Prospective elders progress
in the gospel and experience growth as they are ordained
to the Melchizedek Priesthood, participate in priesthood
ordinances and service, and prepare to make and
keep temple covenants. I always--whenever I've got
a question about the Church or anything, I always
go to Ben and ask. And he'll always point me
in the right direction. And if I'm unsure about
anything, I always go to Ben. [MUSIC PLAYING] So I look out for
him as a brother, make sure he's on the
straight and narrow. But also, as one
of my elders, I'm responsible for him
and his progression. It's a comfort to know
that Ben is there always. When I first got asked
to bless the sacrament, Ben was, you know,
"I'll do it with you to show you how
everything's done." I've taught him the importance
of wearing his best clothes and, wherever possible,
wearing a white shirt and tie. I showed him where
the scriptures were so that he could read them,
so it wasn't the first time that he was just getting
up there and reading them. I know the importance
of the sacrament, and because of the
importance of it, it makes you a bit more nervous. I was at the side of him,
so he felt very comfortable. And when he did it, I was
saying a little prayer, while he was saying the
prayer, that he'd do it fine. It's just reassuring
to know that he now knows how to do it the way
that our Heavenly Father would have him do it. And that's one
thing, again, I've been able to really help him
with is priesthood ordinances. Obviously he's not known
about how any of them work. There have been
a couple of times where I have needed to give
blessings to other people and have taken him
with me and made sure that he's had actual
experience in giving blessings so that when he needs to give
one and there's no one else around, he's had
that experience. So we don't have to show him
exactly how to give a blessing.
I made an added
interest in making sure that he's progressed
as he should do and that he's kept the
commitments that he should and he's known what
he's had to do in order to get to where he
wanted to be, which was being sealed in the temple. It brings me a lot of comfort
to be part of this Church. It just feels amazing that
everything's happened, and it's brought me so much
happiness in so short a period of time.
How blessed we are to be
here in these last days, when the priesthood of
God is upon the earth. How privileged we are
to bear that priesthood. The priesthood is not so much
a gift as it is a commission to serve, a privilege to
lift, and an opportunity to bless the lives of others.