Priesthood Leaders Worldwide Receive Training via Satellite

Stake and ward priesthood leaders around the world received counsel from President Gordon B. Hinckley and members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in a first-of-its-kind leadership training broadcast in January.

“We see this as an important opportunity to teach foundation doctrines and principles, and their application in local circumstances,” stated a letter signed by the First Presidency announcing the broadcast. “We anticipate that the broadcast will do much to strengthen the faith of the leaders worldwide as they labor to bring souls unto Christ and build the Kingdom of God on earth.”

The meeting was for priesthood leaders, including stake presidents, bishops, and other priesthood officers. Translated into more than 50 languages, the broadcast originated at Church headquarters in Salt Lake City and reached some 97 percent of targeted Church leaders. Only a swath of land in western Africa was outside the satellite footprint. Leaders in that area received the full training meeting by videotape.

Speakers focused on topics basic to the salvation of individuals and to the progress of the Lord’s kingdom on earth, such as living the Lord’s standards, preparing to receive and live temple covenants, strengthening families, and advancing missionary work.

“Missionary work is the lifeblood of the Church,” President Hinckley said in his remarks. “It is older than the Church itself.”

“Who should do full-time missionary work? Those who are worthy and are called,” he explained. “We simply cannot permit those who have not qualified themselves to go into the world to preach the glad tidings of the gospel.”

“Let me emphasize that we need missionaries,” President Hinckley explained, but they must be spiritually and physically capable of doing the work.

President Hinckley also said missionaries can do a better job if they learn to teach with spiritual conviction and not just through rote memorization. Let them learn to speak from their own convictions; let them ask the Lord each morning to loosen their tongues, and let them teach with His help, President Hinckley urged.

President Hinckley admonished leaders to be sure investigators are ready to be baptized, and he reiterated his counsel that every new member needs a friend, a responsibility, and nourishment with the word of God. “Every convert is worth saving. I am convinced we do not need to suffer losses among those who come into the Church,” President Hinckley said.

President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke of receiving direction through the Holy Ghost. “The language of the Church is the language of the Spirit,” he said.

President Packer showed a pair of sextants, used by sailors for centuries to find their courses across the sea. “The Holy Ghost is like a sextant,” he said. Just as light from the heavens could keep sailors from losing their way, the light of the Holy Ghost can help us stay on the right course.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles continued the theme of being guided by revelation, teaching that it is the duty of Church leaders to receive for themselves the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ and to teach it to others.

Elder Maxwell reiterated President Brigham Young’s assertion that “we live far beneath our privileges” in terms of receiving revelation from God for guidance (see Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 32). Elder Maxwell counseled: “To the degree that we cease to live beneath our privileges, we can lift the Church.”

But he cautioned, “Revelation is not a matter of pushing buttons but of pushing ourselves, often aided by fasting and by scripture study.”

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that while Church leaders see many different levels of organization in units around the world, “the Spirit is the same.” The Church provides handbooks and other resources to guide leaders in the development of Church programs in units of every size, but development must be done carefully and in good order, he counseled. “The secret to building a ward or branch is to know your members,” he said, and tailor the growth to their needs.

A primary goal of local leaders should be to help each member prepare for the covenants and blessings of the temple, Elder Perry taught. If priesthood leaders only help members prepare for, make, and keep these covenants, they have done what could be expected of them, regardless of the size of the ward or branch, he said.

Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the strength and joy that can come to members who faithfully obey the Lord’s standards. Those standards for receiving temple blessings are high, and they are unchangeable, Elder Eyring pointed out. Priesthood leaders must uphold these standards “clearly and without apology.”

The Lord’s standards are not given to keep people from Him but to draw more people to Him, Elder Eyring explained, testifying that as leaders hold the Lord’s standards high, more people will come to baptism and follow the pathway that leads them to Christ.

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered counsel on strengthening families. “Remember, the Church is organized to assist families,” he said.

Referring to “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102), Elder Ballard suggested that both parents and Church teachers review the proclamation regularly to help them support its principles. He cited other gospel-based resources to help strengthen families, including manuals, Church magazines, and family home evening. Elder Ballard urged priesthood leaders to be aware of these resources and encourage members to use them.

He also called on priesthood leaders to give strong support to the goal of temple marriage among members because of the blessings it brings to families and to the Church. Members who have not made or learned to keep temple covenants have not taken advantage of all the blessings the gospel has to offer, Elder Ballard said, referring to counsel from President Hinckley.