The epiphany my sister had listening to the Priesthood session of General Conference.

This past weekend I went over to my sister’s house to help harvest honey from her beehives. I love honey extraction day and this year was no exception. One of my favorite parts of this hours-long process is the gospel conversations we have. As we began this year my sister told me about the epiphany she had while watching the Priesthood session of general conference (She was listening to prepare for general conference). Her thoughts were so profound that I had a paradigm shift also, and I want to share it with you today!

Priesthood Blessings

While listening to the Priesthood session of general conference my sister heard the lines “I bless you…” followed by a blessing pronounced by the speaker. This happens fairly frequently but this time it hit her, “he is pronouncing a priesthood blessing by the keys he holds. Am I treating it lightly? Or am I taking it as seriously as if he was in my home?”

When she related that epiphany it caused me to reflect as well, am I treating it lightly? And sadly the answer was yes. I’ve met apostles and talked to the face to face before, and listened to many give apostolic blessings before, I treasure my apostolic blessings I’ve received at firesides and other venues, but for some reason when it came to apostolic blessings in general conference, I was treating it just like part of the talk. As I talked to my friends and family I realized many of us do this.

Maybe it was because it is general conference, or maybe because it is a large audience, or that we did not hear it in person, live, or even hear it at all, maybe we read the talk. For some reason, many Latter-day Saints don’t put the same power and authority in these apostolic blessings that we would do if it happened in person.

But there is no doctrinal foundation to this cultural view of blessings. A blessing is a blessing! You don’t need to divide the power of the blessing by the number of those who heard it, or by the miles it took to get to you. Whether it was given because President Nelson is standing in your living room with his hands on your head, or merely his voice is carried over the radio to your hut in the Congo or your home in Manila, a blessing holds the same validity and power regardless of distance and audience.

Ask yourself, “If President Nelson was in your house talking with you and he stopped, called you by name, and said, “I bless you that XY or Z would happen’ would you treat that lightly? Would you be preoccupied on your phone if President Nelson was in your living room blessing you? Or would you hang on every word of the blessing?”

Do you think you would remember the blessing a day or a week from now? Would your journal not record the impressions the Spirit bore to you as the prophet or an apostle invoked his apostolic keys to bless your family? If he urged you to pray as a family, read the scriptures or keep some other aspect of the gospel more fully, would you not redouble your efforts? We can enjoy the blessings as promised by the prophets and apostles if we are but willing to accept and act in faith. Consider the following three blessings and promises from prophets of God:

I bless you to become those men. I bless you with the courage to repent daily and learn how to exercise full priesthood power. I bless you to communicate the love of the Savior to your wife and children and to all who know you. I bless you to do better and be better. And I bless you that as you make these efforts, you will experience miracles in your life.

President Russell M. Nelson, April 2019, We Can Do Better and Be Better.

And now, my beloved brothers and sisters, through the power and authority of the priesthood vested in me and by virtue of the calling which I now hold, I invoke my blessings upon you. I bless you in your efforts to live a more Christlike life. I bless you with an increased desire to be worthy of a temple recommend and to attend the temple as frequently as circumstances allow. I bless you to receive the peace of our Heavenly Father in your homes and to be guided in teaching your families to follow the Master.

President Howard W. Hunter, Oct 1994, Follow the Son of God

Now, in the authority of the sacred priesthood in me vested, I invoke my blessing upon the Latter-day Saints and upon good people everywhere.
I bless you with increased discernment to judge between Christ and anti-Christ. I bless you with increased power to do good and to resist evil. I bless you with increased understanding of the Book of Mormon. I promise you that from this moment forward, if we will daily sup from its pages and abide by its precepts, God will pour out upon each child of Zion and the Church a blessing hitherto unknown—and we will plead to the Lord that He will begin to lift the condemnation—the scourge and judgment. Of this I bear solemn witness.

Ezra Taft Benson, April 1986, A sacred responsibility.

I invite you as you listen to general conference to eagerly listen to the apostles and prophet use their apostolic keys to invoke the blessings of heaven on each of us in our quest to be more fully disciples of Christ in word and deed.