Follow Him Podcast: Doctrine & Covenants 106-108 : Dr. Robert L. Millet : Episode 39 Part 2

welcome to part two of this week's podcast look over to something that i think we misunderstand beginning in section 107 picking up with start speaking about the lesser priesthood the priesthood of aaron verse 14 why it is called the lesser priesthood is because it is an appendage there's that word again to the greater or the melchizedek priesthood and has power in administering outward ordinances the bishopric is the presidency of this priesthood and holds the keys or authority of the same no man has a legal right to this office to hold the keys of this priesthood except he be a literal descendant of aaron but as a high priest of the melchizedek priesthood has authority to officiate in all the lesser offices he may officiate in the office of bishop when no literal descendant of aaron can be found provided he is called and set apart and ordained unto this power by the hands of the presidency of the meochistic priesthood now i've heard all kinds of people talking about over the years you know if we could just find a guy that has the uh can actually trace his his lineage to aaron that we he has every right to be a bishop of the lord well first of all it doesn't have anything to do with the ward bishop this is presiding bishop this is talked about the office of presiding vision which is basically what edward partridge was right he was he was the presiding bishop and so that's that's the one thing 18 and 19 are powerful when it comes to the what the blessings of the priesthood are the power and authority of the higher or melchizedek priesthood is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church to have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven to have the heavens opened unto them to commune with the general assembly and church of the firstborn and to enjoy the communion and presence of god the father and jesus the mediator of the new covenant that's pretty heavy that's heavy uh mysteries of the kingdom of heaven well you know on the simplest sense that means things that can only be known by the power of the holy ghost but i suppose you could say that our temple ceremony and ordinances for example would fall under the category of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but look what you have the right to if if the lord so chooses commune with the general assembly in church of the firstborn church of the firstborn you know that's used over in section 76 two or three times those who attain the celestial kingdom the church of the firstborn the church of the exalted those who have who qualify for exaltation in the celestial kingdom it's not the church of jesus christ it's in many ways president joseph fielding smith called it the inner the inner church we used to sing a hymn it's not in her handbook anymore though in the outward church below we belong to the outward church the inner church within the veil there's order and organization there too and and those who constitute that group who are qualified they've passed the test of mortality they are the church of the firstborn the right to hold communion with them you know in the earliest creed that we know of the apostles creed one of the things that's just mentioned and not commented on is we believe in the communion of the saints in hebrews chapter 12 the opening verses there having talked about all these magnificent men and women who through the years had great faith and you start chapter 12 and and you're you're to keep things continuous here's he describes that as the great cloud of witnesses that are a part of us verse 19 to me is so encouraging in the sense of teaching us that those on the other side you just have to ask this when i pass away will i lose interest in my family i mean no i'm going to be very concerned exactly the opposite yeah i'm going to be very concerned about them my old friend joseph mcconkey told me that a story where is it awesome about oscar mcconkie yeah i remember this he said that just before oscar senior passed away he called the family together a little gathering i guess and he said something like this he said i'm going to die soon but when i die i shall not cease to love you i shall not cease to pray for you i shall not cease to minister in your behalf well i'm reminded of the the grand address given by president joseph f smith in the presence of the divine where he talks about those on the other side who have been here know the challenges we face they know our circumstances they can see dangers that lie ahead and so they're ever so solicitous for our welfare well of course they are i mean i cannot imagine not being very concerned on the other side of the veil for my family or for my brothers and sisters in the church so i think the promise of being qualified or able to where it's appropriate where the lord chooses to allow you to have communion with that group i guess that doesn't mean you have to be seeing them it's like angels you can have the ministry of angels and don't you don't say anything or you don't know about it but but you know someone's whispering from the other side and bob you wouldn't say you wouldn't say this is just the lord saying this is just for melchizedek priesthood holders this is for anyone who partakes in the ordinances that's right it's like it's like the aaronic priesthood we say uh the you know i've heard many a talk on and these young men have the right to enjoy the ministry of angels that's true but the greater truth is because there's an ironic priesthood all people can enjoy the ministry of angels females males and that's true with the blessings of the melchizedek priesthood as well wow that's beautiful verse 19 commune with the general assembly in church of the firstborn that's something you might skip over and not really understand the power of the presence of god the father jesus the mediator of the new covenant it's powerful i'm going to say something rein me in here bob uh totally fine if you need to reign me in but i've i've i've sat at a head i've sat at headstones of my father my grandparents and and i've thought this is not where they are if i want to be close to these these people i'm going to get myself to the temple where the melchizedek priesthood ordinances are in place because that seems to me where i'm going to commune and it can often happen in our own lives in our own homes i'm sure but for me i'm drawn to the temple for that reason to commune with those who have gone before you know when you think of the times you went to the temple often maybe in troubled times as young couple when we used to wonder where the next loaf of bread is going to come from you know we would go to the temple in those times and i don't remember ever coming out with any money in my pocket but we came out with a perspective that was just a peaceful perspective it's going to work out the lord's going to take care of you uh over and over or to go in and maybe maybe it's struggling with a child a wayward child the temple became a sacred spot for us um not only that we could find peace there but we found perspective there absolutely and that's coming from those who are i would say like you've told us here who are part of this church of the firstborn and the father and jesus right all of that is coming from these wonderful souls absolutely well let's look at 21 22. this gets interesting we're now talking about the first presidency of necessity there are presidents or presiding officers growing out of or who are ordained of the several offices in the two priesthoods of the melchizedek priesthood three presiding high priests chosen by the body appointed and ordained to that office and upheld by the confidence faith and prayer of the church form a quorum of the presidency of the church interesting things there clearly they must be a high priest the member of the first presidency must be a high priest it is not necessary according to joseph f smith that they be an apostle haven't we had before uh at one time for a time wasn't jay ruben clark j reuben clark is who i was thinking of yeah um who was a high priest in salt lake city now he eventually was ordained an apostle and put in placed in line of authority but yes what's necessary is that they be a high priest that is they're in a presiding capacity um joseph f smith talks about that in gospel doctrine page 173 but yes i remember very well when harold b lee was sustained as the president of the church and he it was a very tender time he was one that i think the saints had looked forward to being the president of the church for a long time relatively speaking he was young when he took the office i think he was 74. and i remember in his his address at the solemn assembly saying never before in my life has verse 22 meant more to me than now that is i must be i know that i must be upheld by the confidence the faith the prayers of the church we need to have confidence in the brethren we need to have faith in the brethren we have to pray for the brethren they and they they need that they pray for that especially when you say brethren i think you're even we're even kind of honing in on those three right right now in this verse that's right i think this is talking specifically about the presidency the first presidency of the church and how quick we are sometimes to criticize aren't we bob well i've been i've been interested just in recent times with with uh people making decisions to be distraught and upset and or leave the church over what i call just piddly for the most pitily reasons i'm thinking really really really yeah leave the church over that um yeah i think brother packer used to i was with him on one occasion elder packer when someone said what can we do to help you and he said just take yourselves off our worry list [Laughter] i mean they have a lot to worry about but uh and so they don't need any extra i mean there are enough challenges the church faces without members being bringing problems to the leadership of the church be a be a low maintenance low worry high yield later yeah and then he gets and then comes the 12 right next that's right the 12 traveling counselors are called to be 12 apostles or special witnesses of the name of christ and all the world thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling you know how this is almost always said an apostle is a special witness of christ he is but notice what said really special witnesses of the name of christ in all the world the name of christ years ago elder oaks then wrote a book called his holy name and he talks about the way name is used in scripture and he said for example to be a special witness of the name of christ in all the world is to be a special witness of his power of his divinity of his divine sonship of his work or program the plan of salvation in other words and and you and he showed illustrated how each of those are used in the scripture in a certain way to be a special witness of the name of christ in all the world uh that's powerful i have a statement of elder bednar about that from there's a little periodical called the religious educator oh yes you just go to the religious studies center yeah and it's great as if you're a teacher you you'd love this resource this is an interview i conducted with elderbed now oh this is you see i i knew i i grabbed a good one i think it is i i talked to you about the role and office of apostle yeah he said quote the role of an apostle today is the same as it was anciently our commission is to go into all the world and proclaim jesus christ and him crucified an apostle is a missionary and a special witness of the name of christ the name of christ refers to the totality of the savior's mission death and resurrection his authority his doctrine has unique qualifications as the son of god to be our redeemer and our savior so that's the end of the quote from elder bednar and that's something to think about in verse 23 like you just said witnesses of the name of christ in all the world it's all of that you know just elder holland had only been a member of the quorum of the 12 for a short time when um in 1994 when he called me i was the dean of religious education and he said ask how i was and then said i want to he said i want to come see you and i want to come visit with the faculty you said do you think you could pull them together i said we could probably work something out maybe we're kind of busy down here it was on a thursday or a friday i don't remember which but he said i'd like to come on monday you still think you can get them i said oh yeah i think so the faculty was there and it was a he he spoke to us for a while and then just took questions and i remember i asked this question i said elder holland you've had a testimony of jesus christ from since the time when you were a little little guy haven't you he said well at least my boyhood yeah my manhood certainly i said what's the difference what with what you have now than what you had then i said you had a testimony of jesus then i said does that special witness come by ordination or does it come by personal striving for deeper spirituality and he said a little of both he said in other words there's some things some powers and rights and privileges that come with the office itself but they are still expected as oliver cowdery said when he gave him that first first what the oath and covenant of the apostleship when the first apostles were called never see striving you know till you see the lord himself and so i thought that was an interesting thing both yes there are some things that come with the office and i think in many ways that's true with most any office in the church you know let's take the office of bishop john you've been a bishop um you you felt that there were some things you knew and felt and understood because you were the bishop it came with the turf didn't it but but as far as spirituality and gospel knowledge that was that was your that was your private assignment to do that still my job yeah yeah i wish it would have just downloaded a bunch of stuff you know yeah usb port somewhere and i could just download everything but yeah that sounds like the lord doesn't it no more work involved i'm just gonna give it to you yeah yeah not exactly here's an interesting thing look at verse 24 they the twelve form a quorum equal an authority and power to the three presidents previously mentioned that really is only the case in terms of the death of the president the death of the president of the church when the death of the president takes place then what the first presidency is dissolved the members of the first presidency that are living return to their place in the twelve and then the the quorum of the twelve presides over over the church at that point bob they're not gonna know how crucial this is in just what nine years oh good point yeah they're gonna lose the profit and this is gonna now it'll be very important well and look what happened they weren't quite sure what to do with it right brigham for about three years was it yeah john taylor about the same time wilfred woodruff tells of how uh he about the same time a little less but wilford woodruff went to lorenzo snow just before wilford died and said i'm going to die soon and you are to proceed immediately without delay to reorganize the first presidency and as i recall right he said and you're to call george q cannon george q cucanan as one of your counselors [Laughter] yeah i mean in in the situation of you know you've lived through several successions when i was a new student a transfer student to byu i came in 69 the fall of 69 i was living in hinckley hall and hilumen halls on and i remember on the morning of january 18th 1970 my roommate awoke you know just woke me up and said hey president mckay has just passed away now david o mckay was the only president i'd ever known um and he'd been president for 19 years and so the concept of succession was not something the church as a whole understood very much i i was fortunate very fortunate that as a young missionary not maybe six months before i came home harold b lee came frequently to new york city for one thing he was on a board i think it was union pacific that he was a member of the board of directors and he would come i think for monthly meetings but he would often come to the mission home and visit with us and one time we convinced him to to have a whole mission conference and and speak to the missionaries which he did and then after which he came over for dinner and uh we kept firing questions at him and he said elders he said let me let me finish dinner then we'll go upstairs and we'll talk all you want to talk so we did we took him upstairs and my companion my companion asked the first question elderly now this is let me give you the date this would have been 1968. elderly is there any question in the minds of the other apostles that when david o mckay passes away the joseph fielding smith will be the president of the church he said oh no no question whatsoever that's the order and uh and he talked about the fact that there's no politicking in this system yeah you know uh you know you look at it and if the lord doesn't want you to be president he has a way of dealing with that he takes you yeah he just yep got a different assignment i seem to remember elder holland was it during the time of president hunter um talking about this and talking about had this been a corporation the infighting would have been severe or type of a thing but the next heartbeat was that of the new president does that ring a bell i think it was elder holland it does i remember i guess when uh president kimball was had just become president of the church his executive secretary um who had been executive secretary for many of the brethren um arthur haycock came and spoke to the seminary teachers in our area and took questions and you know he talked about a sweet moment that is as you know we're talking about president lee president lee becomes president of the church october 72 conference and dies in december of 73. i remember looking at the television we were living in idaho falls looking at the television of his picture and the death date and i was just i think the church expected he would be president for many many many years joseph healing smith was what 95 and when he passed brother haycock told us a sweet story he said brother lee had come back from an assignment and was feeling weak and just didn't feel well and he went into the hospital to have some tests run and while there had a massive heart attack well while he was in the hospital and wasn't doing well brother haycock said president tanner his counselor was in arizona with his family christmas vacation president romney was in town he said in the room in the hospital room i was there spencer w kimball the president of the twelve the three of them stood there brother romney brother haycock and brother lee over there and and brother haycock said uh and president kimball was president kimball there as well and president campbell was there as the president of the 12 excuse me brother haycock said all through this brother kimball kept saying what can i do president romney what would you have me to do at this point would you like me to do this we'd like to do that how can i help what can i do now and you know some assignments were made etc when it was announced the moment it was announced that president lee had passed away brother romney turned to brother campbell and said what would you have me do wow it was moving the keys of the kingdom had just changed and the man see the senior apostle now wore the mantle that's section 107 in practice isn't it it really is that's right in practice verse 25 and 26 is not something that most people i think would understand that the 70 make form a quorum equal an authority to that of the 12. yes yes and that's what it says and notice too that you may remember president hinckley gave a talk once called special witnesses for christ in general conference and he talked about the call of two new apostles i think it would have been elder elders nelson and oaks but he then talked about the seventy and said they also have an apostolic calling to bear that apostolic type witness you know in the in that large sense of the of the word apostle those who are sent out under the direction of the twelve we don't need to read this but it's interesting that in section 107 beginning with about verse yeah 39 it's the duty of the 12 and all large branches of the church who ordain evangelical ministers as they shall be designated unto them by revelation meaning patriarchs and then the patriarchal line of descent is given from adam down to methuselah it's very interesting if you read section 84 it's a different line of ascent from moses to adam it goes through abel it goes through abel abel's line down to abraham and moses same this this is this is a line of authority but a different line brother these are the patriarchs the presiding patriarchs adam sethinas kanan mahal lil jared methuselah lamech noah those first 10 generations and then of course as we said 53 through 58 the visit or the the last conference that was held by adam at adam on diamond um this came in the 1834 as joseph was giving a blessing to his parents i wonder if that those different lineages you talked about in 84 and 107. i wonder i'm gonna have to ask a sister gardner about this if we're talking there's you know she always talks about there's a familial priesthood there's a priesthood that that that governs the family and there's a priesthood that governs the church and uh that they that they are separate from one another and i'm i'm i'm gonna have to ask her about that i think that's a fascinating idea i've i've heard it called there's aaronic priesthood there's a melchizedek priesthood and there's a patriarchal priesthood does that sound right i think when i asked about that once somebody in authority the response was patriarchal order within the melchizedek priesthood okay every you know joseph smith said there's the aaronic order the melchizedek order the patriarchal order of the of the melchizedek priesthood falls within the melchizedek priesthood and and uh and we enter that through and i'm sure barb talked about this entered that through the blessings of the temple right yeah i've heard it said you know this section starts there are in the church two priesthoods we might say in the temple that's right there are three that's right yeah excellent notice from 85 through 89 this is where we learn what a quorum of deacons is 12 24 48 96 as the go through the quorums now look at 91 again the duty of the president of the office of the high priesthood is to preside over the whole church and to be likened to moses behold here is wisdom yea to be a seer a revelator a translator and a prophet having all the gifts of god which he bestows upon the head of the church that's a powerful statement about the president has been given all of the spiritual gifts when you go back and you read about spiritual gifts earlier in the doctrine and covenants and to the bishop is given the power for example in a ward to discern those that are from god and those that are not but here you have the president given all of the gifts of the spirit uh which of course he would he would have to have that to be able to discern and then this this is very uh interesting it's according to the vision showing the order of the 70 that they should have seven presidents to provide preside over them chosen out of the number of the seventy and he goes on and talks about the seven presidents and so forth there's not much said about this except this appears to be a vision that joseph smith had about priesthood government particularly it sounds like the 70s right okay look at verse 98 whereas other officers of the church who belong not unto the twelve neither to the seventy are not under the responsibility to travel among all nations but are to travel as their circumstances shall allow notwithstanding they may hold as high and responsible offices in the church this verse was used when the first assistants to the twelve were called i remember that sterling w sill right um gordon b hinckley uh anyway the first assistance to the twelve this is the scripture of the jude and this is the scripture that was used when the first regional representatives were called in other words they work under the direction i remember my mission president jay eldridge i was a zone leader at the time he went in for his own meeting and the president would be leaving in a matter of days and he was bidding goodbye and he said i've received a new assignment he said i am now a regional representative of the council of the twelve apostles of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints he said i have the longest title in the church and the least amount of authority because you'll remember the the regional representative for time his job was to not necessarily to supervise but to provide assistance and help and counsel to the stake presence because there was never to be a anyone in between the the state presidents and the quorum of the twelve or the corner of the 70 i guess right and we still we have general officers of the church do they fall under that problem they could i suppose i will as well our sunday school presidency young women's young men yes yeah good good question yeah john what are you you're on the general young men's board are you a general officer uh i don't think so uh you know our friend brad wilcox is and ahmed corbett and and president uh steven lund is a general church officer yeah general young men's presidents young women right uh sister bonnie corden becky craven uh michelle craig but um they're general officers of the church yeah they are general officers i'm on the young men's advisory council they used to call it the young men's general board now it's young so ymac so it's like y m ac we were thinking of doing the dance but so we have officers who are under the direction of the 70 and the 12. and bob that seems to fluctuate then sometimes sometimes we have assistance to the 12. sometimes we have regional representatives since we just kind of it's kind of as needed you know i think that when the first quorum of the 70 was reorganized in in the mid-1970s um the brethren began to feel that it was time to put things into order as it set forth in scripture right and for example um president kimball was president of the church when that took place later some developments took place in the days when president benson was was president of the church um remembering that i was almost ordained to 70 in my steak but i escaped and went to byu and and uh so i never was ordained but i have buddies that were local 70. but the fact is this 107th section does not set forth rules to govern local 70. and finally when the decision was made and it's certainly the right decision the 70 is a general authority calling and in the case of the local 70 or the area 70s they have a similar responsibility but they are do not have general stewardship they're assigned to a particular area right even president nelson combining high priest group and elders quorum seems to be part of this let's get back in no i shouldn't say get back in line but kind of a section 107 type move it is yes and i i years ago a friend and i used to talk about this wouldn't it be interesting if one day there was just one melchizedek priesthood quorum and we talked what would it be i said well i guess the elder squirm so yeah and then it happened it happened of course 99 wherefore now let every man learn his duty and to act in the office in which he is appointed in all diligence more than once i heard harold b lee put the emphasis upon let let every man learn his duty what he was talking about was smother leadership smother leadership let the man or the woman learn their duty i think there's nothing more uncomfortable than to have the person that's directly over you making all the decisions for you micromanage micromanaging as we say and i think this is really important many times during when the correlation program was being developed and put together brother lee had a very strong hand in it many a talk he talked about this allow them permit them to learn their duty don't you know don't stand over them and and uh super supervise them so uh i think so they can't learn right you can't learn if someone's always there just fixing every little move that you make same thing as a parent right bob let your children learn yes and this this is a big part of the new children and youth program to let the young people they've been invited into councils that they weren't invited to before and to let them lead and to be uh not uh maybe you can sit sit back and watch and and um and help and direct but let them experience leadership where who was it i saw a talk i bet you saw it too hank elder ballard was was saying uh you know in the year something like in the year 2040 we're we're going to need bishops we're going to need relief site we're going to need these who are they and then he said it's you i'm talking to you learn your leadership skills right now i love our church for that my mission president used to say a good leader trains leaders while he leads and he would let us lead and and mess up sometimes so that we would learn something yeah it's a it's a beautiful thing to work work under the direction of someone who wants to give you the latitude and the longitude to to go in the directions and if counsel is needed great step in when it's needed or run requested but there's nothing more frustrating than trying to work under someone who is micromanaging as you said um it's frustrating because you can never really learn your duty that way or act right i like that word act too in there because act in the office it's not okay you're now you can now sit on your throne and be admired um what does it mean to be chosen i tell my students it's kind of like being chosen to mow the lawn it's uh it's i remember when i was first the first steak presidency i served and i remember talking to the stake president i said look i was just a bishop what's the difference between being a bishop and and the counselor in the state presidency he said well back then you had some heavy assignments and some serious responsibilities now your job is to sit on the stand and look spiritual [Laughter] that's somewhere here in 107 isn't it i think it's verse 100. e that is thoughtful shall not be counted worthy sit on the stand and look spiritual well bob that word let that's an important word i'm glad you pointed that out me too he that is slothful shall not be counted worthy to stand well that's that's a fascinating phrase worthy to stand and he that learns not his duty and shows himself not approved shall not be counted worthy to stand even so amen worthy to stand worthy to what stand before the lord with confidence worthy to [Music] stand when it comes to difficult times and take leadership responsibility when i see the word stand i think of a standard a standard bearer somebody who is holding the flag saying this is who i am this is who i represent and this is the rally round the standard bearer right worthy to be the standard bearer type of the thing good song john that was good we could add some some backup to that maybe a little orchestration i think you've sung twice today so we'll get letters about that when we lived in florida we i when i worked under this particular state president probably one of the most effective leaders i've ever ever worked under um and and it was because he was that i won't say rare but that unusual um combination of effective administrator and deeply loving man he loved the people and they knew it i loved watching him he was a young stake president our time there was only five years in tallahassee but they were the most formative years of my adult life in terms of learning the government of the church and the operations of the church and the duties and so forth i i watched him on so many occasions he he loved the people they knew it they felt it and he was a good administrator and that's not easy to do you know to do both of those and so he he was very big on let people learn their duty let them learn it and that may mean unfortunately or fortunately they'll make some mistakes i remember that uh one of the things that people used to do in in a position like with an elders quorum um for home teaching i remember in one word i was in they had you had home teaching assignments then you had a special couple of home teachers whose job it was to go and pick up on all those that were missed and there was just something about that that struck me as let's don't let's don't assume his responsibility let's don't take his stewardship um in the name of percentages do you know what i'm saying and so because how am i how am i going to learn right how am i going to learn if i know you're going to follow right behind me and correct every everything that i do that you don't like or you see as a mistake it takes away my motivation it takes away right the it takes away the the the power that i feel like i have to get my own revelation and to try new things to be innovative well those are there's so many things we missed but i'll tell you section 107 has always been a favorite of mine um i've had a i've had a fascination with and love for priesthood and the study of priesthood for a long time i'm looking behind me at these books uh bob that you've written men of valor men of covenant and i thought he's going to love this section because this is something that he loves that i think that the priesthood has blessed me not because i asked for any of these callings i did not but it has blessed my life um and i think i guess we would all say that elder holland august 94 talking about section 107 said and all of this given by revelation to a boy a boy leading a church then of only a few hundred members yet we still guide nine million and growing will guide 90 90 million by those same revelations that were given to virtually a child more than 160 years later that's beautiful that's beautiful about this awesome section right here you know there's a there's a as i've talked with people of other faiths they're not unaware of the fact that that our that there's something magical about our lay ministry that that while we may not be as efficient in this or that may while our people aren't necessarily trained for the ministry if you will there's something magic about what it does from the time a child grows to adulthood the experiences you get when you think about the opportunity to give talks as a primary child the opportunity to serve in this capacity or that capacity i don't think we even sometimes appreciate how that by the time a person is an adult they're accomplished in so many things so many areas so many abilities i re this is a i'm not trying to draw attention myself but this is an experience i had probably now more than 30 years ago i went to my 20th year class reunion and i wasn't quite sure what to expect but i had just been hired at byu at that point and i got to talking with some friends that i hadn't seen for 20 years and they began to ask questions and more questions and more questions they asked about the church and i remember thinking they would say tell us about this and tell us about that they were absolutely blown away by the idea of the lay ministry by the idea that our people aren't formally trained they assume a responsibility and that night as i as i thought back on what i just experienced i spent about two and a half hours just talking with them about different things about the church and and the thing that welled up in my heart was an appreciation for marvelous teachers for marvelous priesthood leaders great advisers that that form members of the church in so many ways you know here that we can send a person on a mission and they can be competent to go out and teach the gospel as an 18 year old as a 19 year old there's just a there's just a genius in this system now will there be mistakes yes will we will we fall down here there yes but it's nothing compared with the kind the kind of person that is put together by an organization that is that is uh founded on revelation and that helps us grow piece by piece by piece yeah uh it's really something it truly depends on people and people who are not prepared and that's right it really is it forces you to to get prepared when i was called to be a bishop how lonely that felt at first until it became public and i got to call my counselors and then i got to just watch all of these dedicated brothers and sisters in my ward who served no matter who would have been the bishop they would have done it but i felt so supported and marveled at their uh their testimonies their determination to serve the lord and uh it was like i exhaled you know this is but the word will move forward and look at all these people surrounding me that are a lay ministry but look at how how we're all learning this together it was a great relief you know the first time i was bishop in florida i i think i was a good bishop but i did way more than i needed to do i mean i didn't delegate delegate a great deal the second time i was called bishop i was a new person [Laughter] i i knew there were certain things i alone could do and those i did but if it didn't fall into that category i can still remember the high priest group leader calling and saying sister so-and-so's got a problem with this this and this and i just want to let you know i said well what are you going to do how are you going to take care of that well that's why i was calling you i said yeah i know but what are you going to do to to help fix this well i love it i just did that over and over and over and i watched the people grow in their in their assignment yeah the members have to learn we'll make our mistakes and we'll do things the wrong way but eventually we grow up in in our own way being worthy worthy to stand one day and that's that's the lord telling the brother jared hey i got in the light i can't breathe uh well what are you gonna do uh mahan right what are you gonna do i gave you a brain go ahead go figure it out get that figured out i know that as we're gonna as my family and i we're gonna study section 107 i have a 17 year old daughter and she is wonderful in every way and she's going to say where do i fit in section 107 dad there's a lot of deacons and priests and teachers and there's a lot of um you know uh prophets here um and she's gonna she's gonna ask this i'm gonna read a quote from for you and then and then i'm gonna let you kind of take off if that's okay um this is from um sister jean b bingham often we women don't realize that the power through which we accomplish much good in our callings and in our homes is an expression of priesthood power as a matter of fact all the good that is done in the world is done through god's power knowing that women have access to the to that priesthood power strengthens us to be able to do what is asked in whatever responsibilities or assignments are ours with that in mind i just i really like the quote and i wanted to get it in there what how how can i help my daughter see where she's where she sits in section 107 that's a good question um i mean aren't you grateful that in the last what several years right we've come alive to to the fact that uh i'm i can still recall elder oak saying what other power is there yes but the power in the priesthood what authority could it be what authority is there uh when when a when a relief society president or a woman who is was then a visiting teacher or now a sister minister uh what other by what other power or authority does do you bless that person it's the power of the priesthood i think i think it's it's an indication that the leadership of the church had begun to see and we've all begun to see that so many of the things we had assumed were male in nature aren't the illustration i would give is i was teaching sunday school a while back and just i had the 84th section to discuss kind of like discussing section 107 but as we came to the oath in covenant and we read verses 33 through 44 um i remember asking the class sisters is there anything that's asked of the men here that does not fit you know as you as you put on one side what man agrees to do and on the other side what god agrees to do i said is there any single principle here that doesn't apply to a woman whether it's um magnify your calling whether it's [Music] take heed to yourselves whether it's um learn your duty learn your duty the idea of receive the lord's servants i mean are there any of those and i said no there aren't and that means it applies to you too and the other thing that's critical is when you when you understand the great blessings that come through keeping those kinds of covenants there's nothing god has in store for a man that he doesn't have for a woman in fact the man can never enjoy the highest blessings of the priesthood without someone by his side called a wife why because the fullness of priesthood blessings are only for a woman and a man together and so yeah i've just been thrilled with how um the leaders of the church giving us instruction that that i think so necessary in the sense that you need not hold an office in the priesthood in order to be a powerful instrument for good and bless people with a power that can be nothing else but the authority of the priesthood but yeah that's fantastic you need not hold an office to tap into the power and and and draw upon and utilize that power yeah that's i think that's what barb tried to show in her book uh so well bob you've made this what we've just done is your life's work and i don't want to age you but it's it's been a couple of decades it's it's how many decades has it been since you started studying these things you know i came home from a mission eager to study i had a mission president that did something that i now realize was ingenious the missionaries then would memorize the 27 basic scriptures in the six discussions and that was about it and you had to memorize the discussions too but our mission president put together a list of 300 scriptures and uh and they were by category apostasy restoration atonement etc etc and we would we were to commit those to memory um i came home from a mission still remembering those i still remember those 300 but i can't i came home wanting to i i felt like i was in a mind explosion wanting to just learn and grow and and i first began to just be driven to try to gain deeper understanding within six months after my mission i came i transferred to byu i had never had seminary i had never had institute those weren't available to me in louisiana and so the idea of having a religion class where we're studying the gospel as part of my curriculum blew me away i remember i was in the second half of the doctrine and covenants class was the very first class i took at byu just and i could just feel my mind exploding with with uh knowledge and understanding and so this very section would have been in this was part of what i sort of fell in love with and i began to get fascinated with priesthood correlation and i read everything i could find on priesthood correlation so it began really when i was about 22 and you look like you're 50 but how long ago was that 51 years 51 years yeah and and and those were formiday years for me i i seen praise to every great teacher that i had and i had some great ones you know i we could just name them off but i won't just men and women who's whose conviction whose testimony whose knowledge of the gospel made me want to be like them when i was set apart as a full-time missionary back then you were set apart by a general authority i was set apart by an assistant to the 12 and brother al-masani very large man he put his hands on my head it was interesting he he had a bit of a trimmer and so i could still recall the feeling of his hands moving on my head but he blessed me with some great things but one thing i don't think i'll ever forget he said i bless you that from this time forth you'll not have difficulties remembering the scriptures i didn't think about that much at the time i i don't think i thought about that i've thought about it a lot in the last 10 or 15 years it was a simple blessing it wasn't anything overpowering now i'm getting older and it's getting a little harder to remember things but the desire to know the scriptures well enough to answer people's questions to teach them the other thing that happened in the mission home back then most all of the missionaries would be endowed while they were in the mission home you would go over to the salt lake temple and what was what would then happen is you would go upstairs to the solemn assembly room and harold b lee would be there to take the questions of the missionaries yeah i don't remember many of the questions that were asked but i'll tell you what i remember every question that was asked president elderly would say well let's see what the lord has to say he'd go to the scriptures someone asked a question very good question i appreciate you let's go to let's go to what the lord had to say about that or let's go to the book of mormon look at i thought to myself if i could ever be like that i knew i never could be like him but i thought if you could to be in a position to where you can be you can really assist people because of the price you paid to know the gospel that experience alone has affected me now for 71 years watching a man of god one of the great doctrinal minds harold b lee watching him handle himself so easily with questions or being raised as he would turn here and turn there and read the answer i just feel like the lord's blessed me with a lot of sweet opportunities and my wife and i talk about this a lot how good the church has been to us how good or frankly how good the lord has been to us life isn't easy and you have all kinds of bumps along the way and difficult times maybe you have difficulties with children or grandchildren but the lord has been good to us in the sense of the two of us have been blessed with a testimony that i believe is solid and i'd like to believe is unshakable i began praying years ago that the lord would remove doubt from my mind of any kind about when it comes to the restoration of the gospel or truthfulness of the church and so forth and you know i think there's some prayers god is eager to answer and my wife and i talk about that often how grateful we are a that we had wonderful teachers advisors priesthood leaders etc be that the lord has blessed us both with a conviction that no matter what would be asked i think no matter what would be asked of us we would do and so but i i i look back and i owe all of that to people whose lives um affected mine you know and with what they knew yes more importantly how they loved and that's been all the difference for me and i still i still feel a drive you know i still feel a drive to learn and grow and i have a problem that's i'm a slow reader my wife can read a book in a day and it'll take me two weeks but but you know what it's pretty marked up when i'm done right anyway i i i'm just very grateful for the for whatever understanding i have i'm grateful for it because uh there's nothing you you two know this better than i do there's nothing more joyous than being able to share understanding and share witness and conviction and and sense that maybe it did some good there yeah that's exactly right john and i both have walked out of chapels going well i hope i hope we did some good there right um i was just thinking you have studied the life of joseph smith longer than he's been alive then he was alive right you studied him for 51 years he was only alive for 38. good point that is good i hadn't thought about that either yeah if you've if someone you know knows joseph smith uh on the earth it's you it's you and yet here you are you love him you honor him and yet we have people who maybe read something on this on the side in a weekend and go oh hey fly to pieces and here's someone who studied the prophet joseph smith for 51 years i just i i can't i just want to emphasize that 51 years there's nothing that bob millet doesn't know about the prophet that someone else knows that's that's that's not true but i have fallen more deeply in love with joseph smith as the years have gone by do i think he was a perfect man no did he make mistakes yeah he was a human being but isn't it a beautiful thing that the lord could work with him and teach him look what he could accomplish in those 18 years it's unbelievable it's unbelievable um what joseph smith accomplished and so i read i read his teachings i his sermons especially his funeral sermons and and i and i'm blown away by the knowledge that that man gained by study himself by revelation and i may have mentioned this the last time but there has there has one of my greatest joys is to every morning repeat this that joseph smith said and you know the statement he said it is my meditation all the day and more than my meat and drink to know how i shall make the saints of god comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind and i want to say what man or a man is that yeah my goodness oh john i it's it's another it's another day where we get to say it was good to be here good for us to be here nice for me to be with you oh dr miller we just can't we we just can't thank you enough and i'm sure our listeners are feeling the exact same way they're saying what uh what a great man to give his of his time and his knowledge to us these last a couple of hours thank you thank you so much you're certainly welcome yeah uh i'm sure there's many many people who are who have loving their heart for for bob millet and for sister millet as well um we want to thank you all for listening you've been wonderful we're grateful for your support we couldn't do without you we have executive producers who we uh just absolutely love and adore steve and shannon sorensen and we have a production team right john that that does all of this they do the heavy lifting yeah we get to just sit here and talk with our friends and it's so funny and then yeah and people come up oh i just love that podcast well you should probably thank these people david perry jamie nilsson lisa spice kyle nelson will staughton and maria hilton those are the ones who deserve uh thanks for this podcast and uh again thank you for listening we hope you'll join us on our next episode of follow him [Music] you

Channel: Follow Him Podcast

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Length: 62min 23sec (3743 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 18 2021