By Heather Bowser
*Saturday Afternoon Session
Henry B. Eyring used the Apostle Paul?s example to encourage church members to strengthen a lasting testimony of priesthood keys.
?I gave a talk to honor Paul and his apostleship to a group of church members,? he said. ?At the end of the talk Elder Faust informed me that I had left out the most important thing I could have said.?
Several weeks later, Elder Faust finally divulged the young speaker?s mistake.
?If the saints who listened to Paul had possessed a testimony of the value and power of the priesthood keys, perhaps the apostles would not have been taken from the earth.?
Elder Eyring said there are three steps to develop the necessary testimony of the brethren and their priesthood keys.
?First we must remember that God is consistent and generous,? he said. ?Second, His children must choose for themselves to qualify to receive those blessings. Finally, we remember that Satan will try to undermine the necessary faith to receive those blessings.?
Elder Eyring?s testimony of priesthood keys strengthened when a dam in Idaho broke and thousands of saints relied upon the people who held those keys.
?I leaned then, how the stakes of Zion become safety,? he said.
Elder Eyring used two other examples to demonstrate the necessity of a lasting testimony of priesthood keys.
?In a chapel far from Salt Lake City I once went to a place where The Twelve rarely go,? he said. ?A father approached me. He lead a son by the hand. He reached at the boy, nodding his head towards me, ?This is an apostle.? He was hoping his son would feel a conviction that priesthood keys were on the earth.?
Elder Eyring said the young boy, like many members of the church, will need a conviction and testimony of priesthood keys.
?He will need it when he gets his missionary call,? he said. ?He will need it if he has to bury a child or a wife. He will need it for comfort when he gets married.?
Similarly, missionaries who introduce investigators to bishops hope they will understand the bishop is more than a ?nice man,? he said.
Elder Eyring explained the investigator will need conviction when the bishop presides in sacrament meeting, or issues them a calling.
?A happy condition will not last, without a constant renewal of faith,? he said. ?Bishops get released, apostles pass away. We must seek to have that experience and again and again to receive the blessings that God has for us. We will become what the Apostle Paul wanted for his members.?
