The Power of Faithful Women

A few days ago I was reading a conference Ensign and had stepped away from the table for a bit. I came back and found my daughter practicing writing her name in pen at the top of the page I was reading.  I was a bit annoyed by this and in my impatience tried to explain to her that we shouldn’t write on magazines or books like that.  As I finished reading that same conference talk today and looked at her name at the top of the page, I found myself both regretting having even been bothered by the innocuous incident and even happy to see her name at the top of the page.  The talk I was reading was President Nelson’s that he gave in the women’s session of conference, Spiritual Treasures.  If there is one talk I want her to understand, if there is a message I want her to internalize from this last conference, surely it is this one from President Nelson.  His message to the women was an unequivocal witness that there are no limitations on their ability to draw upon the power of God in their lives.  Gender has no bearing on our spiritual capacity.    

               Yesterday we were reading scriptures as a family and that same daughter read this verse: “Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters--” and when she got to that point she exclaimed, “What?! Nephi had sisters? Why don’t they ever talk about them?!”  She then expressed her frustration that everybody in the scriptures, as she saw it, were men.  As she continued reading she would stop at every name mentioned and exclaim, “Boy!” Her observation is not without some merit, though she was a little extreme in suggesting that everybody is a man in the scriptures.  There are many examples of incredibly faithful women in the scriptures, from Abish who “ran forth from house to house” to make known the things of God to Ruth who went even further out of her devotion to stay with Naomi; from Emma Smith who was “an elect lady” to “our glorious mother Eve” who also “worshiped the true and living God”; from the prophetess Deborah who “arose a mother in Israel” and saved her people to Hannah whose “heart rejoice[d] in the Lord” that she could become a mother (Alma 19:17, Ruth 1:16, Doctrine and Covenants 25:3 & 138:39, 1 Samuel 2:1, Judges 5:7). And of course the Mary’s of the New Testament are witness to the Savior’s love for faithful women, including His mother who was “highly favoured” and “blessed… among women” and Mary Magdalene who was the first mortal witness of the most important event in history, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Luke 1:28).  Yes, the scriptures came out of patriarchal society and were written by men, and yes the proportion of people who are men in the scriptures is far greater than that of women, but I am grateful for the restored gospel which makes it clear that this proportion does not have anything to do with the spiritual capacity of men or women.  For God “inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness… male and female… and all are alike unto God” (2 Nephi 26:33). 

               So, I hope that my daughter will understand and internalize the truths that President Nelson taught.  He implored, “How I yearn for you to understand that the restoration of the priesthood is just as relevant to you as a woman as it is to any man. Because the Melchizedek Priesthood has been restored, both covenant-keeping women and men have access to ‘all the spiritual blessings of the church’ or, we might say, to all the spiritual treasures the Lord has for His children.”  He further testified, “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.”  I hope that she will understand the rich heritage of “faithful daughters who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God” that she is a part of, including her mother, and that she will know that “from the dawning of time, women have been blessed with a unique moral compass—the ability to distinguish right from wrong” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:39).  May she live up to that great blessing God gives to His daughters and be a powerful force for good in this world.