Do Your Duty—That Is Best,

When the Church was organized in 1830, the Lord outlined the responsibilities and duties of elders, priests, teachers, and deacons. Since that time, additional details have been revealed regarding these priesthood offices. Nevertheless, the important instructions outlined in Doctrine and Covenants 20:38–59 are principles that all priesthood holders should continue to study and follow. 

President Thomas S. Monson emphasized the need to know our duty and to carry it out in the service of others:

“The priesthood is not really so much a gift as it is a commission to serve, a privilege to lift, and an opportunity to bless the lives of others.

“The call of duty can come quietly as we who hold the priesthood respond to the assignments we receive. President George Albert Smith, that modest yet effective leader, declared, ‘It is your duty first of all to learn what the Lord wants and then by the power and strength of His holy Priesthood to magnify your calling in the presence of your fellows in such a way that the people will be glad to follow you’ [in Conference Report, Apr. 1942, 14]” (“Do Your Duty—That Is Best,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2005, 59).