Women and Priesthood Power

I'm trying to move on from the OW issue, but it seems that God has one more lesson for me, and I feel that I need to share it to (once again) clear up any misconceptions about my Church.

I was asked to substitute as a Sunday School teacher for the next few weeks, and was preparing my lesson about 1 Samuel 14-20. The lesson is really about the friendships between King Saul, David and Jonathan. Yet, somehow I ended up reading the speech given by Dallin H. Oaks in last April's General Conference, titled "The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood" (LINK HERE). Dallin H. Oaks is considered one of the twelve apostles in our times. When I first heard it, I thought, "Okay, nothing new..." However, when I read it again yesterday, I was astonished that I completely missed these passages:

"We are not accustomed to speaking of women having the authority of the priesthood in their Church callings, but what other authority can it be? When a woman- young or old- is set apart to preach the gospel as a full-time missionary, she is given priesthood authority to perform a priesthood function. The same is true when a woman is set apart to function as an officer or teacher in a Church organization under the direction of one who holds the keys of the priesthood...

Whoever exercises priesthood authority should forget about their rights and concentrate on their responsibilities. That is a principle needed in society at large... Latter-day Saints surely recognize that qualifying for exaltation is not a matter of asserting rights but a matter of fulfilling responsibilities.

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The Lord has directed that only men will be ordained to offices in the priesthood. But as various Church leaders have emphasized, men are not "the priesthood."... The greatest power God has given to His sons cannot be exercised without the companionship of one of His daughters, because only to His daughters has God given the power "to be a creator of bodies... so that God's design and the Great Plan might meet fruition."

Perhaps this is what is tripping people up- it's true that only men are ordained to the offices in the priesthood, meaning that they are ordained to be deacons, priests, bishops, seventy, apostles and prophets, etc., at least in modern days. This is the way the Church functions, and quite frankly, when Jesus Christ was on the earth, this was the way He organized His church too.

But priesthood office does NOT equal priesthood authority/ power. Rather, Elder Oaks teaches that women can also exercise priesthood authority when directed by male leaders to do so via Church callings or as a sister missionary. Male church leaders have priesthood keys to direct the work, but priesthood power and authority can be disseminated to both men and women according to their responsibilities.

*WHOAH*

How many of us heard this? Can he get more explicit than this?

This reminded me another talk given by another apostle, M. Russell Ballard, at the 2013 BYU Education Week, called "Let Us Think Straight." (Elder Oaks quoted part of his speech in his talk too- clearly it's a hallmark speech.)

When men and women go to the temple, they are both endowed with the same power, which by definition is priesthood power. While the authority of the priesthood is directed through priesthood keys, and priesthood keys are held only by worthy men, access to the power and the blessings of the priesthood is available to all of God’s children.
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Those who have entered the waters of baptism and subsequently received their endowment in the house of the Lord are eligible for rich and wonderful blessings. The endowment is literally a gift of power. All who enter the house of the Lord officiate in the ordinances of the priesthood. This applies to men and women alike.
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Our Father in Heaven is generous with His power. All men and all women have access to this power for help in our own lives. All who have made sacred covenants with the Lord and who honor those covenants are eligible to receive personal revelation, to be blessed by the ministering of angels, to commune with God, to receive the fulness of the gospel, and, ultimately, to become heirs alongside Jesus Christ of all our Father has.

Once again, here is another apostle stating clearly the relationship between women and the priesthood:
- Women hold priesthood power
- Women are entitled to the same blessings of the priesthood as the men
- However, this also means that women have to bear the same responsibilities as the men in ministering and serving others- sorry, it's not a free gift.

So let's be clear what exactly do we mean when we talk about "ordaining women" to the priesthood.

• If we are talking about ordaining women to priesthood power/ authority, then we do not need this because women already have and exercise it. 
• If we are talking about ordaining women to hold priesthood keys, that's another issue. Both Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard have stated that priesthood keys (and offices) are only to be held by worthy men, which means someone can say, "This still leaves ultimate direction and decision-making in the hands of the men! Preposterous!" 

It's true, but may I quote Elder Ballard again in this same speech when he said, "Brothers and sisters, this matter, like many others, comes down to our faith. Do we believe that this is the Lord’s Church? Do we believe that He has organized it according to His purposes and wisdom? Do we believe that His wisdom far exceeds ours? Do we believe that He has organized His Church in a manner that would be the greatest possible blessing to all of His children, both His sons and His daughters?"

If we say we believe that this is the Lord's Church, led by His living prophets and apostles, then we need to trust that the way the Church is currently set up is appointed, or at the very least, approved, by God. It doesn't seem fair, but we have to trust that only God knows the reasons why He designed the Church hierarchy to be as such.

Let's take that and move on. There are far more important things to focus on then who has ultimate directing keys, because really, at the end of the day, the gospel isn't about fighting over priesthood keys/ authority/ power. The gospel is about the atonement of Jesus Christ, and what we do with our lives to follow Christ and serve others. It is only then that the priesthood can take effect and truly make a difference.