Patriarchal Blessings
by Shauna Gibby

The same Lord who provided a Liahona for Lehi provides for your and for me today a rare and valuable gift to give direction to our lives, to mark the hazards to our safety, and to chart the way, even safe passage--not to a promised land, but to our heavenly home. The gift to which I refer is known as your patriarchal blessing. Every worthy member of the Church is entitled to receive such a precious and priceless personal treasure.

The same Lord who provided a Liahona for Lehi provides for your and for me today a rare and valuable gift to give direction to our lives, to mark the hazards to our safety, and to chart the way, even safe passage—not to a promised land, but to our heavenly home. The gift to which I refer is known as your patriarchal blessing. Every worthy member of the Church is entitled to receive such a precious and priceless personal treasure.

(Thomas S. Monson, “Your Patriarchal Blessing: A Liahona of Light,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 65)

Song:

“I Am A Child of God,” Children’s Songbook, p. 2.

Scripture:

And again, verily I say unto you . . . that my servant Hyrum may take the office of Priesthood and Patriarch, which was appointed until him by his father, by blessing and also by right; That from henceforth he shall hold the keys of the patriarchal blessings upon the heads of all my people.

(Doctrine and Covenants 124:91-92)

Object Lesson:

Obtain a world or country map, state map, and city map. As a family decide together on a special place you would like to visit such as a zoo or a museum. Using the world map, ask the family to find the destination. Now, using the state map, ask the same question. Tell the family that the maps can probably help you get to the city, but you would need to rely on road signs or other people to help find the destination or the best way to go.

Find the destination using the city map. Talk about how you use the state map to get to the city, and then, using the city map, decide the best way to get to your destination. Show how the city map indicates one-way streets, dead ends, and important intersections.

Liken the maps to the scriptures and patriarchal blessings. Scriptures have answers for getting back to our eternal destination, but patriarchal blessings are given to us by Heavenly Father as personal guides (like a city map). Patriarchal blessings give us individual blessings, warnings, guidance, and information on our strengths. Tell your family that when we use our patriarchal blessings prayerfully, the road back to Heavenly Father can be easier to follow.

(Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson, Sharing Time, Family Time, Anytime: Book Two, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1994], p. 73.)

Story:

“A Patriarchal Blessing” by Carl W. Buehner

I want to talk a little about another patriarchal blessing; and I hope you will pardon me if this gets a little personal. I know about this and I have seen it fulfilled. I have also heard of many others, until I have a great faith and a great belief that these blessings can be very important in directing our lives, if we live to make these blessings come true.

I think many of you know that I am just a little immigrant kid, who was brought to this country by parents who were converted to the gospel in a foreign land. My father and mother were converted to the Church shortly after they were married. As soon as they could accumulate enough means to get across the ocean to America, they came here to settle in Salt Lake City, as thousands of others have done.

Two years after arriving in Salt Lake City, my father had a desire to become a cement contractor. Cement was a sort of miracle product that had not been on the market too long, and he saw in it great possibilities. He had had no previous experience other than working for a contractor for about a year’s time; but already, he could see that out of cement could be made many things that had never been tried before. He, and one or two men whom he had employed, began working with cement. In a short period of time, they made the first cast concrete products that had ever spanned over an opening, such as over windows or doors. As a mason laying brick got up to a certain point, he could pick up a piece of stone that had been made, lay it in place, and continue his work. This had not been done before. Even the art of making ornamental stone progressed, as the years went by, until there seemed no limit to its possibilities.

While this art was still in its very elemental stage, my father received his patriarchal blessing. Among other wonderful things said in this blessing was the statement that he and his sons would help erect temples for this church. At the time this blessing was given, there was no possibility or idea in the world that such a thing could ever happen. I was the oldest of eight sons, and I had two sisters—ten children altogether in our family. All of the surviving sons are still in business together. I can tell you that as of today, we have done considerable work on ten of these temples. My father has been dead for twenty- five years; and yet, I have seen this fulfillment of his patriarchal blessing all but to the letter. . . .

When the [statue of the] Angel Moroni, now located on the highest spire of the Los Angeles Temple, was completed in clay in our shop here in Salt Lake City, 15,000 people came in to see it before it was covered with plaster. The mold was set back east to be cast in aluminum. The entire exterior walls of that Los Angeles Temple were made right here in our little factory. The same is true of the outside walls of the Idaho Falls Temple and the large addition to the Canadian Temple. We have modeled in our factory the oxen that support the baptismal fonts for the Swiss Temple, the London Temple, the New Zealand Temple, the Idaho Falls Temple, and we have done considerable work on other temples.

I have seen part of a patriarchal blessing fulfilled verbatim. I do not know how a patriarch, in about 1910 or 1911, could have foreseen what would happen fifty years later, had it not been that the inspiration of the Lord was heavily upon him. He could see that if a man was faithful in the future to the Church and lived for the fulfillment of the blessing, everything stated in his blessing could come to pass.

(Leon R. Hartshord, Powerful Stories from the Lives of Latter-day Saint Men)

Activity:

Give each family member a copy of a patriarchal blessing, their own if possible, or an ancestor’s blessing. Each blessing has three important kinds of information: lineage, blessings, and warning. Have family members read their copy and underline, in pencil, the lineage. Then have them use one color marker to highlight blessings and another for warnings or guidance. Remind everyone that patriarchal blessings are sacred and personal and should be shared outside the family only when the Spirit prompts.

(Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson, Sharing Time, Family Time, Anytime: Book Two, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1994], 74.)

Refreshment:

Peanut Butter Bars

This is a treat kids will love to make, serve, and eat.

12 whole graham crackers, crushed

1 cup margarine or butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 (12-ounce) package chocolate chips

Combine graham cracker crumbs, margarine or butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar in a large bowl. Pat firmly into a greased 9x13-inch pan. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave for 20-second intervals until smooth when stirred. Frost mixture with melted chocolate. Refrigerate. When chilled, cut into small squares.

(Julie Badger Jensen, The Essential Mormon Cookbook, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004], p. 92.)