Michael
708 posts
@MC2phd
Husband, Father, LDS, Gonzaga graduate, Cyclist, ...Content of Character matters
@Tjonesonthenba He is so scared of Wemby 😂
Sheri Dew is one of my favorite people on earth— She has never married, has never been a “mother”, and she has influenced my life in ways few people have. Her talk “Are We Not All Mothers?” Is well known, but few know what led up to that talk. “ While I was serving in the RS general presidency, we had the opportunity to attend sessions of General Authority training. There was one training session that affected me in a very personal way. The topic for that session was strengthening families, and it was conducted by a General Authority who invited a great deal of audience participation. Whenever someone responded to a question and used the word woman to describe a female’s role in the family, the conducting officer would tell that person to use the word mother instead. The same was true with reference to men, whom he wanted referred to as fathers. At first I didn’t think much of it, but as the morning wore on and the point was repeatedly made that women were mothers and men were fathers, I began to shrink in my chair. I doubt anyone else even thought about it, but I was painfully aware of the fact that I was the only person in the room who was neither a mother nor a father. By the time the meeting ended, I could not get out of that room fast enough. I hurried back to my office, closed the door, and wept. I had served as a ward and stake Relief Society president and as a member of the Relief Society general board. I had never felt that I didn’t belong in the Church—until that morning. And, to make it worse, I felt excluded by prophets, seers, and revelators, which in that moment made me wonder how the Lord felt about me. Unfortunately, I began to stew about the meeting. At first, I was just hurt, but the hurt festered into anger. I could not understand how “the Brethren” could disenfranchise so many members. There was no one I could talk to about how I felt. I couldn’t quite picture telling my bishop that I was upset with a General Authority. So I just stewed. This went on for months, until I began working on the address I was to give at the upcoming general Relief Society meeting. I prayed, pondered, fasted, and went to the temple for weeks and—nothing. No inspiration. No ideas. Nothing. As the days raced by, I began to panic. Finally, I had one clear impression that was also a reprimand: I needed to resolve my feelings about that General Authority. I knew it was true, and in a spirit of humility I got on my knees and asked the Lord to forgive me for the resentment I’d been nurturing. And then I asked the Lord the question I should have asked months before: Did I miss something in that meeting? Two days later I had another clear impression—that I should speak in the general Relief Society meeting about, of all things, motherhood. “Seriously?” I thought. But the impression was clear, so I went to work. I searched the scriptures and went to the temple again and again. In other words, I wrestled. I wrestled to understand the doctrine of motherhood, and I wrestled with my own feelings about that doctrine. And guess what I learned? That General Authority had been right. That EVERY woman, regardless of her life circumstances, has been divinely endowed with the gift and the gifts of motherhood. Eve was named the Mother of All Living before she ever bore a child on this earth. Motherhood is the essence of who women are. It defines our identity, our divine stature, and the unique traits our Father gave us. This led to an address titled “Are We Not All Mothers?” For the first time in my life, I not only understood the doctrine of motherhood but experienced healing about not bearing children in this life. I am not saying that the longing for a family went away, because it did not. But the deep pain I had tried to suppress for years was gone. In response to my repentance and wrestling, the Savior HEALED that pain while teaching me the truth about the eternal nature of women.” #SaintsOnX
