The priesthood, for you non-LDS readers, is basically the power and authority of God, given to mankind to act in His name to bless His children. Women in our church do not hold the priesthood--not because of anything demeaning to women, but because it is a responsibility men in this patriarchal church have as a division of labor (and women have their own responsibilities that are equally important and valued in the eyes of God, with their own associated blessing, not to mention we work together with men in unison with our unique strengths and responsibilities so we can better build up the kindgom of God in an orderly way). No one can use this priesthood for themselves, and women still receive all the blessings associated with the priesthood (particularly in marriage), and most righteous priesthood holders have said at one time or another that men *need* the priesthood to be as discerning and aware of the needs of others as women already naturally are, so it doesn't bother this feminist one bit. And, in fact, I LOVE it.
The priesthood is used in many ways. All ordinances of the gospel, including those in the temple, are performed by the authority of the priesthood. This makes sense to me--you can't pull someone over and give them a parking ticket unless you're a cop, so how much MORE important is it for things of eternal consequences to have a need for authority? So far, I have received many blessings through partaking in the ordinances of baptism and confirmation, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, renewing those sacred covenants through the weekly ordinance of the sacrament, and receiving my endowment in the temple before being sealed to my husband for time and all eternity. These are general blessings that the priesthood can do for anyone who is willing to seek for them.
The priesthood is also used to give very personal blessings--blessings for the sick, blessings of comfort and direction, patriarchal blessings, and more are all blessings we as members of Christ's church have access to--indeed, a NEED for and a RIGHT to, if we are faithful. I've seen the miracle of this priesthood power in my life, even more poignantly than the saving ordinances listed earlier.
I think the first experience I can remember is when I was only 5 or 6 years old. My little sister was born with mutliple non-cancerous tumors on her body that continue to grow whenever they feel like it, so she's had multiple surgeries to have them removed when they pinch a nerve, cause her bones to start growing in a way they're not supposed to, or push into her lungs. When she was 4, she also had pneumonia and had to stay in the hospital. I don't remember much of my childhood, but I remember looking down on her as she was in this plasticy tube struggling to breathe, and I remember my dad giving her a blessing. I had been taught about these things, so my innocent child-mind just sort of understood that because she had been given a blessing and promised she would be okay, I had no reason to worry. And I didn't. She recovered, and has had many blessings since for these tumors and her surgeries, and every time those priesthood blessings give me comfort and strength.
One time when I was a teenager (my parents had just split up, but we were still in our Battle Ground house), my dad got sick. I mean, randomly and suddenly, he went from my dad to a person I couldn't understand at all who looked like he was going to fall over any minute. His speech was incoherent and his eyes had a glazed-over look, and I at first panicked...I'm the oldest, who else is going to help me? What do I even do? But I made out something in his words that asked for a priesthood blessing, and, thankfully, our neighbors across the street had several priesthood holders. So I rushed over and called a few of them to help, and (true to worthy priesthood holder fashion) they dropped everything to run to our aid. They gave my dad a blessing, and immediately he was improving. That was the first time I really remember *needing* the priesthood to work, *wondering* if it would, instead of just taking for granted that of course everything would be fine.
Still, I suppose I needed more testimony-building experiences. I'd had father's blessings before school almost every year, and blessings of comfort and health, but, again, it was just sort of what you did/needed, I didn't really appreciate them or take home a greater testimony of the priesthood itself. There was a time at BYU when I was really taught, very personally, what an incredible power and MIRACLE this priesthood is. I was visiting my aunt and uncle and cousins over a holiday weekend. I wasn't feeling great, but mostly that was due to women's issues and you just sort of persevere. Well, on Sunday morning I became VERY ill, much worse than I've ever been before or since. And it happened suddenly, too. I became not only nauseated and crampy, but dizzy, to the point I was certain I would faint. At first I laid on the couch to slow the spinning, but that wasn't stable enough. I laid down on the floor, face pressed to the carpet. Still spinning. I couldn't even *think* straight. My aunt called for my uncle (who'd already walked to church, gotta love Utah!) and he came back with another priesthood holder to give me a blessing. Now, normally when I get a blessing, it's comforting the way a person's kind words are comforting, at least for me. And it gives me some direction that I *know* I should follow. But this experience was unlike anything I've had before or since...it was a physical sensation. It was literally as though the moment they placed their hands on my head and began pronouncing a blessing of healing, I felt this warmth and light and clarity of mind start at the top of my head and continue down through my mind and into my heart and stomach. I just knew, and still know now, that I was feeling the power of God flowing through me. And I was healed, in that moment. It doesn't totally make sense, if you think about it. I feel in my heart that that was a God-given experience, just to help me appreciate the priesthood more in my own life.
Not all priesthood blessings are so *obviously* miraculous, of course. With my own health problems, I have been given several blessings of healing, but I have yet to see those blessings come to pass fully. I've been given counsel and promises in some blessings, from years ago even, that are still playing out today. And I know that sometimes, the sick are blessed to an eternal rest instead of being healed the way we want them to be. Having the priesthood doesn't mean we have a "get out of jail free" card for all our problems. But it DOES mean that God loves His children. He has organized a way to bless them--US--in every facet of our lives, and He is there in our darkest moments to whisper comfort, peace, direction, and hope to us. He is aware of our needs, and every priesthood blessing and ordinance is a testimony to that fact. I know, too, being married to a priesthood holder, that learning to truly magnify that priesthood is a sanctifying experience, for the man who holds it and all the people whose lives he touches through it. I am so grateful that God still speaks to us today, not only through a prophet, but through the least of us. And He never forgets us. How could you not want those blessings associated with the priesthood in your life--in your home?
I've been blessed by the priesthood power, and there yet are blessings to receive and miles to go before I sleep. That is why I believe.
