President Henry B. Eyring: Be ready to do whatever the Lord wants
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, first counselor in the First Presidency, said wherever he is, day or night, there is nearby a small container of olive oil that has been consecrated by the power of the priesthood to bless and heal the sick. He does this to be prepared and ready to answer any call to exercise the power of the priesthood.
The preparation to use that priesthood power, he declared in his priesthood session address, stretches far beyond having consecrated oil close at hand. "It must begin long before the crisis which requires priesthood power. Those who are prepared will be ready to answer."
Such preparation begins in families, in Aaronic Priesthood quorums and mostly in the private lives of young men as they make choices to rise to their great destiny as priesthood servants of God.
"The destiny of the rising generation of priesthood holders is far more than to be ready to bring God's power down to heal the sick," he said. "The preparation is to be ready to go and do whatever the Lord wants done as the world is preparing for His coming. None of us knows exactly what those errands will be. But we know what it will take to be ready, so each of us can prepare."
President Eyring said the first thing young priesthood holders need to be ready is faith.
"The priesthood is the authority to act in the name of God. It is the right to call down the powers of heaven. So, you must have faith that God lives and that you have won His confidence to allow you to use His power for His purposes."
President Eyring shared the account of the prophet/priesthood holder Nephi from the book of Helaman. Nephi exercised great faith as he called the wicked to repentance. Nephi's efforts to serve and bless the people were fueled by his unshakable faith in the Lord.
"[Nephi] earned that great faith and God's confidence by courageous and sustained labor in the Lord's service," he said. "You young men are building that faith now for the days ahead when you will need it."
Second, he said, young priesthood holders need confidence to live up to the blessings and trust God offers them.
"Most of the influences around them drag them down to doubt the existence of God, of His love for them, and of the reality of the sometimes quiet messages they receive through the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of Christ. Their peers may urge them to choose sin. If they choose sin, those messages from God will become faint," he said.
Older priesthood holders, he said, can help their younger counterparts by loving them, warning them, showing confidence in them and, most important, by being an example of a faithful, inspired servant.
"As we lead and influence young men, we must never do it to gratify our pride or our ambition," President Eyring said. "We must never use compulsion in any degree of unrighteousness. That is a high standard of the example we must set for our youth."
The Church leader remembered being a deacon and knowing the love and expectations of his bishop and his father. Through their examples, he learned what it means to be "unwearying in the Lord's service."
"As we meet our obligations as fathers and leaders we will help the next generation rise to their glorious future," he said. "They will be better than we are just as you have tried to be even better parents than your parents and better leaders than the great ones who helped you."
