Can't travel anymore. And so Joseph Smith stayed back for him for about a month in a hotel in [00:22:00] Indiana. And everyone else went on and it was just kind of like, oh my gosh, how many bad things can happen? And then finally in July, he went back to Kirland and he started working on the Joseph Smith translation of the New Testament.

And, um, that was July. And then in September he moved to the New K Whitney store in their home. Him and Emma did. And that is where also a lot, you know, again, the school, the profits, all that kind of stuff happened there. Mm-hmm. So this is right around that time in September where he had just moved to the New K Whitney store.

But it does sound like this was an outside thing. And um, the question is, you know, what do you think the word priesthood, power Priesthood is the power of God? Um, it's the power of creation. It's the power behind miracles. It's the power to overcome. It's the power to transform us and to help us become like our savior.

And ultimately like our father. I kind of did an experiment the last couple days where when I was asking certain people what does the priesthood mean to them? What's their first like answer knee your cancer. Oh, I like that. And. The thing that I found out is, again, there's so many seminary and primary answers where it's like, oh, well this is it.

Uh, you know, it's like, what do you need to do? You, oh, go to church, read your church, or go to the temple. So I was kind of assuming that everyone would have the same answer for what is the priesthood. Um, and what I found was everyone had a different answer and I assumed it was like, well, I've always priesthood as the power of God on this earth.

Mm-hmm. And I kind of thought that, and there was a few responses like that, but they ranged everywhere from, well, the priesthood is, um, it all came men, you know, overall a lot of it was just men or, well, there's the different priesthood. Uh, you know, there's tic ironic, and then [00:24:00] there's the a bishop and then there's a prophet.

So people were just, again, what levels of priesthood are, what statistics Right. Could, and then also a lot of. The person in their past or their present and talking, you know, to someone who had just lost a child, the priest, that to them was the power of seal for eternal families. And everyone had a totally different perspective.

And I was like, wait, I thought the priesthood was just an answer. It is a very personalized experience, what the priesthood has played in their life. And I would say that again, like you said, it changes what Kendra's answer. Being in a marriage for 21 years and priesthood is very different, I think, than her answer that she was able to give this last year.

Yeah. And so I agree, uh, that was interesting to me to realize that everyone actually has a different relationship with the priesthood and their answer will change according to the things that they are currently going through. What they went through. Yeah. There's not a, there's not a uniform answer on it.

Wow. Kate, that was so awesome the way you set that up and described that, because here's what we'll do in the next segment, then we're gonna look at some verses that actually describe the priesthood. I'm so glad that you did that little survey because now we're going to see what the Lord has to say and how he describes the priesthood.

So we'll do that in the next segment.

Segment 3

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Ladies, if you, now, I'm guessing you've done this before. If you were to buy something online, how important is the description to you? Oh, geez. I maybe do a lot of online shopping. Okay. I have a toddler, and going to the store is not very fun right now. So I always say if Amazon doesn't deliver it or my grocery order cannot bring it, then I do not need it.[00:26:00]

So how are you with descriptions? Okay, so I'm gonna tell you the honest truth. It depends on where I'm shopping. Mm. So if I'm on Amazon, I'm gonna read a lot of the reviews. Yes, I'm going to see how many stars it has. I'm going to check things out. Um, even go into the details of like how tall I am, how much I weigh, make sure this is gonna fit because I'm a busy mom.

I don't have time for returns, right? But then if I'm shopping on Nordstrom, I don't really read the reviews as much because I know there's good quality, right? Yes. Yes. So it kind of depends. But then you've got the other spectrum where you're like on sheen and you better read every review 10 times. You better.

You have to measure. You have to measure on sheen. If anyone shops there, the descriptions are imperative. Yes. Having a good experience, you have to have it. Oh, that is awesome. So I actually, I love reviews. I never ever post them. Never post them. But I'm so grateful for the people that do, because it really does help with my online shopping.

Oh, that's good. What about you, Kate? You like a description? You know what? Yes and no. I think it's interesting, again, depending on the intent of the purchase mm-hmm. Sometimes it, uh, going into it, it's like, all right, I just need to get a scientific calculator. You know, you're just ordering things. But if it is something special for somebody else, um, if it's a special measurement, if it's something different, then I find myself willing to put the time and effort in.

Yeah. To go to the description and to make sure, um, you know, different things. And so I would say the description is really important. With whatever intent I'm going into. Yeah. Um, if I'm getting a special gift for somebody or a itemized, you know, thing, um, I, I look at the description more and I give it the time and effort, like the research.

But in general, um, I think we just so casually trust what we see. And I'm totally one of those where I'm like, oh, [00:28:00] yep, click, click, click, click. And, and sometimes I pay the consequences, sometimes I don't. But I mean, as I know, we're reveering to, is the description of the priesthood again. Yeah. We can quickly read through the description and be like, oh, I don't wanna say so click, click like, yep, nope.

That's not because that's wrong. Like, that's higher, that's lesser. And then now when we've been asked to actually more dive into it, you're looking at it and you're like, all right, this is where a really kind of weird experience came for me. As I was really looking through six through 31 and the different things, there were so many words that were used over and over, which I think are also newer words that are being used heavily in the last, in the last 10 years, which are newer again, ordinance Covenant.

Mm-hmm. It, it kind of threw me and the way that I was like, wait a minute, these are words we use all the time. Do I actually know what they mean? Um, because, so let's do this. Okay. Okay. Let's go into these verses. I love how you set this up. Let's put in the time and effort, as she said. I love that you said that.

Grab some to mark your scriptures with. We're gonna label some of these verses first. What you wanna do is verses one through five. These are some beautiful temple wording verses. We're not gonna spend time on that today, but read them and love them, they're awesome. Then you're gonna bracket it off verses six all the way through 16.

And this is the Melek priesthood line of authority for Moses. And we love these verses. This is where Moses got his priesthood. And then you're going to bracket off verses 17 through 32 and 17 through 32 is the description of the priesthood. I like that the come follow me lessons. Set it up this way. It actually invited us to read these verses and describe the priesthood and the purposes.

In fact, the assignment was how could you use these verses to describe the priesthood and its purpose to someone. And so that's [00:30:00] what I assigned you two to do. Tell me what you found. What did you mark in verses 17 through 32? How is the priesthood described? And give us the verses to Mark. This is gonna be fun.

Okay. I have to say, I actually asked several friends, how would you describe the priesthood to a non-member? Ooh, that's good because I think we come as members of the church with kind of a background knowledge of it. But if somebody wasn't of our faith, how would we describe it to them? Okay. And I loved that.

It was just so basic. It's God's power here on the earth. Absolutely. I loved that. I love that we, we get to still have the priesthood. It was restored to the earth and we have those same blessings that they had way back in the day. It's the same. It's the power of God here on the earth. In fact, let's read verses 16 and 17, which support that beautifully.

Kendra, will you read those for us? 16 ends where the priesthood then shows we get it from Adam. So that's the background for 16, but read the 16 and 17. Okay. 16 says, and from Enoch to Abel, who was slain by the conspiracy of his brother, who received the priesthood by the commandments of God, by the hand of his father, Adam, who was the first man, which priesthood continue with in the church of God in all generations and is without beginning of days or end of years.

I love that. That it, it goes on forever. Yeah. And it's always existed. This power. Yes. Yeah. Okay. And quick, quick, quick, quick side note here. I'm gonna make this longer. Honestly, these verses meant something totally different to me reading it because I had just returned from England. And the only way that this mattered to me is, you know, and even I've listened to other podcasts and whatever from the past, and it's like, oh, this is just these genealogy.

You can skip this. And I do, usually I'm like, oh yeah, I don't really need [00:32:00] to know the line of authority. I know, you know what I mean? But it was actually being in England and in Scotland, and literally how much lineage mm-hmm. And how power is passed down from monarchy, but also in church. How, if you don't have the proof of who you got it from and who gave you the, um, the right to be the priest or so where that priest who came from, but also monarchy these things.

The lineage does matter. Maybe not just the average person, but you will not even be given any power at all unless you can trace that you were granted it or given it. And that's what wars were fought over. Well, actually he got his power from here. No, they got mm-hmm. Here. And in my head, I never would've clicked in it that I was like, oh, skip through that.

But it was like, no, it is vital to know these things. Um, because it, it does mean that it is legitimate. It's legitimate. I like that. Well, going back to trying to explain the priesthood to a non-member, do you think they might ask, well, how did they get God's power here on the earth? Mm-hmm. And I think we as Latter Day Saints should know where it came from and how we got it.

Yeah. And again, I think I would've skipped over it before, other than it was like going and seeing all these tapestries and different things and it was like, I mean, they needed to document. I'm royal because I got the power of God from this person to this person and my father. And then how the entire churches have been run.

Well, who gave you authority? And it's like, well, this Pope did this. I mean, it all came from Peter. Mm-hmm. I wouldn't have thought legitimacy or again, but everyone's actually gonna wanna know, well, you know, again, who, where did you earn your degree from? Yeah. Where, how are you the scholar on talking on this type of thing?

And it's like the same thing where I would've skipped over this unless I had just been like, actually, wars were [00:34:00] fought over legitimacy of who gave you the power or the priesthood. And I never would've known that. Why do you think they started with Moses? Why didn't they start with somebody else giving the legitimacy of priesthood.

Isn't that interesting? Yeah. Well. He's giving Moses the opportunity to have the higher priesthood and to access everything. And he wants, he goes, okay, go tell all your people, they can have this come up the mountain. We can all partake of the higher priesthood. And then he goes down there and, and literally they were doing all this stupid stuff and then Christ is like, oh my gosh, Moses, your people, they don't, they're not ready for it yet.

Yeah. Um, but I think what it shows is there, with Moses, it was the opportunity that they had the possibility of accessing the higher. Priesthood in the higher power and they were not ready starting back all the way there. Yeah. From when, um, the 10 Commandments, you know. Well, and, and the, I love that the story you just told is verses 23 through 27.

It's exactly what you summed up beautifully. And then if you go to verses 20 through 22, this right here is the powerhouse of a description of the priesthood because it's just what you said, Kate, the Lord's like, look, I want to give you this, but then you're right, they feared and they, they're like, well, we don't know if we wanna go up to the mountain 'cause that seems so scary.

So let's cross reference some things. Verses 23 through 27. You can read that story in Exodus 19 through 20 when they started to be afraid and they thought, oh no, no, we don't know if we can handle going up to the mountain and seeing the Lord's face because here's what they were promised. So here's some great descriptive words about the priesthood.

Kendra, will you read verses 20 through 22? Absolutely. Okay. 20 says, therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof and the authority of the priesthood, the power of [00:36:00] godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh. For without this, no man can see the face of God, even the Father and live.

Now, highlight the power of godliness in both of those verses, because that is one way you could describe the priesthood. You could say, well, it's the power of godliness, but I think this is pretty cool because what the power of godliness means is, and write this next to those two verses. It actually means becoming like God.

That's what it means. Okay. Tammy 22 was one of my favorite verses. For, without this, no man can see the face of God, even the father and live. We are to know him. Yes, we are To become like him. Yes. How do we do that without the power of the priesthood? You're 100% correct. In fact, in verse 22, circle the word this for without this and draw a line and connect it to the power of godliness.

So without this, without becoming like God, and the only way we can become like God is you can put a circle around this word or a square or ordinances right there. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, and then in verse 21, without the ordinances thereof, we cannot become like God. So that is, I love those descriptive words.

So what is the priesthood? Oh, it's the power to become like God powerful and then to see him and to know him, Kendra, I think that's beautiful how you said that we are to know him. I absolutely agree. We are to know him. And I thought about this and I was like, okay, does he literally mean we get to see the face of God the father?

Or is it like a figurative speech and whatever, and what do you think? Well, I was like, wait a minute, I'm promised. I am promised at the veil. When I am in the temple, I am then invited to be with the father through the veil. Mm-hmm. And so in my head I was like, I think it's literal. I think it's literal because again, we're [00:38:00] doing this over and over again, but then a hand has reached through and I am invited to then be with God and I will get to see his face.

Yes. I have, you know, you're right. I kind of labeled it. Verse 19 is we get to be administrators of the gospel. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, and then the priesthood keys, like we unlock the mysteries of the kingdom. We unlock the knowledge of God, we unlock through our ordinances, the power of godliness. We unlock the ability to see the face of God.

We unlock the rest of God. The glory of God. Like those are the things that we can unlock through the priesthood. Yeah. Oh, I think those are beautiful things you just taught us. Very cool, Kate. And then I love verse 23. We'll just do this right here because it says, now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel.

He plainly taught the description of the priesthood and the benefit of it. And I think where it says Moses, we could easily put, and now this President Russell M. Nelson. Plainly taught to the children of Israel or to us today. He has plainly taught, he's tried to get us to understand the priesthood and how it looks and acts in our lives as women, which is so important because I can remember teaching section 84 many times as a seminary teacher and even having young women lessons that encourage us to teach Section 84.

And the whole point was to show that women can support the priesthood. Yes, that was what we were supposed to teach. Here's how we can support the priesthood. And I'm so grateful for a prophet who shifted this to now say, oh, no, no, no, no. This is how you can have the priesthood power. This is how you can actually have it in your lives.

And so what we're gonna do in the next segment is we're gonna dive into that talk by our prophet called spiritual treasures. Go to our show notes. We're gonna have a link to this talk so you can print that off if you'd like to join us before you go to this segment. And we are gonna dive into the spiritual treasures to see what our prophet [00:40:00] president Russell and Nelson plainly taught to the children of Israel about the priesthood.

We'll do that next.

Segment 4

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In October of 2019, this is what our prophet said to us. Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances has direct access to the power of God. So I asked my guest to read this talk called Spiritual Treasures, and I wanted them to look for ways that they can draw upon the savior's power in their lives based on this talk.

So share with me ladies, what did you mark? What stood out to you and what did you like? Here we go. Can I just say I wanted to highlight the whole talk? Well, yes. Isn't literally the best talk I did, did highlight Good talk. You like the whole thing? It's funny 'cause I've heard it, I've referenced it, I've used it.

But this, it's been a long time since I've actually just sat down and read it from start to finish. And I'm telling you what, I'm like, how did I miss all this? All these gems. This is so awesome. Oh, it's good. You're right. It is the best talk. What did you mark, Kendra? You start us. Well, so when I had read this talk before, something that really stood out to me was when he says, um, lay aside the things of this world and seek for the things of a better, this is my voice unto all.

And I really took that to heart. I really thought, what can I prioriti prioritize in my life that I've maybe put on the back burner? Or what changes can I make in my everyday choices that will help me draw closer to Christ? Mm-hmm. And that was my main focus as I read through this talk, but as I studied it.

With the priesthood being the focus, it changed how I saw this talk. Mm-hmm. Then he goes on to say, how I [00:42:00] yearn for you to understand that the restoration of the priesthood is just as relevant to you as a woman as it is to any man. Because the Mel Kedi priesthood has been restored, both covenant keeping, women and men have access to all the spiritual blessings of the church.

Or we might say to all the spiritual treasures the Lord has for his children. I, I love that because I think sometimes we forget that as women, just because we aren't, you know, ordained to an office, we feel like maybe we don't have access to the power of the priesthood, but we do, and he spells it out so clearly.

That's amazing. Yeah, it absolutely is. How have you relied on that recently in your life?

Well, oh my goodness. Um. That has been a huge blessing for me because throughout this experience I have not felt a decrease in spiritual power. I actually would say the opposite. I felt an increase in spiritual power. Mm-hmm. Even though I don't have a priesthood holder in my home. Yeah. Um, I have had to rely on the power of the priesthood.

I've had to rely on my own, um, relationship with the Lord, and I've had to draw on his power to give me strength, to help me find joy in the journey. Right? Mm-hmm. This journey is, I wouldn't say that it would be joyful for most, but as I look back on the last six months, I can see so much joy. Oh my gosh.

Kendra, I love that you just said. Well, I just think it's so amazing that you keep saying the word joy because I went back to the section heading of section 84 and that it uses that word. It literally says right here that the elders had begun to return from their missions in the Eastern states to make reports of their labors.

It was, while they were together in this season of joy, it was not a very joyful time for the [00:44:00] saints. Let's be clear, like they are now going to Ohio, trying to set up camp. They've sold everything in New York. It's a hard time. They're starting over. They've gotta build, they're starting from scratch, getting furniture, getting houses built, wondering how they're gonna pay for things.

I mean, it's everything you're doing. And yet here they are saying, oh, this is a season of joy and I love how you're saying that about your own life because of priesthood power. That's really awesome. Okay, so I, I can honestly say the things. You know, trying to furnish a house and figure out how you're gonna pay for things and figure out how you're gonna support your family, that can be so stressful.

But when you shift your focus to see the Lord's hand in your life mm-hmm. The tender mercies, and you focus on the things that matter most, you can't help but feel joy, right? Yes. You partner with God, you feel joy. So I love later on in the talk how it says. Now you might be saying to yourself, this sounds wonderful, but how do I do it?

How do I draw the Savior's power into my life? Right? It sounds really cool, but how do I actually do that? I've asked myself that exact question and I've prayed. I've asked that question in prayer. How do I do this? How do I go about doing this? And I've had, throughout my life, I've had very amazing women influence my life.

I did hair for 21 years. I had these clients that became my dearest friends. They were such good examples to me. They always had little like golden nuggets of inspiration that they would share with me. And I held onto those. Yeah, I still to this day remember things that they told me. And I'm so grateful for one of my dearest clients.

I hate to even call her a client because she really is one of my dearest friends. She actually was going through a really hard time with her daughter, and she said, I feel like I have tried everything that I know to help her. And it's, it's not enough. It's not working. [00:46:00] And she said that she had gone to the temple and prayed about it, and she had this distinct impression that she needed to call on her ancestors.

To help her daughter. Mm-hmm. And she told me that she prayed and she asked for them to comfort her, to guide her, to direct her, to love on her, because she as a mother wasn't able to do what her daughter needed, even though she wanted to. Right. Yeah. And actually, years later, I was going through a really hard time with my youngest daughter, and I didn't have the answers.

I was studying, I was praying, I was talking to all the doctors. I was doing everything that a mother might do, and it wasn't working. And in my deepest, darkest moments of despair when she's supposed to be sleeping, and I'm worrying about her safety, and I'm worrying about her mental wellbeing and all of that, the thought came to mind.

Ask for help. This conversation with the client came back to me and I did. I prayed for angels to surround her, to lift her up in the ways that I couldn't, to be with her and comfort her and give her the strength that she needed to get through this hard time. And if you were to meet my daughter even five years ago, and now you would be shocked.

She is a completely different person. She was full of chaos and oh my goodness, she, she gave me the whole humble pie, Tammy, not a slice. Wow. She talked the whole humble pie my way. And now she's grown into this beautiful woman, and I can't take credit for that. I, I gave it all I had, I prayed, I did all of the things that a mother might do to help their child, but I know without a doubt that it was something greater that brought her peace, that comforted her.

And. How beautiful that we have the opportunity to call upon angels and our [00:48:00] ancestors and ask for help. That is priesthood power right there in action. Oh my gosh, Kendra. Absolutely. That's awesome. So good. Kate, what do you have? Well, I loved this whole talk and again, I think, you know, we heard it, but then going through and setting it as different, I also kind of had to, again, the history person in me look through like again, is it just you?

Is it like in the last 10 years all of a sudden that like these are, there is a different vocabulary in the church. Mm-hmm. Words that have been there, like House of Israel, covenant path, these kind of things. They've always been there, but all of a sudden now it's like word vomit. It's like it's everywhere.

We, the prophet is like, you need to know these words and you need to be using them and understand what they mean. And I also feel like, from what I can tell, and you can correct me, Tammy, but you kind of confirmed it. I think up until like even the last 10 years, I don't think that there has ever been a prophet who has admonished the church directly and specifically said to women and to men to study the priest, the oath, the covenant, to give us direct sections that we need to study.

Right? To me, this is no coincidence learning new vocabulary. That's really difficult to understand. We need to get used to using it. There was a lot of times in the talk, he gives us different promises and also prophetic counsel and warning. And so I always try to be like, oh, that was a warning. That was a, you know, a promise.

Different things. And you know, would be on the third page if you guys print it out. Um, now a little word of prophetic warning. There are those who would undermine your ability to call upon the power of God. There are those who would have you doubt yourself and minimize your stellar spiritual capacity as a righteous woman.

Most certainly the adversary does not want you to understand [00:50:00] the covenant you made at baptism or the profound endowment of knowledge and power you have received or will receive in the temple. Um, and Satan certainly does not want you to understand that every time you were fully serve and worship in the temple, you leave armed with God's power and with his angels having charge over you.

And I think, yeah. Um, again, why is the prophet hitting on this now? Why is it something so heavily being talked about? I, growing up, and even until last year, I, the priesthood was never brought to my level. It was how to support it, how to sustain it, how to, um. Find a worthy priest and hold her. Those kinds of things.

It was never brought to like, oh, how can you access the priesthood? I think that is something totally new with our prophet. And then comes that warning. You're gonna question what? Well, can I actually do it? Because this is new knowledge for a lot of people. This is kind of new indeed language. And so can I really, and also be warned if there's anyone who does not want us to understand the priesthood, the power of the priest that are, how to draw upon it.

It is Satan, especially for women. He would like to keep us confused in the dark. Um, and also even the men in the church to keep misunderstanding that this is just priority, you know, for men. Um. I'll say it is worth a visit to the talk he did in 2018 to the, in the priesthood session. It was like a, you could also tell the stark difference.

Okay, men, this is the priesthood. Kind of like just dabbling in the idea of like, Hey, women can access this too. Kind of, you know? But a lot of people, especially older, are not like, wait, this is our thing. It was like kind of tossing the waters, Hey, this is the priest that he gave them a talk and then a whole year to digest it.

And he is like, all right, here's the meat. Actually, [00:52:00] we need the women to access the priesthood. Yes. Them to understand. Um, and again, his line upon line, you know, I love the joy that Kendra has in general, and how even when I was worried like, oh, this could be a sense of, she already, she lives this. Yeah. And it was like, it was, she was like, why did you think I would, that would be weird.

And I'm like. You know what? What a different mindset. Probably even 10 years. She doesn't realize that she's been absorbing it. But 10 years ago, and you can probably relate to this too, Tammy, again, if you were to ask a single woman or someone without a husband, the priesthood would be a tender topic because they would immediately associate it with marriage.

Yeah. Or having it in your home. Where now, look, the knee jerk reaction of Kendra was, well, why would I find that offensive? Why would I find that tender? You're right. Why? You know? Yeah. It beautiful, Kate, that was so powerful the way you taught that, and then combining it with Kendra's story because. We're gonna apply it now to section 84, and we're gonna do some of really cool things 'cause I wanna show you where in section 84, it really does prove that the power of the priesthood is accessible to both men and women.

We're gonna use scripture wording here and we're gonna dive into some more meat of the priesthood. We'll do that in the next segment.

Segment 5

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So grab something to mark your scriptures with. You need a pen and then you're gonna need a highlighter. And we are gonna go institute style with these verses. So the first thing I want you to do is in section 84, go to verse six, and I want you to put a square around the title Sons of Moses. This is said throughout section 84, and when you read that, you immediately go, men we're just talking to men.

But it's important for us to know something about that phrase. So I'm gonna show you [00:54:00] another place it is so you can put a square around it. Go to verse 32. Put a square around Sons of Moses, and then again in verse 34, the Sons of Moses. Okay, here's what you wanna first know about that title. The Sons of Moses is a collective term for anyone who receives milk, hetic, priesthood, and anyone who has access to the rights, powers, and privileges of the priesthood.

So right there, that's all of us. Now, if you're like, hmm, I don't know, it still says Sons of Moses. Okay, now let's go to verse 33 and we're gonna show you some things where it really does. Sons of Moses can mean all of us. So with your highlighter scripture highlighter, I want you to highlight the word obtain in verse 33.

It says, for who so is faithful and to obtaining these two priesthoods. So highlight, obtain, and then take your scripture highlighter and go verses 35 through 40 and highlight every time you see the word receive. And it's often 35. There it is twice 36. It's twice 37. It's once 38. There it is again. He that receive with my father.

Oh, and there it is again. He that receive with my father's kingdom. Then again, in verses 40, you're going to have the word receive twice. And then in verse 41, received. Now there's something significant about the words obtain and receive in connection with each other. And this is a quote. It's by Elder Paul b Piper from the quorum of the 70.

And he said this in 2016. And Kendra, can you please read this quote for us? It is interesting that in the oath and covenant of the priesthood, the Lord uses the verbs, obtain and receive. He does not use the verb ordain. It is in the temple that men and women together obtain and receive the blessings and power of both the onic and Mel tic priesthoods.

Perfect. Okay, now men and women obtain [00:56:00] and receive the priesthood. Now go to verse 34. So we have it talking about the priesthood, but I really like verse 34, in connection with 35. It says, they all of us become the sons of Moses. Now we're gonna circle the ands. And of Aaron and the seat of Abraham and the church and the kingdom and the elect of God.

Cross out the comma right there. 'cause in the original manuscript of the doctrine and covenants, there is no comma. It continues by saying. And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, say it the Lord. So all of us men and women alike obtain and receive the priesthood through covenants and through ordinances.

Now Kate, you had some really interesting thoughts about the word ordinance and covenants. Tell me what you were thinking when you were studying this and what came up. 'cause I think this is pretty cool when you, when you shared it with me. Yeah. I think, um, as I, I feel like in the past few years there's been a few words that I know have always been the gospel, but they're, they're more frequently used.

And I think that sometimes we also. Are using them maybe incorrectly or we're confusing them in the way that they actually are very defined and we don't understand what they mean. And I really found myself hypocritical in this. And the way that, of course, I know what an ordinance is, of course, I know what a covenant is.

A covenant's a true promise to being God. It's a two way and an ordinance is, uh, an ord. And it was one of these things. Mm-hmm. I was like, maybe I'm just so tired and frazzled. Wait a minute, what does it actually mean? What does an ordinance and then. Uh, okay. When do I do an ordinance? Have I done an, like, it was, it was really going back to the basics where I quickly, again, learned what I am not studying and like continuing to learn about I lose, and, and so I kind of had to go back into like a [00:58:00] deep study of, all right, what are my ordinances, what are my covenants and what are my promises?

And it, it was really, really good for me to do it in the way that, again, when we understand this, this is not something Satan wants us to know because we are given so many promises and. It really came down to, okay, what are the, or what are ordinances on the church? And those are things done, you know, with the priesthood.

And that I learned is actually a baby blessing, is an ordinance, a priesthood ordinance. Um, baptism is an ordinance. Receiving the Holy Ghost is an ordinance, washings and anointings, the Temple Endowment ceiling. These are all different ordinances. Now, in my lifetime, I've actually partaken of all of these ordinances.

So again, when we say ordinance, there's not a ton of ordinances out there. Actually, there, there's a, you know, they're not endless. There was actually a select few ordinances of the priesthood, and I was like, oh my gosh, wait, I've had all these ordinances. Okay. Did I know what was attached to them and the covenants that are attached to 'em.

And it was like, all right, I've got my baptismal ordinance. And with that came covenants that I made, which is to take upon myself the name of Jesus Christ, to always remember him, to keep his commandments and to serve him. And in return, I am promised the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, along with forgiveness and spiritual guidance.

Then it goes to the ordinances of the temple. In the Temple endowment ceremony. I made higher covenants with God, and these include the different things. And again, I don't think we know because we haven't ever felt like it was okay to talk about it. It was like, oh no, we can't talk about having the temple and now every now, now it's okay.

And it was like, all right. Yeah. The covenant I made in the temple is the law of obedience, and I promise to obey God's commandments and submit to his will the law of sacrifice, which is to [01:00:00] commit to sacrifice my time, talents, and. Everything to the Lord than the law of the gospel, which is to promise to live a higher law, which includes living, righteously, repenting, and striving to become more like Christ, the law of chastity, which I then covenant to the God to live a morally clean life, being faithful to my spouse if I'm married and abstaining from sexual relationships outside of the marriage covenant.

Mm-hmm. And then the law of consecration. I made a promise that I would dedicate myself my time, my talents, and means to the building of the kingdom on Earth. And I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but we go to the temple and we are raising our hand to the square and we're committing to these things.

It was nice for me to write down, oh, what did I actually commit to? When we actually go through that and understand it, I mean. We are endowed with so much power and strength and promises to bless our family ourselves and completely that guide our lives. Um, I think I just needed to go back to the bare basics.

Yeah. Little bit about ordinances, what covenants and what, what am I getting in return now? This is really cool and thank you so much for telling us this, Kate, and I appreciate your research on this topic because I go back to the words, obtain and receive, and now I'm wondering if the ordinances are what we obtain.

Because those are like the blessings and the covenants are what we receive because there's action involved. It's what we have to receive physically do, and so now it makes so much more sense. We obtain and receive the ordinances and the covenants, and when we do that, we are absolutely blessed. The blessings are amazing.

One of the things I love, Barbara Morgan Gardner wrote the best book on the priesthood. I highly recommend everyone reads it. You can get it on the Deseret Bookshelf Plus app. So if you're listening to this podcast, just go and download her book because in it, I think for me, what really struck me was when she taught us that men in the church are [01:02:00] ordained to offices in the priesthood, and through this ordination, they are given power to perform saving ordinances so that every member of the church can enter into covenants full stop.

That's the point of them being ordained to an office, is just to perform saving ordinances for us so that we can then go to the temple. And obtain and receive the priesthood power. And so I think this is just opens the door then for all of us women to go, oh my gosh. So I'm not ordained to the priesthood.

That's what wonderful, faithful worthy men do for us is that they then can help in turn. Have us obtain and receive priesthood power in our lives. My friend Melinda Wheelwright Brown, so she just came out with a brand new book, it's called An Endowment of Love, and it's all about the temple, and it's super, super cool and I recommend reading that as well.

And in an interview on the Magnify podcast, she talked about this idea of making and keeping covenants. And then she said this, and I wanna know what your guys' thoughts are. She says, I think when we ask the question, how do I make and keep covenants, we may have the wording a little bit wrong, she says. I understand making covenants, but keeping covenants.

There might be some way to look at this differently. She says, if I'm trying to foster a stronger marriage with my husband, I don't wake up and ask, how am I going to keep my marriage today? She says, it's more much natural to say, how am I going to show that I love him today? And she said, this word show might be a better way for us to live a covenant relationship.

How can I show my covenants today? And Kate, you did a great job of summing up what those are. And so I'm throwing this out to you. For those of you two right here today who have obtained and received the priesthood power in your life, what are some ways you can show your covenants rather than keep your covenants?

And I know it might be semantics, but I did really like when she said, how can I show my covenants today? What are your thoughts? Okay. My first thought actually goes back to the spiritual treasures talk. Ooh, sure. 'cause he talks so much [01:04:00] about submitting your will to the Lord, to consecrating your life. And I think that's such a personal journey.

I think that we have to use the power of the Holy Ghost, right? There is no one way to do this, and we have to figure it out for ourselves. In the talk it says, you won't find this process spelled out in any manual. The Holy Ghost will be your personal tutor as you seek to understand what the Lord would have you know and do.

This process is neither quick nor easy, but it is spiritually invigorating. What could possibly be more exciting than to labor with the Spirit to understand God's power? So how do we show him? How do we show the covenants that we've made? It's by the things that we do, the things that we choose every single day.

So I actually, um, have taken this talk and thought about personal experiences in my life that show this, and how can I better show what is most important to me, what I prioritize in my life and why? So let me tell you about a story. Several years ago, I was really into health and fitness, and I thought it was fantastic.

We're always striving to be better, right? Mm-hmm. Become a little better, a little stronger, a little whatever, every day. And I was doing it. I was doing it. I was motivated, I was exercising, I was eating healthy, I was tracking all the things, and it felt really good. It was super invigorating. Like I could set a goal and reach it, and it felt so good.

And as I prayed. To know what the Lord would have me do. The thought kept coming to mind that that needs to not be my top priority. Hmm. And I thought, well, it's not a bad priority. I'm healthy. I'm taking care of my body, this beautiful temple that the Lord gave me, right? Yeah. I'm doing something good. This can't be, this can't be bad.

And the the thought [01:06:00] just kept coming over and over again. And as I prayed and studied and grew and stretched myself a little bit, I realized, no, this is not bad. It just isn't the best, and I need to put my priorities in line of what they really are. Mm-hmm. So instead of waking up at 5:00 AM getting my workout clothes on and hitting the gym, I woke up at 5:00 AM, made my caffeine hot chocolate, and studied my scriptures.

And it sounds so cheesy, but let me just tell you, it changed my entire life. Wow. Each day I started with the things that were most important to me. Mm-hmm. And because of that, my mind was focused on the Lord, not the things of the world. And I love, I love the thought of like, good, better, best. Right. Yeah.

Was working out good. Absolutely. Was setting goals and achieving 'em better. Yeah, for sure. But what was best for me and my heart and my spiritual growth and drawing closer to the Lord was to prioritize that my spiritual growth. And it did, it changed my entire life. And still to this day, I wake up, I do my scriptures because I love the tone that it sets for the day.

And then guess what? I sometimes get a workout. I would say most of the time I get a workout. I still focus on keeping this temple healthy. Mm-hmm. And strong and all of the things. But my focus has changed. Right. I want my body to be able to perform in the ways that the Lord needs it to. Oh my gosh. That is a great, great example of showing your covenants.

That is so cool. I love that. Thank you for sharing that personal story. Very good. Kendra. Of course, Kendra's showing her covenants. Love it. It lives her covenants every day. Yes. You know, [01:08:00] again, they always say when you're given a topic to seek on or to teach on, it's like always for you. I actually, again.

Slightly overachieving on what you were saying, like, oh, I do love Melinda Brown and I do love Dr. Barbara Morgan Gardner book and also Sherry do's book on the priesthood. Yes, I have all of them. I will say it can be overwhelming. It is a very thick, doctrinal books. They're amazing. And I think that these women, because of their intense devotion to the study of it and because of their, you know, being, you know.

Going to all of these different schools and things, the, these things are, it is, it can be almost like modern scripture, but for the average person reading it, my eyes glazed over a little bit. Like, oh wait, what? What? And it made me feel really inferior, like, how can I not get this? You know what I mean? And so again, really doing the self introspection again of, like Melinda said, you know, how are you living it?

Um, how are you showing your covenants? And I, I kind of think that there are many women who are the spiritual heads of their homes and their communities, and that we do need to understand what that means. I kind of broke it down when I was looking, what does it look like on a daily basis? Or what could it look like that I am.

Honoring my covenants and I broke it down to like the different, you know, covenants that are made. What does it look like when I say I'm gonna commit on a daily basis to live the law, um, of obedience? It means I'm gonna pray when I don't feel like it. I'm gonna choose kindness over retaliation. I'm gonna try to stay true to my standards even when no one's watching.

What does it mean when I covenanted to live the law of a sacrifice? It [01:10:00] actually looks like me serving when it isn't convenient. Um, it's prioritizing church and the temple and ministering even when my schedule is too packed. Um, it means giving up something good for something better. Eternally speaking, these are things on a daily basis that I am.

Following through with my covenant. Um, so I think when we break it down to those small points, it is why we are the spiritual heads of the household, our community, because we are living our lives every day like this. I guarantee everyone here is honoring the things that, that we do as women. We're honoring our covenants all the time.

All the time. And Kate, as you were speaking, I was drawn to this quote by Sherry De, but even if you're not married Kendra, you are this quote by Sherry Dee and have been for your family. Because I asked the same thing in Kate, like, what does it look like then to have priesthood power? Because we talk a lot about that.

But then you have one women wondering, okay, well what does that mean? I can do with it. And I just loved what both of you shared. And then we're gonna support it with this quote from Sherry. Do, will you please read for us, Kate, what she had to say about what it means to have access to priesthood power?

Yes. What does it mean to have access to priesthood power? It means that we can receive revelation, be blessed and aided by the ministering of angels. Learn to part the veil that separates us from Heavenly Father, be strengthened to resist temptation, be protected, and be enlightened and made smarter than we were all without any mortal intermediary.

Awesome. I mean, I, as you were reading that quote, I just went, Kate, Kendra, Kate, Kendra. Every story you guys have shared have been this, and we love the very end when it says that we are made smarter than we are, all without any mortal intermediary. Like we don't even need anybody to intermediate or come into our lives to help make us [01:12:00] smarter.

Not necessarily we don't need a self-help book. We have access to the priesthood power, which makes us smarter, which makes us better. That's the intermediary we have is the Holy Ghost. So you both have been examples of that throughout this entire conversation. And when you go back to section 84 and you look at verse 40 and 41, how powerful it says in 40, therefore, all those who receive this priesthood, there it is.

All of us receive this oath and covenant of my father. So we've entered into ordinances and covenants and now the Lord's saying, look what I will do for you. Here's my end of the covenant. And then he says, which he cannot break. Neither can it be moved. I mean it's valid, it's good and 41. But who so break at this covenant after he had received it and altogether turn it there.

Fromm shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world, nor in the world to come. I mean, that's crazy. You know how bad you have to be. I mean, that's just nuts to me. So if we're just moving forward, if we're just striving, like everything you said, Kate, I really appreciate your stories, both of you. They have been perfect examples of what priesthood power looks like in women's lives.

Now, after verse 41, draw a line with red if you have red, because at the end of verse 41, that was day one of the revelation. And then day two of the revelation starts in verse 42, and then goes till the end of section 84. So that's the end of revelation number one. And in the next segment we're gonna dive into Revelation number day two.

And we're just gonna focus on one word that connects all of this to the power of the priesthood. We'll do that next.

Segment 6

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All right. This is the time for you guys to brag on each other. Tell me what you love about each other as friends. 'cause you've known each other now we know for 18 years. So what do you love about each other? Oh my goodness. How long can this segment be? Okay, [01:14:00] I just have to share with you. While I was studying, a couple of verses popped out to me and I just thought, well, that's Kate right there.

So here we go. Verse 85. It says, neither take ye thought beforehand, what ye shall say, but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour, that portion that shall be meted unto every man. And this reminded me of Kate because she is constantly preparing.

She is studying, she is yearning to know more, learn more, create these beautiful things for everybody around her. And then when it comes to a time where she's needed, she's ready. Mm-hmm. You don't have to give her, you know, a week's notice, two weeks notice, a month's notice, she can throw anything together.

I kid you not, she can throw together a party, but she can also show up. As a spiritual leader, as a confidant, as a friend, as somebody that loves you. And I've had personal experience where she's had to, um, tell me some hard things too. She's had to say, Kendra, hold up just a second. Last time we talked, you told me that these were your goals and these were your priorities.

Does this decision line up with that? Wow. And I love that about her. I love that she's there cheering me on. She's there supporting me in all the things that I wanna do, and she's also a voice of reason and cares enough to say, Hey, is this really where you wanna spend your time? I love that. What a great compliment about your Fri Kate.

Apparently everyone needs a Kate. That what a compliment. But I'm sure you're gonna do the same for Kendra. Okay, but hold on, hold on. I have one more verse. There were two verses. Oh, okay. And I'm on page, so okay. Verse 1 0 6. And Adam, mind you, be strong in the spirit. Let him take [01:16:00] with him, him that is weak, that he may be edified in all meekness, that he may be become strong also.

Oh yes. When you're with Kate, you are your best self. Wow. She brings out the best, she helps you see the best, and she is strong and she picks everybody up around her and makes them better than they were before. So her spirit is strong and it makes others want that strength and strive for that strength.

And I am so grateful for that. She's been such a good example to me. Um, a consistent example, I think all of us have moments where we may be spiritually strong or enlightened or whatever. I mean, like, you know, we have been friends for years and years and years. We've seen all the seasons. We've seen all the stages, and Kate has consistently shown up and been strong in spirit, and she's taken the weak and lifted and boosted, and I could not be more grateful.

Wow. I'm writing down so many things you just described there. Oh, thank you, Kendra. What a compliment, Kate. That's pretty cool. I, I know I'm a little bit taken back. I guess it is like the things you don't always see in yourself and, um, yeah, we all need to hear those things. And I would say, um, Kendra is also the friend who is all the things that she just said to me, which is probably why we do get along so well.

I think that we, our, our souls connect in the way that sometimes we don't even need to have a preliminary conversation. When you forget your purpose as a mom, um, your purpose as a wife, where you even are in the gospel, where you stand that day, um, how are you showing up? You, you really miss the mark.

[01:18:00] Kendra's, the person that I call to remind me what I'm forgetting at that moment, that I am a good mom. She'll point out the choices and the things that I did do right. Um, she's the person that is so well-rounded. Um, and in a way, you know, I always say her beauty does an injustice for her in the way that she is.

She's not always, she's physically just gorgeous and intimidating that way, um, always looks put together and, um. I think that a lot of times when we see that in the world, people would think vanity, they would think self-centeredness. Um, they would think self obsession, and it, and it couldn't be more of the opposite.

She's also somebody I've never, again, I I try to live my life faithfully and trusting that things will be taken care of. Um, I've, everyone, I've actually never seen a better wife, um, for the 21 years she was married. It was complete and constant support, um, complete, um, love and devotion and she was a great example to me of what a great wife was.

And I've seen her handle some of her kids with her different, you know, learning disabilities and things and, and, and really be the person to spiritually be led and directed as to what those answers were. And that's always been such an example to me that there is just this unfailing faith. Well, now everyone needs a Kendra.

Oh my goodness. You two, okay, I, I wrote down things that you said about each other and this is really neat. So let's go into section 84 because there is a word that the Lord uses to refer to us as, and I think this is really important for us to recognize. So grab your favorite highlighter color. Mine's pink.

'cause I love it. Always pink. And so [01:20:00] always pink. He calls us this name four times in section 84. So at the end of verse 63. So Kendra, will you read verse 63 for us? Yes. And as I said unto my apostles, even so I say unto you, for you are my apostles, even God's high priests. Ye are they whom my father hath given me.

Ye are my friends. Highlight friends. And then verse 77, Kate, will you read verse 77 for us? And again, we're gonna highlight friends. Perfect. And again, I say unto you, my friends, for from henceforth, I shall call you friends. It is expedient that I give unto you this commandment that you become, even as my friends and days when I was with them traveling to preach the gospel and my power.

Thank you. Doctrine and cabinet Section 84 is the first time in the doctrine and cabinets when the Lord calls us his friends. This is it right here, and it's no coincidence that he does it in the section about the oath and covenant of the priesthood because the Hebrew word for friend is reah and it's far beyond like, oh, this person's my chum, or This person's my buddy, the word friend.

In this Hebrew context, it means friendships. They were often covenantal. They involved commitments and responsibilities to another. The term also underscores the biblical principle of loving one's neighbor, which is central to the ethical teachings of the Old Testament. When we get to the Old Testament, we're gonna read a great story about Jonathan and David.

And in that reverse of scripture, in that storyline, it says that they loved him as his own soul. Like they loved each other so much, but there's covenantal wording in their story. They entered into covenants with each other because they were the dearest, dearest of friends. Now, if we go back to how we kind of began, and I talked to Kate and I said, why do you think the genealogy line is so important?

And I love that you pointed that out to us, the genealogy line of Moses, and it's because of the verse that talks to [01:22:00] us. And Kendra, you beautifully summed this up when you said he wants us to have a relationship with him. If you go back to section 84, verse 22, it says, for without this the power of godliness becoming like God, meaning the priesthood, no man can see the face of God, even the Father and live.

Let's cross reference that verse of scripture and this idea of friends to Exodus chapter 33, verse 11. And so let's go there really fast. And Kate, can you read that for us? Exodus chapter 33, verse 11. Of course. Thank you. It's like a chase, Tammy. I know. Isn't this fun? We're doing all these scripture and actually I have a friend scripture chain.

It's going in our show notes. So go check it out and you can add all these awesome verses of scripture where the Lord calls us his friend from here on out in the doctrine in cabinets. But we're gonna connect it to Exodus 33. Okay, head to Exodus 33 11. And the Lord speak unto Moses face to face as a man, speaketh unto his friend.

There it is. That word friend is Raya. Highlight friend. We're gonna see another time where the Lord calls someone his friend, and this is a very cool one. It's in James chapter two, verse 23, and Kendra, can you read that verse for us? Yes, I will. All right. It says, and the scripture was fulfilled, which sayeth Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.

Two examples of men who are men who have re obtained and received priesthood power in their lives through covenants. And because of that, they are called the friend, the Raya of God. And I feel that way about all of us. Here he is saying, you are now my friends. Here's a great quote. This is by Elder David L.

Buckner. He gave this about the word friend in the October, 2024 general conference, and I will read this quote. He says, Jesus Christ has long called his faithful followers, his friends. 14 times in the doctrine and covenants, the Savior uses the term friend [01:24:00] to define a sacred and cherished relationship.

I'm not talking about the word friend, as the world defines it subject to social media, followers or likes. It cannot be captured in a hashtag or a number on Instagram or X. And I love that quote. I think it's important for us to realize that when he's using this word, friend. For those of us who have obtained and received the power of the priesthood in our lives, we are his friends.

And then I went back to everything you said, because the savior then sees our best self. He's cheering us on. And so right now in your life, here's my final question to the two of you right now, today, how does it help you to know that Christ is your friend? Because there's nobody else who really knows exactly what I'm going through, um, with my lupus and with a lot of other different things that are scary.

But with my child, with cerebral palsy, with not knowing how to handle certain family situations, to know that he's my friend means that I don't have to give a preliminary phone call explaining things. That I don't have to formally kneel in prayer. He's my friend. I just get to open my mouth or my heart and talk to him and I am not alone.

And that when I pray for him to be there to help me make a decision that I maybe don't have evidence of or proof of what I should do, that I'm led to settle on a decision, um, for myself or for my family. And when he's my friend, I know that he matches my level of friendship as only I know what [01:26:00] kind of level of friendship I, I usually live off of.

And if he's matching what I give to friendship, it's everything. Wow. Thank you. Thank you so much. That was strong. Kendra, what about you? Here we are Monday morning, very early. Tell me, with what you have going on in your life, how does it help you to know that Christ is your friend? Oh, geez. I, there's so much I could say about this right now, and I feel like to summarize, um, when I forget my song, he sings it back to me.

He shows me who I am, who he needs me to be and how I can get there. And I love picturing the savior with open arms. I love picturing him like that because he wants us, he wants all of us, the imperfect, the unmade, the undone version, the messy, the ugly. He wants all of us back and his arms are always going to be open.

And just like I told you that Kate was a consistent, true, kind, amazing friend. Our savior is the same. He is always there. He is always going to sing us our song back. He's always going to pick us up. He's going to make us better than we were before, and I love that I have the constant friendship that I can turn to when times are hard and turn to when things are happy.

I love having somebody to celebrate life with. There are so many good things. I mean, we live in an an amazing time and we get to do so many amazing things, and I love that I get to do life with beautiful people, like my dearest friends and my closest friends, and I get to involve my savior in that as well.

Wow. I like that answer. Kendra, both of you. [01:28:00] Thank you. What a beautiful note to end this discussion on that The Savior's our friend. That's what it means to have the power of the priesthood in our lives, is to have a very best friend who will do all the things you guys described. So thank you. That's the end of our discussion.

We're done. Oh, so good. Okay. So gather your thoughts and tell me from our discussion today, what is one eternal truth that you learned, something the Holy Ghost taught you. I'm gonna go first. First and foremost. I loved it, Kendra, when you shared the verse that you loved when you talked about verse 22, that we will be able to see the face of God.

And when you said he wants us to know him, like just the simplicity of that was so powerful. I really liked that you did that. And then Kate, for sure, I love the, all of the information that you shared with us today and the research that you did, but that you took the time, like you said at the very beginning.

You took the time to dive into these verses and when you taught us about the ordinances and the covenants and how you really just did a deep dive into the difference between those two, that was awesome. So thank you for sharing your knowledge with us today. Great discussion. I marked so much stuff in my scriptures.

What I learned, um, is that, uh, that I am friends with the savior and he's friends with me and that he loves me enough. To constantly give me opportunities to find him, um, in all of the covenants I make, and that I get to have constant reminders and constant ways to strengthen my relationship with him.

And it's not hard to access. These are things that I desire and want to have, and they are so freely given his peace, his love, his friendship. And again, I do love the word friendship. He is my friend and yeah, that's what I love. Great one. Thank you, Kate. What about you, Kendra? I love that. Okay. Verse 88 And who so receive with you there.

I will [01:30:00] be also for, I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in your hearts and mine angels roundabout you to bear you up. Amen. This is such a great reminder that he is always there. He is always there because of the power of the priesthood. We have his power here on Earth.

We can access it as daughters of God. We can use it to bless our lives and the lives of our families and friends and all those around us. And when we feel alone, like my circumstances of not having a priesthood provider in my home. He's been there, he's been on my right, he's been on my left. He has lifted me and carried me and helped me find joy in even the darkest of times.

And I am so grateful for that. I'm so grateful for my savior and for the friend that he is to me, my constant companion and somebody that brings me true joy. Amen. Oh ladies, thank you. We're done. You guys are amazing. I love you. I love you. Okay, love you too. Bye. Well, what was the eternal truth you learned from discussing the oath and covenant of the priesthood?

Go join our group on Facebook or follow us on Instagram to share what you have learned, and you can ask questions too, which is so fun. Then at the end of the week on a Saturday, we post a question from this discussion, so comment on the post that relates to this lesson and share your thoughts. You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode at ldsliving.com slash Sunday on Monday, and it's not a bad idea to go there anyway because it's where we're gonna have links to all the references and the transcript of this whole discussion, so go check it out.

The Sunday on Monday Study Group is a Deseret Bookshelf Plus original, brought to you by LDS Living. It's written and hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall, and today our fabulous study group participants were Kate Stoker and Kendra Nani. And you can find more information about my friends at ldsliving.com slash Sunday on Monday.

Our podcast is produced by Cole Wissinger [01:32:00] and me. It is edited and mixed by Cole Wissinger, and our executive producer is Erin Hallstrom. Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week, and please remember, you are God's friend and you are his favorite.