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the same patriarch Side by Side |
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patriarchs in 2016 2010 2000 1981 1960 1958 |
Dear Brother *****, in the name of our Savior and by the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood and by virtue of my special calling, I confer your patriarchal blessing. Dear *****, you are a chosen son of your Father in Heaven, a son of God. You are especially blessed with a royal inheritance because of who you were before you came into this world. Not many years ago you dwelt in the presence of your beloved Father in Heaven, and you were surrounded with the glory and the splendor of your heavenly home. You were taught by the Master Teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ. You thirsted after truth, and you opened your heart to that marvelous truth that was so willingly shared with you and all of the children of your Father in Heaven. Along with the heavenly hosts, you sang praises to your beloved Father in Heaven and the Savior Jesus Christ. You were valiant in your testimony of Jesus Christ and you supported the cause of righteousness which he represents. You became well acquainted with the plan of salvation -- the great laws of justice and mercy and the need for an infinite sacrifice. You stood firm in your testimony and desire for the supreme blessing of freedom of choice. You sought to win back those who were beguiled by the easier plan proposed by the adversary. You sought to win them back notwithstanding you fully realized the risks that would attend the freedom to choose for yourself in a future life of trial and testing. Because of your faithfulness and love for the truth, in due time you were called and foreordained as a chosen son of God and as an heir to the celestial kingdom, and thereby you qualified to come into this world through a royal lineage. This blessing would mean that you would bear substantial responsibility also in this world of trial and testing where you now find yourself. In your short years you have come to realize that the adversary has carried the war in heaven into this world and that he is striving here to win away the souls he was unable to win there. He will strive to entice you away from the straight and narrow path on which you have set your feet, *****. But if you will be humble and prayerful the Lord will take you by the hand and make a way for your escape and bless you with the discernment and the strength to foil the tempter's power. Remember the law of chastity which is the foundation stone of greatness, to keep the sabbath day holy, the law of tithing and the word of wisdom. Your Father in Heaven is pleased that you have followed the counsel of your beloved mother and that you have lived the law of your noble father. Because of your willingness to yield to the guidance of your goodly parents you have developed a maturity of mind and a sensitivity of spirit that is beyond your years. If you will continue to walk in the paths they have urged you to go you will have a luster of personality that will be a crown to your head and an ornament around your neck all the days of your life. And you will have a righteous posterity, and there will be many who will rise up and bless their beloved and faithful father. So *****, you are abundantly blessed among the people of the world, and this for another reason. You are a son of Abraham, that great and noble prophet who was given the privilege of being the father of the Lord's chosen people. From him you have descended through his son Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Ephraim, who was the birthright son. You are therefore an heir to the birthright blessings, all of which come through the power of the priesthood. These birthright blessings place a sober responsibility upon your shoulders in your comparatively young years. But they have not come by accident or chance. They have come because you had proved yourself in your first estate, and your Father in Heaven knew he could count on you, and it is in your young years that they have come because you, like the stripling warriors, have kept yourself worthy to qualify for this blessing. You can also take inspiration from another noble and valiant youth, and that is Daniel of old, who was urged to eat freely of the king's meat. He resisted the invitation, believing that the Lord would give him special blessings if he refrained from indulging in such things. This is a symbol of your nature and disposition, and like Daniel you will be inclined to give thanks and express gratitude to your Father in Heaven in the morning, and midday, and evening, and you will carry a prayer in your heart. You will learn to follow this inclination. Now you have received a call from a prophet, a call that has been sent from the Lord to the prophets and from them to you, to serve in the mission field. There are those people who you will meet that you will be able to touch with your faith and testimony through the gift of the Holy Ghost that no one else will be able to touch in quite the way that you will. They will feel the influence of the Holy Spirit and they will know that you know those sacred things. So you are prepared, brother *****, to be an emissary of the Lord, to do the works of Abraham, one of which is to declare the gospel to his chosen seed, and you will be privileged to labor for the perfection of the saints and for the redemption of the dead. You will be a stabilizing influence in the lives of your companions. In due time you will have the privilege of returning home to your loved one with that sparkle in your eye that evidences the fulfillment of an honorable mission. As you continue faithful your path in life will become clear to you a step at a time by the power of the Holy Ghost, and you will have the privilege of preparing yourself to more adequately earn a livelihood for your family. Be patient and be willing to adjust your timetable to the timetable of the Lord. In due time if you will continue faithful you will have the privilege of going to the House of the Lord with a chosen companion and there enter the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, administered by one who holds the fullness of the priesthood and thereby be admitted to the patriarchal order. This will open the gate to the path that leads to the most transcendent blessing your Father in Heaven can confer and that is eternal life. Eternal marriage is a perfecting process. No obstacle, no burden, and no sacrifice is too great a price to pay for this unspeakable blessing. There in the temple will be the beginning of your own little kingdom, your own little dominion. If you will exercise all power and influence in righteousness in dealing with your choice companion and with your children, your dominion will become an everlasting dominion and without compulsory means it will flow unto you forever and ever. As a son of Abraham it is important that you remember that you have inherited the responsibility and blessing to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord throughout all your days. Do not envy the sons of men who have not been thus blessed. Remember that the Lord gave one of his severest indictments when he said, ye are of this world; I am not of this world. You are not of this world, *****, and you would not have been called and given this inheritance if you did not have what it takes to measure up. You are living in the last days and you will see great tribulations among the wicked. But in due time the Savior will come in clouds of glory and all his holy angels with him. You will become familiar with the voice of inspiration and be the means of blessing those around you, and you will be found among the faithful at the coming of the Lord. Therefore lift up your heart and be glad; the Lord will be with you to the end. These blessings I confer upon you with every unmentioned blessing that may be needed for your best good in fulfilling your life's mission, all predicated upon your obedience. I bless you that you will come forth in the morning of the first resurrection and receive an inheritance in the New Jerusalem and be crowned with glory, immortality and eternal life. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. |
Dear Sister *****, in the name of our Savior and by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood and by virtue of my special calling, I confer your patriarchal blessing. Dear *****, you are a choice daughter of your Father in Heaven, a daughter of God, a princess, because you have exercised the faith and given heed to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and been inclined to seek a patriarchal blessing at this time. All blessings come through obedience to the laws upon which they are predicated. Your coming indicates that you have satisfied the conditions in the eyes of Heaven, upon which this blessing is predicated. Your Father in Heaven has been looking down upon you in love and mercy from your advent into this world. Not long ago you dwelt in the presence of your beloved Father in Heaven, and it was not easy for you to leave. You left with a yearning in your heart, a yearning of love for your Heavenly Parents and your heavenly family. On the other hand you looked earthward with yearnings in your heart to the parents you had chosen and were given the privilege to choose by virtue of your obedience. You are a dynamic spirit. You had great love for the truth. You opened your heart and you were taught by the Master Teacher, and you accepted those truths with love and appreciation for your Heavenly Father who gives so generously to all of those who are willing to open their heart and receive eternal truth. You vigorously sustained the cause of righteousness represented by the Lord. You were valiant in your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. You became well acquainted with the plan of salvation -- the great laws of justice and mercy and the need for an infinite sacrifice. You resisted the efforts of the adversary to beguile you into following the easier plan which he proposed, and you sustained the plan of salvation proposed by your Father in Heaven, even though you recognized the risks inherent in a plan which would preserve freedom of choice for all of those who would accept it. In due time you were chosen and foreordained as an heir to the celestial kingdom, and thereby given the privilege of coming into this world through a royal lineage. Now dear *****, you are on the path that winds through this world of trial and testing. You have observed that the adversary has carried his rebellion and subtle persuasion into this world. Here he continues to try and win the souls of those who opposed his plan before coming here. So he will seek to entice you from the straight and narrow path upon which you have set your feet. But if you will be humble and prayerful, you will be blessed with the gift of discernment to detect the devious designs of the adversary, both through the actions and persuasions of others, and also in the false precepts that are going forth in this day in such great abundance from high places, as well as from some of your associates. Remember the law of chastity which is the foundation stone of greatness, to keep the Sabbath Day holy, the law of tithing and the word of wisdom. Stand in holy places, that is, continue to attend the meetings the prophets have been inspired to organize for your blessing. You are still in a preparatory stage of your life. Your Father in Heaven is pleased with the faith you have manifested, and the intelligence you have brought to bear on the many choices you have had to make. He loves his daughter very much, and he knows that notwithstanding the trials you face and will encounter, that you will ultimately choose good over evil in this world even as you did before. And through the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ which you have espoused here, you will grow to a fullness of your spirit body and be sanctified and one day be prepared to enter back into the loving presence of Heaven. You have already been touched in your heart by the power of the Holy Ghost. You have received a testimony of the reality of things not seen, and therefore you are a chosen witness of the Savior and of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You have been endowed with other gifts, a keen mind, the capacity to teach, courage to stand up for the truth, even in the face of considerable opposition, like Esther, beloved Esther, noble Esther of old. Do not underestimate the extent of the potential power of your example and your uncompromising position on matters of truth and righteousness. No one can say where your influence will end. You are especially blessed among the people of the world for another reason. You are a daughter of Abraham, that great and noble prophet who was given the privilege of being the father of the Lord's chosen people. From him you have descended through his son Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Ephraim, who was the birthright son. You are therefore an heir to the birthright blessings, all of which come through the power of the priesthood. As a daughter of Abraham you will be privileged to do the works of Abraham -- to declare the gospel, to labor for the perfection of the Saints and for the redemption of the dead. And in due time your posterity will also have these blessings. Your worth is truly far above rubies and all the promises that are contained in that inspired writing will one day be yours. Your husband and children will one day rise up and call you blessed. Your path in life will become clear to you a step at a time through the power of the Holy Ghost. You will be privileged to receive the higher education you will need to become independent and self-sustaining. Be patient if the passage of time does not seem to reveal any apparent change in those matters that you hold dear in your heart. If you remain faithful in due time you will be privileged to go to the House of the Lord with a companion of your choice and there enter the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, administered by one holding the fullness of the priesthood, and thereby be admitted to the patriarchal order. This will open the gather to the path that leads to the most transcendent blessing your Father in Heaven can confer, and that is eternal life. Eternal marriage is a perfecting process. No obstacle, no burden and no sacrifice is too great a price to pay for this unspeakable blessing. There in the temple will be the beginning of your own little kingdom, and if you will remain faithful your kingdom will endure beyond the bounds of this world into the world to come. You will be blessed as a mother and know the joys and the challenges that come with this most sacred calling. You will learn that one of the greatest powers for good in the lives of your children will come from your testimony of the Book of Mormon. You will be blessed with the health and the strength that you will need to be equal to your challenges. You will always have an abundance of the necessities of life, those things that you need to carry out your responsibilities as wife and mother. You have been blessed with all of the attributes of beautiful womanhood and the capacity for noble motherhood. You are living in the last days and you will see much tribulation among the wicked and be an important means of influencing many for good. In due time the Savior will come in clouds of glory with all his holy angels with him, and you will be found among the faithful at the coming of the Lord. Your Father in Heaven hears your prayers and he is pleased with your inclination to go to him. Be assured that your prayers will be answered in accordance with his will and for your best good. Do not be unduly anxious if you do not see the end from the beginning. So dear *****, lift up your heart and be glad, for the Lord will be with you to the end. You have been blessed with a luster of personality and a maturity of mind and a sensitivity of spirit beyond your years, because you have given heed to the righteous admonitions of your beloved mother and followed the counsel and the law of your noble father. These gifts will be a crown to your head and an ornament about your neck all your days. These blessings I confer upon you, with every unmentioned blessing that may be needed of your best good in fulfilling your life's mission, all predicated upon your obedience. Continue to be sensitive to the great importance of your role as the oldest sister to your sisters and brothers. I bless you that you will come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, and receive an inheritance in the New Jerusalem and be crowed with glory, immortality and eternal life. |