It seems more than just coincidence that the Almighty would choose the spring of the year as the time to restore the priesthood after a long winter of apostasy, darkness and absence of authority to perform the saving ordinances of the gospel.

By May, much of the earth has been endowed with a renewal of life. The days are gradually lengthening with increasing light and warmth. Trees have leafed out. Field crops have germinated and are growing, giving hope of an abundant harvest to come. Augmented by rains, life-giving water is flowing in streams from melting snow, replenishing springs, wells and reservoirs.

All of it bespeaks the generosity and goodness of a loving Father in Heaven.

It was 175 years ago, on May 15, 1829, on a verdant riverbank, that the resurrected John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and pronounced the words, "Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron" (Doctrine and Covenants 13:1). Within weeks, the ancient Apostles Peter, James and John would visit Joseph and Oliver to restore the keys and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood.

This priesthood authority, of course, had been held anciently by men chosen of God for their purity and worthiness. It is, in fact, "without beginning of days or end of years," having been given to father Adam, who conferred it upon his son Abel. It thus has continued "in the church of God in all generations." (See Doctrine and Covenants 84:15-16.)

The scriptures teach that this priesthood "administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God."

"Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:19-20).

By and through the priesthood, and in accordance with the will of God, miracles are wrought: The sick and injured are healed, the distressed are comforted; even the dead are raised to life on occasion. (See, for example, 4 Nephi 1:5.)

That a loving Father would delegate such power to man is a manifestation and foreshadowing of His ultimate design. Christ said that those who receive the priesthood and magnify their calling "are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies."

"And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord;

"For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;

"And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;

"And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:33, 35-38).

The generous aim of God is reflected in the fact that boys, scarcely four years past the age of accountability, are endowed with the authority of the preparatory priesthood enabling them to administer in the gospel of repentance by passing the sacred emblems of the Lord's supper and, later, performing the ordinance of baptism, the gateway to the kingdom of God. And they are entitled to the ministering of angels by virtue of the priesthood they hold.

It is by priesthood power that a husband and wife are sealed together for eternity. In an Old Testament passage reiterated by the Savior during His mortal ministry, God commanded that a husband cleave to his wife "and they shall be one flesh" (Genesis 2:24; Mark 10:7-9). This perfect unity is fostered and developed in mortality, is intended to endure forever, and is blessed by virtue of the priesthood the husband holds.

A husband is a better priesthood holder and a better man for the support he receives from his wife. Sometimes, when a man is given a priesthood responsibility, his wife receives a concomitant and complementary calling, as in the case of a temple president and matron or a missionary couple. Thus, in a very real sense, they are partners in the work of the kingdom.

After a ward division, a couple wrote a note of appreciation to their family's home teacher, who, now in a different ward, would receive a change in his home teaching assignment. In the note, they also expressed appreciation to his wife for supporting him in his home-teacher calling. Implicit in this expression was the realization that it was she who had encouraged him, prompted him in marking special family occasions such as birthdays and weddings and helped with the extras, such as making treats to take to the family.

In an October 1831 revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord proclaimed, "The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth" (Doctrine and Covenants 65:2). Today, with the priesthood blessing the human family in most of the nations of the world, that has indeed come to fruition. What a dramatic flowering of the event that occurred on that spring day 175 years ago!