2003
Of All Things
May 2003

“Of All Things,” New Era, May 2003, 36

Of All Things

“The priesthood is not really so much a gift as it is a commission to serve, a privilege to lift, and an opportunity to bless the lives of others.”
(Ensign, Nov. 1999, 50)
—President Thomas S. Monson
First Counselor in the First Presidency

Test Your LDS I.Q.

The Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods are named after two righteous men who followed the Lord and honored His priesthood. How much do you know about Melchizedek and Aaron?

  1. Melchizedek was a prophet and king over the land of Salem (near modern-day Jerusalem). About when did he live?

    1. 2000 B.C.

    2. 1200 B.C.

    3. 1000 B.C.

  2. Aaron was a descendant from what tribe of Israel?

    1. Judah

    2. Levi

    3. Ephraim

  3. What does the name Melchizedek mean?

    1. God has saved

    2. Prince of Jerusalem

    3. King of righteousness

  4. What was Aaron’s wife’s name?

    1. Abihu

    2. Jochebed

    3. Elisheba

  5. Which Old Testament prophet paid tithes to Melchizedek?

    1. Samuel

    2. Abraham

    3. Noah

Answers:

She Has It Covered

If you’ve ever been through the checkout line at a grocery story, you can relate to Chelsea Goodrich. Chelsea, from the Mountain Home Idaho Stake, was tired of the sexually explicit words and images on the magazines lining the checkout areas in stores.

“My little brother would say, ‘What does that mean?’ and I felt uncomfortable trying to explain.” Chelsea says the children who go through the checkout lines are exposed to inappropriate images and words, along with many adults who would prefer not to see that kind of material.

So she decided she could do something to help her community. Writing to the American Family Institute, Chelsea requested a kit that helped her learn how she could get something to put on the racks to block the magazine covers. She worked hard and got many people to sign petitions, which she then took to store managers to help her state her case.

She expected the managers to be hard to convince, but they were all agreeable to her idea and ordered covers to place over the magazine racks. Chelsea’s Laurel project was a success, and she feels like she really did some good in her community.

Leadership Tip

Leaders should constantly strive to be a little better than they are. President Gordon B. Hinckley likes to remind us to stand a little taller. President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) gave similar advice: “Each of us has more opportunities to do good and to be good than we ever use. These opportunities lie all around us. Whatever the size of our present circle of effective influence, if we were to improve our performance even a little bit, that circle would be enlarged. There are many individuals waiting to be touched and loved if we care enough to improve in our performance. …

“If we do well with our talents and with the opportunities around us, this will not go unnoticed by God. And to those who do well with the opportunities given them, even more will be given!” (Ensign, Aug. 1979, 7).

Adam-ondi-Ahman

On 19 May 1838, the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith that an area in Daviess County, Missouri, named Spring Hill was the location of Adam-ondi-Ahman (see D&C 116). Adam-ondi-Ahman has been an important Church history site since the very beginning—and we mean the very beginning. The Lord told Joseph Smith that after Adam was cast out of the Garden of Eden he dwelt in Adam-ondi-Ahman. And three years before Adam died, he gathered his righteous posterity to this same area to give them his final blessing (see D&C 107:53–54). Adam-ondi-Ahman, which Elder Orson Pratt (1811–81) interpreted to mean “Valley of God, where Adam dwelt” (Daniel H. Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 1, 19), is also the future location for a meeting of the Saints at the Lord’s Second Coming.