WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.159 --> 00:00:04.319 - Everyone, it's important that you know that the 2 00:00:04.319 --> 00:00:05.779 - Leading Saints podcast 3 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.880 - is only the beginning. We're not just a 4 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:11.679 - podcast anymore. Leading Saints has grown and developed 5 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:13.539 - and evolved into a phenomenal 6 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:17.315 - online community, and that community specifically is called 7 00:00:17.454 --> 00:00:19.375 - Zion Lab. And, yes, this is an app 8 00:00:19.375 --> 00:00:21.375 - in your app store, whatever app store you 9 00:00:21.375 --> 00:00:23.635 - use. If you search for leading saints, 10 00:00:23.935 --> 00:00:26.734 - we'll pop the familiar red logo and it'll 11 00:00:26.734 --> 00:00:27.714 - take you into 12 00:00:28.030 --> 00:00:29.789 - the Zion Lab. And there is so much 13 00:00:29.789 --> 00:00:32.990 - content on this, discussions happening, questions about being 14 00:00:32.990 --> 00:00:35.710 - a bishop, about leading youth, a dynamics of 15 00:00:35.710 --> 00:00:38.770 - of leadership and church programs that get discussions 16 00:00:38.829 --> 00:00:41.149 - going, and it is a party over there 17 00:00:41.149 --> 00:00:43.274 - in in the best sense of that word, 18 00:00:43.274 --> 00:00:46.075 - which is a community of Zion builders coming 19 00:00:46.075 --> 00:00:49.195 - together and working together, sharing best practices on 20 00:00:49.195 --> 00:00:51.435 - how to build Zion. So at least give 21 00:00:51.435 --> 00:00:53.354 - this a try. Go spend some time, download 22 00:00:53.354 --> 00:00:55.560 - the app from the out app store by 23 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:58.280 - searching leading saints and jump into Zion Lab, 24 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:00.840 - the think tank for Zion, the laboratory to 25 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:03.000 - come in and test and share best ideas, 26 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:05.954 - best practices, and let's grow Zion together in 27 00:01:06.194 --> 00:01:06.694 - Zion 28 00:01:07.155 --> 00:01:07.655 - Lab. 29 00:01:09.474 --> 00:01:11.155 - Hey. If you're a newbie to Leading Saints, 30 00:01:11.155 --> 00:01:13.395 - it's important that you know what is this 31 00:01:13.395 --> 00:01:16.115 - Leading Saints thing. Well, Leading Saints is a 32 00:01:16.115 --> 00:01:17.255 - nonprofit organization 33 00:01:17.635 --> 00:01:20.674 - dedicated to helping Latter day Saints be better 34 00:01:20.674 --> 00:01:22.409 - prepared to lead. And And the way we 35 00:01:22.409 --> 00:01:25.049 - do that is through content creation. So we 36 00:01:25.049 --> 00:01:27.290 - have this phenomenal podcast. We have a newsletter. 37 00:01:27.290 --> 00:01:28.750 - We have virtual conferences, 38 00:01:29.129 --> 00:01:31.370 - so much more. And articles on our website. 39 00:01:31.370 --> 00:01:32.650 - I mean, I could go on and on. 40 00:01:32.650 --> 00:01:35.234 - Right? And we encourage you to, jump in, 41 00:01:35.234 --> 00:01:37.474 - check out Leading Saints, go to the search 42 00:01:37.474 --> 00:01:39.155 - bar at leadingsaints.org 43 00:01:39.155 --> 00:01:41.075 - and type in some topics and see what 44 00:01:41.075 --> 00:01:43.234 - pops up. We're just glad you're here to 45 00:01:43.234 --> 00:01:43.974 - join us. 46 00:01:47.180 --> 00:01:49.739 - Today, I wanna introduce you to Orlando Kelm, 47 00:01:49.739 --> 00:01:52.219 - who is a patriarch down in Texas, a 48 00:01:52.219 --> 00:01:53.840 - former academic professor, 49 00:01:54.140 --> 00:01:57.200 - teacher at the University of Texas at Austin. 50 00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:00.540 - And, he felt inspired after six, seven years 51 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:02.959 - of, serving as a patriarch in his stake 52 00:02:03.045 --> 00:02:04.185 - to write a book titled, 53 00:02:04.564 --> 00:02:05.545 - it's a patriarchal 54 00:02:05.924 --> 00:02:06.424 - blessing, 55 00:02:06.724 --> 00:02:08.185 - emphasis on the blessing. 56 00:02:08.564 --> 00:02:11.465 - And we have a fantastic discussion with Orlando. 57 00:02:11.525 --> 00:02:13.764 - It's just about starting as a patriarch, some 58 00:02:13.764 --> 00:02:16.405 - of the the uneasiness, the nervousness that goes 59 00:02:16.405 --> 00:02:19.469 - into, you know, dictating a blessing upon somebody 60 00:02:19.469 --> 00:02:21.870 - who they'll look to throughout their life and 61 00:02:21.870 --> 00:02:23.790 - how they prepare for that, how he prepares 62 00:02:23.790 --> 00:02:26.750 - personally, how bishops can help others prepare, and 63 00:02:26.750 --> 00:02:28.830 - then how can we better frame the idea 64 00:02:28.830 --> 00:02:30.990 - of a patriarchal blessing? That is not a 65 00:02:30.990 --> 00:02:31.490 - patriarchal, 66 00:02:32.094 --> 00:02:32.834 - you know, indictment 67 00:02:33.294 --> 00:02:36.594 - or a patriarchal lecture or a patriarchal warning. 68 00:02:36.655 --> 00:02:38.735 - This is a blessing, and we should see 69 00:02:38.735 --> 00:02:40.895 - it as such. And it's interviews like this 70 00:02:40.895 --> 00:02:42.735 - remind me, man, I really need to pull 71 00:02:42.735 --> 00:02:44.974 - up my my patriarchal blessing and review it 72 00:02:44.974 --> 00:02:47.069 - more often. There's so much power in that 73 00:02:47.069 --> 00:02:50.110 - so much love and identity that God bestows 74 00:02:50.110 --> 00:02:52.590 - through that, that beautiful blessing. And so hopefully 75 00:02:52.590 --> 00:02:54.590 - you'll check out the book, recommended to others, 76 00:02:54.590 --> 00:02:57.310 - especially those preparing. And I hope you enjoy 77 00:02:57.310 --> 00:02:59.925 - this interview with Orlando, where he explores this 78 00:03:00.245 --> 00:03:03.145 - concept of not only patriarchal blessings, but revelation 79 00:03:03.365 --> 00:03:05.685 - and, and how revelation comes to him and, 80 00:03:05.685 --> 00:03:07.925 - and dictating, you know, lineage and, and so 81 00:03:07.925 --> 00:03:09.604 - forth. It's just a, a great discussion and 82 00:03:09.604 --> 00:03:12.185 - one you'll find inspiring. So here's my interview 83 00:03:12.324 --> 00:03:15.269 - with Orlando, kiln, the author of It's a 84 00:03:15.269 --> 00:03:15.769 - Patriarchal 85 00:03:16.150 --> 00:03:16.650 - Blessing. 86 00:03:24.629 --> 00:03:25.530 - Alright, Orlando. 87 00:03:25.909 --> 00:03:27.669 - So what's the story about you being called 88 00:03:27.669 --> 00:03:28.489 - as a patriarch? 89 00:03:28.995 --> 00:03:30.855 - Yeah. 2019, 90 00:03:30.995 --> 00:03:31.895 - just before 91 00:03:32.355 --> 00:03:35.175 - COVID. Oh, wow. I was called as patriarch, 92 00:03:35.395 --> 00:03:37.395 - and then I fell out of a tree 93 00:03:37.395 --> 00:03:39.555 - and broke my back. And then they wouldn't 94 00:03:39.555 --> 00:03:41.715 - let us do patriarchal blessings during the whole 95 00:03:41.715 --> 00:03:44.139 - COVID period. So I got called, but then 96 00:03:44.139 --> 00:03:46.860 - I kinda got delayed before anything ever happened 97 00:03:46.860 --> 00:03:47.520 - after that. 98 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:50.460 - Wow. So how how long in between being 99 00:03:50.460 --> 00:03:52.460 - called and your first patriarchal blessing that you 100 00:03:52.460 --> 00:03:55.020 - gave? So just a couple of weeks. You 101 00:03:55.020 --> 00:03:57.280 - know, so I was called in, like, October. 102 00:03:57.724 --> 00:03:59.885 - I then gave a couple of blessings. I 103 00:03:59.885 --> 00:04:01.344 - then fell out of the tree, 104 00:04:01.724 --> 00:04:03.805 - and then we were told not to do 105 00:04:03.805 --> 00:04:05.885 - blessings at the beginning of the year. And 106 00:04:05.885 --> 00:04:07.805 - so I went, like, you know, six, eight 107 00:04:07.805 --> 00:04:10.525 - months there between my first four or five 108 00:04:10.525 --> 00:04:11.824 - blessings and then 109 00:04:12.205 --> 00:04:13.830 - never doing it again for for months and 110 00:04:13.830 --> 00:04:14.810 - months and months. 111 00:04:15.189 --> 00:04:16.790 - Wow. Yeah. It's one of those things you 112 00:04:16.790 --> 00:04:18.470 - can't get a haircut over the phone, neither 113 00:04:18.470 --> 00:04:20.310 - can you get a patriarchal blessing over the 114 00:04:20.310 --> 00:04:23.029 - phone. Right? Yeah. It was, it was a 115 00:04:23.029 --> 00:04:25.189 - strange period to kind of get almost know 116 00:04:25.189 --> 00:04:26.949 - what you're doing and get a feel for 117 00:04:26.949 --> 00:04:28.774 - it and then have to put it on 118 00:04:28.774 --> 00:04:31.574 - hold. Yeah. But now I I average maybe 119 00:04:31.574 --> 00:04:33.814 - one a week about. I would assume that 120 00:04:33.814 --> 00:04:35.574 - I almost always do one a week. This 121 00:04:35.574 --> 00:04:37.414 - week, I'm doing three as a matter of 122 00:04:37.414 --> 00:04:39.175 - fact. Oh, wow. Yeah. It's a it's a 123 00:04:39.175 --> 00:04:41.610 - heavy week. So what's the is there any, 124 00:04:41.610 --> 00:04:43.930 - like, formal training or they give you a 125 00:04:43.930 --> 00:04:46.250 - special handbook to read through or, do you 126 00:04:46.250 --> 00:04:48.810 - have a mentor, patriarch, or anything? You see 127 00:04:48.810 --> 00:04:51.850 - what that's it. These Okay. This is the 128 00:04:51.850 --> 00:04:52.129 - this is the instructions that patriarchs have. It's 129 00:04:52.129 --> 00:04:52.485 - like maybe It's like a a a thin 130 00:04:53.365 --> 00:04:53.865 - patriarchs 131 00:04:54.245 --> 00:04:56.164 - have. It's like maybe It's like a a 132 00:04:56.164 --> 00:04:59.284 - thin magazine. Right? It's like maybe 10 pages 133 00:04:59.284 --> 00:05:01.125 - worth and and I would say over half 134 00:05:01.125 --> 00:05:02.024 - of this information 135 00:05:02.805 --> 00:05:05.764 - is how to submit names and problems when 136 00:05:05.764 --> 00:05:08.800 - you submit names. So the actual nuts and 137 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:11.279 - bolts of what you're doing, the church does 138 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:13.279 - a pretty good job of saying we don't 139 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:14.180 - wanna micromanage 140 00:05:15.039 --> 00:05:17.519 - too much. I think they're really careful about 141 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:18.579 - let's not do 142 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:21.120 - too much oversight of this and that. Let's 143 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:23.274 - just let them get rolling. So, no, there 144 00:05:23.274 --> 00:05:25.435 - isn't tons that way. So I I I 145 00:05:25.435 --> 00:05:27.194 - mean, I'm just thinking it it feels so 146 00:05:27.194 --> 00:05:29.194 - intimidating to me. I mean, it seems like 147 00:05:29.194 --> 00:05:31.274 - a lot of leadership callings and and roles 148 00:05:31.274 --> 00:05:33.055 - have, you know, a lot of pressure on, 149 00:05:33.274 --> 00:05:35.115 - you know, the leader who's called. But, I 150 00:05:35.115 --> 00:05:37.639 - mean, this is sort of the blessing of 151 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:39.800 - of their life. Right? I kinda maybe I 152 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:41.259 - put too much pressure on myself. 153 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:45.240 - No. For sure. Because, like, when you serve 154 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:47.480 - as a bishop, if somebody doesn't like what 155 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:50.084 - you're talking about, you got another week to 156 00:05:50.084 --> 00:05:50.824 - try again, 157 00:05:51.125 --> 00:05:53.204 - right? They come back and they visit you 158 00:05:53.204 --> 00:05:55.125 - again and you take another stab, oh, well, 159 00:05:55.125 --> 00:05:56.345 - let me try this instead. 160 00:05:56.884 --> 00:05:59.144 - You don't get that with a patriarchal blessing. 161 00:05:59.764 --> 00:06:02.104 - There's only one chance. And so 162 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:06.180 - that thought of, man, you've gone beyond. 163 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:09.680 - It's just that keeps getting ready and humble 164 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:10.420 - for sure. 165 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:13.199 - But there there's that sweet spot. There's that 166 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:14.420 - sweet spot where, 167 00:06:14.894 --> 00:06:17.394 - okay. I'm getting ready for it. I'm confident. 168 00:06:17.535 --> 00:06:20.035 - But let's not get too confident here because 169 00:06:20.574 --> 00:06:22.115 - you gotta get this one right. 170 00:06:22.894 --> 00:06:24.814 - So did you mention to your first blessing 171 00:06:24.814 --> 00:06:26.654 - that the person receiving the blessing, this is 172 00:06:26.654 --> 00:06:28.355 - your first go? Or do you just kinda 173 00:06:28.910 --> 00:06:31.310 - go? Yes. Oh, yeah. They totally know. And 174 00:06:31.310 --> 00:06:32.769 - in fact, that family, 175 00:06:33.389 --> 00:06:36.110 - I have now given four blessings to members 176 00:06:36.110 --> 00:06:37.649 - of that family over the years. 177 00:06:38.029 --> 00:06:40.189 - That's awesome. So so, yeah. In fact, I 178 00:06:40.189 --> 00:06:41.709 - I was looking at the data today. I 179 00:06:41.709 --> 00:06:43.470 - think over 45% 180 00:06:43.470 --> 00:06:44.209 - of the blessings 181 00:06:44.805 --> 00:06:47.845 - are multiple members of a family. So I've, 182 00:06:47.845 --> 00:06:49.605 - you know, I might have done a brother 183 00:06:49.605 --> 00:06:51.944 - or a sister a couple of years before. 184 00:06:52.485 --> 00:06:54.404 - Yeah. And are you the only patriarch in 185 00:06:54.404 --> 00:06:56.725 - your stake? I am the only patriarch in 186 00:06:56.725 --> 00:06:59.785 - our stake, and I'm also the Spanish language 187 00:06:59.925 --> 00:07:01.520 - patriarch for the area. 188 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:03.660 - Oh, okay. So if somebody is in the 189 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:06.540 - next stake over and their patriarch doesn't speak 190 00:07:06.540 --> 00:07:07.040 - Spanish, 191 00:07:07.420 --> 00:07:09.420 - they come to me. And so I do 192 00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:11.740 - receive a number of people from from up 193 00:07:11.740 --> 00:07:14.285 - to Waco, Texas and below even, you know, 194 00:07:14.285 --> 00:07:16.285 - just in case they need to send send 195 00:07:16.285 --> 00:07:18.845 - somebody down to to us. Yeah. Did you 196 00:07:18.845 --> 00:07:20.764 - find it I would imagine it would really 197 00:07:20.764 --> 00:07:23.644 - shift my just my gospel study in general. 198 00:07:23.644 --> 00:07:25.805 - I mean, you know, the the lineage portion 199 00:07:25.805 --> 00:07:26.544 - is obviously 200 00:07:26.845 --> 00:07:28.319 - an an important component of it, but I 201 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:30.080 - don't know if I could rattle off, the 202 00:07:30.080 --> 00:07:32.240 - 12 tribes of Israel, you know, unless I 203 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:34.080 - thought of a Donny Osmond song, but I 204 00:07:34.080 --> 00:07:34.740 - don't know. 205 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:38.160 - Yeah. Indeed. And not only does it shape 206 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:41.014 - your study that way, but that's kind of 207 00:07:41.014 --> 00:07:43.574 - my pattern. You know, three or four days 208 00:07:43.574 --> 00:07:46.314 - before a person comes to receive a blessing, 209 00:07:47.094 --> 00:07:49.894 - my brain is already churning on Yeah. I 210 00:07:49.894 --> 00:07:52.454 - bet. What will the topics be. And so 211 00:07:52.454 --> 00:07:53.995 - you I find myself 212 00:07:54.410 --> 00:07:57.230 - studying different sections, different scriptures, 213 00:07:58.089 --> 00:08:00.649 - looking at different conference talks, listening to different 214 00:08:00.649 --> 00:08:02.509 - types of online things. 215 00:08:02.889 --> 00:08:04.889 - It really is those three or four days 216 00:08:04.889 --> 00:08:06.669 - before you actually give a blessing, 217 00:08:07.014 --> 00:08:09.654 - your brain is churning. I once told somebody 218 00:08:09.654 --> 00:08:11.654 - it's kinda like a faucet that you can't 219 00:08:11.654 --> 00:08:13.895 - turn off, you know. You wake up in 220 00:08:13.895 --> 00:08:16.134 - the morning and your brain's already thinking about 221 00:08:16.134 --> 00:08:17.035 - the next blessing, 222 00:08:17.335 --> 00:08:18.855 - you go to bed at night and you're 223 00:08:18.855 --> 00:08:21.335 - still thinking about it, and every scripture you 224 00:08:21.335 --> 00:08:23.919 - read you wonder, is maybe this a topic 225 00:08:23.919 --> 00:08:25.919 - that should be part of this person's blessing 226 00:08:25.919 --> 00:08:28.000 - next week? And so, yeah, your brain is 227 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.480 - on overload with it all the time. And 228 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:32.500 - and I love how that kind of directs 229 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:35.095 - a lot of your study too. Yeah. And 230 00:08:35.095 --> 00:08:37.434 - that that is an interesting component of revelation. 231 00:08:37.575 --> 00:08:39.815 - I'm sure you sorta get a unique flavor 232 00:08:39.815 --> 00:08:41.414 - of it where it's not like you you 233 00:08:41.414 --> 00:08:42.774 - know, as a as a bishop, it's not 234 00:08:42.774 --> 00:08:44.134 - like you have to be sitting in your 235 00:08:44.134 --> 00:08:46.634 - chair in your bishop's office with your counselors 236 00:08:47.014 --> 00:08:49.095 - surrounding you in order to receive revelation. It's 237 00:08:49.174 --> 00:08:50.940 - you you know, I remember oftentimes just driving 238 00:08:50.940 --> 00:08:53.019 - down the street and boom, it kinda hit 239 00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:54.860 - hit me like, you should be thinking about 240 00:08:54.860 --> 00:08:56.779 - this or have you thought of this name 241 00:08:56.779 --> 00:08:58.379 - or right? And it kinda is that that 242 00:08:58.379 --> 00:08:59.360 - natural churn. 243 00:08:59.660 --> 00:09:02.460 - Yeah. I do love how when you're studying 244 00:09:02.460 --> 00:09:02.960 - something, 245 00:09:03.274 --> 00:09:05.195 - when you get this new insight and you 246 00:09:05.195 --> 00:09:07.355 - think, man, I've I've never thought of this 247 00:09:07.355 --> 00:09:10.235 - topic this way. I've never interpreted this scripture 248 00:09:10.235 --> 00:09:13.195 - this way before. I've never noticed that part 249 00:09:13.195 --> 00:09:14.495 - of this verse before. 250 00:09:14.875 --> 00:09:16.634 - And so you you say to yourself, man, 251 00:09:16.634 --> 00:09:18.779 - if these are new insights that I'm getting 252 00:09:18.779 --> 00:09:21.340 - right now, let me listen to that because 253 00:09:21.340 --> 00:09:23.039 - this may be something I need 254 00:09:23.500 --> 00:09:25.740 - next week when I'm giving a blessing. And 255 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:27.500 - and that happens over and over again. You 256 00:09:27.500 --> 00:09:29.980 - get a brand new feel for something, a 257 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:31.980 - brand new insight, and you go, ah, let 258 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:34.404 - let me listen to that. Yeah. That's fascinating. 259 00:09:34.404 --> 00:09:36.245 - Just just to capture you what I mean. 260 00:09:36.245 --> 00:09:38.404 - I remember there was a time I was 261 00:09:38.404 --> 00:09:41.524 - reading in Jude and there's a verse that 262 00:09:41.524 --> 00:09:42.024 - says, 263 00:09:42.565 --> 00:09:43.544 - have compassion 264 00:09:43.924 --> 00:09:45.065 - making a difference. 265 00:09:45.710 --> 00:09:48.110 - And I remember that little line, it makes 266 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:48.769 - a difference. 267 00:09:49.309 --> 00:09:50.910 - And I mean, it's a verse that we've 268 00:09:50.910 --> 00:09:53.070 - all seen before, but there was something about 269 00:09:53.070 --> 00:09:55.809 - that little word, when you have compassion, 270 00:09:56.509 --> 00:09:58.289 - you really can make a difference. 271 00:09:58.804 --> 00:10:01.524 - And that sort of feel just jumped out 272 00:10:01.524 --> 00:10:03.524 - at me and I thought, no, I need 273 00:10:03.524 --> 00:10:05.284 - to listen to that. That's something that I 274 00:10:05.284 --> 00:10:07.845 - probably should be paying attention to. And that's 275 00:10:07.845 --> 00:10:09.865 - the sort of thing that I feel happens 276 00:10:10.245 --> 00:10:11.784 - quite a bit as you're preparing. 277 00:10:12.269 --> 00:10:14.509 - But, you know, Kurt, in your case or 278 00:10:14.509 --> 00:10:16.750 - in anybody's case, when you're preparing to give 279 00:10:16.750 --> 00:10:18.050 - a blessing for somebody, 280 00:10:18.430 --> 00:10:20.509 - your mind is doing the same thing, you 281 00:10:20.509 --> 00:10:22.029 - know? It's just that I have to do 282 00:10:22.029 --> 00:10:23.250 - it on a weekly basis. 283 00:10:23.629 --> 00:10:25.629 - But when you give a blessing, your brain 284 00:10:25.629 --> 00:10:28.335 - probably does the exact same thing. Yeah. Yeah. 285 00:10:28.335 --> 00:10:31.054 - For sure. For sure. Is there anything else 286 00:10:31.054 --> 00:10:33.774 - in just the preparation of it, that comes 287 00:10:33.774 --> 00:10:35.934 - to mind that you found is helpful or 288 00:10:35.934 --> 00:10:36.434 - insightful? 289 00:10:36.975 --> 00:10:38.815 - In that little manual I showed you, that 290 00:10:38.815 --> 00:10:41.134 - little tiny piece there, there is a line 291 00:10:41.134 --> 00:10:42.274 - that talks about 292 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:43.279 - trying 293 00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:46.139 - to live your life in a way that 294 00:10:46.139 --> 00:10:47.919 - you're not living with contention. 295 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:50.959 - And I feel that's really important that, 296 00:10:51.579 --> 00:10:53.759 - how can we prepare to give a patriarchal 297 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:56.379 - blessing if our whole life is surrounded by 298 00:10:56.379 --> 00:10:56.879 - contention? 299 00:10:57.324 --> 00:11:00.125 - And so you do make a I find 300 00:11:00.125 --> 00:11:02.144 - myself making a bigger effort 301 00:11:02.445 --> 00:11:03.664 - to not be 302 00:11:04.044 --> 00:11:04.544 - contentious 303 00:11:04.924 --> 00:11:06.704 - or exposed to contention. 304 00:11:07.084 --> 00:11:09.485 - So I do find myself saying, you know 305 00:11:09.485 --> 00:11:09.985 - what? 306 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:11.279 - I can't chance 307 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:14.460 - getting my brain into that mindset. And so 308 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:16.299 - that I think is also part for sure 309 00:11:16.299 --> 00:11:19.340 - of that preparation phase of am I doing 310 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:22.059 - things within my family or the sort of 311 00:11:22.059 --> 00:11:23.980 - media I watch or the things I get 312 00:11:23.980 --> 00:11:25.965 - into just to try and say, you know, 313 00:11:26.125 --> 00:11:28.524 - try to keep yourself out of that mode 314 00:11:28.524 --> 00:11:30.445 - so it's not hard to get into the 315 00:11:30.445 --> 00:11:33.264 - right mode, you might say. Yeah. That's great. 316 00:11:33.404 --> 00:11:35.165 - I'm curious as, you know, you mentioned sort 317 00:11:35.165 --> 00:11:38.009 - of this dynamic of this revelation sort of 318 00:11:38.169 --> 00:11:39.690 - starting to massage your mind a little bit 319 00:11:39.690 --> 00:11:41.850 - leading up, you know, days before the actual 320 00:11:41.850 --> 00:11:44.410 - blessing. Is it inappropriate to to write down 321 00:11:44.410 --> 00:11:46.490 - some notes and bring them with you into 322 00:11:46.490 --> 00:11:48.490 - the blessing setting or how do you do 323 00:11:48.490 --> 00:11:48.990 - that? 324 00:11:49.290 --> 00:11:50.910 - I totally have a notebook 325 00:11:51.529 --> 00:11:54.784 - that before anybody ever comes to my home, 326 00:11:55.004 --> 00:11:55.825 - I am making 327 00:11:56.365 --> 00:11:59.264 - written notes of ideas and topics. 328 00:11:59.804 --> 00:12:01.644 - And so when a person comes into my 329 00:12:01.644 --> 00:12:02.144 - home, 330 00:12:02.524 --> 00:12:04.225 - I already have made 331 00:12:04.764 --> 00:12:05.985 - a list of 332 00:12:06.440 --> 00:12:09.799 - seven, eight different possible topics that might become 333 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:10.779 - part of that blessing. 334 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.080 - And then what happens is when you're meeting 335 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:15.100 - with the with the recipient of the candidate, 336 00:12:15.159 --> 00:12:17.559 - you're talking, some of those things just kind 337 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:19.240 - of float to the top and then some 338 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:21.264 - of them just kind of disappear. But I 339 00:12:21.264 --> 00:12:23.584 - do, I do actually have a notebook that 340 00:12:23.584 --> 00:12:25.684 - I make before they come to my house. 341 00:12:25.985 --> 00:12:28.225 - Now, I don't take that with me into 342 00:12:28.225 --> 00:12:29.825 - the blessing and I don't have the notes 343 00:12:29.825 --> 00:12:31.024 - in front of me when I give the 344 00:12:31.024 --> 00:12:33.504 - blessing, but as part of my before they 345 00:12:33.504 --> 00:12:34.644 - come into my house, 346 00:12:35.024 --> 00:12:37.419 - I am making a list of that. Also, 347 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:39.159 - you know, I said I give blessings in 348 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:40.299 - Spanish sometimes, 349 00:12:40.839 --> 00:12:43.079 - and the challenge of giving a blessing in 350 00:12:43.079 --> 00:12:45.100 - another language is that I don't have 351 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:48.600 - all of these phrases in my head like 352 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:49.980 - I do in my native language. 353 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:52.220 - Mhmm. Yeah. And so a lot of times 354 00:12:52.575 --> 00:12:54.575 - when I give a blessing in Spanish, if 355 00:12:54.575 --> 00:12:56.735 - I'm trying to quote something, I'll give it 356 00:12:56.735 --> 00:12:57.634 - my best shot, 357 00:12:58.095 --> 00:13:00.095 - but I will go back after the blessing 358 00:13:00.095 --> 00:13:01.554 - and make sure that the wording 359 00:13:01.855 --> 00:13:03.934 - really is the way it the way it's 360 00:13:03.934 --> 00:13:04.995 - stated in the scriptures. 361 00:13:05.450 --> 00:13:07.370 - And so there is also that aspect of 362 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:08.750 - when it's not true language, 363 00:13:09.129 --> 00:13:11.529 - it's just harder to just draw things out 364 00:13:11.529 --> 00:13:13.690 - of your brain. Yeah. And that if I 365 00:13:13.690 --> 00:13:15.289 - understand right, there is that you know, you 366 00:13:15.289 --> 00:13:16.889 - say you you kinda get one go at 367 00:13:16.889 --> 00:13:19.274 - it, but as you are submitting the blessing 368 00:13:19.274 --> 00:13:21.034 - and finalizing it, you do have an opportunity 369 00:13:21.034 --> 00:13:22.955 - to maybe go back to say, this sentence, 370 00:13:22.955 --> 00:13:24.075 - I knew what I was trying to say, 371 00:13:24.075 --> 00:13:25.914 - but I could reword that better to be 372 00:13:25.914 --> 00:13:28.475 - more on target. Is that fair? 100%. And 373 00:13:28.475 --> 00:13:30.394 - and the manual even says that when you 374 00:13:30.394 --> 00:13:33.480 - re when you review it, review it for 375 00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:34.860 - grammar and punctuation 376 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:36.300 - and for content. 377 00:13:36.920 --> 00:13:39.080 - And that's a really interesting experience, Kurt, because 378 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:41.240 - what happens is sometimes when I'm typing it 379 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:42.460 - up, my brain goes, 380 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:44.940 - you know what I was trying to say? 381 00:13:45.284 --> 00:13:47.605 - Let me change this word or that word. 382 00:13:47.605 --> 00:13:49.524 - Let me change this to to kind of 383 00:13:49.524 --> 00:13:51.125 - get closer to what I was trying to 384 00:13:51.125 --> 00:13:53.784 - say. And so I do find myself sometimes 385 00:13:54.245 --> 00:13:56.964 - making little edits, but the opposite happens as 386 00:13:56.964 --> 00:13:59.945 - well, Kurt, which is sometimes my brain goes, 387 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:02.080 - no, that is what you said, 388 00:14:02.539 --> 00:14:04.940 - and I don't think I should change it. 389 00:14:04.940 --> 00:14:06.539 - Yeah. You know, so I found myself on 390 00:14:06.539 --> 00:14:09.340 - both sides of that, which is sometimes you 391 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:11.100 - change it because you try to make it 392 00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:13.740 - better, and other times you say, no, that 393 00:14:13.740 --> 00:14:16.065 - really is the way I said it, and 394 00:14:16.065 --> 00:14:18.065 - I really shouldn't change it. And I remember 395 00:14:18.065 --> 00:14:19.665 - one time giving a blessing where there was 396 00:14:19.665 --> 00:14:22.705 - a phrase that seemed pretty forceful, and I 397 00:14:22.705 --> 00:14:25.024 - remember thinking, maybe I should soften that up 398 00:14:25.024 --> 00:14:27.585 - a little bit. But, no, then I felt, 399 00:14:27.585 --> 00:14:29.759 - no, I really shouldn't soften it. That I 400 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:31.920 - think it was pronounced that way for a 401 00:14:31.920 --> 00:14:33.920 - reason, and so I left it. You know, 402 00:14:33.920 --> 00:14:36.160 - so it happens both ways. Yeah, that that 403 00:14:36.160 --> 00:14:38.240 - really is a I mean, I I don't 404 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:39.920 - know if I'd say unique experience, but as 405 00:14:39.920 --> 00:14:42.504 - far as like just that, you know, I'm 406 00:14:42.504 --> 00:14:44.264 - thinking back to the times of Joseph Smith 407 00:14:44.264 --> 00:14:46.184 - where he's he's going back to some of 408 00:14:46.184 --> 00:14:49.144 - his manuscripts and and maybe adjusting some things 409 00:14:49.144 --> 00:14:51.544 - or whatever before it hits the printing press. 410 00:14:51.544 --> 00:14:53.804 - And, you know, that's part of this process 411 00:14:53.865 --> 00:14:56.110 - of getting it right and and hearing that 412 00:14:56.110 --> 00:14:58.350 - revelation through our our mortal ears and our 413 00:14:58.350 --> 00:15:00.350 - mortal mind. And I actually think this is 414 00:15:00.350 --> 00:15:02.509 - an important thing to understand because, I don't 415 00:15:02.509 --> 00:15:04.450 - know, there's something about church tradition 416 00:15:04.990 --> 00:15:06.850 - that kind of thinks that patriarchs 417 00:15:07.470 --> 00:15:09.945 - are these people who open their mouth and 418 00:15:09.945 --> 00:15:12.184 - God's words flow out of it. And if 419 00:15:12.184 --> 00:15:14.585 - you were anywhere in the world, the patriarch 420 00:15:14.585 --> 00:15:16.745 - would have said exactly the same thing in 421 00:15:16.745 --> 00:15:18.985 - the same way because it just it just 422 00:15:18.985 --> 00:15:21.384 - goes out that way. And that's just not 423 00:15:21.384 --> 00:15:22.825 - that's not the way it is at all. 424 00:15:22.825 --> 00:15:24.925 - I do love in our manual it says, 425 00:15:25.370 --> 00:15:27.370 - your blessing should not be given from what 426 00:15:27.370 --> 00:15:28.750 - you know about the person, 427 00:15:29.209 --> 00:15:31.709 - but from revelation from the Holy Ghost, 428 00:15:32.169 --> 00:15:34.029 - the thoughts that it generates, 429 00:15:34.490 --> 00:15:35.629 - and the capacity 430 00:15:36.009 --> 00:15:39.049 - to express them. Isn't that interesting? So what 431 00:15:39.049 --> 00:15:41.574 - it says is you receive revelation, 432 00:15:42.034 --> 00:15:45.154 - it creates thoughts and ideas, but you still 433 00:15:45.154 --> 00:15:47.154 - gotta figure out how to say it, and 434 00:15:47.154 --> 00:15:48.774 - it's going to be based on 435 00:15:49.154 --> 00:15:52.355 - my capacity to express them. So I often 436 00:15:52.355 --> 00:15:54.834 - tell people for better for worse, you're going 437 00:15:54.834 --> 00:15:55.735 - to get an Orlando 438 00:15:56.090 --> 00:15:59.309 - Kiln version of a patriarchal blessing, because 439 00:15:59.850 --> 00:16:01.070 - it is my capacity 440 00:16:01.610 --> 00:16:04.269 - to put into words those thoughts and impressions 441 00:16:04.330 --> 00:16:06.490 - that I have. Yeah. And you're the same 442 00:16:06.490 --> 00:16:09.309 - way, you know, you and your family, if 443 00:16:09.370 --> 00:16:10.970 - you want to tell your children that you 444 00:16:10.970 --> 00:16:13.254 - love them, your spouse has her way of 445 00:16:13.254 --> 00:16:14.855 - doing it and you have your way of 446 00:16:14.855 --> 00:16:16.935 - doing it. And it's going to be a 447 00:16:16.935 --> 00:16:19.415 - Curt style when they come across. Right. Yeah. 448 00:16:19.415 --> 00:16:21.975 - And I appreciate that just in our faith 449 00:16:21.975 --> 00:16:24.215 - tradition as a whole where, you know, there's 450 00:16:24.215 --> 00:16:27.070 - things that President Monson did that are different 451 00:16:27.070 --> 00:16:28.990 - than what president Nelson did and now what 452 00:16:28.990 --> 00:16:31.089 - president Oaks is doing. And it's not because, 453 00:16:31.309 --> 00:16:33.089 - you know, president Nelson 454 00:16:33.549 --> 00:16:36.429 - wasn't you know, he was hearing revelation, but 455 00:16:36.429 --> 00:16:38.509 - president Oaks is gonna hear it differently and 456 00:16:38.509 --> 00:16:40.524 - and lay it out differently. And and that's 457 00:16:40.524 --> 00:16:42.625 - just the beauty of it is is we 458 00:16:42.764 --> 00:16:44.384 - god invites us to participate 459 00:16:45.004 --> 00:16:47.085 - as his children in this process, not this 460 00:16:47.325 --> 00:16:48.924 - not just to be puppets, you know, to 461 00:16:48.924 --> 00:16:51.164 - it. Oh, yeah. And you're gonna find people 462 00:16:51.164 --> 00:16:51.664 - that 463 00:16:51.965 --> 00:16:55.245 - really identified with president Monson, and he spoke 464 00:16:55.245 --> 00:16:57.139 - to their heart. And you're gonna have others 465 00:16:57.139 --> 00:16:59.559 - that go, not as much, but I really 466 00:16:59.779 --> 00:17:00.919 - connected with Hinckley, 467 00:17:01.299 --> 00:17:03.000 - you know, and so it's the same thing. 468 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:05.539 - Yeah. That's fascinating. Anything else about just the 469 00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:08.115 - preparation of it that we worth mentioning or? 470 00:17:08.355 --> 00:17:09.815 - In terms of my own preparation, 471 00:17:10.115 --> 00:17:12.295 - maybe not. But in terms of the preparation 472 00:17:12.355 --> 00:17:14.755 - that others go through, we could prepare to 473 00:17:14.755 --> 00:17:16.515 - take that avenue a little bit. Yeah. That 474 00:17:16.515 --> 00:17:18.515 - was a question I wanted to ask is, 475 00:17:18.515 --> 00:17:20.755 - you know, even from a a bishop standpoint 476 00:17:20.755 --> 00:17:22.134 - of, you know, helping somebody 477 00:17:22.769 --> 00:17:26.230 - prepare for a patriarchal blessing, is there preparation 478 00:17:26.369 --> 00:17:28.930 - that they could encourage or, you know, for 479 00:17:28.930 --> 00:17:31.330 - the the receiver of the blessing? Yeah. Very 480 00:17:31.330 --> 00:17:33.809 - much so. Now when a person receives the 481 00:17:33.809 --> 00:17:34.309 - recommend 482 00:17:34.785 --> 00:17:37.505 - and they contact me, the first thing is 483 00:17:37.664 --> 00:17:39.505 - that I do is send them a text 484 00:17:39.505 --> 00:17:40.005 - message 485 00:17:40.384 --> 00:17:42.805 - with a list of about 12 or 15 486 00:17:43.585 --> 00:17:44.085 - recommended 487 00:17:44.625 --> 00:17:46.725 - general conference talks, scriptures, 488 00:17:47.184 --> 00:17:50.159 - chapters, topics to read. Now I tell them 489 00:17:50.159 --> 00:17:51.919 - it's all optional, but I do give them 490 00:17:51.919 --> 00:17:54.319 - a possible list of things to do in 491 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:54.819 - preparation 492 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:57.200 - and I've also shared that list with all 493 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.519 - of the bishops in our stake so they 494 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:01.759 - know when they're interviewing the candidate that they 495 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:02.419 - can also 496 00:18:02.835 --> 00:18:04.194 - know that this is what I'll be sending 497 00:18:04.194 --> 00:18:05.875 - to them and this is what they can 498 00:18:05.875 --> 00:18:08.115 - do and study in preparation for it. It 499 00:18:08.115 --> 00:18:10.434 - also depends too, you know, sometimes we're giving 500 00:18:10.434 --> 00:18:13.714 - blessings to a 14, 15, 16 year old 501 00:18:13.714 --> 00:18:16.349 - youth who's been raised in the church and 502 00:18:16.349 --> 00:18:19.309 - other times it's a recent convert who's 40, 503 00:18:19.309 --> 00:18:22.450 - 50, 60 years old. And so those preparations 504 00:18:22.589 --> 00:18:24.670 - will be different based on those kind of 505 00:18:24.670 --> 00:18:26.910 - things too. That's great. The other thing I've 506 00:18:26.910 --> 00:18:28.910 - found out over the years is it's kind 507 00:18:28.910 --> 00:18:30.210 - of a scary thing 508 00:18:31.274 --> 00:18:33.754 - to call a patriarch up, connect with the 509 00:18:33.754 --> 00:18:34.254 - person, 510 00:18:34.554 --> 00:18:37.754 - come to this stranger's house, and what are 511 00:18:37.754 --> 00:18:39.274 - they going to say? What are they going 512 00:18:39.274 --> 00:18:40.894 - to do? There's almost like this 513 00:18:41.355 --> 00:18:41.855 - mysterious, 514 00:18:42.554 --> 00:18:44.160 - you know, I'm going to this 515 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:47.279 - bearded guru, Gandalf, on the hill who's gonna 516 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:50.000 - pronounce some words, you know. And I've really 517 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.880 - appreciated over the years that it's scary for 518 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:55.059 - a lot of people, that they're pretty nervous 519 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:56.740 - about coming to my house. 520 00:18:57.184 --> 00:18:58.785 - And so what can I do to help 521 00:18:58.785 --> 00:19:00.944 - them feel more comfortable when they get here 522 00:19:00.944 --> 00:19:01.444 - too 523 00:19:01.744 --> 00:19:03.424 - and to not be so freaked out about 524 00:19:03.424 --> 00:19:05.505 - it? But, you know, in the church we 525 00:19:05.505 --> 00:19:07.025 - kind of I don't know if the word 526 00:19:07.025 --> 00:19:09.744 - is disservice but we've got a weird tradition 527 00:19:09.744 --> 00:19:12.450 - that goes with patriarchs, You know, we sit 528 00:19:12.450 --> 00:19:15.329 - on the stand at stake conference. Like, why 529 00:19:15.329 --> 00:19:16.769 - do they make me sit on the stand 530 00:19:16.769 --> 00:19:19.410 - at stake conference? I have no role other 531 00:19:19.410 --> 00:19:21.490 - than to be a plant or a flower 532 00:19:21.490 --> 00:19:22.549 - to add to the scenery. 533 00:19:23.105 --> 00:19:24.945 - But there's something about, oh, we're supposed to 534 00:19:24.945 --> 00:19:26.964 - put the patriarch on the stand. 535 00:19:27.265 --> 00:19:29.205 - And so people kinda have this 536 00:19:29.585 --> 00:19:30.085 - weird 537 00:19:30.545 --> 00:19:33.265 - sense of what patriarchs are like and what 538 00:19:33.265 --> 00:19:35.265 - they do. And so for me, part of 539 00:19:35.265 --> 00:19:37.285 - the getting ready is to say, no. 540 00:19:37.710 --> 00:19:40.589 - The inspiration that a patriarch receives to give 541 00:19:40.589 --> 00:19:41.250 - a blessing 542 00:19:41.710 --> 00:19:44.349 - is the same inspiration that that everybody gets 543 00:19:44.349 --> 00:19:46.109 - when they have to give a blessing or 544 00:19:46.109 --> 00:19:48.509 - say a prayer or bear their testimony. And 545 00:19:48.509 --> 00:19:50.990 - so, we shouldn't think that somehow patriarchs have 546 00:19:50.990 --> 00:19:52.369 - a whole different way 547 00:19:52.984 --> 00:19:55.565 - of pronouncing a blessing than anybody else does. 548 00:19:55.625 --> 00:19:56.984 - Yeah, that's really sad. The other thing I'd 549 00:19:56.984 --> 00:19:58.904 - say, Kurt, is that, and for me this 550 00:19:58.904 --> 00:20:01.144 - is one of the most important ones, is 551 00:20:01.144 --> 00:20:03.785 - it's called a patriarchal blessing. You know, I 552 00:20:03.785 --> 00:20:05.545 - had a patriarch of yours who came to 553 00:20:05.545 --> 00:20:06.765 - talk to our ward 554 00:20:07.099 --> 00:20:09.599 - and he said, it's not a patriarchal warning, 555 00:20:09.820 --> 00:20:10.960 - it's not a patriarchal 556 00:20:11.259 --> 00:20:11.759 - admonition, 557 00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:13.279 - it's not a patriarchal 558 00:20:13.580 --> 00:20:14.480 - chewing out, 559 00:20:14.779 --> 00:20:15.680 - it's a patriarchal 560 00:20:16.059 --> 00:20:16.559 - blessing 561 00:20:16.940 --> 00:20:18.700 - and it should be a blessing in our 562 00:20:18.700 --> 00:20:19.200 - lives. 563 00:20:19.515 --> 00:20:21.914 - My experience is that so many members of 564 00:20:21.914 --> 00:20:22.575 - the church 565 00:20:23.035 --> 00:20:25.674 - don't look at their patriarchal blessing as a 566 00:20:25.674 --> 00:20:26.174 - blessing. 567 00:20:26.634 --> 00:20:28.494 - Often people come to me and they say, 568 00:20:28.795 --> 00:20:30.555 - there are parts of my blessing I don't 569 00:20:30.555 --> 00:20:31.055 - understand, 570 00:20:31.369 --> 00:20:34.009 - or why did this patriarch say this, or 571 00:20:34.009 --> 00:20:36.830 - this never happened, or this I don't understand 572 00:20:36.890 --> 00:20:39.609 - this part. How sad, you know? We've got 573 00:20:39.609 --> 00:20:41.549 - to be able to do something so that 574 00:20:41.609 --> 00:20:44.250 - it does feel like a blessing. You're excited 575 00:20:44.250 --> 00:20:46.545 - to get it, you're excited to receive it, 576 00:20:46.625 --> 00:20:48.384 - and it feels like it's a blessing in 577 00:20:48.384 --> 00:20:50.965 - your life, not warning, admonition, 578 00:20:51.424 --> 00:20:53.904 - you know, chewing out. Yeah. That's I mean, 579 00:20:53.904 --> 00:20:55.845 - that it's one of those things, well, yeah, 580 00:20:56.225 --> 00:20:57.984 - it makes sense, but, yeah, I do catch 581 00:20:57.984 --> 00:20:59.940 - myself sort of falling into that. Right? Or 582 00:20:59.940 --> 00:21:02.659 - we want the, the patriarchal fortune telling. You 583 00:21:02.659 --> 00:21:04.259 - know? Just tell me, am I gonna be 584 00:21:04.259 --> 00:21:06.500 - rich someday or am I, you know, do 585 00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:08.099 - do I marry or do I go on 586 00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:10.019 - a mission or, you know, those things. Well 587 00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:12.039 - and that's one thing that I I warn 588 00:21:12.259 --> 00:21:14.654 - people off of quite a bit, which is 589 00:21:14.894 --> 00:21:17.555 - too often people look at their patriarchal blessing 590 00:21:17.615 --> 00:21:19.154 - as a list of events, 591 00:21:19.695 --> 00:21:21.695 - and we kinda check them off. Go on 592 00:21:21.695 --> 00:21:24.275 - a mission, check. Get married in the temple, 593 00:21:24.414 --> 00:21:27.695 - check. Have children, check. If you look at 594 00:21:27.695 --> 00:21:29.795 - your patriarchal blessing as a checklist, 595 00:21:30.490 --> 00:21:32.909 - couple of bad things happen. Number one, 596 00:21:33.289 --> 00:21:34.750 - once that event happens, 597 00:21:35.130 --> 00:21:37.069 - now you think that part of your blessing 598 00:21:37.529 --> 00:21:40.169 - no longer applies to you ever again. So 599 00:21:40.169 --> 00:21:42.409 - let's say, for example, you say, oh, my 600 00:21:42.409 --> 00:21:44.329 - patriarchal blessing says I should go on a 601 00:21:44.329 --> 00:21:46.845 - mission. I went on a mission, checked it 602 00:21:47.065 --> 00:21:48.924 - off, as if that part of your blessing 603 00:21:48.984 --> 00:21:49.484 - now 604 00:21:49.944 --> 00:21:51.784 - doesn't mean anything for the rest of your 605 00:21:51.784 --> 00:21:53.944 - life. And so one of the dangers of 606 00:21:53.944 --> 00:21:56.744 - the checklist is once it happens, you kind 607 00:21:56.744 --> 00:21:58.264 - of take it off the list and it 608 00:21:58.264 --> 00:21:59.244 - no longer applies. 609 00:21:59.769 --> 00:22:01.849 - The other side is, what if the thing 610 00:22:01.849 --> 00:22:04.809 - in the checklist doesn't happen? You decide you 611 00:22:04.809 --> 00:22:06.970 - don't go on a mission, you never do 612 00:22:06.970 --> 00:22:10.009 - get married, you don't have children, etcetera, etcetera, 613 00:22:10.009 --> 00:22:12.170 - etcetera. Well, then that puts you in this 614 00:22:12.170 --> 00:22:14.534 - weird mindset of, well, was it because I'm 615 00:22:14.534 --> 00:22:17.095 - a bad person? Did I do something that 616 00:22:17.095 --> 00:22:18.875 - disqualified me for this blessing? 617 00:22:19.335 --> 00:22:21.734 - Was the patriarch totally wrong? And then you 618 00:22:21.734 --> 00:22:24.315 - kinda go through this whole weird funk of 619 00:22:24.534 --> 00:22:26.615 - why does my blessing say this and it 620 00:22:26.615 --> 00:22:29.130 - didn't happen? So I often tell people, 621 00:22:29.509 --> 00:22:31.910 - if you can look at your blessing as 622 00:22:31.910 --> 00:22:34.730 - something you bring to all of life's events 623 00:22:35.269 --> 00:22:37.750 - and all of life's decisions and all of 624 00:22:37.750 --> 00:22:38.730 - life's challenges, 625 00:22:39.509 --> 00:22:41.609 - then you can apply it to everything 626 00:22:41.984 --> 00:22:44.005 - as opposed to your little checklist 627 00:22:44.384 --> 00:22:46.464 - of things on the list. That would really 628 00:22:46.464 --> 00:22:49.505 - help if everybody's understood that no, don't think 629 00:22:49.505 --> 00:22:50.644 - of it as a checklist. 630 00:22:51.025 --> 00:22:52.644 - Yeah. And I'll add, Kurt, 631 00:22:53.105 --> 00:22:55.890 - sometimes I've had people like, I don't know 632 00:22:55.890 --> 00:22:57.490 - if I'm supposed to go on a mission, 633 00:22:57.490 --> 00:22:59.890 - so I'm gonna get a patriarchal blessing to 634 00:22:59.890 --> 00:23:01.650 - see if I'm supposed to go or not. 635 00:23:01.650 --> 00:23:03.730 - It's like, well, if the blessing says I 636 00:23:03.730 --> 00:23:05.970 - should, I should. And if the blessing doesn't 637 00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:07.490 - talk about it, I guess I'm off the 638 00:23:07.490 --> 00:23:09.335 - hook. It's like, no. 639 00:23:09.714 --> 00:23:12.674 - You cannot use your patriarchal blessing as a 640 00:23:12.674 --> 00:23:13.174 - replacement 641 00:23:13.875 --> 00:23:17.154 - for your own search for inspiration and guidance 642 00:23:17.154 --> 00:23:19.795 - in your life. It helps you. But to, 643 00:23:19.795 --> 00:23:21.654 - like, remove all the responsibility 644 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:24.759 - because now it's if the blessing says it 645 00:23:24.759 --> 00:23:26.679 - or not, that certainly is not what your 646 00:23:26.679 --> 00:23:28.679 - blessing is designed to do. And so we 647 00:23:28.679 --> 00:23:30.359 - don't want people to fall into that trap 648 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:30.940 - of thinking, 649 00:23:31.240 --> 00:23:33.079 - oh, if my blessing says it, it has 650 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:34.759 - to be that way or if it doesn't 651 00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:37.035 - say it, it doesn't apply at all. Yeah. 652 00:23:37.035 --> 00:23:39.035 - That's really helpful. I wanna go back to 653 00:23:39.035 --> 00:23:40.335 - a few things that you mentioned. 654 00:23:40.875 --> 00:23:42.715 - One, you mentioned this list of 15 to 655 00:23:42.715 --> 00:23:44.715 - 20 talks. It's kind of a rule on 656 00:23:44.715 --> 00:23:47.195 - the podcast that my audience will get angry 657 00:23:47.195 --> 00:23:49.035 - at me if I don't twist your arm 658 00:23:49.035 --> 00:23:50.634 - for that list of talks and include it 659 00:23:50.634 --> 00:23:52.315 - in the show notes. So just write it 660 00:23:52.315 --> 00:23:54.049 - down here. I will totally send you my 661 00:23:54.049 --> 00:23:55.570 - list. So we'll put it in the show 662 00:23:55.570 --> 00:23:58.070 - notes. And then I think it's really insightful, 663 00:23:58.130 --> 00:23:59.029 - and it seems 664 00:23:59.330 --> 00:24:01.170 - maybe a basic point, but this feeling of 665 00:24:01.170 --> 00:24:04.210 - people feeling nervous coming into your home. And 666 00:24:04.210 --> 00:24:06.049 - I think this is a dynamic in church 667 00:24:06.049 --> 00:24:09.054 - leadership that we sometimes look over because, you 668 00:24:09.054 --> 00:24:10.914 - know, a stake president is thinking, 669 00:24:11.294 --> 00:24:13.154 - oh, well, you know, I've got some appointments. 670 00:24:13.294 --> 00:24:15.214 - I've, be good to group them together, and 671 00:24:15.214 --> 00:24:16.335 - they can all come to the church and 672 00:24:16.335 --> 00:24:17.534 - meet with you. It just it's more of 673 00:24:17.534 --> 00:24:19.375 - a practical thing to invite people into the 674 00:24:19.375 --> 00:24:21.839 - stake presidency's office. But for one individual 675 00:24:22.380 --> 00:24:24.380 - to be called into the state president's office, 676 00:24:24.380 --> 00:24:27.339 - like, that's a very nerve wracking experience or 677 00:24:27.339 --> 00:24:29.579 - for the state president, just another night of 678 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:31.339 - the office. You know? And so to really 679 00:24:31.339 --> 00:24:33.419 - just be mindful that people are walking in, 680 00:24:33.419 --> 00:24:35.295 - they're very nervous. So how can you put 681 00:24:35.295 --> 00:24:36.815 - them at ease or help them feel more 682 00:24:36.815 --> 00:24:39.215 - comfortable or, you know, find opportunities maybe to 683 00:24:39.215 --> 00:24:40.894 - go to them? Obviously, that would apply in 684 00:24:40.894 --> 00:24:42.654 - this setting. But is there anything specific you 685 00:24:42.654 --> 00:24:44.494 - do to to put people at ease as 686 00:24:44.494 --> 00:24:46.575 - they enter your home? Well, one thing I 687 00:24:46.575 --> 00:24:49.075 - have done is I've asked all the bishops 688 00:24:49.295 --> 00:24:50.195 - in our stake 689 00:24:50.590 --> 00:24:52.750 - to give me a chance to come and 690 00:24:52.750 --> 00:24:55.170 - meet their youth, come and meet their people. 691 00:24:55.470 --> 00:24:57.390 - That makes sense. This could be a Wednesday 692 00:24:57.390 --> 00:25:00.269 - night activity. It could be a fireside. It 693 00:25:00.269 --> 00:25:02.930 - could be come during their Sunday school class. 694 00:25:03.070 --> 00:25:04.830 - It could be you speak in their sacrament 695 00:25:04.830 --> 00:25:07.994 - meeting, but just do something so that they 696 00:25:07.994 --> 00:25:09.535 - at least have seen me before 697 00:25:09.914 --> 00:25:11.994 - and they can find out that, hey, maybe 698 00:25:11.994 --> 00:25:14.714 - he's not such a crazy guru as I 699 00:25:14.714 --> 00:25:16.474 - think. You know, so part of it really 700 00:25:16.474 --> 00:25:18.480 - is helping me to be 701 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:21.380 - exposed to members of the stake. 702 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:23.519 - You know, people that come to my home 703 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:26.240 - aren't even necessarily in my home ward. They've 704 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:28.319 - never seen me or heard of me ever 705 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:31.059 - before. And so they're going into a stranger's 706 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:31.700 - house. 707 00:25:32.115 --> 00:25:34.595 - Anything I can do to help reduce that 708 00:25:34.595 --> 00:25:36.515 - is helpful. And I do know that a 709 00:25:36.515 --> 00:25:38.694 - lot of times when, especially for the youth, 710 00:25:38.914 --> 00:25:41.315 - if they've met me before they can say, 711 00:25:41.315 --> 00:25:43.075 - oh yeah, you came to our ward once 712 00:25:43.075 --> 00:25:44.710 - and da da da da da Or in 713 00:25:44.710 --> 00:25:46.730 - my case, my hobby is astrophotography 714 00:25:47.509 --> 00:25:48.730 - and nature photography 715 00:25:49.190 --> 00:25:52.309 - and so I can show people pictures of 716 00:25:52.309 --> 00:25:55.110 - my galaxies and nebulas and that kind of 717 00:25:55.110 --> 00:25:57.269 - thing and it just helps to kind of 718 00:25:57.269 --> 00:25:59.904 - break that ice a little bit. Also, if 719 00:25:59.904 --> 00:26:01.345 - they're in high school, you know, I find 720 00:26:01.345 --> 00:26:02.785 - out if they're on the band or if 721 00:26:02.785 --> 00:26:04.424 - they're the science kid and all that kind 722 00:26:04.424 --> 00:26:06.545 - of thing. Just do something to to break 723 00:26:06.545 --> 00:26:09.025 - that. Yeah. Yeah. That's really good. I would 724 00:26:09.025 --> 00:26:11.845 - imagine you would talk about this experience of 725 00:26:11.929 --> 00:26:14.089 - sometimes, you know, that revelation is flowing. It's 726 00:26:14.089 --> 00:26:15.369 - just sort of up to you and your 727 00:26:15.369 --> 00:26:17.690 - brain to to articulate it into words. And 728 00:26:17.690 --> 00:26:19.549 - I would imagine there's a lot of moments 729 00:26:19.929 --> 00:26:22.410 - where you are it is up to you 730 00:26:22.410 --> 00:26:24.569 - to articulate that love that god has for 731 00:26:24.569 --> 00:26:26.730 - them individually. Is that I'm sure that's quite 732 00:26:26.730 --> 00:26:29.744 - the task. You know, maybe so, but gosh, 733 00:26:30.045 --> 00:26:32.224 - I am just blown away with 734 00:26:32.605 --> 00:26:33.424 - the quality 735 00:26:33.965 --> 00:26:36.845 - and the feeling you have of being in 736 00:26:36.845 --> 00:26:39.105 - a room with spectacular people. 737 00:26:39.404 --> 00:26:41.184 - There is something, Kurt, about 738 00:26:41.700 --> 00:26:43.539 - seeing a mom and dad come with a 739 00:26:43.539 --> 00:26:44.039 - youth, 740 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:47.380 - and they kind of struggle with their goofy 741 00:26:47.380 --> 00:26:47.880 - teenager 742 00:26:48.500 --> 00:26:49.720 - on a daily basis, 743 00:26:50.019 --> 00:26:52.099 - and then they come to my home and 744 00:26:52.099 --> 00:26:54.740 - they hear all these wonderful things about their 745 00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:55.240 - child, 746 00:26:55.619 --> 00:26:58.355 - you know, and to kind of realize, wow, 747 00:26:58.894 --> 00:27:00.734 - this is what the Lord thinks of my 748 00:27:00.734 --> 00:27:01.234 - son. 749 00:27:01.535 --> 00:27:03.134 - These are some of the things that he 750 00:27:03.134 --> 00:27:05.615 - is telling my son. And I just love 751 00:27:05.615 --> 00:27:08.035 - to see the parents kind of be 752 00:27:08.414 --> 00:27:08.914 - overwhelmed 753 00:27:09.295 --> 00:27:11.154 - with a sense of, wow, 754 00:27:11.609 --> 00:27:13.230 - my kid's a good kid. 755 00:27:13.609 --> 00:27:15.309 - He's a spectacular youth. 756 00:27:15.609 --> 00:27:17.690 - That's just a neat thing. And I feel 757 00:27:17.690 --> 00:27:20.250 - that way too. You know, you you kinda 758 00:27:20.250 --> 00:27:22.650 - get into the world of social medias and 759 00:27:22.650 --> 00:27:25.764 - news and things drag you down, and then 760 00:27:26.144 --> 00:27:27.444 - they come to my home 761 00:27:27.744 --> 00:27:30.065 - and there's just this feeling of I am 762 00:27:30.065 --> 00:27:33.284 - in the presence of a really awesome kid. 763 00:27:33.744 --> 00:27:35.125 - It's just a neat feeling 764 00:27:35.505 --> 00:27:37.524 - to think that these are spectacular 765 00:27:37.825 --> 00:27:38.325 - individuals. 766 00:27:38.740 --> 00:27:40.419 - I remember I gave a blessing a few 767 00:27:40.419 --> 00:27:41.159 - years ago 768 00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:44.759 - to a couple, they were originally from Honduras. 769 00:27:45.539 --> 00:27:48.759 - Nothing spectacular about them socially, you know? 770 00:27:49.140 --> 00:27:50.440 - One cleaned apartments, 771 00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:51.880 - one did maintenance. 772 00:27:52.615 --> 00:27:55.095 - In society, we're always talking about they don't 773 00:27:55.095 --> 00:27:56.774 - bring us our best and blah blah blah 774 00:27:56.774 --> 00:27:59.095 - blah blah. And I was in the presence 775 00:27:59.095 --> 00:28:01.734 - of God's elect, you know? And when I 776 00:28:01.734 --> 00:28:03.494 - put my hands on their head, it was 777 00:28:03.494 --> 00:28:06.394 - just like, oh, these people are spectacular. 778 00:28:07.494 --> 00:28:09.700 - And to be able to talk about 779 00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:12.880 - spiritual gifts the Lord has given to them 780 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:15.680 - and opportunities that they're going to have, people 781 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:18.400 - they're going to influence, ways they can represent 782 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:20.480 - the Lord to gather Israel and all that. 783 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:23.095 - It's just like, it is so neat to 784 00:28:23.095 --> 00:28:25.494 - think of people as their best selves, and 785 00:28:25.494 --> 00:28:27.755 - that's kind of what a patriarchal blessing does. 786 00:28:27.894 --> 00:28:30.055 - And so every time I meet somebody, I 787 00:28:30.055 --> 00:28:32.375 - get to see their best side, you might 788 00:28:32.375 --> 00:28:33.595 - say, their most positive 789 00:28:34.140 --> 00:28:36.700 - attribute about them. It's really gratifying to be 790 00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:38.779 - part of that. Yeah. Takes my mind to 791 00:28:38.779 --> 00:28:41.180 - that, I don't know verbatim, that CS Lewis 792 00:28:41.180 --> 00:28:42.619 - quote about, you know, if you could see 793 00:28:42.619 --> 00:28:44.700 - the eternal nature of each soul, you would 794 00:28:44.700 --> 00:28:47.339 - worship them. Right. Yeah. You sort of get 795 00:28:47.339 --> 00:28:49.595 - a glimpse of that that we truly are 796 00:28:49.595 --> 00:28:51.674 - children of of a divine being, and it's, 797 00:28:51.835 --> 00:28:52.575 - it's beautiful. 798 00:28:52.955 --> 00:28:55.515 - So really good. Tell me about just the 799 00:28:55.515 --> 00:28:57.755 - the dynamic of the, you know, pronouncing a 800 00:28:57.755 --> 00:28:58.255 - lineage. 801 00:28:58.715 --> 00:28:59.215 - Sometimes 802 00:28:59.755 --> 00:29:01.755 - that can obviously, I love the idea of 803 00:29:01.755 --> 00:29:04.279 - this is a patriarchal blessing that you're gonna 804 00:29:04.279 --> 00:29:06.759 - pronounce various blessings, but what could you teach 805 00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:08.299 - us about the lineage portion? 806 00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:11.640 - Yeah. So let's take two steps back and 807 00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:13.419 - say covenant of Abraham, 808 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:17.019 - gathering of Israel, and the declaration of lineage. 809 00:29:17.724 --> 00:29:18.224 - Because 810 00:29:18.845 --> 00:29:21.565 - when we make a declaration of lineage, what 811 00:29:21.565 --> 00:29:23.264 - we're really saying is, 812 00:29:23.804 --> 00:29:25.424 - you are part of the family, 813 00:29:25.964 --> 00:29:29.105 - you are part of Abraham's covenant children 814 00:29:29.619 --> 00:29:31.619 - and all the blessings that were given to 815 00:29:31.619 --> 00:29:33.159 - Abraham, they're yours. 816 00:29:33.539 --> 00:29:35.880 - And the opportunities that were given to Abraham, 817 00:29:36.099 --> 00:29:36.919 - they're yours. 818 00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:39.940 - And the Lord told Abraham, through you and 819 00:29:39.940 --> 00:29:40.839 - your descendants, 820 00:29:41.460 --> 00:29:43.299 - we're gonna take the gospel to the whole 821 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:43.799 - world, 822 00:29:44.194 --> 00:29:46.214 - and through priesthood authority, 823 00:29:46.515 --> 00:29:48.855 - they're going to be open up to eternal 824 00:29:48.914 --> 00:29:50.295 - life and exaltation. 825 00:29:50.994 --> 00:29:53.575 - And so a declaration of lineage 826 00:29:54.194 --> 00:29:55.575 - really is to say, 827 00:29:55.954 --> 00:29:58.639 - that's you, you're part of the group. You 828 00:29:58.639 --> 00:30:00.960 - know, I love the verses in third Nephi 829 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:02.740 - when Christ says to the Nephites, 830 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:05.619 - ye are the children of Israel, 831 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:08.179 - you are the children of the prophets, 832 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:11.075 - you are the children of the covenant. And 833 00:30:11.075 --> 00:30:12.934 - so a declaration of lineage 834 00:30:13.315 --> 00:30:14.134 - is to say, 835 00:30:14.434 --> 00:30:16.615 - that's you. That's your opportunity. 836 00:30:17.075 --> 00:30:18.994 - You get to be part of it. The 837 00:30:18.994 --> 00:30:21.154 - Lord has a plan to bring all of 838 00:30:21.154 --> 00:30:23.815 - his children home, and he needs some helpers. 839 00:30:24.194 --> 00:30:27.319 - He needs his army. And your patriarchal blessing 840 00:30:27.380 --> 00:30:27.880 - says 841 00:30:28.259 --> 00:30:29.960 - you get to be part of that group. 842 00:30:30.259 --> 00:30:31.779 - So the first thing I'd say about a 843 00:30:31.779 --> 00:30:34.660 - declaration of lineage is it's a chance to 844 00:30:34.660 --> 00:30:35.160 - say 845 00:30:35.539 --> 00:30:36.279 - you're invited. 846 00:30:36.660 --> 00:30:38.180 - You get to be part of this great 847 00:30:38.180 --> 00:30:41.095 - work and for whatever reason the Lord thinks 848 00:30:41.095 --> 00:30:42.934 - you're gonna be a great candidate to help 849 00:30:42.934 --> 00:30:43.595 - him out. 850 00:30:43.894 --> 00:30:47.174 - Yeah. Now, the actual declaration of which tribe 851 00:30:47.174 --> 00:30:49.755 - a person comes from, I think it's interesting 852 00:30:49.974 --> 00:30:52.375 - that when you read the blessings of the 853 00:30:52.375 --> 00:30:53.355 - different tribes, 854 00:30:53.970 --> 00:30:56.069 - think of it as how will I contribute? 855 00:30:56.529 --> 00:30:58.529 - How can I help out in the gathering 856 00:30:58.529 --> 00:31:00.289 - of Israel and taking the gospel of the 857 00:31:00.289 --> 00:31:03.009 - whole world? Now clearly the majority of the 858 00:31:03.009 --> 00:31:05.250 - people are told they're from the tribe of 859 00:31:05.250 --> 00:31:05.750 - Ephraim. 860 00:31:06.095 --> 00:31:08.355 - And when we read the blessing of Joseph 861 00:31:08.494 --> 00:31:10.595 - that applies to both Ephraim and Manasseh, 862 00:31:11.134 --> 00:31:13.695 - the Lord says, You're like a big old 863 00:31:13.695 --> 00:31:17.055 - longhorned bull, and with these horns, you're gonna 864 00:31:17.055 --> 00:31:20.195 - push people together from all over the world 865 00:31:20.590 --> 00:31:22.130 - and bring them to the gospel, 866 00:31:22.430 --> 00:31:25.170 - the 10 thousands of Ephraim and the thousands 867 00:31:25.230 --> 00:31:25.890 - of Anas. 868 00:31:26.430 --> 00:31:28.190 - You know, so if you're told you're from 869 00:31:28.190 --> 00:31:29.410 - the tribe of Ephraim, 870 00:31:29.789 --> 00:31:32.110 - the Lord is saying you're part of that 871 00:31:32.110 --> 00:31:34.654 - mover and shaker group, you're part of that 872 00:31:34.654 --> 00:31:37.075 - group that takes them all and brings them. 873 00:31:37.134 --> 00:31:39.875 - The Lord needs those leaders to do that. 874 00:31:40.174 --> 00:31:42.095 - Now, you could be told you're from any 875 00:31:42.095 --> 00:31:45.134 - tribe and what I always reinforce with the 876 00:31:45.134 --> 00:31:47.134 - people that receive a blessing is this is 877 00:31:47.134 --> 00:31:48.515 - not a DNA test. 878 00:31:48.894 --> 00:31:49.554 - I said, 879 00:31:49.909 --> 00:31:51.529 - after thousands of years, 880 00:31:52.069 --> 00:31:55.269 - you literally have some ancestor who was related 881 00:31:55.269 --> 00:31:57.909 - to Reuben. You have another ancestor who was 882 00:31:57.909 --> 00:31:59.049 - related to Zebulon 883 00:31:59.349 --> 00:32:01.049 - and Gad and Asher 884 00:32:01.349 --> 00:32:01.849 - and 885 00:32:02.150 --> 00:32:04.970 - and whoever, you know, Simeon, Levi. 886 00:32:05.705 --> 00:32:07.964 - We all are going to have literally 887 00:32:08.744 --> 00:32:10.205 - ancestors from everywhere. 888 00:32:10.664 --> 00:32:13.305 - And so the declaration of lineage is not 889 00:32:13.305 --> 00:32:14.605 - a DNA test. 890 00:32:14.984 --> 00:32:17.464 - It is to say, how can you most 891 00:32:17.464 --> 00:32:17.964 - contribute 892 00:32:18.424 --> 00:32:21.119 - to helping the Lord gather his children again? 893 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.599 - Now it just so happens that we still 894 00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:26.079 - need Ephraim a lot because we still need 895 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:28.000 - to settle all who are gonna be those 896 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:29.140 - leaders that way. 897 00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:32.160 - But we could say others because there are 898 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:34.640 - other talents or abilities that you bring to 899 00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:36.079 - the table. I'll give you a couple of 900 00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:38.454 - specifics where, you know, most people are told 901 00:32:38.454 --> 00:32:40.634 - they're from Ephraim or Manasseh 902 00:32:41.174 --> 00:32:43.494 - and Judah. Those are kind of the three 903 00:32:43.494 --> 00:32:46.934 - top ones that, statistically you'd say that that 904 00:32:46.934 --> 00:32:48.315 - get called out the most. 905 00:32:48.855 --> 00:32:50.934 - If I were told I was a member 906 00:32:50.934 --> 00:32:52.154 - of the tribe of Judah, 907 00:32:52.519 --> 00:32:54.119 - then I would try to figure out for 908 00:32:54.119 --> 00:32:55.099 - the rest of my life, 909 00:32:55.480 --> 00:32:57.579 - why did the Lord tell me Judah? 910 00:32:58.119 --> 00:33:00.440 - And I recently gave a blessing where I 911 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:02.119 - did tell this young lady she was from 912 00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:04.940 - the tribe of Judah, and her blessing contained 913 00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:07.740 - so many powerful statements about 914 00:33:08.105 --> 00:33:10.605 - not just bearing testimony of Christ, 915 00:33:10.904 --> 00:33:12.365 - but really feeling 916 00:33:12.904 --> 00:33:16.125 - the power of his atonement and his suffering 917 00:33:16.184 --> 00:33:17.164 - and his resurrection 918 00:33:17.865 --> 00:33:20.345 - and his ascension. And there was just something 919 00:33:20.345 --> 00:33:23.730 - really powerful about the way that she's going 920 00:33:23.730 --> 00:33:26.390 - to be able to identify with her savior 921 00:33:26.769 --> 00:33:29.330 - and bear testimony of him in a way 922 00:33:29.330 --> 00:33:32.210 - that just seemed to be more profound than 923 00:33:32.210 --> 00:33:34.769 - most people, and I could just say, that's 924 00:33:34.769 --> 00:33:36.965 - your role. As a member of the tribe 925 00:33:36.965 --> 00:33:39.144 - of Judah, you're going to have an opportunity 926 00:33:39.684 --> 00:33:41.865 - to bear testimony of your Messiah 927 00:33:42.245 --> 00:33:44.184 - in a way that maybe others can't. 928 00:33:44.565 --> 00:33:46.085 - Now, if I were told I was from 929 00:33:46.085 --> 00:33:47.144 - the tribe of Zebulon, 930 00:33:47.765 --> 00:33:50.529 - Zebulon is told that he is like a 931 00:33:50.529 --> 00:33:51.990 - haven on the sea. 932 00:33:52.289 --> 00:33:54.289 - Well, I mean, if you look at the 933 00:33:54.289 --> 00:33:57.250 - map in the old testament, Zebulon didn't even 934 00:33:57.250 --> 00:34:00.130 - get any land near water. It's like, how 935 00:34:00.130 --> 00:34:01.809 - could it be told you're like a haven 936 00:34:01.809 --> 00:34:02.549 - in the sea? 937 00:34:02.974 --> 00:34:05.555 - But when you think about it, a haven 938 00:34:06.095 --> 00:34:08.114 - is a place where people go 939 00:34:08.494 --> 00:34:09.474 - as a refuge, 940 00:34:10.015 --> 00:34:11.394 - as a place of protection. 941 00:34:11.934 --> 00:34:13.775 - I think it's beautiful that if I were 942 00:34:13.775 --> 00:34:15.375 - ever told I was from the tribe of 943 00:34:15.375 --> 00:34:15.875 - Zebulon, 944 00:34:16.569 --> 00:34:18.650 - maybe one of the ways that I would 945 00:34:18.650 --> 00:34:19.150 - contribute 946 00:34:19.530 --> 00:34:22.030 - is by helping people have a haven, 947 00:34:22.409 --> 00:34:23.710 - place to go to, 948 00:34:24.010 --> 00:34:24.829 - a refuge, 949 00:34:25.210 --> 00:34:26.429 - a way to be safe. 950 00:34:26.730 --> 00:34:28.809 - That would be a beautiful thought, wouldn't it? 951 00:34:28.809 --> 00:34:30.824 - And that's maybe what I would do. 952 00:34:31.144 --> 00:34:32.344 - By the way, if you look at a 953 00:34:32.344 --> 00:34:34.605 - map, I believe the city of Nazareth 954 00:34:35.224 --> 00:34:36.045 - was located 955 00:34:36.425 --> 00:34:39.085 - in the territory of the tribe of Zebulon. 956 00:34:39.625 --> 00:34:40.364 - Oh, interesting. 957 00:34:40.664 --> 00:34:42.984 - Yeah. It's kinda sweet to know that the 958 00:34:42.984 --> 00:34:44.125 - city of Nazareth 959 00:34:44.610 --> 00:34:45.349 - was located 960 00:34:45.970 --> 00:34:49.410 - in the area whose blessing talks about having 961 00:34:49.410 --> 00:34:50.150 - a haven 962 00:34:50.530 --> 00:34:51.349 - to go to. 963 00:34:51.730 --> 00:34:53.809 - All that to say that if somebody is 964 00:34:53.809 --> 00:34:55.829 - told they're from a certain tribe, 965 00:34:56.289 --> 00:34:58.450 - that's how they are invited to receive the 966 00:34:58.450 --> 00:34:59.590 - blessings of Abraham, 967 00:35:00.054 --> 00:35:02.695 - and then you would say, okay, based on 968 00:35:02.695 --> 00:35:03.594 - that tribe, 969 00:35:03.974 --> 00:35:06.155 - what are some of the promises and blessings 970 00:35:06.454 --> 00:35:08.614 - that help me contribute to the gathering of 971 00:35:08.614 --> 00:35:11.515 - Israel? It may be the haven and protection, 972 00:35:11.815 --> 00:35:13.515 - it may be a way to bear testimony 973 00:35:13.574 --> 00:35:16.180 - of Christ, it may be that leadership role 974 00:35:16.180 --> 00:35:18.180 - of bringing it in. If somebody's from the 975 00:35:18.180 --> 00:35:19.960 - tribe of Levi, for example, 976 00:35:20.420 --> 00:35:22.180 - one of their blessings is to be able 977 00:35:22.180 --> 00:35:23.880 - to teach the ordinances 978 00:35:24.420 --> 00:35:26.739 - and teach the gospel. So maybe that would 979 00:35:26.739 --> 00:35:28.734 - be something we would look at. So every 980 00:35:28.734 --> 00:35:30.655 - tribe would kind of contribute in a different 981 00:35:30.655 --> 00:35:32.815 - way. I often tell people it's kind of 982 00:35:32.815 --> 00:35:34.414 - like a sports team, you know, if you're 983 00:35:34.414 --> 00:35:35.635 - into American football, 984 00:35:36.175 --> 00:35:39.074 - some of the players are six'eight and three 985 00:35:39.135 --> 00:35:40.034 - fifty pounds 986 00:35:40.359 --> 00:35:41.739 - and others are five 987 00:35:42.199 --> 00:35:44.300 - seven and one hundred and fifty pounds. 988 00:35:44.920 --> 00:35:47.800 - And they all contribute differently because they have 989 00:35:47.800 --> 00:35:49.719 - a different skill set that they bring. And 990 00:35:49.719 --> 00:35:51.320 - that's kind of how I see the different 991 00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:54.359 - designation of tribes. Everybody would have a different 992 00:35:54.359 --> 00:35:55.260 - way to contribute 993 00:35:55.559 --> 00:35:58.175 - to taking the gospel to the whole world. 994 00:35:58.175 --> 00:36:00.015 - Yeah. And so when it comes to those, 995 00:36:00.335 --> 00:36:02.114 - those tribes, like, it's not necessarily 996 00:36:02.735 --> 00:36:04.655 - your role is dictated, but it gives you 997 00:36:04.655 --> 00:36:06.914 - an opportunity to sit with some of the 998 00:36:07.295 --> 00:36:10.000 - the verbiage related to that tribe and lean 999 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:11.840 - into the revelation that you may get personally 1000 00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:14.579 - about, what that means. Right. And, you know, 1001 00:36:14.720 --> 00:36:16.880 - another thing I warn people against is this 1002 00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:18.500 - is not a personality test. 1003 00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:20.800 - You know, I think sometimes we think of 1004 00:36:20.800 --> 00:36:24.105 - it as, oh, you are from Aries. You're 1005 00:36:24.264 --> 00:36:26.264 - a Taurus the bull, you're you know, we 1006 00:36:26.264 --> 00:36:28.425 - think of like a zodiac sign. Yeah, that's 1007 00:36:28.425 --> 00:36:30.925 - true. And all Aries are 1008 00:36:31.224 --> 00:36:31.724 - creative. 1009 00:36:32.264 --> 00:36:34.684 - No, this has nothing to do with personality 1010 00:36:35.065 --> 00:36:35.565 - test. 1011 00:36:35.945 --> 00:36:37.005 - And just because, 1012 00:36:37.625 --> 00:36:38.364 - you know, 1013 00:36:38.760 --> 00:36:41.239 - Levi was hot headed and they went and 1014 00:36:41.239 --> 00:36:43.880 - attacked a bunch of people, doesn't mean those 1015 00:36:43.880 --> 00:36:46.280 - from the tribe of Levi are hot headed 1016 00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:47.659 - and go and attack people. 1017 00:36:48.039 --> 00:36:50.619 - So try to remove ourselves from that mindset 1018 00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:51.260 - of 1019 00:36:51.559 --> 00:36:52.780 - whatever personality 1020 00:36:53.159 --> 00:36:56.864 - Reuben had, that's a definition of those from 1021 00:36:56.864 --> 00:36:58.465 - the tribe of Reuben. I think that would 1022 00:36:58.465 --> 00:37:00.305 - be dangerous to think in that light when 1023 00:37:00.545 --> 00:37:03.345 - in that way. Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting. Really 1024 00:37:03.345 --> 00:37:06.385 - good. Anything else about the the lineage portion 1025 00:37:06.385 --> 00:37:08.144 - that would be worth mentioning? Did we cover 1026 00:37:08.144 --> 00:37:10.109 - it all for a while? I remember the 1027 00:37:10.109 --> 00:37:10.929 - first time 1028 00:37:11.230 --> 00:37:13.789 - when I started giving blessings, I really stressed 1029 00:37:13.789 --> 00:37:15.329 - about the idea of 1030 00:37:15.710 --> 00:37:18.029 - how am I gonna just to declare a 1031 00:37:18.029 --> 00:37:21.150 - person's tribe? What kind of inspiration do you 1032 00:37:21.150 --> 00:37:23.650 - receive when when you have to decide that? 1033 00:37:23.875 --> 00:37:26.275 - And you know what? I found that there 1034 00:37:26.275 --> 00:37:27.875 - have been a few times where I've been 1035 00:37:27.875 --> 00:37:30.594 - kinda stumped initially, and I'm not it takes 1036 00:37:30.594 --> 00:37:32.594 - me a while to figure it out. But 1037 00:37:32.594 --> 00:37:35.155 - most of the times, Kurt, it's actually pretty 1038 00:37:35.155 --> 00:37:38.570 - easy and that it's like my brain can't 1039 00:37:38.570 --> 00:37:41.369 - think of any name except for except for 1040 00:37:41.369 --> 00:37:43.369 - the one that I've gotta say or it 1041 00:37:43.369 --> 00:37:46.570 - just feels right. And I do remember, I 1042 00:37:46.570 --> 00:37:48.570 - mean, the first couple of lessons that I 1043 00:37:48.570 --> 00:37:51.355 - gave, I declared the tribe of Ephraim, and 1044 00:37:51.355 --> 00:37:53.355 - I felt good about that. And it was 1045 00:37:53.355 --> 00:37:55.514 - like the oh, maybe the fourth or fifth 1046 00:37:55.514 --> 00:37:56.014 - one, 1047 00:37:56.315 --> 00:37:59.114 - somebody came to my house. And the second 1048 00:37:59.114 --> 00:38:00.734 - he walked into the house, 1049 00:38:01.194 --> 00:38:03.750 - my brain went, I think I'm supposed to 1050 00:38:03.750 --> 00:38:06.230 - say a different tribe today. I think I'm 1051 00:38:06.230 --> 00:38:07.369 - supposed to say Manasa. 1052 00:38:07.670 --> 00:38:09.829 - Yeah. And it was something I thought even 1053 00:38:09.829 --> 00:38:11.369 - before the blessing started. 1054 00:38:11.750 --> 00:38:13.510 - And I was kind of nervous about it, 1055 00:38:13.510 --> 00:38:16.394 - you know? Yeah. Sure. Because I I never 1056 00:38:16.394 --> 00:38:18.074 - I was brand new at this, I'd never 1057 00:38:18.074 --> 00:38:18.655 - done it. 1058 00:38:19.035 --> 00:38:20.974 - And maybe to show my lack of confidence 1059 00:38:21.035 --> 00:38:23.355 - a little bit, as we were talking before 1060 00:38:23.355 --> 00:38:25.755 - the blessing, I just happened to mention to 1061 00:38:25.755 --> 00:38:28.175 - the parents, did you ever receive a patriarchal 1062 00:38:28.235 --> 00:38:29.835 - blessing before? And he says, yes, we did. 1063 00:38:29.835 --> 00:38:31.369 - And I said, just out of 1064 00:38:31.750 --> 00:38:33.989 - curiosity, what tribes were you told that you 1065 00:38:33.989 --> 00:38:36.170 - were from? And mom goes, Manasseh, 1066 00:38:36.549 --> 00:38:39.269 - and dad goes, Manasseh. And I went, oh, 1067 00:38:39.269 --> 00:38:41.750 - thank you, heavenly father, because I didn't have 1068 00:38:41.750 --> 00:38:44.515 - enough confidence to say it, but now I 1069 00:38:44.515 --> 00:38:45.015 - do. 1070 00:38:45.954 --> 00:38:48.034 - Oh, I'm sorry. Because maybe it's not such 1071 00:38:48.034 --> 00:38:49.715 - a crazy thought that I had when I 1072 00:38:49.715 --> 00:38:52.054 - thought that way. But in general, Kurt, 1073 00:38:52.434 --> 00:38:55.715 - I found that it really isn't as difficult 1074 00:38:55.715 --> 00:38:57.875 - of a task to declare lineage as I 1075 00:38:57.875 --> 00:39:00.300 - thought it would be. And again, the vast 1076 00:39:00.300 --> 00:39:03.820 - majority are going to I've said Ephraim or 1077 00:39:03.820 --> 00:39:04.320 - Manasseh, 1078 00:39:04.940 --> 00:39:07.039 - a number of times I've said Judah, 1079 00:39:07.820 --> 00:39:10.300 - only a couple of other times in all 1080 00:39:10.300 --> 00:39:12.460 - my blessings have I said anything other than 1081 00:39:12.460 --> 00:39:14.934 - those tribes. I have said others as well, 1082 00:39:14.934 --> 00:39:16.234 - but the vast majority 1083 00:39:16.534 --> 00:39:17.835 - are Ephraim and Manasseh 1084 00:39:18.135 --> 00:39:20.695 - or Judah. Yeah. And I appreciate you framing 1085 00:39:20.695 --> 00:39:22.534 - it. I'm framing it exactly how I do, 1086 00:39:22.534 --> 00:39:23.815 - but as far as, like, we're all 1087 00:39:24.454 --> 00:39:25.574 - at the end of the day, we're all 1088 00:39:25.574 --> 00:39:26.934 - on the same team. Like, we're all we 1089 00:39:26.934 --> 00:39:29.010 - all have the general, you know, mission to 1090 00:39:29.010 --> 00:39:30.610 - gather Israel and and, you know, be a 1091 00:39:30.610 --> 00:39:31.730 - part of that. It's just, 1092 00:39:32.289 --> 00:39:34.050 - so it's not, you know again, it's not 1093 00:39:34.050 --> 00:39:36.289 - a personality test or anything like that that 1094 00:39:36.289 --> 00:39:38.369 - you have to nail. Yeah. Yeah. And this 1095 00:39:38.369 --> 00:39:40.050 - young lady that that I had a couple 1096 00:39:40.050 --> 00:39:40.949 - of weeks ago, 1097 00:39:41.275 --> 00:39:43.594 - I even knew that her mom and dad 1098 00:39:43.594 --> 00:39:45.355 - were told they were from the tribe of 1099 00:39:45.355 --> 00:39:48.474 - Ephraim, but I still felt really pushed to 1100 00:39:48.474 --> 00:39:51.275 - say Judah when I gave her blessing. And 1101 00:39:51.275 --> 00:39:52.655 - so it was one of those of, 1102 00:39:52.954 --> 00:39:53.454 - okay, 1103 00:39:53.789 --> 00:39:55.730 - this is the impression I'm receiving 1104 00:39:56.269 --> 00:39:58.269 - and I've got to go with it. And 1105 00:39:58.269 --> 00:40:01.230 - even though logically my brain is going mom 1106 00:40:01.230 --> 00:40:02.590 - and dad were told they were from the 1107 00:40:02.590 --> 00:40:04.910 - tribe of Ephraim. I mean, I didn't actually 1108 00:40:04.910 --> 00:40:06.829 - know that know that but I was pretty 1109 00:40:06.829 --> 00:40:09.045 - clear on it in my brain. And sure 1110 00:40:09.045 --> 00:40:10.425 - enough, I talked to him afterwards, 1111 00:40:10.965 --> 00:40:12.965 - but her daughter is was told that she 1112 00:40:12.965 --> 00:40:14.585 - is a member of the tribe of Judah. 1113 00:40:14.804 --> 00:40:16.344 - That's awesome. Really good. 1114 00:40:16.644 --> 00:40:18.085 - Where do you wanna go next with this 1115 00:40:18.085 --> 00:40:19.605 - as we wrap up on, 1116 00:40:20.324 --> 00:40:22.585 - as far as just the the contents of 1117 00:40:22.730 --> 00:40:25.449 - the statement of patriarchal blessing or what what 1118 00:40:25.449 --> 00:40:27.929 - feels like we haven't hit on enough? Maybe 1119 00:40:27.929 --> 00:40:28.429 - reinforce 1120 00:40:28.730 --> 00:40:29.869 - the idea that 1121 00:40:30.170 --> 00:40:32.349 - I love that a patriarchal blessing 1122 00:40:32.889 --> 00:40:33.949 - is a confirmation 1123 00:40:34.650 --> 00:40:36.109 - that you're a big deal. 1124 00:40:36.489 --> 00:40:39.594 - That, you know, sometimes I think how amazing 1125 00:40:39.594 --> 00:40:41.674 - is it that out of the billions of 1126 00:40:41.674 --> 00:40:43.835 - people that live on this earth and the 1127 00:40:43.835 --> 00:40:45.755 - millions that get to be members of the 1128 00:40:45.755 --> 00:40:46.255 - church, 1129 00:40:46.714 --> 00:40:48.815 - we have, especially these youth, 1130 00:40:49.194 --> 00:40:50.815 - who for whatever reason 1131 00:40:51.190 --> 00:40:53.909 - have the opportunity to be raised in a 1132 00:40:53.909 --> 00:40:54.409 - location, 1133 00:40:54.789 --> 00:40:55.929 - in a environment 1134 00:40:56.550 --> 00:40:58.230 - that they can learn they're a child of 1135 00:40:58.230 --> 00:40:58.730 - God 1136 00:40:59.190 --> 00:41:01.750 - from day one. Yeah. Have a sense of 1137 00:41:01.750 --> 00:41:03.929 - a relationship with heavenly father and 1138 00:41:04.905 --> 00:41:07.385 - get the inkling of a testimony when they're 1139 00:41:07.385 --> 00:41:09.965 - young, and try to put together the pieces 1140 00:41:10.025 --> 00:41:11.804 - of, do I believe this stuff? 1141 00:41:12.184 --> 00:41:14.184 - I mean, just this past week, I gave 1142 00:41:14.184 --> 00:41:16.105 - a blessing to a young man who's only 1143 00:41:16.105 --> 00:41:18.119 - 15 years old, and I asked him, I 1144 00:41:18.119 --> 00:41:20.039 - said, what made you feel like you wanted 1145 00:41:20.039 --> 00:41:22.539 - to get your blessing now? And he goes, 1146 00:41:22.760 --> 00:41:24.760 - I had so many decisions in front of 1147 00:41:24.760 --> 00:41:27.819 - me, and it seems to be getting harder. 1148 00:41:28.039 --> 00:41:30.760 - And I thought, man, here's a 15 year 1149 00:41:30.760 --> 00:41:34.015 - old who's got it together enough, who is 1150 00:41:34.394 --> 00:41:36.235 - saying, I got some decisions in front of 1151 00:41:36.235 --> 00:41:38.315 - me, and I I wanna get a little 1152 00:41:38.315 --> 00:41:39.755 - bit of help to make sure I'm pointing 1153 00:41:39.755 --> 00:41:40.655 - in the right direction. 1154 00:41:41.035 --> 00:41:43.934 - And so to reinforce that idea that 1155 00:41:44.235 --> 00:41:46.559 - how cool is that? That the 1156 00:41:46.940 --> 00:41:49.039 - Lord with his master plan 1157 00:41:49.500 --> 00:41:50.799 - for all of his children 1158 00:41:51.339 --> 00:41:53.579 - is putting things in place so that some 1159 00:41:53.579 --> 00:41:55.839 - of these people can be told right away, 1160 00:41:56.460 --> 00:41:57.679 - you have an opportunity 1161 00:41:57.980 --> 00:42:00.159 - to use some of your spiritual gifts 1162 00:42:00.534 --> 00:42:02.795 - and your talents to bless other people. 1163 00:42:03.094 --> 00:42:05.735 - And I'm gonna identify that for you so 1164 00:42:05.735 --> 00:42:08.135 - you can develop it and look forward to 1165 00:42:08.135 --> 00:42:10.775 - it and do it. And so it's a 1166 00:42:10.775 --> 00:42:12.795 - two edged thing, which is 1167 00:42:13.175 --> 00:42:14.315 - you're hot stuff 1168 00:42:14.619 --> 00:42:17.420 - and the Lord actually needs people. And this 1169 00:42:17.420 --> 00:42:19.659 - is one of his ways to say, I'm 1170 00:42:19.659 --> 00:42:21.659 - asking you to help me. Help me bring 1171 00:42:21.659 --> 00:42:23.420 - my children home. I mean, that's one of 1172 00:42:23.420 --> 00:42:25.099 - the main reasons why I wanna call it 1173 00:42:25.099 --> 00:42:26.320 - a patriarchal blessing 1174 00:42:26.715 --> 00:42:29.755 - because it brings that realization of, wow, the 1175 00:42:29.755 --> 00:42:32.474 - lord has confidence in me and he needs 1176 00:42:32.474 --> 00:42:35.195 - me and, he's helping me along. So that 1177 00:42:35.195 --> 00:42:37.434 - that's just neat stuff. Yeah. That that's the 1178 00:42:37.434 --> 00:42:39.355 - blessing part of it. This is it's full 1179 00:42:39.355 --> 00:42:40.015 - of encouragement. 1180 00:42:40.315 --> 00:42:42.920 - Right? And that we are we are God's 1181 00:42:42.920 --> 00:42:44.280 - child, you know, and that makes us a 1182 00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:44.940 - big deal. 1183 00:42:45.239 --> 00:42:46.139 - So And so 1184 00:42:46.519 --> 00:42:48.920 - it's not a patriarchal warning. It's not a 1185 00:42:48.920 --> 00:42:50.139 - patriarchal ammunition. 1186 00:42:50.440 --> 00:42:52.679 - It's not a patriarchal chewing out. It's a 1187 00:42:52.679 --> 00:42:53.179 - patriarchal 1188 00:42:53.480 --> 00:42:53.980 - blessing. 1189 00:42:54.280 --> 00:42:56.525 - Yep. Anything we you haven't said as far 1190 00:42:56.525 --> 00:42:59.565 - as, just when we're striving to interpret or 1191 00:42:59.565 --> 00:43:01.724 - bring meaning to each line and word in 1192 00:43:01.724 --> 00:43:04.444 - a blessing, like, any thoughts there on guiding 1193 00:43:04.444 --> 00:43:05.264 - us through that? 1194 00:43:05.724 --> 00:43:07.424 - Yeah. I think it would be 1195 00:43:07.980 --> 00:43:09.760 - we need to be more open 1196 00:43:10.059 --> 00:43:11.199 - and more flexible 1197 00:43:11.820 --> 00:43:12.320 - in 1198 00:43:12.699 --> 00:43:14.960 - interpreting things in a broad sense. 1199 00:43:15.260 --> 00:43:18.480 - I think too often we're very narrow of 1200 00:43:18.619 --> 00:43:20.159 - what does this mean? 1201 00:43:20.534 --> 00:43:23.094 - How can it be interpreted in this only 1202 00:43:23.094 --> 00:43:23.914 - one way? 1203 00:43:24.295 --> 00:43:26.614 - Why did he say it this? You know, 1204 00:43:26.614 --> 00:43:29.094 - really it's more like any scripture we read 1205 00:43:29.094 --> 00:43:31.494 - in our lives that we'll read the same 1206 00:43:31.494 --> 00:43:34.394 - verses, the same stories, the same situations 1207 00:43:35.250 --> 00:43:37.730 - and when we're young and trying to figure 1208 00:43:37.730 --> 00:43:39.809 - out what to do at school, it hits 1209 00:43:39.809 --> 00:43:42.289 - us one way. When we're serving as a 1210 00:43:42.289 --> 00:43:45.190 - missionary and we're teaching somebody we care about, 1211 00:43:45.329 --> 00:43:47.570 - it hits us another way. We're making a 1212 00:43:47.570 --> 00:43:49.429 - decision on our career and education, 1213 00:43:50.065 --> 00:43:52.724 - the same things, we feel a different way. 1214 00:43:52.864 --> 00:43:54.545 - And when we fall in love and make 1215 00:43:54.545 --> 00:43:55.045 - relationships, 1216 00:43:55.505 --> 00:43:57.844 - the same things, we interpret differently. 1217 00:43:58.224 --> 00:43:59.905 - And when you're a dad and you're dealing 1218 00:43:59.905 --> 00:44:02.065 - with your five year old child, you interpret 1219 00:44:02.065 --> 00:44:04.489 - it different again. And when that child is 1220 00:44:04.489 --> 00:44:06.829 - 15, you interpret it different again. 1221 00:44:07.210 --> 00:44:08.650 - So I think one of the things I 1222 00:44:08.650 --> 00:44:11.849 - would say is that our patriarchal blessing should 1223 00:44:11.849 --> 00:44:13.869 - work the same way, which is 1224 00:44:14.250 --> 00:44:16.030 - be really open to 1225 00:44:16.514 --> 00:44:19.554 - this is an avenue to receive guidance and 1226 00:44:19.554 --> 00:44:20.054 - inspiration 1227 00:44:20.355 --> 00:44:21.734 - throughout our whole lives 1228 00:44:22.194 --> 00:44:23.894 - in everything that we encounter 1229 00:44:24.355 --> 00:44:27.474 - and don't limit your blessing to just one 1230 00:44:27.474 --> 00:44:30.135 - meaning at one time with one interpretation. 1231 00:44:30.949 --> 00:44:32.650 - Let it be that catalyst 1232 00:44:33.109 --> 00:44:34.009 - that creates 1233 00:44:34.309 --> 00:44:36.789 - just one more avenue for the Lord to 1234 00:44:36.789 --> 00:44:38.630 - help us feel good about what we're doing. 1235 00:44:38.630 --> 00:44:39.909 - That's a much better way to think about 1236 00:44:39.909 --> 00:44:41.989 - it, isn't it? Yeah, really good. Well, I 1237 00:44:41.989 --> 00:44:43.514 - definitely want to make sure we 1238 00:44:43.835 --> 00:44:45.674 - clearly point people towards where the we'll find 1239 00:44:45.674 --> 00:44:47.194 - your book. But is there any other point, 1240 00:44:47.194 --> 00:44:49.275 - principle, story that you wanna make sure we 1241 00:44:49.275 --> 00:44:51.114 - squeeze in here before we wrap up? Or 1242 00:44:51.355 --> 00:44:53.034 - Only to say that the title of the 1243 00:44:53.034 --> 00:44:54.894 - book is It's a Patriarchal 1244 00:44:55.194 --> 00:44:55.694 - Blessing, 1245 00:44:55.994 --> 00:44:57.755 - and that's really what I hope people get 1246 00:44:57.755 --> 00:44:59.449 - out of it. And, you know, it's not 1247 00:44:59.449 --> 00:45:02.089 - just for those getting that are getting ready 1248 00:45:02.089 --> 00:45:04.170 - for a blessing. Hopefully, this book will help 1249 00:45:04.170 --> 00:45:06.170 - people that have already got it and those 1250 00:45:06.170 --> 00:45:08.089 - that are helping others get ready for their 1251 00:45:08.089 --> 00:45:10.670 - blessing as well. So, yeah, it's a patriarchal 1252 00:45:10.809 --> 00:45:12.269 - blessing. Love it. 1253 00:45:12.585 --> 00:45:14.744 - Well, last question I have for you, Orlando, 1254 00:45:14.744 --> 00:45:16.045 - is, you know, obviously, 1255 00:45:16.505 --> 00:45:18.664 - you know, being a patriarch is a is 1256 00:45:18.664 --> 00:45:20.425 - a leadership role and maybe it's a very 1257 00:45:20.425 --> 00:45:22.344 - unique leadership role. You know, you don't have 1258 00:45:22.344 --> 00:45:25.144 - a patriarchal presidency or a quorum that you're 1259 00:45:25.144 --> 00:45:27.304 - meeting with or or leading or those things, 1260 00:45:27.304 --> 00:45:29.440 - but definitely there's some great influence there. So 1261 00:45:29.440 --> 00:45:31.440 - as you reflect back on your time as 1262 00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:33.440 - a leader, how has being a leader helped 1263 00:45:33.440 --> 00:45:35.300 - you become a better follower of Jesus 1264 00:45:35.599 --> 00:45:37.760 - Christ? You know, the beauty of being a 1265 00:45:37.760 --> 00:45:38.260 - patriarch 1266 00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:41.119 - is that I do have to prepare every 1267 00:45:41.119 --> 00:45:42.099 - day for things 1268 00:45:42.804 --> 00:45:45.125 - and getting ready, getting ready, getting ready, getting 1269 00:45:45.125 --> 00:45:45.625 - ready. 1270 00:45:46.005 --> 00:45:48.425 - I remember when I served in a bishopric, 1271 00:45:48.965 --> 00:45:51.144 - the same thing. That faucet 1272 00:45:51.684 --> 00:45:53.385 - that just keeps on a flowing, 1273 00:45:53.765 --> 00:45:55.844 - it's the same way. It just keeps on 1274 00:45:55.844 --> 00:45:57.385 - flowing and keeps on flowing. 1275 00:45:57.760 --> 00:45:58.820 - And in every 1276 00:45:59.280 --> 00:46:01.380 - position or calling I've ever 1277 00:46:01.920 --> 00:46:05.140 - received, that same sense of I am surrounded 1278 00:46:05.280 --> 00:46:05.780 - by 1279 00:46:06.239 --> 00:46:09.700 - incredible fantastic people. The members of the ward 1280 00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:10.500 - are amazing. 1281 00:46:11.005 --> 00:46:12.545 - The youth are amazing. 1282 00:46:12.844 --> 00:46:14.784 - The new converts are amazing. 1283 00:46:15.164 --> 00:46:18.364 - The new primary presidency is amazing. The teacher 1284 00:46:18.364 --> 00:46:20.304 - that teaches the kids are amazing. 1285 00:46:21.405 --> 00:46:24.289 - I think that sense of appreciation 1286 00:46:24.590 --> 00:46:27.230 - for all the members of the ward and 1287 00:46:27.230 --> 00:46:28.530 - how they all contribute 1288 00:46:28.829 --> 00:46:30.449 - and how they interact together. 1289 00:46:30.750 --> 00:46:32.929 - You know, the scriptures are pretty clear 1290 00:46:33.309 --> 00:46:35.550 - that the eye cannot say to the ear, 1291 00:46:35.550 --> 00:46:37.150 - I have no need of thee. The foot 1292 00:46:37.150 --> 00:46:38.910 - can't say to the nose, I don't need 1293 00:46:38.910 --> 00:46:41.255 - you. Every little piece is necessary. 1294 00:46:41.714 --> 00:46:43.574 - And so in a leadership position, 1295 00:46:44.034 --> 00:46:45.954 - it's the same thing. We get to look 1296 00:46:45.954 --> 00:46:47.014 - out and see 1297 00:46:47.554 --> 00:46:48.614 - all the contributions 1298 00:46:48.914 --> 00:46:51.155 - and all the different skills and all the 1299 00:46:51.155 --> 00:46:54.219 - spiritual gifts and all the new excitement that 1300 00:46:54.219 --> 00:46:55.119 - people bring. 1301 00:46:55.659 --> 00:46:57.500 - Never at any point as a leader do 1302 00:46:57.500 --> 00:46:58.859 - we have to be the guy that knows 1303 00:46:58.859 --> 00:47:01.339 - it all and does it all. And when 1304 00:47:01.339 --> 00:47:04.219 - you see the strength that is in the 1305 00:47:04.219 --> 00:47:06.464 - excitement of the youth and the excitement of 1306 00:47:06.464 --> 00:47:08.545 - the new converts, and the courage of the 1307 00:47:08.545 --> 00:47:09.045 - missionaries, 1308 00:47:09.505 --> 00:47:11.664 - and the guts that the person has to 1309 00:47:11.664 --> 00:47:13.684 - take on a calling for the first time. 1310 00:47:13.984 --> 00:47:16.304 - To me, that's something that we learn in 1311 00:47:16.304 --> 00:47:17.364 - leadership positions, 1312 00:47:17.789 --> 00:47:20.110 - and maybe sometimes we forget just how awesome 1313 00:47:20.110 --> 00:47:21.090 - everybody is, 1314 00:47:21.390 --> 00:47:22.610 - and it's a good reminder. 1315 00:47:27.070 --> 00:47:29.390 - That concludes this episode of the Leading Saints 1316 00:47:29.390 --> 00:47:31.094 - podcast. We'd love to hear from you about 1317 00:47:31.255 --> 00:47:33.014 - about your questions or thoughts or comments. Go 1318 00:47:33.014 --> 00:47:34.954 - to leadingsaints.org/contact 1319 00:47:35.094 --> 00:47:37.335 - and send us your perspective or questions. If 1320 00:47:37.335 --> 00:47:39.175 - there's other episodes or topics you'd like to 1321 00:47:39.175 --> 00:47:41.014 - hear on the Leading Saints podcast, go to 1322 00:47:41.014 --> 00:47:42.775 - leadingsaints.org/contact 1323 00:47:42.775 --> 00:47:45.000 - and share with us the information there. And 1324 00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:46.840 - we would love for you to share this 1325 00:47:46.840 --> 00:47:49.000 - with any individual you think this would apply 1326 00:47:49.000 --> 00:47:51.320 - to, especially maybe individuals in your ward council 1327 00:47:51.320 --> 00:47:53.400 - or other leaders that you may know who 1328 00:47:53.400 --> 00:47:56.059 - would really appreciate the perspectives that we discussed. 1329 00:48:05.594 --> 00:48:08.094 - It came as a result of the position 1330 00:48:08.155 --> 00:48:11.135 - of leadership, which was imposed upon us 1331 00:48:11.589 --> 00:48:13.609 - by the God of heaven, who brought 1332 00:48:13.909 --> 00:48:17.210 - forth a restoration of the gospel of Jesus 1333 00:48:17.429 --> 00:48:17.929 - Christ. 1334 00:48:18.630 --> 00:48:19.609 - When the declaration 1335 00:48:19.989 --> 00:48:22.250 - was made concerning the only 1336 00:48:22.949 --> 00:48:25.349 - true and living Church upon the face of 1337 00:48:25.349 --> 00:48:26.054 - the earth, 1338 00:48:26.614 --> 00:48:29.275 - We were immediately put in a position of 1339 00:48:29.414 --> 00:48:29.914 - loneliness, 1340 00:48:30.295 --> 00:48:31.835 - the loneliness of leadership 1341 00:48:32.534 --> 00:48:35.514 - from which we cannot shrink nor run away, 1342 00:48:36.295 --> 00:48:38.694 - and to which we must face up with 1343 00:48:38.694 --> 00:48:40.234 - boldness and courage 1344 00:48:40.775 --> 00:48:41.594 - and ability.