A visit from the resurrected John the Baptist to two young men along a Pennsylvania river bank in May 1829, and the epic migration of a people to the Rocky Mountains beginning in July 1847 - two seminal events widely separated in time and distance - are closely related in significance.
The latter would never have happened if the former had not occurred. Both made it possible for eternal salvation to be offered to every person who ever has lived or ever will.Both events likely will be remembered with reverence May 18, as thousands of young men assemble with their fathers and priesthood leaders in many parts of the Church for a satellite fireside originating from the Salt Lake Tabernacle. With the theme "Faith in Every Footstep," the meeting will highlight the pioneer legacy as well as commemorating the restoration of the priesthood.
As the first two men in this dispensation to hold the priesthood, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery are pioneers indeed. Every man or boy who holds the priesthood today can trace his line of authority through them to the resurrected apostles Peter, James and John, and ultimately to Jesus Christ.
It is a legacy to be honored and celebrated. On a recent Saturday, Aaronic Priesthood youth of the Emigration 1st Ward in Salt Lake City met with their bishop, Edgar Larsen, at Little Mountain Summit in Emigration Canyon. There, a roadside marker tells of the LDS pioneers who passed that point to begin their descent into the Great Salt Lake Valley.
Each young man shared stories of his own pioneer ancestry, of forebears who helped establish a Zion in the Rocky Mountains from which the blessings of the gospel - administered through priesthood keys and authority - could be carried to all the nations of the earth with the potential to bless the entire human family. Nothing else on earth can do for people what the priesthood can.
One of the hymns of Zion contrasts priesthood authority with secular forms of power: "Brethren, power by earthly standards Comes by rank or wealth or sword; But the power above all others Is the priesthood of our Lord."(Hymns, No. 320.)
By further contrast, earthly power is often directed inward and used for personal aggrandizement, while priesthood influence, by nature, flows outward and can only be used to bless and serve others. Secular authority is often abused; priesthood power operates only upon the principles of righteousness. (See D&C 121:34-46.) To receive its blessings, even those who hold the priesthood depend upon others.
Thus, the Lord admonishes, "Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven." (D&C 121:45.)
Whether or not they have LDS pioneer ancestry, priesthood holders today share the priesthood legacy, stemming back to the May 15, 1829, event, commemorated recently by Aaronic Priesthood youth in the Binghamton Ward, Oswego New York Stake. Located near the Pennsylvania border, the ward contains a portion of the Susquehanna River. It was along the bank of that river near Harmony, Pa., that the Aaronic Priesthood was conferred upon the Prophet and Oliver Cowdery.
Meeting near the river, the young men listened as their bishop, Kenneth R. Bastian, read John's words to Joseph and Oliver, words that have resounded through the years: "Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins . . . ." (D&C 13.)