Comments on Elder Holland's Apostolic Blessing Given at a Leadership Meeting in Lake Oswego

Email sent April 30, 2015 to two families, who inquired about the Apostolic Blessing that was given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland to members of each of the nine stakes via their stake president in attendance at the Special Priesthood Leadership Training conducted on April 25 in Lakes Oswego.

Unfortunately, I don’t know much about Apostolic blessings except they are simply a blessing given by a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Fortunately, these brethren often bless audiences wherever they go so it’s not rare, but WONDERFUL to receive when personally in an audience. Someone later asked Elder Holland if he gives Apostolic Blessings. He responded in effect: Yes, as often as appropriate. I don’t know whether the other Brethren do or not, but I do often.

(Ironically, an Apostolic Blessing is also the term given for when the Pope gives a blessing on a group of people. I believe he gives such a blessing from the balcony every week in St Peters Square in the Vatican.)

Elder Holland’s Apostolic Blessing was given at the end of the training that was given by him and two other General Authorities with stake presidencies, bishops, ward mission leaders and elders quorum presidents last Saturday in Lake Oswego.

He blessed us (as leaders) and extended the blessing to the members of each of our stakes (there were 9 stakes represented). That’s why I mentioned it in stake conference because I wanted our members to know they had received a blessing via the priesthood leaders in the meeting. 

As you may have heard him say, Elder Holland repeated in his training that we are members of the "Church of Happy Endings," a nice way to remind everyone that Satan will not win, our victory is assured, so we need to hang in there. 

This wonderful spirit of optimism is further bolstered by the spirit of his blessing in which he blessed us with healing of relationships and a spiritual healing of our posterity to the tenth generation. He blessed us that the gospel will go deep into our hearts and through our covenants we will see the Lord’s hand in our lives to sustain us through these difficult times.

As for the spiritual healing of our posterity, he clarified, “They will have to repent like everyone else,” (suggesting this blessing cannot override agency),  but the power of our making and keeping covenants will reach out to our posterity down to the 10th generation and bring them back.

In response to the opposition registered during the sustainings at the April 2015 General Conference

Stake leaders and bishops…

While Vivienne and I were personally in the session last Saturday in General Conference when opposition was registered during the sustaining of the First Presidency, I assume all of you were witnesses of it, too, via TV.

As you know, this is very rare, but certainly not without precedent (see http://ldsliving.com/story/78523-dissenting-votes-at-conference-everything-you-need-to-know).

If members of our stake ask you about the incident, I encourage you to share with them the very timely talk given by Elder Russell M. Nelson, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, just six months ago in the October 2014 General Conference: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/sustaining-the-prophets?lang=eng

In his message he states:

"When we sustain prophets and other leaders, we invoke the law of common consent, for the Lord said, 'it shall not be given to any one to go forth to preach my gospel, or to build up my church, except he be ordained by some one who has authority, and it is known to the church that he has authority and has been regularly ordained by the heads of the church.' (D&C 42:11)

"This gives us, as members of the Lord's Church, confidence and faith as we strive to keep the scriptural injunction to heed the Lord's voice as it comes through the voice of His servants the prophets. All leaders in the Lord's Church are called by proper authority. No prophet or any other leader in this Church, for that matter, has ever called himself or herself.

"No prophet has ever been elected. The Lord made that clear when He said, 'Ye have chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you.' You and I do not 'vote' on Church leaders at any level. We do, though, have the privilege of sustaining them."

May we appreciate the blessing of living in a day of Prophets on the earth and the privilege it is to sustain them in the same way we make covenants.

President Lewis