Patriarchal Blessing

It was a life changing experience to receive my patriarchal blessing.

One column from Mom's Yearbook
Click to enlarge.
My mother grew up in the heart of Mormon country. She lived in downtown Salt Lake City and attended the 18th Ward where many general authorities of the Church lived. She had sleepovers at Marjorie Smith's home, which was the Beehive House because she was the daughter of Church President Joseph F. Smith. That was the home of LDS Church presidents until his death in 1918.

Patriarch Eldred G. Smith in 1973
The photos at right are from one column on page 79 of Mother's 1924 LDS High School yearbook section for juniors. My mother, Kathryn Worsley Pratt, is at the bottom of the page. The fellow at the top of the column is Eldred G. Smith, a direct descendant of Hyrum Smith, who later became the Presiding Patriarch of the Church, which in the early days was the highest Church position (D&C 124:124). He presided over all of the patriarchs in the Church and gave patriarchal blessings in the Church Office Building to those from outside organized stakes who came to him. He always spoke in LDS General Conference until the position of Church Patriarch was eliminated in 1979, after which he continued to given blessings until he passed away at age 106 in 2013. I attended his funeral. Just below his picture is that of George W. Romney who became president of American Motors, then governor of Michigan, and was the Republican presidential candidate for the 1968 election. He was also the father of Mitt Romney who likewise became the Republican presidential candidate for 2012.

When Mother was shopping downtown one day she ran into her high school friend Eldred Smith on the sidewalk. After they chatted a while, he said he would like to give Jim and me our patriarchal blessings. At that time youth usually waited until they were at least 16 to receive their blessing from their local stake patriarch. I was 18 attending the University of Utah when my appointment with him was set for Fri 20 Mar 1964.

Patriarch Eldred G. Smith
Elder Smith was a delightful man and treated me with true respect. He spent about an hour showing me historical Church treasures he had inherited. I saw the watch of Hyrum Smith which had stopped at 5:12 p.m. when he was martyred. He had Hyrum's shirt with blood stains on it and several real treasures.

Finally the time came for the blessing. I was not expecting anything special to happen physically because in the confirmation, ordinations, and blessings I had received I had never felt anything physical. To my astonishment, when he laid his hands on my head, I felt little short-lived electrical current pulses shoot into my head from all of his fingers. That was about ten concurrent little shocks and they lasted throughout all of the blessing. I knew the blessing was being recorded and I'd receive a typewritten copy so I focused on remembering how the electricity from his hands felt. I've never felt anything like that before or since, but it was a testimony to me that something very spiritually real was happening and that he had been truly called of God with power!