In 1842, twelve years and five months after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formally organized, the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored and at that point, every key to the kingdom of God was restored upon the earth.

In September 1842, the Prophet wrote a letter to the Church expressing his joy as he contemplated the knowledge and priesthood keys now restored to the earth: “And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. … And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope!” (D&C 128:20–21). (“Chapter 8: The Everlasting Priesthood,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, (2007),101–13)

By that point, one thousand eight hundred and nine years had passed since the death and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Not many long years after that, the keys to the kingdom of God slowly slipped away until only a fraction of the truth and no priesthood power or authority existed on the earth. And in 1842, Peter, James and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, at which point, each of the prophets of the dispensations stepped forward and presented to Joseph Smith, Jr., the prophet of the Restoration, confirmation of truths which had been revealed to him, and then revealed yet more, line upon line.

From Joseph Smith we learned:

“The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Genesis 1:26-28. He had dominion given him over every living creature. He is Michael the Archangel, spoken of in the Scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel; he stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was called of God to this office, and was the father of all living in his day, and to him was given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in heaven. (Ibid)

To me, there is such power and comfort in the knowledge that the Priesthood of God was held by Father Adam, the Ancient of Days, and was handed down from prophet to prophet throughout the millennia. Many people never stop to think and consider that when Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, they left with our Heavenly Father's plan of salvation, the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood as well as the keys to the kingdom of God. From Adam, the first to ever live on this earth, to Joseph Smith, Jr. when the full kingdom of God was restored and returned to the earth, one continual chain, unbroken, even through almost seven thousand years.

The continuity of the Everlasting or Melchizedek Priesthood is unending, Adam was the prophet of the first dispensation, just as Joseph Smith, Jr. was the prophet of the last dispensation.

The Melchizedek Priesthood is described as such:

“Its institution was prior to ‘the foundation of this earth, or the morning stars sang together, or the Sons of God shouted for joy’ [see Job 38:4–7], and is the highest and holiest Priesthood, and is after the order of the Son of God, and all other Priesthoods are only parts, ramifications, powers and blessings belonging to the same, and are held, controlled, and directed by it. It is the channel through which the Almighty commenced revealing His glory at the beginning of the creation of this earth, and through which He has continued to reveal Himself to the children of men to the present time, and through which He will make known His purposes to the end of time.” (Ibid)

The Lord gave very specific instructions to His priesthood holders who do not remain worthy of that holy office:

That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man. (D&C 121:37)

It is a great privilege and responsibility to hold the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood, which is the Priesthood of God. A priesthood holder is a part of something everlasting, playing a role in the kingdom of God, solely at the behest of our Savior Jesus Christ and His appointed prophets and servants. To live up to this holy office, is to serve as Jesus Christ served the sons and daughters of God, each of us, by suffering the Atonement, the Crucifixion and triumphing over death with the Resurrection. There is no other way and no other power by which man may bless others with the priesthood. Only by following the example of the Great Exemplar, acting in humility, righteousness and obedience.

I like the idea of world peace. But I don’t know if I can contribute much to world peace until I can create peace in my own car. With six children in an ever-shrinking, confined space, finding peace is no small task.

There are usually fights over the seat by the window or who gets to sit by the baby. In the rush of entry, elbows and backpacks collide with unintended body parts. Someone is perpetually carsick. One of the kids decides that this is the optimal time to play the recorder. Our teenager rolls his eyes at the music selections I choose for the younger children. Someone is always touching someone else. And so it goes…

Why do we choose to live this way? Low expectations and poor habits, I guess. One day, I took a fresh look at our car rides and decided that we needed to make a big change. We knew better and could do better.

I thought of the scripture about being “steadfast and immovable” and always abounding in good works. (Mosiah 5:15) Making the change would take parenting determination, a standard of high expectations and kid participation and commitment. It was a challenge, but I knew we could do it.

With a trial and error of solutions, we first learned what did not work. We tried an assigned seat rotation created by Mom. The fights over the seats were gone, but the kids grumbled about the imposed seat sentence.

On a long car trip, we tried giving each child five tickets. When contention broke out, we would remove a ticket. The child had to have at least one ticket left to get in the pool on the first day of our vacation. Our normally sweet child lost four tickets in the first 15 minutes. Because we were looking for bad behavior, the kids seemed to perform accordingly. We followed through with the plan for the rest of the trip, but decided this wasn’t for us.

We tried pulling over when the fighting started and waiting for the behavior to get better before we continued our ride, but it needed to happen consistently to be effective. Pulling over at night, on the freeway, or on the way to school wasn’t always the safest or most convenient idea.

A friend said she solved the same problem with a bigger car. We were already at capacity in our 8-passenger car and our garage size was limited. What now? This was harder than I thought!

I decided to find answers by looking to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If there was any group that needed to apply a Gospel principle, it was us.

First, I knew that we were capable of changing. We needed to repent and have a “change of mind.” (BD Repentance) One day I found myself driving solo for a 12-hour drive back home from a vacation as my husband had to leave early for a meeting. Before we left, I made sure that we spent a few minutes reading the scriptures. We had a family prayer asking for peace, help and protection. I asked the children how they would feel if Jesus Christ was in our car for the day. Would He want to be there? Would He feel happy and comfortable? This was the mental shift we needed. The entire trip was pleasant and the children were loving and respectful to one another. The mental picture of having Christ beside them elevated their expectations for themselves. They intuitively knew how it would feel to sit beside Him. They wanted to be better, just thinking of His presence.

I love the children’s song "If the Savior Stood Beside Me.” My children know this song well. Even humming a few bars can be the reminder we need when we go back to old habits.

If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do?
Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true?
Would I follow His example? Would I live more righteously,
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me? ("If the Savior Stood Beside Me" Lyrics)

I also thought of the scripture that encourages families to have order.

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; (D&C 88:119)

We needed to organize ourselves. We needed more order if we wanted more peace in the car. Were backpacks ready? Were we rushing to find shoes the morning of? Were we eating breakfast in the car as we drove to school? When we looked at the car ride as a process, we could see where it was breaking down. We were not giving ourselves enough time to prepare for the coming day and were not getting up early enough to prepare without rushing.

One thing that is unique to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, known as the Mormons, is the expectation that everyone contributes. Each member takes turns serving, such as teaching Sunday School, presiding over a youth group, praying or leading the music in church. It requires effort by all members, but the result is a vibrant organization that provides amazing opportunities and growth for children, youth and adults.

The next step was to use this principle of participation with the kids. For those out of car seats, they decided that they would rotate each day of the week. They would each have a day by the window and the next day would be their day by the baby. Because they came up with the idea, they self-enforced their rules.

Finally, building love and an attitude of service was not going to happen overnight, but we decided to employ advice from a prophet of God:

And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the devil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness. But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another. (Mosiah 4:14-15)

It was not right to allow our children to fight and quarrel in the car. I prayed to know how we could teach our children to love and serve one another.

We held a family night where we practiced having a “soft answer” that turns away wrath. (Proverbs 15:1) If someone said something mean, we asked what would happen if they responded by throwing a rock back. We asked what would happen if someone threw a cotton ball back. We practiced for a week putting cotton balls in a jar every time someone responded with a soft answer to an angry remark. When the jar was full, we had a treat the following week.

The lds.org web site had a children’s service idea to be a “secret service” agent. For one family night we gave dark glasses and a black folder labeled “Top Secret” to each family member. We exchanged family names and offered one act of secret service each day for a week.

Of course, practical ideas also came in handy. A friend listens to books on CD with her kids. Many times, they don’t want to get out of the car when they finish the ride. What a great idea.

The road to peace in the car has been bumpy, but worth it. The rest of our journey continues to be about cooperation, patience, love and sacrifice, which is the long haul of life. Success is now less about arriving at our destination and more about enjoying the ride. And while we haven’t achieved total peace in the car, we are definitely on our way.

If you search the internet you will find many studies which proclaim that religious people are happier than non-religious people. Faith seems to be the predominant factor in their happiness—faith that things can and will get better, that there is hope, that they are on the right path.

As a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I whole-heartedly concur with these studies. I have lived my life as a not-so-religious person and as a faithful religious person—I have been the happiest when my life, and my actions, are in line with good religious beliefs.

I have experimented with many religions in my life, from non-Christian to Christian, and for the bulk of my life I have settled on one that has helped me be the happiest—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (or Mormons) have the most intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, that I have found. They love Him. They worship Him. Doing so, gives shape and meaning to their lives and yes, brings happiness.

Mormons believe the words from the Book of Mormon:

“Behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved”(2 Nephi 25:20.)

It is not easy to have such faith in Jesus Christ when so many voices in the world today say there is no God. But as we come to know and accept the Atonement in our own lives, we will see its power working with us daily.

Reflect on how His Atonement has changed you. Give thanks often. Doing so will help you put the challenges in your life into perspective and help you to find the happiness that can be yours—even amidst your trials and tribulations.

Strive to become like Him, and you will find it is easier to look at life with a humble heart—one that is wise and quick to love and comfort another. You will do as He did, and you will be happy.

Christ said:

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30.)

It’s not hard for me to believe that religious people are happier. I certainly am—happier than my former non-religious self, that is.

I testify that you too, can find happiness in the teachings of Jesus Christ. I encourage you to read the Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ and holds the truest words you will ever read.

I testify that if you will strive to come unto Christ, to know Him, to become like Him, to do as He would do—then you will find a happiness that will not only bless you in this life, but for all eternity.

The Book of Mormon begins with a celebration of good parents. Nephi, who was a teenager when the Book of Mormon begins, but a grown man by the time he began to record his record, wrote, “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents…”

Nephi’s parents were Lehi and Sariah. Parenting wasn't easy for them. Lehi was a wealthy planter, but rather than enjoy his comfortable life and the privileges of wealth, he accepted God’s call to be a prophet. He, along with others in his time, were sent to try to convince the people to repent or face destruction. The people, naturally, weren’t too thrilled to have their sins pointed out to them and Lehi’s life was in danger. He and Sariah packed up a few essentials and took their family into the wilderness to a place God promised to provide for them.

Their two oldest children, Laman and Lemuel, were determined not to be good sports about this. They lacked faith, and didn’t believe God expected them to leave their comfortable home to go on an extended camping trip, into a world none of them knew about. Their younger sons, Sam and Nephi, followed the teachings of the gospel and their parents, however. Nephi, although the youngest child at the time, was to be his father’s successor and lead the church. Sam accepted this, because he had faith, but Laman and Lemuel consistently resented their younger brother’s right to rule over them, even when instructed to follow him by an angel. Repeatedly, they tormented their younger brother, even trying to kill him at various times. After the death of their parents, Nephi led the righteous portion of the family away from the rest for their own safety, and two groups, Nephites and Lamanites, were formed.

All of this must have challenged Laman and Sariah throughout their years. Clearly they were righteous people, and Nephi honored them, calling them goodly. They must have been good parents, doing all they could to raise their children in righteousness, and yet they lost two of their children to wickedness. However, Sam, Nephi, and the two younger brothers born in the wilderness stayed steadfast in the gospel.

James E. Faust, a member of the First Presidency until his recent death, asked, “Who are good parents? They are those who have lovingly, prayerfully, and earnestly tried to teach their children by example and precept ‘to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.’” Lehi and Sariah most certainly did those things. The scriptures record numerous times when Lehi gathered his family and instructed them in the ways of God. The younger brothers also worked to help their older brothers gain a testimony. The entire family worked together to try to keep from losing their two oldest boys and to reclaim them after they were lost. In fact, even after the two groups separated, the Nephites continued to send missionaries to them in hopes of reclaiming the brothers, and later their descendants.

President Faust reassured parents that the way their children turned out is not necessarily a reflection on their parenting skills. If they did the right things, they are good parents, regardless of the choices their parents made. If they neglect to care for their children and to teach them correct principles, they are held accountable even if the children turn out well.

We lived before we were born, and so we brought with us the spirits and personalities we had there. We have agency, so each of us must choose for ourselves, even children. President Faust offered this comfort to parents whose children have chosen a wrong path:

“I believe and accept the comforting statement of Elder Orson F. Whitney:
'The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught more comforting doctrine—that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.”
A principle in this statement that is often overlooked is that they must fully repent and ‘suffer for their sins’ and ‘pay their debt to justice.’ I recognize that now is the time “to prepare to meet God.” If the repentance of the wayward children does not happen in this life, is it still possible for the cords of the sealing to be strong enough for them yet to work out their repentance? In the Doctrine and Covenants we are told, ‘The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God,
‘And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation.’”James E. Faust, “Dear Are the Sheep That Have Wandered,” Ensign, May 2003, 61

It is heartbreaking to watch a child follow a path you know will ultimately lead to suffering and sorrow. However, even when it seems there is nothing we can do, we can pray, live righteously, and trust God to take care of the rest.