How the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses the lives of women (at least from my point of view)

Back when we went camping over Canada Day weekend, we got special permission from the Stake President to hold a Sacrament meeting there.  The wonderful Schulzke family volunteered to be in charge of the program.  On Saturday night, Julia and Trajan asked if I would be one of the speakers the next morning.  I felt like a deer in headlights, but of course I said yes.  I obviously didn't have my computer with me nor did I even have my scriptures, but I did have some paper and a pen.  I was really tired (I am not a night owl) so I went to bed hoping inspiration would come in the morning.  I am an early bird and was wide awake by 5:00 am.  I snuck out of our tent and went to our van and the ideas started flowing.  So, here they are- my thoughts on how the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses the lives of women.

Good morning brothers and sisters.  I am honored to speak with you today and to share my thoughts on the blessings of the gospel for women.

I'd like to begin with one of my favorite stories from the Old Testament.  This story I did not learn in my youth, even though I attended church each week- Primary, Sunday School, Seminary, and graduated from BYU.  This story I read for the first time shortly after I was married and my husband and I decided for our family scripture study we would read the Old Testament together.  It was the only book in the Standard Works that I had not yet read from cover to cover.  When we were reading in Numbers we came across the story of Zelophehad's daughters.  There were five of them and one of them was named Noah.  I thought it was odd for a girl to be named Noah, but we moved along on to the next story.  A little while later in Joshua we came across this story again.  This time I fell in love with the name Noah for a girl, so much so that we named our daughter Noe (the French spelling).  I do like the way her name sounds,  but we chose that name for the story behind it.  After Moses and the Israelites had been travelling in the wilderness for almost forty years they were getting close to the promised land.  He knew they would be settling there soon, so he started planning out how they would divide the land amongst the different tribes and families.  The daughters of Zelophehad were alone.  Their father had died, they had no brothers, and none of them were married.  They went to Moses and explained their situation and asked that they be given land.  Moses said he would take it to the Lord and he did.  He came back and told the women that yes they would receive land.  Now we know Moses died before they made it to the promised land and Joshua became the new prophet.  The daughters of Zelophehad went to him and again asked for land.  Joshua too took their situation to the Lord and he also came back with the answer of yes.  When the Israelites arrived in the promised land these sisters were given their own land.  This story beautifully illustrates to me that Heavenly Father loves His daughters just as much as He loves His sons.

Now I'd like to turn to the earthly life and teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I'm going to be bold and use a controversial word here, but I believe Jesus to be a feminist- at least in the way I use the word.  He values women as much as He values men.  Let's look at the story of Mary and Martha.  While Martha was busy preparing food and serving others' physical needs, Mary was sitting at the Lord's feet filling her own spiritual needs.  I've always had this story taught to me in this way- although our temporal needs are important, it's our spiritual needs that are most important.  However, I have recently discovered that this story is more significant than that.  In Jesus' day, the women weren't taught the gospel the same way as the men were.  They were not invited into the synagogues to learn the scriptures.  In this story Jesus is teaching Mary and Martha and all women to come to Him and to learn the gospel for themselves.  He illustrates this again with the woman at the well.  Many think it is significant that He was teaching a Samaritan, but I think it is more significant that He was teaching a woman.  In many other examples- including Mary Magdalene being the first witness of Christ's resurrection, Jesus taught us that the gospel is for women too.

One of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon is that of Helaman's 2,000 stripling warriors.  Those young men were valiant and courageous and had a testimony of what was right.  How did they know this?  Because their mothers taught them.  They risked their lives to defend their families because they knew the Lord was with them.  We know that every single one of them was wounded, but not a single one of them was slain.  Since I was a little girl, that is the type of mother I have wanted to be.  I want to raise my children to have burning testimonies of the gospel that they will never depart from.

In the Doctrine and Covenants we learn how the gospel of Jesus Christ was returned to the earth and how His true church was restored.  We revere Joseph Smith as the prophet of that restoration.  I have tender feelings in my heart for his wife, Emma.  She was a constant love and support and was devoted to her husband.  She was an elect lady called of the Lord to teach the church.  That is the kind of wife and woman I want to be.

I have to share an experience from The Pearl of Great Price too.  There we find the 13 Articles of Faith.  As a primary girl I memorized those Articles and shortly after I turned 12 I met with the Bishop.  My Bishop was my Uncle and I remember some of my friends telling me that he would go easy on me since I was his niece and that I'd only have to recite a couple of them.  The exact opposite happened, he asked me to recite all 13!  I am grateful for that experience.  It taught me that He valued me knowing the gospel for myself and that I should value that too.

Now how do these stories from the scriptures apply to our modern lives?  How are women blessed by the gospel?  I'd like to share another story of a girl who is from another country where Christianity is not welcomed yet.  Her name is Tuba, she is from Pakistan, and for the past four years she has been a good friend of my daughter's at school.  Tuba told Noe that her family left Pakistan and came to Canada to protect her and her younger sister.  She said that if they had remained in Pakistan it would be expected of the girls to be married by TEN years of age.  Now I am an advocate for marriage- of healthy marriage- but I am an opponent of children  being forced into unhealthy marriages.  I'm glad Tuba and her family were able to move to Canada to be free from being treated as objects. 

By comparing the lives of women in the Middle East to those of women in North America, a predominantly Christian continent, is quite contrasting.  Thanks to many of our Pioneer women who had strong testimonies of Jesus Christ, they fought for women's rights.  I feel I can do or be anything that I want to.  However, I've felt a shift in relating to what I want to be.  What I want to be is a wife and mother.  I feel that some members of society no longer value my choice to stay home to care for my home and family.  In a society that focuses on "self" I'm grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in that it teaches women and men to focus on others- our families and teaches me that I have value even though society says I am just a homemaker.

The gospel is not just something to know, it is something to do.  We are given callings in church that we are asked to magnify.  By so doing our faith increases and we help bless the lives of others.  We are taught to share the gospel with others, so they can have these same blessings in their lives.  We are taught to care for the poor and needy- to share our material comforts with them and to serve and love them.  We are also taught to redeem our dead.  Where do we redeem our dead?  In the sacred temples, the houses of the Lord, we help our ancestors who didn't have the gospel in their earthly lives by providing them with the ordinances and covenants necessary for their salvation.  To do that sacred work for our dead we must first do it for ourselves.  The temples are our most glorious blessings on earth, they are where we can worship Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, where we can receive further instruction and where our families- our most precious relationships- can be sealed for time and for all eternity.

In summary, I believe the gospel blesses the lives of women by teaching them that they are daughters of God and loved by Him.  It teaches us that Jesus Christ loves us and values us equally as men.  It teaches us to find honor in being wives and mothers.  It teaches us to know the gospel for ourselves, to do good with our lives, and to be our very best selves so we can be exalted with our families one day.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.