Section 13- Aaronic Priesthood

The Aaronic Priesthood is something that I have really taken for granted in my life. I feel that when I was reading the section on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receiving the Aaronic Priesthood. As I was reading the section I came across the keys of the priesthood, this was such a great insight to really what I have today and the reasons that it was so important for us to have in the true church. Growing up I was never really into the reasoning behind the gospel truths. It took some time for me to adjust and to really see what the gospel is and the priesthood. Once I found that out I was able to really let the priesthood bless my life and really learn about it.  It is such a powerful priesthood to know that we are able to have the keys to the ministering of angels. We are able to call upon angels and to bless the lives of other people.

                 Another insight that was very important to note for me was the way that they were able to receive the priesthood through the translation of the Book of Mormon.  I think that when we are constantly seeking the Lord and trying to understand the things that we have been given that we are able to receive the knowledge that we need. I was able to see that many times in my life. One experience that I will always remember in my life has really shown the blessings that I have seen in someone else’s life. It happened on my mission

                When I was serving on a mission in California I was in an area where my companion and I were teaching a lot of teenagers. One teenager in particular had a relative that he wanted us to teach. The problem that we ran into was that not in our area. The only time we could teach him was when he was at his cousin’s house. He had a little brother who was a little over 6 months. One night he had an accident that left his face and head burned. The parents took him to the hospital and we returned one night from teaching and got a phone call that the parents wanted us to give a blessing to the child. As we went into the hospital we had to have the right first name. We were unable to get in so we went home and tried calling them again and trying to get their first real name. My companion was beginning to doubt but we still made the effort to go back. We were able to find them and we were able to give the kid a blessing. We found out later that from the blessing the kid was healed and that they were able to not have surgery that they had previously been scheduled to have.

                This is a great section that I have learned a lot about and have been able to grow in a great way of understanding.  

Section 3- Joseph Smith's lessons.

                When we look at section 3 of the Doctrine and Covenants we find that the Lord is trying to teach Joseph Smith 5 great lessons that can be applied to us today. The lessons that were taught to Joseph Smith was that he needed to not boast in his own strengths, not fear man more than God, been faithful, follow his own will, and repent of his wrongdoings.

Boasting in our own strength can make us seem like we are better than the Lord and that we know more than him. Joseph Smith was told that he was not to let the 116 pages to Martin Harris but he felt that it was the right thing to do. He kept asking the Lord and trying to find the right answer. This is very similar to us today. We are constantly searching for answers to life and the questions that may come up throughout our life. We think that we know more than the Lord when we feel that we need to keep asking him until we reach the answer that we want.

We need to fear God and not man. Joseph Smith was afraid that man was going to reject him and that by showing them the 116 pages of the manuscript that they were going to believe. He was afraid of what was going to happen to him. Today we face those same difficulties. We sometimes feel like we need to hide our beliefs or try to prove our beliefs to others so that they are able to believe. We cannot force our beliefs on anyone so we cannot try to prove them. We need to let them find out on their own.

These first 2 lessons help to show that by being faithful we will not fear man more than God and boast in our own strength.  By being faithful the Lord was able to entrust the things of the gospel  in his hands. Being faithful means to follow everything that the Lord has said.

The final thing that the Lord taught Joseph Smith was repentance. Joseph was shown that he was not perfect and that there were going to be times when he was not following everything that the Lord has commanded. He was taught that repentance was something that everyone was going to go through. This is very similar to the things that we go through in our lives. We sometimes sin and when we sin and do something that the Lord has told us not to do. We need to make sure that we repent and make sure that we are open to the lessons that we are being taught.