Chapter 9: “You are blessed by priesthood keys and authority”
The power that runs the universe has been handed to people you actually know.
Jesus Christ personally restored His priesthood authority to the earth, and that authority flows all the way down to the ordinances you receive, the callings you hold, and the assignments you fulfill — making everything you do in His name real and backed by heaven.
That's not a hypothetical. That's the Restoration. When Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and set in motion the return of His Church, He wasn't just restoring a name or a set of beliefs — He was restoring authority. Real, traceable, heaven-backed authority. The kind that makes baptism count. The kind that makes the sacrament more than bread and water. The kind that means when a bishop sets you apart for a calling, something actually happens. This month, we're digging into what priesthood keys and authority really are, where they came from, and why they matter to you personally — not just in theory, but in your actual life right now.
Here's what might surprise you: this isn't just a topic for the guys. Priesthood authority blesses every single person in the Church, and when you receive a calling — any calling — you are set apart with delegated authority from God to do that work. You're not just a volunteer. You're a representative. That's a completely different thing. As you study this month, you'll also encounter two songs that capture this idea from different angles. One invites you to step forward and say 'send me' — to volunteer yourself for God's work the way Isaiah did. The other celebrates the reality that the keys of God's kingdom are actually here, actually restored, actually operative in the world today.
Over the next four Sundays, you'll explore what it means that Peter held keys, that Joseph Smith received them from heavenly messengers, that your bishop holds them right now, and that you are already operating under delegated authority whether you've thought about it that way or not. By the end of this month, the goal isn't just that you know more about priesthood — it's that you feel the weight and the gift of living inside a restored Church where heaven and earth are genuinely connected.
Monthly Reflection: If you really believed that your calling or assignment this week came with actual delegated authority from Jesus Christ — not just a task from a leader, but a commission from God — how would that change the way you showed up to do it?
Fast Sunday
1. Study the chapter from the FSY guide
First Sunday of the month — 25-minute AP quorum or YW class lesson.
That's exactly what happened to Peter at a place called Caesarea Philippi. Jesus had just asked the disciples what people were saying about Him — and the answers were all over the place. Some said John the Baptist. Some said Elijah. Some said one of the old prophets. Then Jesus made it personal: 'But whom say ye that I am?' And Peter didn't hesitate. 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus stopped him right there and said something remarkable — that flesh and blood hadn't revealed that to Peter. God had. That moment of personal testimony wasn't just a nice spiritual feeling. It was the foundation on which Christ said He would build His Church. And then He gave Peter keys.
Keys are a specific kind of trust. When someone hands you a key, they're not just giving you a piece of metal — they're saying, 'I trust you with access to something that matters.' In Matthew 16:19, Jesus promised Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven — authority to act in God's name, to bind on earth what would be bound in heaven. That's not a small thing. That's the power of God, delegated to a human being, because God trusts His covenant people with real responsibility. And here's what makes this personal for you: those same keys were restored. John the Baptist came back. Peter, James, and John came back. Moses, Elias, and Elijah came back. They didn't just appear as symbols — they conferred actual authority on Joseph Smith. Which means the ordinances you've received — your baptism, your confirmation, the sacrament you take every week — are authorized by the same line of authority that traces back to Jesus Christ Himself.
Fast Sunday is a good day to sit with that. Not just to know it as a fact, but to feel it as a testimony. Peter's witness came through revelation — through the Spirit confirming something true in his heart. Your testimony works the same way. You don't have to have all the answers or have read every book. You just have to be honest about what you know, what you've felt, and what you're still figuring out. That's what testimony is — not a performance, but a report from your own experience with God. And when you share it, something happens. The Spirit confirms it again — to you and to everyone listening.
This week, write down your personal testimony of the Restoration in your own words — not the version you've heard a hundred times, but what you actually believe and why. It doesn't have to be long. Even three sentences that are genuinely yours are more powerful than a paragraph you borrowed from someone else.
Second Sunday
2. Learn more about the restoration of the priesthood
25-minute quorum or class lesson.
For hundreds of years after the original Apostles died, something was missing from the earth — not just a church building or a set of beliefs, but the actual authority to act in God's name. Ordinances were performed, prayers were offered, and good people tried their best. But the priesthood — the power and authorization that makes ordinances binding and real — wasn't on the earth. That's not a small thing. That's like having a signed contract with no legal authority behind it. It looks official, but it doesn't hold up.
So what did God do? He didn't just hand Joseph Smith a manual and say 'figure it out.' He sent actual messengers — resurrected, glorified beings who had held these keys in their own lifetimes — to physically restore them. John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus Christ himself, came first. He laid his hands on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and restored the Aaronic Priesthood. Then Peter, James, and John — the same Apostles who walked with Jesus, who were on the Mount of Transfiguration — came and restored the Melchizedek Priesthood. Later, in the Kirtland Temple in 1836, Moses came and restored the keys of the gathering of Israel. Elias came. And then Elijah — whose return had been prophesied for centuries — appeared and restored the sealing keys that bind families together across time. This wasn't a quiet, invisible spiritual impression. This was a deliberate, ordered, line-by-line restoration of every key needed to run God's kingdom on earth. The authority you benefit from every single week — at the sacrament table, in baptismal fonts, in temple rooms — traces directly back through that chain of messengers to Jesus Christ himself.
Here's why that matters for you personally: the bishop sitting at the front of your ward didn't just volunteer for the job. He was called, ordained, and given specific keys by someone who received those keys from someone else, all the way back to Joseph Smith, all the way back to Peter, all the way back to Christ. The same is true for your quorum or class president. When they give you an assignment, it carries real weight — not because of who they are as a person, but because of the authority behind the calling. Doctrine and Covenants 84:20 teaches that through priesthood ordinances, 'the power of godliness is manifest.' That power is available to you right now, in your ward, in your life, because a series of heavenly messengers made sure it got here.
This week, find out the name of one person in your ward who holds priesthood keys — your bishop, your quorum president, or your class president — and write them a short note, text, or say something in person that expresses genuine appreciation for their service. You don't have to make it complicated. Just let them know you see what they do and that it matters to you.
Third Sunday
3. Learn more about priesthood keys
Activity-focused 25-minute lesson. Discuss, debrief, and connect.
God doesn't leave His power lying around for anyone to pick up and use however they see fit. He authorizes. He delegates. He calls specific people, prepares them, and sends them with real authority to act in His name. That is what priesthood keys are — not bureaucracy, but God's divine order.\n\nThe Lord made this plain in Doctrine and Covenants 42:11 — no one is to preach His gospel or build His kingdom unless they are called by someone with authority traceable back to Him. When a bishop sets you apart for a calling, when an elder gives a blessing, or when a deacon passes the sacrament, those acts carry weight because the line of authority is unbroken.\n\nBecause that authorization exists on the earth today, the ordinances you receive are real, the covenants you make are binding, and the assignments you are given carry heaven's backing. God has trusted you with something genuine.
Look at one assignment, calling, or responsibility you currently have in your family, class, or quorum. Write down one specific way you will treat that duty this week not just as a chore, but as an authorized trust from God.
Last Sunday: Young Women
4. Becoming a covenant daughter of God
Toggle below for Young Women or Aaronic Priesthood content.
There's a moment in Doctrine and Covenants 25 that is easy to read past. The Lord speaks directly to Emma Smith — by name, as His daughter — and calls her 'an elect lady.' She hadn't led a movement yet. She hadn't compiled a hymnal or endured the losses that would come later. She was a young woman in the middle of an overwhelming, uncertain season of life. And God's first move was to tell her who she was. That's the pattern: your identity as a covenant daughter of heavenly parents isn't something you earn — it's something you live from.\n\nWhat did God actually call Emma to do? In verse 7, He said she would be set apart under Joseph's hand to expound scriptures and to exhort the Church. As President Dallin H. Oaks has taught, whenever a woman is set apart to preach the gospel or serve under priesthood keys, she is given priesthood authority to perform her calling. Emma was given real divine trust, backed by God's power.\n\nThe Young Women theme you repeat each Sunday begins with that same identity: 'I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents.' You don't have to wait until you are older or feel completely ready. When you are called and set apart in your class presidency or ministering assignment, you carry delegated authority from Jesus Christ right now.
This week, re-read Doctrine and Covenants 25:1–3 and write down three things God said about Emma's identity. Then write down how knowing God sees you that same way changes the way you approach your responsibilities this week.
When John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, he didn't just hand over a title. He said something that should stop every Aaronic Priesthood holder in his tracks: 'Upon you my fellow servants.' Fellow servants. The same John who baptized the Son of God in the Jordan River looked at two young men — one of them barely older than you — and called them his equals in the work. That's not a small thing. That's the Lord telling you that the priesthood you hold right now isn't a warm-up act. It's the real thing, with a lineage that runs straight back through John to Jesus Christ Himself.
Here's what that means practically. When you stand at the sacrament table, you're not just passing trays. You are standing at an authorized altar. The words you speak over that bread and water are the same covenant words that have been spoken in authorized ordinances since the Restoration. The authority behind those words didn't come from your bishop alone — it came through a chain of keys and ordinations that traces back to heaven. That's why the Doctrine and Covenants teaches that the Aaronic Priesthood holds 'the key of the ministering of angels.' Angels are not assigned to random people. They minister to those who hold and honor this priesthood. You have been given access to that kind of heavenly help — not someday, but now.
The Aaronic Priesthood theme says you are a beloved son of God and He has a work for you to do. That work isn't just future-tense — it's not only about becoming a missionary or a husband or a father someday. It's happening this Sunday, at that table, in that quorum meeting, when you minister to the guy in your class who's been struggling. Joseph Smith was a teenager when John the Baptist ordained him. He didn't wait until he felt ready. He just showed up and served. The question isn't whether you're old enough or experienced enough to matter in God's work. The question is whether you'll take seriously the authority you've already been given.
This week, before you prepare or pass the sacrament, take thirty seconds to consciously remember what you're doing — that you are an authorized servant standing at an altar, acting in the name of Jesus Christ. Write down one specific way you will approach that moment differently this Sunday because of what you know about the priesthood you hold.
This Month’s Songs
Scripture-anchored originals written for this chapter theme.
Each song has its own deep-dive page with lyric thread, scripture connections, and discussion questions.