Brother *****:

In the name of Jesus Christ, acting through the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood with assignment as an ordained patriarch in the Sandy Utah Mount Jordan Stake, I lay my hands upon your head and confer upon you your patriarchal blessing.

This is really a great opportunity, *****, for you and ***** to be here today to receive your patriarchal blessings, to not only hear your own blessing but to hear the blessing of your brother. This will be a bonding between the two of you throughout your lives, to remember the presence of grandparents and your mother on this special occasion.

It is wonderful, *****, to be loved by your family and in turn to love them, to have the example they have established before you, to know of their love of the gospel and their love of the Savior and the great expectations they have for you and what you can accomplish in this life. The Lord has blessed you in many ways to this point, *****, and He will continue to bless you.

You can be grateful to be part of the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. I feel impressed to tell you that you, like your brother, are also of Ephraim. Those promised blessings made to those ancient patriarchs and the responsibilities given to their offspring, you are entitled to and responsible for.

The Lord will bless and help you, *****, that you may also have the opportunity of serving the Lord as a missionary. He would encourage you to prepare yourself. Make the most of your seminary experience, learn the things that are taught there. If you have the opportunity of a language, then learn it because your Heavenly Father needs missionaries all over the world, in different countries, with different languages and with different challenges.

The Lord will bless and help you as you prepare yourself. Search the scriptures; read and pray for your testimony to be strengthened especially as you read and study in the Book of Mormon. Moroni promised that by the power of the Holy Ghost you may know the truthfulness of all things especially the Book of Mormon. (Moroni 10:4-5)

The Lord will help you if you pray, that you may know that Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove and when he went to Carthage he was willing to put his life on the line as a testimony, as a testator, to that which he promulgated throughout his life since he had his first vision. Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemane, bleeding from every pore and died on Calvary for you, *****, and for all the rest of mankind. What a great blessing the atonement should be in your life, to know that errors through correct repentance can be overcome through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Learn to love your Savior. As a missionary this is the message you bear to the world, the message of peace and the message of the Redeemer.

The Lord will bless and help you to be effective in your school work. He would expect you to apply yourself, that you would study and do the things that would help you to be effective, not only in high school but in your future educational opportunities.

He will bless and help you as a missionary to be a peacemaker, to get along with your companions, to have love and respect for your mission president and to be obedient to mission rules. These are things that are so critical in the success of a mission. The Lord will also help you to be a good example to others if you practice the things that you have been taught, the things that have been part of your life growing up. The Lord will help you to be an influence in the lives of others. People will be attracted to you because of your personality, because of your truthfulness, because of the standards that you maintain. You must remember that in that sense, *****, you are marked as a Latter-day Saint. People will expect more of you because you are a Latter-day Saint.

The Lord will bless and help you with the opportunity of doing work to redeem the dead, to go into the House of the Lord not only for your own endowments, but to do the work for those who are waiting on the other side of the veil. You will find one of the greatest experiences you can have is to be in the House of The Lord to kneel as a proxy for someone who is waiting for their work to be done.

There is a young woman, John, that the Lord will prepare for you. She will be worthy for you, to take your hand and go into the House of the Lord to become your eternal companion. If you are wise in your dating, in the way that you treat members of the opposite sex with respect, honor and dignity, the Lord will help you to find this young woman. When you meet her you will know her and she will know you as the one that she would want to be her eternal companion. This is a great thing for you to look forward to, *****, in your life.

The Lord is going to call you to assignments and responsibilities in the Church. You need to accept that which comes to you and make the most of it, to magnify it, and the Lord will bless and sustain you in so doing.

You will also be given gifts that you can use in behalf of others. Your faith will be strengthened, your testimony will be strengthened, your power in the priesthood will be strengthened as you have the opportunity of blessing and doing other things that are performed under the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood.

Be an example to others. Be a credit to your mother, to your father, to your grandparents, to the Church and to your Heavenly Father as one of His sons.

The Lord will also help you to be discerning in the things that will come to you in the presence of others. You will learn to distinguish those who would be a source of truth in your life and those who would attempt to lead you into error. Be wise as you discern these people and their motives and listen to the promptings of the Spirit.

In the Book of Mormon you read about the Liahona, the compass that was given to Lehi and his family that directed them and worked by faith. When they were righteous they were led and when they were not, in the case of Nephi's brothers, they had problems. Your patriarchal blessing is your Liahona; it will help and guide you in your life if you hearken to the promptings of the spirit. Remember, *****, that this patriarchal blessing is a guide; it is a line down the road and you need to walk that line so that you can be worthy when the day comes of getting back to the presence of your Heavenly Father. The Lord loves you. He is concerned with you. He knows you and He wants you to do everything possible to make the most of your second estate, that you can be an influence for good in helping to build His kingdom.

Be faithful and righteous. Claim the blessings that are promised on this special occasion. If you do and keep the covenants that you have made and the promises you have made, and will yet make in terms of the Church and your Heavenly Father, then I seal you up to come forth in the morning of the First Resurrection clothed with glory and immortality and promise you that your Heavenly Father will be mindful of you and your needs. I bless you with the protection that you need in your life and the ability to withstand the temptations and the trials and problems that will come your way.

I seal these blessings upon you through the power of the Holy Priesthood and do so in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.