The Keys to Open Up the Authority of My Kingdom

In the most recent general conference, President Nelson said, “Consider how your life would be different if priesthood keys had not been restored to the earth. Without priesthood keys, you could not be endowed with the power of God. Without priesthood keys, the Church could serve only as a significant teaching and humanitarian organization but not much more. Without priesthood keys, none of us would have access to essential ordinances and covenants that bind us to our loved ones eternally and allow us eventually to live with God.” He continued, “Priesthood keys give us the authority to extend all of the blessings promised to Abraham to every covenant-keeping man and woman. Temple work makes these exquisite blessings available to all of God’s children, regardless of where or when they lived or now live. Let us rejoice that priesthood keys are once again on the earth!” It is through the keys of the priesthood that I was able to receive the ordinance of baptism and be given the gift of the Holy Ghost. That covenant and blessing has guided my life since I was young and kept me away from the “cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil” that are all around us to tempt us and lead us down forbidden and destructive paths (Helaman 3:29). It is through the keys of the priesthood that I received both the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods, allowing me to learn to serve in ways the world never could have taught me. As I look back on the opportunities afforded me to help others through the priesthood I am filled with gratitude. It is through the keys of the priesthood that I could receive the endowment in a temple dedicated to allow us to make sacred covenants with the Lord. The temple has been a refuge to go to for strength and revelation from the Lord not available anywhere else. And it is through the keys of the priesthood that my wife and I were sealed in the temple and promised to have our children bound to us forever, a supernal blessing for which I hope to live worthy.

                 In our dispensation the Savior emphasized that through the keys of the priesthood all the people of the earth will be blessed. He said, “Which Twelve hold the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom upon the four corners of the earth, and after that to send my word to every creature” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:34). This is why it is the Twelve who assign missionaries to their field of labor—they hold the keys to send the gospel to all the world and open the nations to the preaching of the gospel. In the 1970s as prophet of the Church, President Kimball held those keys and sought earnestly to understand the Lord’s will for taking the gospel to all the world. One article described, “In the 1960s and 1970s, converts in West Africa wrote to Church headquarters, pleading for baptism and the establishment of branches. Conscious of the obstacle the Church’s priesthood restriction posed, Church President Spencer W. Kimball sought to know the Lord’s will concerning the growing number of black converts around the world. Dozens of letters from Ghana were among the many influences that led Kimball to pray for guidance…. Emmanuel Bondah, a young man from Assin Foso, wrote expressing his hope to ‘share these happy things that you enjoy in Christ.’ When Kimball read Bondah’s letter, he wept at the thought of the believers in Ghana who had waited so long.” In June 1978 President Kimball announced that the long-awaited day had come for the gospel to be able to really go to all the world, and the first missionaries arrived in Ghana later that year. The Lord had already prepared a people led by Joseph William Billy Johnson who had found the Book of Mormon in 1964 and received this call from the Lord: “If you will take up my work, I will bless you and bless your land.” Ten congregations with nearly 1000 members were ready for the two missionary couples who arrived to baptize them in December 1978. The had been guided by the Lord for years and now finally through the keys of the priesthood they could receive all the blessings He had in store for them. Johnson described how he “burst into tears of joy” when he finally learned that the Church would be brought to Ghana, and now there are over 100,000 members there with a temple, 29 stakes, 370 wards and branches, and 4 missions established through the keys of the priesthood to bless their land. As President Nelson said, we do indeed “rejoice that priesthood keys are once again on the earth!”