Directors of the Melchizedek Priesthood MIA

Elder James E. Faust,
Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, and Managing Director, Melchizedek Priesthood MIA

There is much in Melchizedek Priesthood MIA that is not of organization nor program, but rather of spirit and a reaching toward a second birth and a reawakening, followed by an eternal searching for that which is noble and good. It is about the necessity of being twice born that I desire to speak. Like Nicodemus, many will inquire, how can this be? The answer is still the same: Unless a man be born of the water and of the spirit, he cannot be twice born. To be spiritually born of God means that we must be able to answer affirmatively to the query of Alma, “Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (Alma 5:14.) …

As a young missionary, I was stricken with jaundice, which was known to us as “missionaries’ disease.” I was so deathly sick, I was afraid I would not die. A good woman, not of our faith, nursed me back to health. I felt she literally saved my life. That surpassing service to me was unpurchased, for she accepted nothing in return. I am looking forward to seeing her in another world, if I should be worthy to go where she is. If performed in the right spirit, there is no higher worship than the unpurchased service to another soul.

Many of the adult single members, in drinking of the bitter cup, wrongfully think that this cup passes by others. In his first words to the people of this continent, Jesus of Nazareth himself poignantly spoke of the bitter cup the Father had given him. (3 Ne. 11:11.) Every soul has some bitterness to swallow. Parents who have a child who loses his way come to know a sorrow that defies description. A woman whose husband is cruel or insensitive can break her heart every day. Having drunk the bitter cup, however, there comes a time when one must accept the situation as it is and reach upward and outward. President Lee has said, “Do not let self-pity or despair beckon you from the course you know is right.” The Savior boxed the compass many years ago: We must be born again in spirit and in heart. …

How shall we know the way? We shall know the way by looking beyond ourselves. A trusted friend states, “I need to be reminded of the dangers of turning inward, of grabbing too tightly to my own soul. In trying to preserve myself, I would squeeze all of the life out of myself.” There are grave dangers in considering too prominently our own desires and needs which strangle the opportunity to be born anew. …

It is a mistake for women to think that life begins only upon marriage. A woman must have an identity and be useful and feel important and needed whether she is single or married. She must also feel that she has something to offer. Shakespeare, speaking through Portia, said: “… for myself alone I would not be ambitious in my wish, To wish myself much better; yet, for you I would be trebled twenty times myself. …” (Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene ii.)

In the message of the Divine Redeemer there is an offer of hope to all, including those who feel poor in spirit and downtrodden, unloved and unlovely. It is the transcending hope of a new birth. There is a great freedom for those who are born of the spirit. They can be like the wind which bloweth where it listeth, and no man knoweth “whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.” (John 3:8.) Thus, being twice born, they can be free from the restricting shackles of self-pity, doubt, discouragement and loneliness and be lifted up in lofty and noble pursuits. “… they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isa. 40:31.)

The message of the Savior is the same now as it was by the well, or in the cornfield, or by the Sea of Galilee. It is the message that there can be a heavenly kingdom on earth, even as in heaven, and that those who take upon themselves his work shall be twice born, renewed in heart and in spirit. It is the message that they who drink of the water which the Master gives them “shall never thirst” and that the water which he gives them may be in them “a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4: 14.)

Elder Marion D. Hanks,
Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, and Associate Managing Director, Melchizedek Priesthood MIA

I thought early this morning of something attributed to Martin Luther and appropriate to our rather frantic schedule these last hours. He reportedly said, “I have so very much to do today that I must spend more time in prayer.” …

We are faced with the reality of the people whom we are called to serve, their varying circumstances, their individual needs. The programs we are talking about involve our discovering what those needs are by listening. It has been written that we cannot really love anyone—that is, act toward them in a way that would foster their well-being and happiness—unless we know what they need; and we cannot know what they need unless they tell us, and we listen. Our programs involve listening, getting a response, some assessment from them of their own understanding of their needs, what they would like, what they are willing to do, how far they are willing to reach. Our responsibility is to reach out to them.

Elder L. Tom Perry,
Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, and Associate Managing Director, Melchizedek Priesthood MIA

I am certain that history will record the events of this great conference as having kindled the enthusiastic spirit of a new program. I also know that the real history is still to be written in the elders quorums and Relief Societies, in the wards and branches, in the stakes and missions of the Church throughout the world as the spirit of this conference is translated into action into these programs, which are individually tailored and specially designed to meet the needs of the great single members of the Church.

Their ride on the stream of life has been rougher than most and at times they have found themselves on tributaries lined with sharp rocks, rapids, and swift currents that have tossed them to and fro. Now this program cuts a channel and will allow them to come into the mainstream of the Church where the waters are deep and the ride can be smooth, with many new ports of opportunity in study, activity, service, and spirituality. Now what we need is leadership who have the conviction of their calling, who have the desire and the enthusiasm of these great programs.