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Brittany Beattie is a member of the Primary general board. Photo courtesy of Brittany Beattie, courtesy of Church News. All rights reserved.This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.
By Brittany Beattie of the Primary general board
Editor’s note: This narrative is part of a Church News series titled “Women of Covenant,” in which women of the Church discuss their personal experiences with priesthood power and share what they have learned through following President Russell M. Nelson’s counsel to “labor with the Spirit to understand God’s power — priesthood power” (“Spiritual Treasures,” general conference, October 2019).
As a single sister, I have many yearnings that can be fulfilled only through a covenant marriage. While I’m not normally one to say, “if only I had X, then life would be better,” one phrase I do catch myself thinking on occasion is “I wish I had a husband to counsel with on this decision.” Yet every time I think that, another thought immediately comes: “You can counsel with the Lord.”
It’s a simple phrase — just six words — but I understand and feel the power behind these words each time they come. I can counsel with one who holds all power and all knowledge. My ability to do that has been enhanced by making and keeping covenants; through baptism and confirmation, I was instructed to “receive the Holy Ghost,” and in the holy temple I have been endowed with the right to priesthood power.
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Brittany Beattie, Primary general board member. 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.President Russell M. Nelson taught, “Those who are endowed in the house of the Lord receive a gift of God’s priesthood power by virtue of their covenant, along with a gift of knowledge to know how to draw upon that power.
“The heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood. I pray that truth will register upon each of your hearts because I believe it will change your life. Sisters, you have the right to draw liberally upon the Savior’s power to help your family and others you love” (“Spiritual Treasures,” general conference, October 2019).
I can draw on God’s priesthood power in my life, my service, my home and my family (currently a family of one) as my decisions now lay the foundation for my future family. I can counsel with the Lord in all things, and He will direct my paths (see Proverbs 3:5-6; Alma 37:37).
That promise gives me needed comfort each time I feel the responsibility of presiding in my family alone. It reminds me to seek and act on revelation so I can be a woman “who know[s] how to make important things happen by [my] faith” and “who know[s] how to call upon the powers of heaven” (Russell M. Nelson, “A Plea to My Sisters,” general conference, October 2015).
Whether I need guidance, comfort, strength to serve and fulfill other responsibilities, power to resist temptation and distraction, physical or spiritual protection or increased faith, I can receive it through God’s power.
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Brittany Beattie with her family at one of her nephew’s baptisms. Photo courtesy of Brittany Beattie, courtesy of Church News. All rights reserved.I invite that power into my life in each of these needs as I read the scriptures and immerse myself in the words of living prophets. I do so as I pray and act in faith. I do so as I keep my covenants and participate in the work of salvation and exaltation. Then I know that I can call upon the priesthood power of God through faith and prayer as a complement to the priesthood power that comes to those who bear priesthood keys.
Many times I have found myself in the temple seeking direction. Sometimes I receive an answer to prayer within its walls. Yet the response I receive more often comes as I leave the temple without the specific answer I need. As I exit the temple, I am almost always reminded through thought: “You are endowed with power from on high.”
Each time those words flow into my mind, I instinctively stand taller physically and spiritually. I walk more slowly to my car to let the reality of those words fill me with courage, faith, gratitude, hope, optimism and joy. I express thanks in prayer for the temple garment — my “royal robes given me by my Heavenly Father” as a sign of my covenants with Him and the power with which He has endowed me (Linda S. Reeves, “Worthy of Our Promised Blessings,” general conference, October 2015).
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Brittany Beattie rides a small train with her nephews. Photo courtesy of Brittany Beattie, courtesy of Church News. All rights reserved.And while I usually don’t know exactly how things will work out, I trust that Heavenly Father will guide me each step of the way. Armed with priesthood power through ordinances, I know the “power of godliness [will be] manifest” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:20). And the answers do come — sometimes soon and sometimes many years later. But the power of the priesthood that I am endowed with sustains and enables me each moment along the way.
Most nights, I look at the temple and ask myself, “How well have I kept my covenants today?” Then I commit to making needed changes to bring the power of my covenants into my life and service more fully.
As President Nelson promised, knowing that God’s priesthood power can flow into my life has changed my life and will continue to do so. That is a promise that can come into the life of every covenant-keeping woman.
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