Elder Perry quoted the sixth President of the Church, Joseph F. Smith (1838-1918), who said, “There is no exaltation in the Kingdom of God without the fullness of the priesthood.” He then explained that, “Every man who receives the priesthood does it with an oath and a covenant, and [if he is faithful] he shall be exalted...............
Rescuing Those Who Are Less-Active
He also said it is important to make sure that those receiving the Aaronic Priesthood as well as those who have become less active Melchizedek Priesthood holders or prospective elders should understand that neglecting the priesthood has consequences.
“I hope that sometimes we think about [the] responsibility that is ours to be certain they are properly trained in [the] priesthood before they are given the Melchizedek Priesthood and [that we as leaders] are careful that they understand the duties and responsibilities. … I hope this year we’ll turn the card a little by trying to make some effort on their rescue, to bring them back into the fold. And they will come back–it’s been so easy to reclaim them if we’ll go out and seek them.”
Priesthood leaders take note of what they feel inspired by the Holy Ghost to do in response to the teachings given by an Apostle.
He asked the leaders if they know how many less-active priesthood holders are in their stake or ward. “You should have that right on your mind. If you don’t have it now, I want you to go home and find out and put it on your refrigerator door. I want you to look at that number every day … and think about it. These are active Melchizedek priesthood, brethren that need to be brought into the fold.”
In an interview following the meeting, he said, “That is the job of an elder’s quorum president and of a high priest group leader, really taking their lists, analyzing which ones are less-active, and then prayerfully praying about selecting maybe five at a time [to whom] we will carry the message of the gospel. … It is the process of really understanding and knowing the people well enough that the inspiration of the Lord will come and say this one will be receptive, and this is the one we should start working with.”
Fulfilling a Dream
During the meeting, he said he has a dream, that in every ward in the Church the elders quorum president will be “vitally concerned about five less-active,” and the high priest group leader will be concerned about five less-active prospective elders, and that they will work with missionaries to “go into these homes and teach them the gospel.”
He said, “If you have good coordination with the full-time missionaries they can fill in and do those 10 so that the missionaries are always teaching, every night, the gospel. Then, when you’re short, then you start calling ward missionaries to fill the responsibility of teaching these 10 families the duties of these basic principles of the gospel. Then we’re bringing them along. We have found this works very effectively if we’ll only do it. We can build our father’s kingdom, we can fulfill our responsibilities, and we can be prepared for what the lord has ahead of us in this great period that we’re engaged in today. … Just think what would happen if every ward had 10 more active Melchizedek Priesthood. It would literally change the Church. We would have 290,000 more active Melchizedek Priesthood. Now, that would be a great body to meet the challenge we have ahead of us.”
Blessings from the Rescue
Elder Perry said that seeing someone return to full activity brings great joy. “There is nothing like a perspective elder returning into the fold because suddenly their whole outlook on life changes. … Think of what that does to a man. It prepares him spiritually to understand his relationship with God the Eternal Father and His Son Jesus the Christ, first and foremost. It unites [him with] the Holy Ghost again in his life, to where that is an active force in leading, guiding, and directing him. It makes him a better husband, appreciative of his wife because he learns the true doctrine that comes. They are eternally linked together for time and for all eternity. And of course it makes him a better father because he can teach [his family] the gospel and understand it and be an example to them on how they should live.”
The culmination of the rescue effort, he said, is when those who are rescued go to the temple. “To me, that is the graduation day. When we have been able to get them through course of study that they understand the doctrines of the kingdom been able to clean up their lives, been able to invite the Holy Spirit into their lives, they have made a commitment to our Savior in a culminating event of this whole process will be being there with their sweet companions and their families and having those great blessing pronounced on their head for time and all eternity.”
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