Week 12 Women and the church

The role of women in the church has been a topic of heated debate in the few past years. I live in a small town in Texas, so the heated debate wasn't so present in my life, in fact, I didn't even know if was happening until someone in the community approached me and asked me about how I felt about my role in my church. After researching the topic I was prompted to respond on Facebook, "Let me be clean, I have never felt unequal to the men in my church. An article posted in the The New York Times suggested that I should. Again, let me be clear, .01% of women in the church do not speak for me! The article suggested women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints do not hold leadership positions, speak or preach, to sit in councils. All of these "facts: listed in the article are untrue. But let me tell you the truth, we do hold leadership positions, talk and preach, and sit on councils, not to be recognized, or make ourselves feel equal or better than others, we do these things to serve our Savior and Heavenly Father to the best of our ability and with all of our hears. This unequal  argument is far from what we do in our church, 'We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ...' no matter what gender we are! If we have forgotten who's church it is or why we serve we have lost all! But for now let us get bake to talking, rejoicing and preaching of Christ!" In all my years in the church I have never been met with anything but a need for the power and gifts that I could contribute. The women of the church are incredibly strong, a virtuous power to be reckoned with, they are a driving force for good! We have such a strong heritage of strong pioneer women before us, and such a strong future ahead of us.

Elder Cook teaches, "Much of what we accomplish in the Church is due to the selfless service of women. Whether in the Church or in the home, it is a beautiful thing to see the priesthood and the Relief Society work in perfect harmony. Such a relationship is like a well-tuned orchestra, and the resulting symphony inspires all of us."

Gordan B. Hinckley taught, "What a resource are the women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You love this Church, you accept it's doctrine, you honor your place in its organization, you bring luster and strengh and beauty to it's congregations....You bring a measured wholeness to us."

Just as women hold a powerful and important role within the church women hold a powerful and important role within the family.  The Family: A Proclamation To The World says, "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners." That means when we are faced with a big decision my husband and I work together equally to come up with a solution, that means when there is a problem with the children we work together equally to help that child, that means when its time for the family to gather together and learn we work together equally to be teachers.