“A blind person asked St. Anthony: “Can there be anything worse than losing eyesight?” He replied, “Yes, losing your vision.” I’m going to try to give you the vision the brethren would like you to have regarding family history and the blessings of the Priesthood.
Peter was one of the greatest of men. It is true that the New Testament recounts some mortal weaknesses, but it also illustrates that he overcame them and was made strong by his faith in Jesus Christ. There was a time when “…the disciples saw him (Christ) walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14:26–31) I, too, would sink, and I dare say most mortal men would weaken in those circumstances and they, too, would say, ”Lord save me.” Looking into reality, or the boisterous sea, is what caused him to lose faith and sink.
Later, when they were entering the Garden of Gethsemane—near the end, Jesus said unto them: “All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, ‘I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.’ Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.” (Matthew 26:31–35) Peter denied the Lord thrice before the cock crowed. I, too, would have denied Him, and I dare say that most of mortals would have too. He feared lest he, too, be treated cruelly. The record states that after he denied Jesus thrice, Peter went and wept bitterly. But the Lord knew his heart, and He honored Peter by selecting him to hold “the keys of the kingdom on earth.” (Matthew 16:13–18) Peter was the chief apostle of his day, and after the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Savior, it was Peter who called the Church together and acted in the office of his calling as the one who possessed the keys of the priesthood (Acts 1:2).” (Bible Dictionary) “The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church”— (D&C 107:18) Peter had been given the Priesthood and the power of Elijah. The power of Elijah is the sealing power of the priesthood by which things that are bound or loosed on earth are bound or loosed in heaven. (D&C 128:8–18) The Lord said unto Peter, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and what- soever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)
In 1823, when Joseph Smith was 18 years old, one night, while he was praying, a light appeared in his room, and a personage whose whiteness defied description called him by name “and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people… After telling me these things, he commenced quoting some prophecies of the Old Testament ( Joseph Smith History), including this passage from Malachi: “Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.” (D&C 2:1–3) Elijah was to restore the Priesthood and plant in our hearts the promises made to the Fathers.
So, what are the promises made to the Fathers that were to be planted in our hearts?? Promises so powerful that they can turn our heart to our fathers?? We first hear about these promises in the Book of Abraham, because Abraham was such a faithful man, the Lord blessed him and his seed as follows (paraphrased):
I give unto thee a promise “…I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in… thy Priesthood and in thy seed…shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.
Who are the seed of Abraham?…as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father. (Abraham 2:10,11) If you have accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you are the seed of Abraham. Your Patriarchal blessing will probably identify you as either through the lineage of Ephraim or Manasseh who were sons of Joseph, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham.
These blessings, or promises, appear in all the scriptures as they were passed down through Abraham’s descendants. Through the Priesthood, and Abraham’s seed, all the families of the earth will receive the blessings of Salvation, even of life eternal. That is a tremendous challenge that has been laid upon the Latter-day Saints. The billions of people who have lived and died on this earth without an opportunity to receive or even hear of the Gospel will be given an opportunity of salvation and life eternal through the sealing and binding power of the priesthood. Because Elijah is turning our hearts to them, those in the spirit prison on the other side the veil are waiting to be loosed.
President Howard W. Hunter stated that in respect to doing the work for our kindred dead: “Man was not given a choice to do this work when and if he pleased, or when he had time, but the work was given as an obligation to be filled…This work must hasten.” President Monson recently said: “Our job is to search out our dead and then go to the temple and perform the sacred ordinances that will bring to those beyond the veil the same opportunities we have.” Given this kind of admonition, more members’ hearts are turning, and they desire to learn how to research their families in order to take their names to the temple. God bless us to catch the spirit of Elijah. “Can there be anything worse than losing one’s eyesight?” He replied: “Yes, losing your vision.” Or in the case of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—never catching that great vision in the first place.