To Michael, Ben and Luke,
I hope your week has been a great one. I’ve been thinking about you and praying for you this week. I hope you feel my prayers and love for you.
I am currently reading President Nelson’s book entitled, Heart of the Matter. I have felt the love of the Lord many times as I read. It has strengthened my faith and I feel more gratitude for our dear prophet. President Nelson has a chapter about women. He expresses his love for his mother, his first wife, his 9 daughters and his current wife Wendy. It is very tender. Then he goes on to express his love for the women of the church. He encourages us to have a bedrock understanding of the gospel and to contribute to church meetings and the Lord’s work.
Here is part of Chapter 8 of his book which is also part of his talk entitled, “A Plea to My Sisters” from October 2015;
It would be impossible to measure the influence that such women have, not only on families but also on the Lord’s Church, as wives, mothers, and grandmothers; as sisters and aunts; as teachers and leaders; and especially as exemplars and devout defenders of the faith.3 This has been true in every gospel dispensation since the days of Adam and Eve. Yet the women of this dispensation are distinct from the women of any other because this dispensation is distinct from any other.4 This distinction brings both privileges and responsibilities.
Thirty-six years ago, in 1979, President Spencer W. Kimball made a profound prophecy about the impact that covenant-keeping women would have on the future of the Lord’s Church. He prophesied: “Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world … will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different—in happy ways—from the women of the world.”5
My dear sisters, you who are our vital associates during this winding-up scene, the day that President Kimball foresaw is today. You are the women he foresaw! Your virtue, light, love, knowledge, courage, character, faith, and righteous lives will draw good women of the world, along with their families, to the Church in unprecedented numbers!6
We, your brethren, need your strength, your conversion, your conviction, your ability to lead, your wisdom, and your voices. The kingdom of God is not and cannot be complete without women who make sacred covenants and then keep them, women who can speak with the power and authority of God!7
Today, let me add that we need women who know how to make important things happen by their faith and who are courageous defenders of morality and families in a sin-sick world. We need women who are devoted to shepherding God’s children along the covenant path toward exaltation; women who know how to receive personal revelation, who understand the power and peace of the temple endowment; women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen children and families; women who teach fearlessly.
Of course I thought of my daughters as I read but I also thought of my three sons. I hope you feel how important women are to the work of the Lord. I hope you love and respect women as I know the Lord does. Women have a profound influence on their friends and family. As you serve alongside sister missionaries (and Relief Society presidencies), I hope you honor and respect them. As you will one day choose a spouse for time and eternity, I hope you will see her as a precious daughter of God and honor her divine role as a wife and a mother. It is not easy for anyone these days to stay firm in the gospel but Satan has increased his efforts to lead women away from the truth. It is easy for women to get confused about what really matters. Please be patient with women who have lost sight of their divine roll. Nothing that they do in this life will take away their divine worth even if they have forgotten it.
Dad and I celebrate 25 years of marriage tomorrow. I am grateful that Dad and I are equals in our marriage and that Dad honors his priesthood and uses it to bless our family. I am so grateful that Dad has always supported me in my divine roll and my desire to be a wife and mother. I am grateful that he continues to work hard and that I can be a full-time homemaker. I am grateful for the spiritually strengthening experiences I had on my mission. I wasn’t the best missionary, but I have been able to build on the study habits and experiences I had on my mission to continue to strengthen my testimony and hopefully my family. I have a strong testimony of The Book of Mormon, the prophet Joseph Smith and our current prophet President Nelson. I love the peace I feel in the temple and I am grateful for the ordinances performed there. My greatest desire is for our family to be together forever and to once again live with our Father in Heaven. I love you all and I want us all to feast on the sweet fruit of the gospel forever.
Keep up the great work. Our three boys are valiant leaders and strong defenders of the faith. I have no doubt that the Lord is pleased with your efforts and that you will do great things to help the work of the Lord throughout your life. My mom heart is full to overflowing with how much I love you and how grateful I am for the privilege of being your mom. You all have blessed my life in so many ways.
I love you all forever and ever,
Mom
