Becoming Better Priesthood Holders

The scripture and topic I was assigned to talk about was Alma 48:17.  What can we learn from Captain Moroni to become better priesthood holders in the home.  So we need to read Alma 48:17.  It says, “Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto ^Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the ^{devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.”}

That’s a pretty powerful statement.  Imagine, the very powers of hell being shaken forever! Satan having no power over you….he can’t tempt you because you’re so focused and firm in your beliefs that nothing effects you.  I wish I was like that.  The good thing is we can learn to be like that or at least work on becoming more that way.  I looked into who Moroni was and what he’s done to see what we can learn from him.

When Moroni was 25 years old he was appointed captain over the armies of the nephites.  Can you imagine being 25 and having that responsibility?  When I was 25 I was still figuring out how to tie my shoes.  This guy was leading the whole nephite army!  So we know he was mature, reliable and responsible.

He did a lot and there are a ton of examples that we could learn from but I’m just going to focus on 3 scriptures because there’s not enough time to talk about everything. The first one is:

 Alma 43:19—“And when the armies of the Lamanites saw that the people of Nephi, or that Moroni, had ^prepared his people with ^{breastplates and with arm-shields, yea, and also shields to defend their heads, and also they were dressed with thick clothing.”}

 As priesthood holders we can learn a few things from this.  Moroni was obviously thinking ahead and trying to figure out what he needed to do to protect his armies.  And it doesn’t say in the scripture but I bet he was prayerful and sought guidance from the Lord.  As protectors and leaders of our families we need to be thinking ahead and be proactive in protecting our families from Satan and the evils in the world.  How can we prepare our families?  There are a lot of things we can do and many of those things are Sunday school answers—like read the scriptures as a family, pray together, come to church, have family home evening etc.  Those things are important and always will be. If we are consistent in living the basic commandments everything else in life usually falls into place.  But it’s easy to stop doing those basic things with all of the distractions the world has to offer.  I think if Moroni were living today he would be pretty cautious about what he let into his home through the TV and internet.  There are a million good things on TV and the internet but there are also million bad things.  Let’s make sure that the TV shows and movies we watch are positive and uplifting and that the sites we and our families look at on the internet are the same.  The most important thing is that we remember it’s our duty to protect and prepare our families from the evil in the world.  And one of the best ways to teach is by example—so make sure you’re prepared and are protecting yourself as well.  By being consistent in following the basic commandments and being prayerful and thoughtful about our families future we can be led by the spirit and be able to protect and prepare them for the battles of life.

The second scripture I want to talk about is:

Alma 43:23—“But it came to pass, as soon as they had departed into the wilderness Moroni sent spies into the wilderness to watch their camp; and Moroni, also, knowing of the prophecies of Alma, sent certain men unto him, desiring him that he should ^inquire of the Lord ^whither the armies of the Nephites should go to defend themselves against the Lamanites.”  

Moroni shows us he has faith in the modern prophet and trusts and follows his counsel.  Moroni had to send someone to go and physically talk to the prophet to receive guidance—for us it’s a lot easier—we can just get on LDS.org and we have access to videos and countless talks and articles from our prophet and apostles.  Let’s make sure we are utilizing the church’s website.  If you really think about it, it’s truly amazing to have a prophet on the earth.  He is the Lords mouthpiece—imagine how close he must be to the spirit and to the Lord.  We need constant guidance and direction with all of the things that influence us on a daily basis—telling us what to value.  Everywhere we look there are advertisements telling us what to want and need.   It’s hard not to start thinking that we need all these worldly things.  We have to live in this world but we don’t have to conform to all the ways of the world.  The way for us to stay focused and keep an eternal perspective is to constantly be seeking guidance from our prophet and the apostles. With videos and talks at our fingertips—there should never be a shortage of guidance from our Lord through our modern day prophet.  It’s up to us as priesthood holders to be seeking guidance from our prophet. I’m not perfect in any way and get caught up in valuing things of no importance—things that won’t bring me true happiness. So I’m going to try and encourage you to try to read and watch teachings from our modern day prophet so that we can lead and guide our families.  And a good time to share the teachings of the prophet and apostles is during Family Home Evening.  I don’t know what’s best for your family but I know that as priesthood holders it’s our job to seek guidance and direction from our prophet and the apostles so that we can receive inspiration for the specific needs of our family.

 The next scripture I want to talk about is:

 Alma 48:12.  “Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the ^welfare and safety of his people.”

Moroni was grateful for all the wonderful blessings that God had blessed him with.  I’m sure if he chose to, he could be pretty negative about the times he was living in.  There were huge wars going on, I’m sure he saw people killed, friends die, and all sorts of evil. But he chose to live in gratitude and look for all the good things that surrounded him. It’s so easy to look at all the bad things happening in our lives.  We all have hard times.  But whatever we look for we’ll find.  So if we look for things to complain about we’ll find them—but on the other hand, if we look for positive things to be grateful for we’ll find them as well.  We need the spirit with us if we want to be effective priesthood holders in our home and if we aren’t grateful and expressing that gratitude to God—His spirit can’t be with us.  It’s a challenge for me to be grateful all the time but I know that it has a powerful effect on my family and me when I am. The second part of that verse talks about how Moroni worked hard for the welfare and safety of his people.  As priesthood holders in the home, our people, are our family.  We have a responsibility to labor exceedingly just like Moroni did, to ensure that our family is taken care of.  Let’s make sure that we are proactive in leading and teaching our family.  Let’s not be afraid to work hard for the welfare and safety of our family.  It’s so easy to just come home from work and sit in front of the TV or get on the Internet and waste an hour checking email or whatever but It takes work to prepare family home evenings.  It takes work to study the scriptures.  It takes work to go to the Temple and do every other thing that can bring good into our life.  I guess that’s where the saying, “Good things don’t come easy” came from.  Let’s not be afraid to work for our families welfare and safety.  Our families are the most important thing in this world—let’s make sure our wives and children feel important and loved and are always taken care of.

Moroni is an amazing example and I learned a lot from preparing this talk and I have a lot to work on.  Among the many things we can learn from Moroni, remember to be thoughtful and to prepare and protect our families from evil--be cautious about what we let into our homes—specifically through the internet and TV.  Remember that our prophet and the apostles are mouthpieces for the Lord and that when we need guidance or direction as leaders in our homes we can turn to the teachings and talks from them.  And last let’s remember to be grateful for all of our blessings and work hard for the welfare and safety of our family.

I pray that we can all remember Moroni and use his example as inspiration to be better priesthood holders in our homes.