B (43:26)
Well, bringing us back to Joseph Smith as he organized the Relief Society. What is now section 25, that was given to Emma, him saying that that applied to all of these sisters. That thought was reaffirmed by President Nelson in October of 2019. That section 25, which was written to Emma, really is for all of God's covenant daughters. When President Nelson gave this absolutely groundbreaking talk, it was October of 2019 called Spiritual Treasures. And I was serving in the young women General Advisory Council. I was at that session. I was actually sitting on the rostrum for that session as President Nelson gave that talk. From where I was sitting, I could see the teleprompter. Teleprompters you see before they say what they're going to say. This talk changed my life. It changed my life. This is the talk where he absolutely took the scales from my eyes, at least. And I think a lot of other men and women in the church about how women function with priesthood power by nature of making keeping covenants in the house of the Lord. I remember reading the words a little bit before he sang them. My eyes just got wide. And I remember looking over at my friend Carol, who I serve with over here and looking at Vicki over here and grabbing their arm and saying, are you seeing this? Are you hearing this? This is unbelievable. It's unbelievable. And I want to read just a few things that he said, but I hope every person listening to this podcast will go back and study that talk. Spiritual treasures, October 2019, from President Nelson. It was given in the women's session. I think it's critical that men study this talk as well. Just a few things he says. He talked about that he and Wendy had recently visited Harmony, Pennsylvania. He said, everything that happened in this area has profound implications for your lives. The restoration of the priesthood, along with the Lord's counsel to Emma, can guide and bless each of you. 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. I literally could read the whole talk. He says, 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. When he said those words, I thought, this is going to change my life. And it has changed my life. Then he gives instructions on how we are going to learn about this and how we access God's power. He said, now you might be saying to yourself, this sounds wonderful, but how do I do it? How do I draw the Savior's power into my life? You won't find this process spelled out in any manual. Now, I'll be honest, when he said that part, I got a little frustrated. I want a manual. I want a manual to tell me how this works. He said, the Holy Ghost will be your personal tutorial as you seek to understand what the Lord would have you know and do. This process is neither quick nor easy, but it is spiritually invigorating. What could possibly be more exciting than to labor with the Spirit to understand God's priesthood power? What I can tell you is that accessing the power of God in your life requires the same things that the Lord instructed Emma and each of you to do so. He didn't give Emmanuel, but he said, the Holy Ghost will be your personal tutor. And then he said, the things you will need to do will be the same things that Emma was asked to do. Then he encouraged the women of the church to study section 25 and to study all sections that talk about the priesthood. He said, from the dawning of time, women have been blessed with a unique moral compass, the ability to distinguish right from wrong. This gift is enhanced in those who make and keep covenants, and it diminishes in those who willfully ignore the commandments of God. I love that where he talks about this unique moral compass that women are blessed with. That's something that's been consistently taught from prophet seers and revelators. But then this nugget of that that is enhanced as we make and keep covenants, or it can be diminished if we decide to willfully ignore those commandments. There's no handbook, but he gives these little nuggets here and there of how we can access and function with God's power in our life. And I'm going to read one more part. As a righteous, endowed Latter Day Saint woman, you speak and teach with power and authority from God, whether by exhortation or conversation. We need your voice teaching the doctrine of Christ. I entreat you to study prayerfully all the truths you can find about priesthood power. The whole talk is unbelievable. I'm sitting there, he's giving this talk. Tears are streaming down my face. I'm like grabbing their arms, saying, this changes everything. It changes everything. Not because women didn't function with priesthood power before, because I believe we did. But now I know and understand what it is. I was making and keeping covenants before, so I was functioning with God's power. I just didn't know it or realize it or have a name for it. And to have a name for it has been extremely Helpful for me. It reminds me, actually, in kind of a silly way, of the wizard of Oz. Very silly way. But just go with me on this. Glinda's there, and Dorothy's saying, will you help me get home? And Glinda is saying, you don't need my help. You have the power. You've always had it. Saying, well, why didn't you tell me? You wouldn't have believed me. You needed to find out for yourself. I'm hearing from a prophet, and I'll be honest. I did believe him. When he said it, I believed it. I was like, this is unbelievable. Everyone needs to hear this. I believed it. But then the next layer was his invitation for us to find out for ourselves how we function with God's power. So he invited the women of the church to study. Because I was serving on the Young Women General Counsel, we were each asked to write articles for the Church News about this topic. We actually kind of had a little bit of a deadline of study about this and then write an article about what you've learned. If I'm being truthful, I was very stressed about it, that whole not having a manual thing. I care very deeply about only teaching what we know, what has been revealed. I care very deeply about making sure that I would never lead someone astray with something that I think or something that I would speculate or whatever. I have zero interest in speculating and taking us down paths that aren't aligned with what's been revealed by prophets, seers, and revelators. Here we have a prophet telling us, go study about women in priesthood. Tell us what you learned. The Holy Ghost will be your tutor. There's not a manual. That made me really nervous because I thought, oh, women in priesthood. That feels complicated. I really would love it if you just give me a manual and tell me what that means of how women function with priesthood power. But I trusted a prophet who said, study it, and the Holy Ghost would be your personal tutor. And I did. I studied Section 25, and I studied the other sections of the Doctrine and Covenants and the truths that I learned. And I was able to then write a church news article about how women teach and speak with power and authority from God. I just want to share one quote from that article of one of the things I learned. I talked about an experience where I was kind of a hostile crowd. This was with NCAA Common Ground, about 50 people, over half of whom were LGBTQ advocates. We were talking about how to find common ground. It was a situation where I was a little bit Attacked for our eternal truth of eternal marriage between a man and a woman and the family proclamation. I was defending that doctrine and doing my best to do it in a very loving way, but it was a little bit hostile. So I tell about this experience. As I have come to better understand my identity as a daughter of heavenly parents and my purpose as a disciple of Jesus Christ who has been endowed with the right to priesthood power. I have felt remarkable confidence in teaching and testifying of truth. I have felt God's power flowing through me in a very real sense. There's no need to fake anything when the real thing is available. The confidence I feel is real because God is real and his power is real. For me. Now that there is a name for it for me. I see it everywhere. I see it in women that I serve with. I see it in my sisters. I see it. I see good women who have made covenants with God and are keeping those covenants, who are functioning with God's power to bless their own lives and the lives of those they love in service and in leadership. I can't unsee it now that President Nelson has helped remove those scales from my eyes. I can't unsee it. And I can't imagine a world where I didn't know or understand how I can function with God's power. It has given me more confidence to proclaim. It has given me more confidence to defend. It has given me more confidence to love and to include. It has given me confidence in every way. I am so grateful, so grateful for Joseph Smith. I am so grateful for a loving Father in heaven. And I'm grateful for his son Jesus Christ. I am grateful for Emma Smith and her example of faith in really hard situations. And I'm so grateful now to be led by President Nelson. And I'm grateful for what he has taught us about women in priesthood. And I'm grateful that the young women of the church now are growing up understanding it. Understanding when they go to the house of the Lord and receive ordinances and make covenants, they leave armed with God's power. All of us, men and women, and we are in this work together. It is not men above women, women above men. Truly. It is us being equally yoked, working together in marriages, in wards, in communities, as brothers and sisters. I'm grateful for a living prophet who's helped me to see with new eyes and the privilege it was to be in that building and feel of that spirit and sit on that rostrum and see those words and hear a prophet of God say them. I will never forget it the rest of my life. I will never forget it the rest of my life. That we get to be on the earth with the living prophet who helps us better understand who we are and what we're capable of and what God needs us to do. As we partner with him, he will make us equal to every task he asks us to do. He literally has endowed us with his power. What more incredible gift could there be on the earth? And I get to be a part of that. I'm so grateful. So grateful. Wow.
