How the Priesthood Nurtures Women

“The priesthood is the power and authority to represent God.”
—David O. McKay

Although the authority of the priesthood is bestowed only on worthy male members of the Church, the blessings of the priesthood are available to everyone. The priesthood was restored on earth so that "the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39) could be brought to Heavenly Father’s children. Priesthood holders serve in their offices to bring salvation to each of us, His children.

Growing up, my father was an exemplary patriarch. I seemed to coast through life with blessings and safe-guards that I didn’t fully appreciate until I was married with my own children. Then life took a fragile turn, and I made the passage from childhood into adulthood.

In 2006, on a cold November day, my son received the Aaronic Priesthood. Although his journey of holding the priesthood has just begun, his life has been touched by the power of the priesthood since before birth. The night before I checked into the hospital, my husband gave me a priesthood blessing. I was petrified, to say the least, to wade through the unknown process of childbirth, something that Elder Holland had referred to as the “valley of death.”

A couple of months later, a circle of men gathered inside a chapel and my son received his second priesthood blessing. Time passed and after a vacation, my ten-month old became violently ill. When I called the doctor’s office, the nurse told me the “bug” was going around and to keep him hydrated. Five days crept by, and my already thin son became completely lethargic. To some, the answer might have been immediate, but for me, it took an act of faith to ask for a priesthood blessing. When my husband administered the blessing to my son, I felt the easing of anxiety. And by the next morning, my son had made great improvement.

But what if we don’t have children or we are single? Or our husbands do not hold the priesthood, or for some reason, they cannot officiate? What blessings are we entitled to through the priesthood? As women, we receive the blessings of the priesthood through many ordinances, including Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, Patriarchal Blessings, the Setting-Apart for a Calling, Temple Covenants, Blessings of Comfort and Healing, and the Sacrament.

In 1999, while living in California, I checked out the VHS tapes of BYU Women’s Conference from the stake library. I was busy sewing and half-listening to the talks. When Truman G. Madsen spoke on “The Savior, the Sacrament, and Self-Worth,” I paused in my work. The entire talk was excellent, but one statement changed my outlook forever on the administration of the sacrament and the priesthood power behind the weekly ordinance.

Brother Madsen said, “You faithful sisters, married or unmarried, who move daily (and hardly with a break) from the garden plot to the crucial minutia of food labels to the cups and measures of cookery; you, who struggle and preside in the kitchen and keep vigil; you, who reach out to the perennial needs of your family and loved ones; you, who with artistry gather flowers and turn an ordinary table into an altar that summons prayer and thanksgiving; you, who by your very presence, turn eating into a feast—into dining in the name of the Lord, and who, therefore, bring a bountiful measure of grace to your table, lend your faith to boys and sometimes inept men who officiate at the sacrament table. Let the tables turn on your serving. Lend your faith to our trying to act as you do in Christ-like dignity. For this is as close as we may ever come to your divine calling to give and to nurture life itself . . . Come to a foretaste of the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

“Come unto me,” rang through my mind, over and over. As we accept His sacrament, we are accepting His service, His Atonement, and His offering of salvation. In essence, we come unto Christ through the priesthood. The priesthood is an offering for everyone. It serves all mankind—men, women, and children alike. How can women share in the blessings of the priesthood? By accepting the blessings that are right in front of us. By living to be worthy of the priesthood blessings that are so readily ours. By accepting opportunities to serve. By supporting the priesthood in our homes. And by accepting God’s love, His sacrifice, and embracing our own Redemption.