Brother *****, by the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, as a patriarch in the _____ Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter—Day Saints, I lay my hands upon your head and give you a patriarchal blessing, as I may be directed by the Holy Spirit. I confirm upon you all of your former blessings, including those of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and of Joseph and Ephraim of whose lineage you are. As you have sought a blessing from your Father in Heaven at my hands, blessed shall you be.

You are to understand at this time, Brother *****, that your Father in Heaven loves you. He is pleased that you are so conducting your life that you are worthy to come to him this day and receive blessings of an eternal nature. Your striving to serve him, your aspirations to fulfill responsibilities in his kingdom, your desire to be faithful and true have their roots far and beyond your mortal existence. While your training and guidance in mortality have been most instrumental in your desiring to serve your Father in Heaven, while your parental and church leadership influences have meant much to you throughout your life, you are to understand that your faithfulness had its firm roots in the pre-existence. There you were faithful and true. There, upon hearing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ explained, you accepted the same wholeheartedly. You not only accepted the gospel then, but you joined the ranks of Michael, as they were being directed by the master. While there, you served faithfully and true. You taught the gospel to those who were erring in their ways, those who were uncertain as to the course they should pursue. Those you taught again and again and again. Many of them responded to your witness, your explanation and your ability to persuade and have had, or will have had, the opportunity of coming to this earth and partaking of mortality. Because of your faithfulness in the pre-existence, your time on earth was preset to be just before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in his second coming. Your Father in Heaven knew he needed his most faithful, valiant and true sons and daughters to be on the earth at that specific time to counteract the last great thrust of Lucifer before the second coming of the Master. He knew that your experience, your faithfulness, your valiance in the pre-existence would stand you in good stead in mortality, and that you would be thus prepared to again serve him and keep his commandments. He called you in prior to coming to this earth for a personal interview. There he told you of the difficulties of life. He apprised you of the temptations which Lucifer would place in your pathway. He also gave you to understand of privileges, opportunities, blessings and their attendant responsibilities which would devolve upon you in mortality. You promised him then that you would live a pure, virtuous, obedient and righteous life in mortality. You made a covenant with your Father in Heaven that you would fulfill every responsibility which would be placed upon you in the kingdom and do so faithfully and true. He then laid his hands upon your head and foreordained you to fulfill responsible positions in his kingdom and sent you forth into mortality with his love and his blessings.

That you may fulfill all the responsibilities which will devolve upon you in mortality faithfully and well, that you may be insulated from the wiles of Lucifer, I bless you with the gift of the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is one of the greatest blessings which could be given to you. For, in this trying world in which you live, you need all the fortification, all the strength, all the endurance possible in order to remain faithful and true. Also, you need this witness as a guiding light in your life that you may remain faithful and true in mortality even as you were in the pre-existence. I counsel you, while you have a testimony at the present time, that you seek for this greater witness. Seek for it in humble prayer, fasting, study and obedience before your Father in Heaven. If you will so seek and obtain this great witness, you shall know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christ does live, that he was crucified, resurrected and is the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. You shall further know that the gospel bearing the Master's name is the Father's only whole truth here upon the earth. It is important that you gain this great witness before you go into the mission field. It is equally important, Brother *****, that you gain it now. You have some scholastic experiences ahead of you before you go into the mission field. These experiences entail exposure to the temptations of Lucifer. While you have been able to remain stalwart and true, the temptations which will occur in the future, even in the immediate future, will be great and it is important that you have all the fortification possible that you may shun the very appearance of evil. If you will seek and obtain this great witness and keep it uppermost in your mind on a constant basis, I bless you that Satan shall have no power over you. While he will tempt and try you, this great witness will act as a bulwark and a shield blunting his fiery darts and you shall be able to walk through life unscathed from his wiles and his temptations.

Now, Brother *****, it is important that you have this witness soon. Because, not only have you aspirations to go into the mission field, but you are to understand today that when you sat before your Father in Heaven in the pre-existence and he laid his hands upon your head, he set you apart to serve as a missionary. You had that promise then, and that promise shall be fulfilled. I bless you that you shall be called to serve among a people that are different from those with whom you are acquainted up to this point in your life. You will be able to have an empathy with them, with which I bless you at this time. Thus you will be able to understand and appreciate them and to realize that, while their mores, their training, their experiences, their customs are different from yours, they are the children of God, and that they are spiritual brothers and sisters of yours and are precious in the sight of their Father in Heaven. I bless you with a clear understanding of your relationship with them and the ability to teach them the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I bless you that this great witness which you shall have gained will be born to them in humility, in sincerity, in love and with conviction and many will respond and you will find success in your missionary labors. Ever be faithful. Ever be found worthy of the blessings of your Father in Heaven.

I bless you, Brother *****, with the gift of wisdom. There are many callings which will come to you in the kingdom throughout your days on the earth which will require of you wisdom beyond your then understanding and training. It is important that you let this great gift seep into your very being that you may be able to serve others most effectively and well. You will have responsibilities which will be related to young people throughout your life. You will teach them the principles of the gospel, the tenets pertaining to the kingdom. These you will be able to explain in clarity, but mainly with wisdom that they may understand fully that which you are giving to them. At the same time, you will have callings of a presiding nature which will require of you wisdom in your labors to guide, train and direct the lives mainly of young people. For it is to the young people that these callings will be orientated. I bless you with such wisdom at that time that as you counsel and guide these young people, you will be inspired of the Holy Spirit to give to them the mind and will of your Father in Heaven and you will be of great influence and direction in their lives. I bless you that this gift will redound to your temporal life. When you shall have returned from your mission and you pursue your scholastic endeavors, I bless you then with this gift of wisdom as you seek to know the professional service which should be yours in mortality. At that time get upon your knees in humble prayer while fasting and this gift of wisdom will become activated in your mind and there will come to you clearly, very clearly, the course of study you should pursue that you may fulfill your righteous desires here upon the earth. If that inspiration is different from anything you have perceived prior to that time, remember it is the Holy Spirit that is inspiring you of that which the Father would have you do. Ever respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and you shall be guided, directed and inspired all the days of your life. I bless you with success in your temporal affairs.

I bless you, Brother *****, with the gift of knowledge. Through study and prayer you shall gain an understanding of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, it is important in order for you to fulfill your callings in the kingdom that you go beyond studying and praying. When you shall have studied and prayed, then meditate upon that about which you have been studying and praying. It will be then that this gift of knowledge will actuate your mind and you will perceive even the mysteries of the kingdom. You will have a great insight into the purposes of your Father in Heaven here upon the earth. You will be able to understand and perceive great truths of the kingdom, some of which are unavailable to the people generally, for this great gift will so actuate your mind that you will have clarity of understanding. Be cautious and careful with the inspiration which will be given to you that you not offend others by disseminating that which has come for your guidance for they, not having the blessing you have, may not be able to understand. You may give for the benefit of your family that which comes to you as the Spirit inspires you with the same injunction to them that it be held confidential. For God has many mysteries which are available to his children if they serve him well and keep his commandments. I bless you that this gift, also, will redound to your temporal life. In your further scholastic studies I bless you that your mind will be opened up and your understanding increased. You will perceive principles of learning more easily and completely than you have in the past. You will also have the ability to retain that which you have learned and to recall the same quickly.

I bless you, Brother *****, with the gift of faith. You shall have the faith, when you shall have received the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, to lay your hands upon the sick and they shall recover. You shall even have the ability, when you are so inspired by the Holy Spirit, to grant longevity of life. I counsel you, when you shall have a family of your own, that you deny them not the blessings of the Holy Priesthood. As you have children and even your good wife, give to them a father's and a husband's blessing as their courses in life may need direction and supplemental support. As your family pursues various activities in life, call them in on an individual basis and give them a blessing of the priesthood as a father, as a husband, that they may be fortified, that they may be sustained in their activities and remain faithful and true. I bless you that this gift of faith will enable you to live in a very unrighteous, trying and sinful world. You are to understand today that times will get worse before they get better. They will not get better until the Master comes. It is important that you have this faith that it might sustain you that you may be able to remain faithful and true under all trying conditions. If you will keep in mind your Father in Heaven, if you will be prayerful, if you will be humble, if you will ever strive faithfully to serve in the kingdom, I bless you with the ability to stand apart from that which is sordid and untoward and live a righteous and exemplary life among your fellowmen.

I counsel you, Brother *****, to keep the commandments of your Father in Heaven. Keep the Word of Wisdom strictly. Never take anything into your body that would be detrimental to it. If you will keep this law and the other commandments of your Father in Heaven, I bless you that you will have joy and happiness throughout your life. You will have success in those things you undertake to do in righteousness both in the temporal and spiritual worlds. I bless you on the same premise with the ability to rear your family in righteousness. I counsel you, further, to keep yourself clean and unspotted from the sins of the world. It has been said that your body is to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is to abide in you, it is imperative that you be prepared to receive him. If you will do this, I bless you that he will ever be with you to give you the blessings of the kingdom, the inspiration to serve and the determination to be faithful and true.

In due time, Brother *****, and after you have returned from your missionary service do not defer that due time unseasonably, seek for a companion from among the daughters of Zion. If you will seek humbly, prayerfully and earnestly, I bless you that you shall so find a worthy daughter of Zion and be able to take her to the House of the Lord and there be married for time and for all eternity. I bless you that you shall become the father of a righteous and noble posterity.

I bless you with eternal life. I bless you that you shall come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, together with your loved ones. You shall see the Son of God as he descends with his saints to that glorious reunion of the second coming. You shall be caught up into the air to meet him and descend with him to the earth and participate in the inauguration of the Millennial Reign. These blessings I confirm upon you according to your faithfulness in keeping all of the commandments of your Father in Heaven, and of your diligence in doing all that is within your power to bring them to pass, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.