Sacrament Meeting Talk: A Plea to President Nelson About the Sisters

In the October 2015 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson gave a talk called “A Plea to My Sisters.” The plea is for women of faith to join and stay in the church and use their influence for good. President Nelson lists several qualities that the church “needs” in its women.

As a Mormon feminist and a Sunday School teacher of three separate classes about the women of the scriptures, I can say with a surety that the women of our church fully exhibit the qualities described in this talk.

I would like to share the stories of several of these women right now. I do not want to put them on a pedestal, with their halos shining, smiling but silenced. I will in no way compare these women to the men of the church, the ones that we hear about so often. I want to let the stories and attributes of these women speak for themselves and demonstrate that the women President Nelson describes a “need” for in the church are here right now.

Women who teach fearlessly

• In the scriptures, there are 5 mentions of a prophetess: Deborah, Miriam, Huldah, Anna, 4 daughters of Philip. These were women who were sought out for their knowledge and their judgment. The fact that they were named and identified with a title in the Bible indicates that they were respected teachers and leaders in their communities.
• Emma Smith was ordained to teach and preach in D&C 25:7-- And thou shalt be ordained under his hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church, according as it shall be given thee by my Spirit.
• Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, a Harvard professor and member of the Cambridge First Ward, did extensive research about our history and published the book "A House Full of Females" about the history of plural marriage in the church.

Women who can speak out with the power and authority of God

• There are two powerful women speaking out in Alma 19: Abish and the wife of Lamoni
• Wife of Lamoni: The servants of my husband have made it known unto me that thou art a prophet of a holy God, and that thou hast power to do many mighty works in his name…. I have had no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I believe that it shall be according as thou hast said.
• Abish: one of the Lamanitish women, whose name was Abish, having been converted unto the Lord for many years, on account of a remarkable vision of her father… knew that it was the power of God; and supposing that this opportunity, by making known unto the people what had happened among them, would cause them to believe in the power of God, she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people…. She went and took the queen by the hand, that perhaps she might raise her from the ground; and as soon as she touched her hand she arose and stood upon her feet, and cried with a loud voice, saying: O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell! O blessed God, have mercy on this people!... and when she had done this, she took the king, Lamoni, by the hand, and behold he arose and stood upon his feet.
• I also want to mention a few women of the restored church who are writing with the power and authority of God
• Eliza R. Snow (hymns: O My Father, How Great the Wisdom and the Love, Though Deepening Trials, Behold, the Great Redeemer Die)
• Carol Lynn Pearson (primary songbook: I’ll Walk With You)
• Rachel Hunt Steenblik's book Mother’s Milk: Poems in Search of Heavenly Mother

Women with the gift of discernment who can view the trends of the world and detect those that are dangerous

• Early LDS women claiming suffrage! Utah was the third state in the union with female suffrage. Emmeline B. Wells and Zina Young Williams attended the national womens suffrage convention in Washington in 1879.
• Jean Bingham and Sharon Eubank, current members of the General Relief Society Presidency, are working to provide humanitarian aid globally. While so many people are afraid of refugees, soon after being called as the General RS president Jean Bingham sat on a panel with the United Nations and spoke about the responsibility to provide for the most vulnerable among us, specifically refugees. Before being called into the presidency, Sharon Eubank was the director of LDS Charities and she maintains that position alongside her calling.

Women with executive ability who can organize, plan, direct, and administer

• Akemi Leung
• Mormon feminists have organized various events, campaigns, retreats, and conferences--Exponent II is a group that maintains a blog, publishes LDS women's writing, and hosts annual retreats. In December 2012, the LDS womens group All Enlisted organized the Wear Pants to Church day, an effort to help more women feel included in our Sunday worship. In January 2013, the same group started a letter writing campaign to "Let Women Pray" in General Conference, which resulted in a GC prayer from a woman. There are many more individual women fighting in their sphere of influence to amplify the power of women in the church.

Women who know how to make important things happen by their faith, women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven

• Esther of the Old Testament, upon realizing that her husband, the king, planned to kill her people, asked for fasting and prayer from her community and then used that power to convince the king to save them.
• Mary Fielding Smith, who had to lead her family across the plains after her husband was killed, called upon the powers of heaven when she asked for a healing blessing for her oxen. “One day one of her best oxen became very sick, lay down, and was apparently near death. Had this happened, she could not have continued on the journey to the Valley. Mary got a bottle of consecrated oil and asked two brethren to administer to the sick ox. Although administration to the sick had only been used for humans, Mary believed that the Lord would heal the animal that she needed so desperately. After the blessing, the ox got up and was soon ready to pull the wagon again. Two more times other oxen became ill, and twice more Mary asked the brethren to bless them. Each time, they were healed instantly. Despite all difficulties, Mary and her family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 23, 1848, a full day before the rest of the company.”

Women who know how to receive personal revelation

• Vienna Jacques, who was one of us (as in, a single woman living in Boston), was converted to the newly restored church and gathered with the saints in Kirtland. She had a large amount of savings, due to having a job and no children. Joseph Smith needed money for the church to buy the land for the Kirtland temple, and Vienna, acting only on faith, gave him her life savings. She is the only woman apart from Emma Smith who is named in the Doctrine and Covenants, and it is promised that she will be rewarded.
• Carolyn, a member of our ward, shared with me a story about a woman who received personal revelation and acted upon it. She was investigating the church in HS and a leader asked Carolyn to prepare a YW lesson to teach. Preparing for this lesson greatly impacted the development of her testimony. Some of the other leaders were upset that Carolyn, not yet a baptized member of the church, was asked to teach YW and took it to the bishop, but the leader who asked her defended her actions, saying she was prompted to do so, and the bishop agreed that she was within her rights to do so.

Women who are courageous defenders of morality and are devoted to shepherding God's children along the path to exaltation

• The mothers of the stripling warriors taught them that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
• Primary presidents and teachers at the ward level and the general level are committed to teaching young children in a way they can understand and helping them understand their roles.

Women who understand the power and peace of the temple and covenants

• Eve, who had a greater understanding of the covenant she and Adam had made with God, was foreordained to partake of the fruit that would trigger the rest of the plan. She had a deep understanding of her covenant, and she made the necessary move to keep that covenant. Valerie Hudson and Fiona Givens, who are two women among many others, have pondered and researched and shared their findings to help others reach a deeper understanding of Eve's role and the necessity of covenants and temple ordinances.
• Jane Manning James fought her whole entire life for temple blessings, which she was denied because of her race. She persisted until she was able to do baptisms inside the temple and be sealed (by proxy) to Joseph and Emma as their servant. She prioritized the blessings of the temple in her life, and though she was not able to participate during her lifetime, I trust that she is happy to have had her work done now.

Women who have the courage and vision of our Mother Eve

• Mary, the mother of Jesus, was incredibly courageous to keep the necessary secrets and protect the life of her son at the cost of her reputation. She had the vision of Christ's mission and was able to raise him to fulfill it.
• Abigail of the Old Testament, whose husband Nabal offended David. David was quick to want justice by killing Nabal and his whole house, but Abigail, who had the vision to see the worth of so many lives, went to David and said "upon me let his iniquity be." She convinced him to let the Lord judge Nabal, and by being a type of Christ, by taking the sins of another (her husband) upon herself, she could satisfy the demands of justice but also offer mercy. She saved the lives of Nabal and others, and stopped David from killing for revenge, prompting further violence.

There are so many more women who have done and are doing amazing things with their faith, their talents, and their circumstances. I wish I could name them all. Women are relatively rarely in the spotlight, or at the pulpit, but as I reminded my Sunday School class regularly, women were there. For every story we read in the scriptures about the male prophets and leaders and saints and sinners, there are women who were a part of that story too. We must seek them out and tell their stories when we can. And women do not make up the only group that is often missing from our consideration. We recognize the love and care that God has for all children, and so we must remember to seek out the stories and listen to the perspectives of other less visible groups in the church--people of other races and from other countries, people who have questions and doubts about the church or the gospel, people whose sexuality or gender identity does not align with the teachings of the church. We truly need the voices and talents and perspectives of all of these people, and we need to create the space for them here. To echo President Nelson, that is my plea.