More on this book
Kindle Notes & Highlights
it gave me a front-row seat from which to watch the Lord work miracle after miracle in the lives of His daughters.
if you could “gaze into heaven five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was written on the subject.”
could explain a hundred fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in the vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them.”
President Joseph F. Smith declared that the Relief Society holds a unique place in the Lord’s Church: “This is . . . the oldest auxiliary organization of the Church and it is of the first importance. It has not only to deal with the necessities of the poor, the sick and the needy, but a part of its duty—and the larger part, too—is to look after the spiritual welfare and salvation of the mothers and daughters of Zion; to see that none is neglected, but that all are guarded against misfortune, calamity, the powers of darkness, and the evils that threaten them in the world. It is the duty of the
...more
Your insights will be far more relevant and meaningful to you than are mine.
in the first half of the nineteenth century, the Church’s presiding leaders found women worth their time.
Simply put, the founding of the Relief Society is evidence of a people who believed in women and their influence and potential. It is the history of an organization destined to provide a framework for women to join together in influence—both in quiet, one-on-one ways and in contributions that affect communities, countries, and even continents for the better.
You were the first women to have the franchise; the first women to have a voice in the work of a church. It was God that gave it to you and it came as a result of revelation to a Prophet of the Lord. Since that time, think what benefits the women of this world have enjoyed. . . . When the Prophet Joseph Smith turned the key for the emancipation of womankind, it was turned for all the world, and from generation to generation the number of women who can enjoy the blessings of religious liberty and civil liberty has been increasing.”
Some skeptics have suggested that it took too long (twelve years from the organization of the Church in 1830) to organize the women in 1842. But that perspective is narrow at best. The “restoration of all things” was not simple, formulaic, neat and tidy, or quick.
the Prophet Joseph was a young adult (just twenty-four years old) when the Church was organized. He had never had a bishop, never been in a quorum, never attended seminary, never had a priesthood leader to nurture him along, never heard a prophet speak. He was the prophet. He had no precedent, no manuals, no handbook of instructions. He had to translate the Book of Mormon and then find a way to get it published. All of the revelations expounding doctrine that we turn to so readily and easily in the Doctrine and Covenants were revelations he had to receive. And everything he accomplished was
...more
The first endowments were given in 1842, but vicarious endowments for the dead did not commence until January 1877 with the dedication of the St. George Temple. So, despite the centrality to the plan of salvation of sealing generations, it took nearly fifty years from the organization of the Church for all the saving ordinances for the dead to be implemented.
The Prophet Joseph was a reflection of the Master he served. He demonstrated by what he said and did that women are vital and integral to building the kingdom of God.
in the only kingdom where it ultimately matters, our Father and His Son uphold women and regard us as central to the plan of salvation.
Where quorums and Relief Societies are unified in this work, they each essentially take an oar in the boat—each helping us move toward salvation.”
does a difficult experience with a priesthood leader mean that priesthood keys and authority aren’t real or that there is something inherently wrong with the way the Lord has organized His Church? Of course not.
In a Church of fifteen million members, it is inevitable that even fine leaders—men and women—have days when they don’t handle authority very well. Human weakness is a reality in a lay ministry.
don’t ever allow yourself to be offended by someone who is learning his job.”
As an integral part of the Restoration, Joseph Smith restored woman to her rightful place.
purity will lead us into the presence of God.
“Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand and watch over them with tenderness.
In fact, in every single sermon to the sisters of Nauvoo, he warned them about their tendency to gossip, backbite, and judge one another, and he took square aim at self-righteousness.
hold all characters sacred.”
“Don’t be limited in your views with regard to your neighbors’ virtues, but be limited towards your own virtues,
hold your tongues about things of no moment, a little tale will set the world on fire.”
the devil flatters us that we are very righteous, while we are feeding on the faults of others.”
“Little evils do the most injury to the church.
“By union of feeling we obtain pow’r with God,”
Satan will do anything in his considerable power to neutralize the best of our divine nature by exploiting our vulnerabilities. He is expert at turning empathy into envy and charity into criticism. He knows that women filled with pride or jealousy are roadblocks to the Lord’s work, and if he can preoccupy us with feelings of inferiority or superiority—he can exploit either—he has a natural inroad to afflict families, friendships, and communities.
of all women, we ought to be women of charity.
Charity is not an emotion or an action. It is not something we feel or do. Charity is who the Savior is. It is His most defining and dominant attribute. It is what enabled Him to endure the Garden and the cross for you and me. It is one of the things that makes Him God. Thus, when we plead for the gift of charity, we aren’t asking for kind feelings toward someone who has wounded us. We are pleading for our very natures to be changed, for our character to become more and more like the Savior’s, so that we literally feel as He would feel and do what He would do.
The one sure measure of an individual’s conversion to Jesus Christ is how that person treats others—in other words, his or her charity.
If there is anywhere in this world where a woman should feel that she belongs—that she is accepted, needed, valued, and loved—it is in this Church and it is in the Relief Society.
Charity was not the casserole. It was the gentle way my friends handled my mistake. They reached out to a perishing soul with compassion.
