Zone Devotional--May 25, 2022 Patriarchal Blessings

I presented this devotional for our zone on May 25.  I did it using PowerPoint which doesn't copy well to blogspot, so I will copy the pictures, etc. in the middle of the text of my devotional.  I hope you find it helpful and interesting.

A side note:  After the devotional, two of the sister missionaries who serve together in the SPC lab told me that they had JUST been talking about patriarchal blessings in the lab before coming into the devotional.  They said it was a perfect addition to their conversation.  Sweet!

Using Your Patriarchal Blessings…

At All Stages Of Your Life!

I started preparing for this devotional with a plan…but in preparing for that topic….I felt directed to another topic….and while watching a video related to that second topic…a comment was made about patriarchal blessings….and then that familiar feeling came ---That was the topic that I should speak about today. ** It seems like an unusual topic for people of our age.  It is so connected in our mind to youth and young adults starting off their lives and trying to find their direction.  However, I realized that our blessings are not just for our early lives and the blessings and promises don’t end at our death.  We should be actively using them in our lives regardless of what stage we are in.

So, like Sister Bonnie Cardon stated in her conference talk in October of 2021: “ Find your patriarchal blessing, blow off the dust if you must, but study it often.” And then “ Don’t delay finding out what the Lord wants to tell you now about who you are.”  She was directing her remarks to the youth, but it applies to all of us.  At all times in our lives, it is important to find out what the Lord wants to tell you NOW about who you are. ***

President Monson in a 1986 Conference address stated: (you can find the link to this talk on www.churchofjesuschrist.org--Thomas S. Monson  1986 General Conference)

I would like to share three ways that we can refine our study and use of our patriarchal blessings, but before I do, I would like to share a story with you of how I came to learn about these ways.

A number of years ago, I was teaching Gospel Doctrine in my ward and we were studying the Doctrine and Covenants.  I was preparing a lesson which was centered on several of the sections directed at individuals.  This was before Come Follow Me. You probably remember the Sunday School Manual had a suggested outline of 4-5 pages with historical information, scriptures to focus on, questions to ask. 

As I was preparing, there was a question listed in the middle of the lesson: “What written record do you have from the Lord directed at you?”  The answer was simple: “patriarchal blessing.”  However, it wasn’t tied into the main objective of the lesson and didn’t lead into the next topic in the manual, so I decided to leave it out.  I don’t like to ask questions that have only one answer and don’t require much thinking. As I made that decision, I felt like I should  include it—so I wrote it in.  Sunday morning as I was reviewing the lesson an outline, I  crossed it out.  Again, the impression to ask the question returned but I worried about the time.  However, as I was teaching later that morning, I came to that part with the crossed out question and decided to ask—almost in passing, “What written record do you have from the Lord directed at you?” The answer was given by many class members, “patriarchal blessing,” but then person added a comment about blessings, and then there was another and another.  The next 45 minutes was an amazing discussion about patriarchal blessings taught by the members of my class.  I could only stand in amazement as I and the class were taught so many great ideas and bore such sweet testimonies about their blessings and its impact in their lives.  As the class came to a close, I bore my testimony about the power of the spirit to teach us.  I said, “Through out the whole Church today, we are probably the only one who discussed patriarchal blessings but that was the lesson we were meant to have.”  How sweet it was to be a part of.

I received so many comments about that lesson in phone calls and notes over the following weeks as class members tried the things which had been discussed.  I hope that some of these ideas are helpful to you as “you dust off your blessing:”  

1.      1. Make a chart with the following three categories:

Directions       Warnings    Promises/Blessings

 Read through your blessing and put the related statements into the proper column.  I had never read my blessing specifically looking for warnings until this time.  It was an insightful exercise.  

2.     2. Take your blessing and make it into a personal Section of the Doctrine and Covenants.  Use the heading of your blessing to make the top section and then put each sentence into its own verse.  Occasionally, you might want to combine two sentences into the same verse.  Do what makes sense to you.  One person commented that doing this led to her memorizing individual sections—verses of her blessing—which has been very helpful to her.   Below is an example.

3.    3. This is the one that I needed to be reminded of because I think it is such a great idea and has the power to make a difference in the lives of your children and grandchildren.  One of the class members made the suggest of taking a journal or notebook and writing one line of your

b   blessing on the top of a page….skipping a few pages…and doing the next line until you have written out your whole blessing in this manner.  Then as you see things fulfilled in your life or you have thoughts and impressions about those sections you would write those experiences under the corresponding sentence.  Using a word doc can also serve the same purpose as a journal. Then when you are gone, you have left a legacy of your blessing and how it had been fulfilled in many ways throughout your life.  

    One of the things we did after my mom passed away was to gather as a family and read my mother’s patriarchal blessing together.  This was of course the first time that we had ever read it, but my dad felt it was important to share.  It was a sweet experience and it led to some discussion about parts of it and how that fit our mother and how we saw it fulfilled in her life.  How great it would have been to share her own testimony about the impact of that blessing in her life.  

    I am sure you all have sweet experiences to share about your own blessing and how it has impacted your life for good. Record those in a way to leave a living testimony to those who follow behind you.

I hope that one or more of these ideas will be helpful to you as you seek to use your blessing more fully and in different ways in your life.

I would like to end by sharing one of the stories related to my patriarchal blessing that I am leaving for my children and grandchildren.

I was 15 when I received my patriarchal blessing.  Sidenote:  One of the things I remember is my sense of relief after getting my blessing that there was no mention of Genealogy.  I guess I had heard enough stories about that being mentioned in people’s blessings that I guess I thought I would be off the hook for that.  Of course, I have grown up since then and have come to enjoy family history in ways I never understood as a 15-year-old. Back to my story:  One section of my blessing reminded me that Adam and Eve were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth and this commandment was still in force. Then later, I was reminded to marry in the temple so that children born to me will be mine throughout all eternity. At 15, of course.  Well-known doctrine. However, at 25 after a few years with miscarriages and infertility, it becomes a little more complicated. During this time in our lives, these lines gave me direction. It was important for us to be engaged in ways to bring children into our home.  We could do what we could do to be obedient to this commandment.  God was in charge of the outcomes. During a time of frustration and trial, there was a sense of underlying peace—we were seeking to be obedient and God was in charge.  How that help us and me, through month after month of heartache.

After being married for five years, we gave birth to our first daughter, Jessica. 

Three years later we adopted our first son, Scott.  Scott was sealed to us in the Jordan River Temple on a beautiful Saturday morning in April of 1987.  

These two photos were combined in the same slide.

The top is a photo of Jessica and Scott about a month

after he joined our family.

The photo below was taken on the day of

Scott's sealing in the Jordan River Temple.

The room was filled with our families and many friends and ward members who loved us and loved Scott.  The sealer took about 20 minutes before Scott and Jessica came into the room talking about parenting in the way that sealers often talk about marriage before a sealing.  At one point, he said, “Adam and Eve were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth and that commandment still applies today.  As you carry your young son in your arms, you are fulfilling that commandment and he will be yours for all eternity.”  On an already emotional day, my heart was overcome by these familiar words.  A sealer, who we did not know and certainly had never read my blessing, had reminded me once again of words and promises from my Heavenly Father spoken in my patriarchal blessing.  Once again the decision to adopt Scott was confirmed in my heart as THE plan for my life and his—not a second choice or backup plan.

And so it was as we added each of our other children

These three photos were combined on one screen as well.

Ben soon after he arrived

Tosha soon after she arrived

Jena on the day of her sealing

—Ben, Tosha, and Jena.  I know that we were obedient to the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth and God blessed us in ways far beyond our wildest dreams.

And because I am doing devotional, here are our kids in 2010 before we started adding our three in-laws and ten grandchildren….

So, dust off your blessing and use it in your lives—and make a record for those you follow you.