- Patriarchs do not advertise for blessings. Members should seek blessings as they feel inspired to do so. There is no fixed age at which one may receive a patriarchal blessing.
- Except for members of the immediate family, we should not permit others to read our blessing nor should we ask others to interpret it.
- "Because a man has filled with credit a presiding office and has attained a good age is no reason why he should or should not make a good patriarch; ... [He should be one who has] developed within [him] the spirit of the patriarchs; in fact, this should be [his] leading characteristic, ... [a man] of wisdom, possessed of the gift and spirit of blessing as well."
- Stake presidents must provide very careful, special watch care over the patriarch. You should have him sit on the stand and be recognized.
- It has been said that a patriarchal blessing is a "'[paragraph] from the book of your possibilities.' If we read our patriarchal blessings, we will see what the spirit of prophecy has held up to us as to what each of us can become."
- Since there are many bloodlines running in each of us, two members of one family might be declared as being of different tribes in Israel.
- Things of an eternal nature have no boundaries.
- Do not let the office of stake patriarch be neglected or ignored. It is essential to the spiritual power of a stake.
- "Face toward the sunlight of truth so that the shadow of error, disbelief, doubt and discouragement shall be cast behind you.
- "They were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all--they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.
- We don't need spiritual weak and semicommitted young men. We don't need you to just fill a position; we need your whole heart and soul. We need vibrant, thinking, passionate missionaries who know how to listen to and respond to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. this isn't a time for spiritual weaklings. We cannot send you on a mission to be reactivated, reformed, or to receive a testimony. We just don't have time for that. We need you to be filled with "faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God."
- We expect you to be missionaries to match our glorious message.
- The day of the "repent and go" missionary is over.
- Some young men have the mistaken idea that they can be involved in sinful behavior and then repent when they're 18 1/2 so they can go on their mission at 19. While it is true that you can repent of your sins, you may or you may not qualify to serve. It is far better to keep yourselves clean and pure and valiant.
- Consequently, if we are "raising the bar" for your sons to serve as missionaries, that means we are also "raising the bar" for you. If we expect more of them, that means we expect more of you and your wife as well.
- Some fathers don't think they have the right to ask worthiness questions of their children. They think that is the purview of the bishop alone. Fathers, not only do you have the right to know the worthiness of your children, you have the responsibility. It is your duty to know how your children are doing with regards to their spiritual well-being and progression. You need to monitor carefully the issues and concerns they share with you. Ask specific questions of your children regarding their worthiness, and refuse to settle for anything less than specific answers.
- Parents should be so intimately aware of what is going on in their children's lives that they know about the problems before the bishop does.
- To those of you who have already served, please remember that you were released from your missions but not from the Church. You spent two years as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. We expect you to always look and act like one of His disciples. Look the part. Act the part. Don't follow worldly trends and fashions. you are better than that.
- At times all of us are called upon to stretch ourselves and do more than we think we can.
- "I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man." We develop our talents first by thinking we can.
- Some of us are too content with what we may already be doing. We stand back in the "eat, drink, and be merry" mode when opportunities for growth and development abound. We miss opportunities to build up the kingdom of God because we have the passive notion that someone else will take care of it. The Lord tells us that He will give more to those who are willing. They will be magnified in their efforts, like the little blue engine as it pulled the train up the mountain. But to those who say, "We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have."
- While we are not all equal in experience, aptitude, and strength, we have different opportunities to employ these spiritual gifts, and we will all be accountable for the use of the gifts and opportunities given to us.
- Each of us must climb mountains that we have never climbed before.
- A list of destructive demons is length; and each man, young or old, knows the ones with which he must contend. I'll name but a few: The Demon of Greed; the Demon of Dishonesty; the Demon of Debt; The Demon of Doubt; The Demon of Drugs; and the twin Demons of Immodesty and Immorality. Each of these demons can wreak havoc with our lives. A combination of them can spell utter destruction.
- Concerning greed, the council from Ecclesiastes speaks caution: "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase."
- We must learn to separate need from greed.
- We must not allow our yearnings to exceed our earnings.
- "There hath no temptation take you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
- For each of us it is infinitely better to hear and heed the call of conscience, for conscience always warns us as a friend before punishing us as a judge.
- "If you do not magnify your callings, God will hold you responsible for those you might have saved, had you done your duty."
- In the performance of our responsibilities, I have learned that when we heed a silent prompting and act upon it without delay, our Heavenly Father will guide our footsteps and bless our lives and the lives of others. I know of no experience more sweet or feeling more precious than tot heed a prompting only to discover that the Lord has answered another person's prayer through you.
- We must raise the bar on the worthiness and qualifications of those who go into the world as ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- There is nothing more important that your families.
- Save a little money regularly, and you will be surprised how it accumulates.
- Get out of debt and rid yourself of the terrible bondage that debt brings.
- Discipline yourselves in matters of spending, in matters of borrowing, in practices that lead to bankruptcy and the agony that comes therewith.
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!
-Sarnic Dirchi
No comments:
Post a Comment