|||
This is from a talk I gave at Church, 2025-05-11
This morning I received a card from my younger son, containing a compliment which, if you know my boy, is of the highest order! The message he penned inside the card read—
Dear Mummy Dear, Happy Mother’s Day. You have developed a lot over the years to chill places no one thought possible. Nice.
I am thankful for him, and for each of my four beautiful children and the wonderful man who is their father and my husband.
Today I wish to speak to you about the unique, divinely appointed roles and gifts of women. Our ability to honour and support the women in our lives will increase as we expand our understanding and appreciation of these roles.
First and foremost, every woman is a daughter. She has both earthly and heavenly parents. Relationships with earthly parents can be complicated, but a woman’s heavenly origin is beautifully simple!
Every woman is also a sister, whether or not she has blood siblings. Bonds of sisterhood transcend familial ties.
A woman may also be an aunt, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a teacher, and a source of nurturing strength to those around her.
On this day set aside to honour mothers, I am thankful for the mothering influences in my life:
In 2015 President Russell M. Nelson said that —
The divine mission of women is to help spirits live and souls be lifted; to help other humans reach their celestial potential
Each of the women I mentioned have helped me to steer the direction of my life away from spiritually dangerous territory, toward the path that leads back to my heavenly home.
Their righteous influences helped me grow from a girl who often felt lost and alone into a woman who willingly made sacred covenants and now strives to keep them.
Elder Eyring speaks of three assignments given to covenant women in partnership with God:
All these assignments will come to every daughter of God in this life or the next, but we do not get to choose their timing, duration, or sequence.
You will be wise to bend every effort to prepare now with the end in mind. That task is made simpler because each of these assignments requires much of the same preparation.
My elder son tells me that even high level athletes who specialise a particular sport are often not great at other sports. An Olympic runner won’t necessarily be great at soccer, and a cross country skier might not win a swimming race. Mixed Martial Arts, however, tend to create the kind of strength that is useful in multiple disciplines.
If the assignments God has for women can be compared to sports, we need to train in all three areas! Doing the spiritual equivalent of Ju-Jitsu or MMA training, perhaps!
Those assignments again:
Preparing to minister requires a woman to —
Preparing to be a leader requires that a woman —
And preparing to be a mother requires a woman to —
How can we come to know and love people?
How can we have the influence of the Holy Ghost?
This sounds a lot like things men need to do to prepare for their life’s work, as well, don’t you think? It’s true.
DC 25:1 tells us that
…all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom
Both men and women need to spend time coming to know and love the people around us through willing acts of service, engage in fervent daily prayer, and to sincerely, persistently, prayerfully study the scriptures, that our faith in Christ may increase as we put it into practice.
DC 88:125
And above all things clothe yourself with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace.
As we pursue this path, the Lord will use our unique gifts, the gifts he has given us as women, and as men, to bless the lives of others, and to bless our own lives. All things will fall into their proper place.
We can be confident that our gender is the physical expression of the divine nature of our spirits, not some random assignation of cells and organs. As we accept and honour our God-given roles, He will work through us in blessing the people around us and the community in which we live.
President Nelson has taught us that
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!
Joseph Fielding Smith said of covenant women that -
You can speak with authority because the Lord has placed authority upon you
All we need to do is to keep His commandments, no matter how imperfectly, and then place ourselves in His hands.
Some businesses send out emails with opt-out messages in the lead-up to Mother’s Day as they are aware that this time of year can be difficult for some.
Both mothers and motherhood can bless us but also disappoint us, even wound us deeply, leaving painful scars. Sometimes we may be the ones who have inflicted wounds in our own ignorance and pain. But there is wonderful news: we can choose what we focus on, because there is always, always something good to give our attention to.
We get to remember that no matter the capacity of the individual who gave birth to us, no matter our pain associated with the concept of motherhood, the Lord provides positive mothering figures, experiences, and opportunities throughout our lives. The gaps may not be fully filled in this life, but there can be joy in the now despite the pain.
The redeeming, atoning, and sanctifying power of the Lord Jesus Christ can heal all wounds and sorrows, including those of resentment and deep regret.
Look for these mothering figures and mothering opportunities, appreciate them, thank the Lord for them. Tell those who have helped to nurture you of the influence they have had in your life. If that isn’t possible, you may like to consider expressing your feelings in a letter, even if that letter can’t be delivered in mortality.
My mother has physical limitations that mean she is no longer able to go out and serve the people around her as she once did. But she talks on the phone with sisters who need a compassionate listening ear, sews quilts by hand as gifts, and uses her newly gained skill in water colour painting to create gift cards for her Ward’s Relief Society.
Should the time come when Mum is no longer able to do those things, I know she will still be praying daily for those in need. My mother is a wonderful example of consistent diligent service!
Remember the assignments of women Elder Eyring spoke of: Mother, Leader, Ministering Sister. Some women are all three at the same time, it seems, while others may focus on one or two.
At the beginning of my remarks I mentioned women who had a mothering role in my life, who helped me to find the covenant path. I would also like to acknowledge the fine men who, no doubt due to the positive mothering influences in their own lives, influenced me for good.
Their kindness and wisdom is in no way diminished by recognising that the women in my life have guided me in ways that perhaps they could not, and yes, the opposite is also true.
Pesident Nelson declared —
Married or single, you sisters possess distinctive capabilities and special intuition you have received as gifts from God. We brethren cannot duplicate your unique influence.
Satan opposes the calling of women. He constantly tries to dilute, undermine, and twist us away from the path to eternal happiness mapped out for us by our loving Father in Heaven.
The best way to thwart Satan’s plan is to understand our divine callings so that we can better honour the women around us. Those who have been mothering figures in our lives, and those who have not yet received all their assignments but fill a mothering role anyway.
The errand of angels is indeed given to women, and this is a gift that as sisters we claim! To do whatsoever is gentle and human, to cheer and to bless in humanity’s name!
I bear you my witness that we are each beloved children of a loving Father in Heaven. I know that Jesus Christ is our Saviour, and that He longs to help us through every earthly experience.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
💬 I love to hear from readers! email hello at ellanew dot com or message me on Mastodon or Bluesky.
You can follow my RSS feed https://ellanew.com/feed.rss, or sign up to receive posts in your inbox
