What I Need to Say About Faith, Power, and Womanhood

I typically stay out of "media firestorms."

It's simply not where I feel my voice is most effective.

I write often about my faith, and I do my best to strengthen families and help people of all religions to find common ground, but I rarely feel the desire or the responsibility to add my words to a flurry of voices--many of which seem to be arguing simply for the sake of arguing.

But this week, the church I love has been prominently featured in mostly all (if not all) of the top media sources--discussing women and the priesthood--and the headlines have made my heart hurt.

I understand that this is the way media works. They grab onto issues that strike at the core of controversial topics, and they write their stories in a way that will generate the most clicks and the most heated debates.

I also understand that there is a lot of deep emotion involved here--and there are women with serious questions and concerns that need to be discussed and resolved.  I am all for calm, meaningful discussions.

It's just that jumping into the middle of a heated debate, where the focus seems to be more on "getting attention" than "getting to the heart of the issue" has never appealed to me.

But the other day, I read this line in one of the articles: "Most Mormon women stay silent on the issue of equality."

And the more I thought and prayed about this, the more I felt that I needed to say something--not in an attempt to throw myself into the craziness out there, but to leave a record for my daughters and granddaughters who may someday wonder where I stood on this subject. I simply can't risk my silence mistakenly communicating the idea that either (1) I don't care or (2) I wasn't allowed to speak. (Neither of which statements are true.)

Today, I am going to share just a little bit of my story and create a simple record of things I know to be true.

In one of the interviews I read, a woman at the heart of this movement said that she had been raised by a mother who said, "one day women will hold the priesthood."

This struck me to be so different than the way my mother (a lifetime member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) raised me.

I don't know if she and I ever talked specifically about women and the priesthood, but in essence, her words and actions said this:

"Through our faith in Jesus Christ, both women and men currently have the privilege to receive all of the blessings the Father has for us. There is no need to wait for anything. The power is yours. Now. And I'm going to show you how to access it."

And then she did.

She taught me to pray. She taught me to feast on the scriptures. She taught me to listen to promptings from the Spirit, she taught me to serve others and happily do whatever God asked me to do. She showed me how to work side-by-side with my husband and train my children and turn to the right Source for anything I could ever possibly need.

And as she taught me these things, I was an eyewitness to the fruits of that kind of faith.

Angels minister to my mother. Miracles happen. Her influence and light extends across the globe to millions of people, and there is a beauty and peace and unbelievable power that even the most eloquent words will never come close to describing.

I am a grateful, happy member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I feel 100% equal to my husband (who loves and honors the priesthood he bears) and to every other priesthood holder I have ever known, and I know that my ability to serve within our church is magnified by the priesthood--not diminished. Not once have I felt slighted or unappreciated because I am a woman. Not once.

I feel empowered, cherished, protected, and blessed--and confident beyond measure that the Lord is aware of each of us and wants His sons and daughters to receive every blessing He has for us.

Our church is a living, growing organization. And yes, if the Lord needs to make changes, they will be directed by those given the stewardship to do so. I trust that.

I feel for those who have obviously not had the same experiences I have had. I in no way mean to diminish their pain or their situations by sharing my opposite view, but in all the areas I have lived--coast to coast--the experiences I have shared above have been the rule--not the exception.

So to my daughters and granddaughters, please know that I have absolute confidence in the way our church is organized. Please remember that you are a cherished child of God, and that your potential to influence and strengthen the world is limitless. And please do everything in your power to carry on the legacy of faith that is your privilege to carry.


I am leaving the comments open on this post, and I am happy to answer any questions those who are reading this might have. I do ask that all comments and questions be written respectfully, in a way that generates helpful discussion.

With love,
April

New Tracking Sheets for Personal Progress and Duty to God

A little note: Most of what I write on this blog is principle based and applies to people of all religions.  My goal is to unite people on the common ground we share--our desire to strengthen families.  This specific post talks about a couple of programs run by my church, but the organization ideas could be implemented in a variety of ways.  Thanks for visiting!

Our church has two beautiful programs for youth who are between the ages of 12 and 18. 

The program for young women is called "Personal Progress,"

and the program for young men is called "Duty to God."

Moving through these programs requires the youth to accomplish a series of assignments and activities--like what you would do if you were certifying to become a fitness instructor or a lifeguard. The purpose of these, however, is to help our youth deepen their faith in Christ and develop attributes that will strengthen them throughout their lives.

I completed my Personal Progress when I was 18, and now my daughter has been working on hers for about a year.  I love it.

As I have spoken with a variety of parents and leaders in these youth organizations, however, I've found that there is a need for a more clearly-defined tracking sheet and process that will enable each participant to identify the "next action" required to move each assignment forward.

So for the past several months, I have been trying to figure out a way to apply the principles I teach in my mom-focused organization program to these youth programs.

After lots of trial and error, and some wonderful advice from our youth and my friend Michelle, we are ready for "beta testing."

That's why I'm writing this blog post.  I'd like to invite any of you who are working with Personal Progress or Duty to God to try this out with your youth and let me know if this tracking sheet works for you.  (Then you can send any recommendations my way.)

The process is fairly simple:

(1) You download a copy of the tracking sheet (one sheet will probably last a couple of months or so).

 Click here for the Young Women Personal Progress Tracking Sheet.

 

Click here for the Young Men Duty to God Tracking Sheet.

(2) Once you print it, you'll want to trim the paper, so when the form is folded in half, it will fit right into the Personal Progress or Duty to God book.

(3) Once a week, your youth (possibly with the help of a leader or parent) will take just two minutes to look through their books, choose the next specific action they'd like to do, and record the details on this tracking sheet.

I've zoomed in on the header of the Personal Progress Tracking Sheet so I can explain this in a little more detail (you can click the image to make it bigger):

• The first column has a single box that will be checked once this "Next Action" is completed.

• The second column is an optional spot where the youth can draw their own boxes for assignments that require a bit of ongoing tracking.  If it says to do something "every day for two weeks," they would draw 14 little squares.  If it says, "once a week for three weeks," they would draw three squares. That's pretty straightforward, right?

• In the third column, they record where the assignment can be found in the book.  For the Young Women, the column is titled "Value #," and something like "Divine Nature, Experience 3" would be noted as "DN3." For the Young Men, I simply labeled the column with "Page #," since that book is more loosely organized around general areas of focus.

• In the fourth column, the "Next Action" is listed.  This is supposed to be really specific.  Something like, "Memorize this scripture:_____________" or "Record in my journal how I felt about the service project I did this past week."

• The fifth column simply says, "When will I do this?"  This gives the youth a chance to think about their schedules for the week and identify a time they could work on their Personal Progress or Duty to God.  This also enables them to easily transfer the assignments onto their calendars or into their phones as reminders/alerts.

• The final column is simply a place to add notes.  Something like, "Daily for two weeks, ending on June 16th" or "I want this one to be an ongoing habit."

Last week, I was invited to speak at a youth event (where the Young Women and their parents were in attendance) and show them how to use this tracking sheet.

I recorded about 7 minutes of that class and posted it here, in case you would like to watch it.  I uploaded a mobile-sized video, so you can't read the words on the board very well, but the chart is patterned exactly like the zoomed-in picture above, and I'm explaining everything aloud as I go.

This is a photo of the poster that was hanging on the right side of the chalkboard.  These are the components of the assignment for Personal Progress, Faith #1.  (My cute Alia made it for me.)

 

I hope this is helpful to you.  I'm excited to get your feedback, and  I'd love to know if this works for your youth and if you have any ideas to make it simpler or more effective.  

Thanks so much!

Love,
April