One of my favorite topics in all of the Come Follow Me curriculum is “What are my responsibilities in the work of the priesthood?” This lesson actually wasn’t originally there, but was added after Elder Oaks talk “The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood” given in 2014 in the priesthood session, but directed to women (and everybody) in the church. Before that, I’d been having some serious questions about what women really had to do with the priesthood and chose to focus on the perceived injustice of it all because I didn’t really understand the priesthood. That month of June when we studied the Priesthood in Sunday School and Young Women classes, I immersed myself in a study of the priesthood, and that experience totally solidified my testimony of the priesthood, and my ability to exercise priesthood authority.

We are not accustomed to speaking of women having the authority of the priesthood in their Church callings, but what other authority can it be? When a woman—young or old—is set apart to preach the gospel as a full-time missionary, she is given priesthood authority to perform a priesthood function. The same is true when a woman is set apart to function as an officer or teacher in a Church organization under the direction of one who holds the keys of the priesthood. Whoever functions in an office or calling received from one who holds priesthood keys exercises priesthood authority in performing her or his assigned duties.
Dallin H Oaks

Everybody who worthily accepts a calling to serve in the church and is set apart receives priesthood authority. That literally means you are authorized to use the power of God in accomplishing your calling. How cool is that, especially as young women?  That means that we are entitled to revelation pertaining to our calling, and will receive the help necessary to accomplish the Lord’s work. Now, we need to understand that just because we’re entitled to it doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to be there; “the rights of the priesthood … cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness,” (D&C 121:36) meaning we need to be humble and worthy before we can access that priesthood authority.
As young women, it’s important to be able to recognize how we’re utilizing priesthood power, not so that we can brag or feel good about ourselves, but so we learn to recognize God’s power in leading His church, all the way down to the East 6th Ward Beehive Class. Here are just a few examples of how you’re probably already using priesthood authority in your calling as a youth!

Conducting a Meeting

When you get up in front of everybody and feel uncomfortable, are you really using priesthood power? Yes! When you have the Spirit with you and come prepared, that priesthood authority will help you to lead effectively, which will set the tone for whatever will transpire, be it a spiritual lesson, baking cookies, or a water gun fight.

Planning Activities

There are plenty of circumstances when it’s understandable to not have an activity planned, but activities planned with priesthood authority can be powerful, even those which aren’t specifically spiritually focused. When you use priesthood authority in planning an activity, you counsel together with whatever group you may be in and you think of the needs, interests, and circumstances of those participating. By using that priesthood authority, you allow Heavenly Father to reveal the needs of individual class members, which will help you know what the priorities need to be at each activity.

Delegating Responsibilities

This is probably my biggest challenge, and I’m still constantly working on it. Just because we have priesthood authority doesn’t mean we’re able to do it all. We can receive physical sustainment through our callings, but if we’re overworking ourselves because we don’t trust others who also have priesthood authority to accomplish something, the Lord isn’t always going to be very generous. By delegating we make sure to maximize how effective we are as a group. It’s still important to communicate throughout and report back, but by sharing the burden nobody gets burnt out and everybody becomes personally invested in seeing these responsibilities carried out.

Assigning Prayers

When I was at Girls Camp 2 years ago we were starting a devotional and the teacher giving it asked which young woman was in charge. We identified her, and our devotional speaker asked her to assign the prayer. She shrugged and asked for volunteers. He explained then to us all that she had been assigned to that group by someone with priesthood authority, and as such, she had the authority to call on somebody to give the prayer, as led by the spirit. She then paused for a moment and assigned the prayer. I don’t remember what was said, because during that prayer the spirit testified to me of that true principle of priesthood authority, and I haven’t forgotten it.

Participating in Bishop’s Youth Council

One thing I love about BYC is the combination of personalities, and the insights that are gained from all levels of experience. When we’re discussing a topic, each member of the council is exercising priesthood power by giving input that will help shape the outcome of the discussion. Different members of the council may receive different pieces of revelation, but when everybody contributes the result is a completed puzzle that will ultimately help in accomplishing whatever the Lord needs at that time.

Visiting Inactive Class Members

This is one of the hardest jobs of a class presidency member, but also the most important. You don’t want to be a constantly pushy kind of person, but you don’t want to seem like you don’t care about them and ignore them either. And that is where authority and revelation come in! You have a priesthood stewardship over them, which means Heavenly Father knows that you are the one who needs to reach out to each girl in your class at this particular point in time. Isn’t that amazing? Through prayer and counseling with leaders and young women, you can come to know the best approach to being able to genuinely reach out to each individual, and Heavenly Father will help you be able to put forth your best effort.

Writing Agendas

It seems like a sort of boring job, but the kind of meeting that ensues from a bad agenda is immeasurably different from one with a good agenda. Secretaries and others prepare an agenda using priesthood authority by counseling with the presidency and leaders to know what topics need to be addressed, and appropriately prioritizing the most important points to discuss during the meeting.

Teaching a Lesson

Even if you don’t have a calling, when you receive an assignment to teach, you receive a part of that priesthood authority from whoever assigned that lesson to you. You’ll be able to know what part of the lesson to focus on with the youth in your class, you’ll receive the spiritual gifts and abilities needed to teach in a way that the lesson will be well-received, and you’ll be capable of preparing in such a way that the Spirit will be able to lead you.
“Priesthood authority” isn’t some far away, hard to comprehend aspect of the gospel, but a gift that Heavenly Father wants us to use in everything we do in our callings. The reoccuring themes in each of these examples had to do with stewardship, preparedness, and worthiness. And those are the principles that will help you to be a great leader in any situation. As you move on through life and receive different callings, you’ll discover new ways that priesthood authority helps you to accomplish them. If you’re looking to further increase your knowledge of the priesthood, study D&C 121 and Elder Oaks’ talk. You could even adapt your study into a Personalized Knowledge Value Experience!

How have you exercised priesthood authority?