Priesthood Holders and Daughters of Heavenly Father

                Young women all over the world repeat the Young Women theme each week.  Their theme begins:  “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.”  Young women understand that Heavenly Father loves His daughters as much as He loves His sons and has given them important roles to play in life.

                Sister Elaine S. Dalton, recently released Young Women general president, spoke in General Conference about the fact that all girls and women are daughters of God (Ensign, May 2013, pp. 12-14).  She said that every time she hears the words “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him,” she feels the Holy Ghost affirm to her soul that they are true.  “It is not only an affirmation of our identity –- who we are -- but also an acknowledgment of whose we are.  We are daughters of an exalted being!”

                Sister Dalton continued:  “As daughters of God we are each unique and different in our circumstances and experiences.  And yet our part matters – because we matter.  Our daily contributions of nurturing, teaching, and caring for others may seem mundane, diminished, difficult, and demeaning at times, and yet as we remember that first line in the Young Women theme -- `We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us’ – it will make all the difference in our relationships and our responses.”

                Do you know that you are a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father?  What difference does it make in your life to know that you have Divine Parentage?  Sister Dalton’s mother was a widow for 47 years and supported her family by teaching school in the daytime and then giving piano lessons in the evening.  She also cared for her aging father and made sure that her daughter and two sons received college educations – all without complaining about her circumstances.  “She kept her covenants, and because she did, she called down the powers of heaven to bless our home and to send miracles.  She relied on the power of prayer, priesthood, and covenant promises.  She was faithful in her service to the Lord.  Her steadfast devotion steadied us, her children.  She often repeated the scripture:  `I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise’ (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10).  That was her motto, and she knew it was true.  She understood what it meant to be a covenant keeper.  She was never recognized by the world.  She didn’t want that.  She understood who she was and whose she was – a daughter of God.  Indeed, it can be said of our mother that she acted well her part.”

                President Gordon B. Hinckley once said about women and mothers:  “We must never lose sight of the strength of the women….  It is mothers who most directly affect the lives of their children….  It is mothers who nurture them and bring them up in the ways of the Lord.  Their influence is paramount….

                “… They are the creators of life.  They are the nurturers of children.  They are the teachers of young women.  They are our indispensable companions.  They are our co-workers in building the kingdom of God.  How great is their role, how marvelous their contribution” (“Standing Strong and Immovable,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, January 10, 2004, 21, as quoted by Sister Dalton).

                Sister Dalton encouraged mothers, fathers, and leaders of Young Women to instill in the young women “the ennobling and eternal truth that she is a daughter of God.”  She said that “young women need women and men to `stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.’  Never before has this been more important than now.  Young women need mothers and mentors who exemplify virtuous womanhood.  Mothers, your relationship with your daughter is of paramount importance, and so is your example.  How you love and honor her father, his priesthood, and his divine role will be reflected and perhaps amplified in your daughter’s attitudes and behavior.”

                I was recently in the temple and met a young woman whom I taught in Seminary approximately ten years ago.  We spoke for just a few moments before she and her groom were taken into the sealing room to be married for time and all eternity.  That evening I attended her wedding reception.  She was a beautiful bride; her makeup, hair, and dress were all modest and very becoming to her.  As beautiful as she was, I was even more impressed with her inner beauty.  She beamed with moral cleanliness and happiness.  After the dancing started, the bride’s very young nieces and nephew as well as a couple of their friends wanted to dance with the bride.  My young friend gathered all the children together and made a circle with them.  The bride and circle of children went around several times before the children lost interest and wandered away.  I was impressed that she would take the time on her wedding day to bring happiness to several little children.  Her actions bore testimony that she recognized the importance of even the smallest members of her family.  Even though she is not yet a mother and may never have children of her own, she was exercising her divine role as a woman in nurturing and teaching the little children.

                “The Family:  A Proclamation to the World” (Ensign, November 2010, 129) states:  “By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.  Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.  In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners….

                “We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God.”

                Sister Dalton concluded her talk with a “call for the return to virtue. Virtue is the strength and power of daughters of God. What would the world be like if virtue – a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards, including chastity – were reinstated in our society as a most highly prized value?  If immorality, pornography, and abuse decreased, would there be fewer broken marriages, broken lives, and broken hearts?  Would media ennoble and enable rather than objectify and degrade God’s precious daughters?  If all humanity really understood the importance of the statement `We are daughters of our Heavenly Father,’ how would women be regarded and treated?  …

                “In an extremely challenging world, that is what I see young women and women of this Church doing.  They are an influence for good. They are virtuous and exemplary, intelligent and industrious.  They are making a difference because they are different. They are acting well their part….

                “Today as a daughter of God, I stand as a witness that He lives.  Jesus is the Christ.  He is our Redeemer.  It is through His infinite atoning sacrifice that I will one day return to live with Him – proven, pure, and sealing in an eternal family.  I shall ever praise Him for the privilege of being a woman, a wife, and a mother….”

                I too am grateful for the role given to me by God.  I am grateful to be a righteous woman in these latter days.  I am grateful for the opportunity to be a mother and grandmother.  I am grateful for the many opportunities I have enjoyed in teaching the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ to many young men and young women.  I know that I am a daughter of God, and I rejoice in my role of being a woman.

War on Women

                    The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns the worth of women and girls.  Since women comprise approximately fifty percent of registered voters, both political parties are anxious to obtain the vote of women.  I am concerned that my sisters will be deceived by the Democrat lies and re-elect the worst President who has ever sat in the Oval Office.  Women must be careful and listen to the truth because there truly is a war on women, but it is not the one being presented by our lame-stream media.

I believe that there is a war on women, but it is being waged by liberals/progressives.  A good example of this war comes from the White House itself in the salaries of its employees.  If Barack Obama thinks so highly of women, why do the female employees in the White House make less money than their male colleagues?

                    "According to the 2011 annual report on White House staff, female employees earned a median annual salary of $60,000, which was about 18 percent less than the median salary for male employees ($71,000).

            Ken Blackwell and Bob Morrison wrote an article entitled "Mr. Obama's Own War on Women".  The article states:  There's a real war on women, however.  And it's been going on for decades.  Our friend Steven Mosher first discovered this war on women in China three decades ago. Steven was a Stanford University Ph.D. student doing graduate research in rural China.  He was then not a Christian believer, and he was even mildly pro-choice.  What he discovered was that Chinese women got no choice.  If they had a second child - an `illegal' child - these women could be rounded up, thrown in the back of a two-ton truck, and carted off to the local infirmary.  There, they could even be held down, their children forcibly aborted.  Many of these unfortunate women were in their last trimester of pregnancy."

                    The authors explained that if the child survived the abortion attempt, the government workers would simply drown the baby.  "With such brutal policies in effect limiting Chinese couples to only one child, the rural Chinese felt further pressure to make sure that the child was a boy.  That's because sons are the only social `safety net' for hundreds of millions of Chinese."

                    The authors continued their article by explaining that President Obama is not being honest when he claims that the Republicans are conducting a war on women.  In fact, "he is the one who made sure that China's monstrous population effort would be fully supported by the U.N. Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA).  Two days after assuming power, President Obama revoked the Reagan-era Mexico City Policy of the previous administration.  He forces us to fund international Planned Barrenhood.

                    "That means that the worldwide war on baby girls will go forward, with U.S. taxpayers footing part of the bill….

                    "Hundreds of millions of baby girls have been killed…."

                    The killing of baby girls before birth or as infants is not the only war on women that leftists are supporting.  Liberals/progressive apparently turn a blind eye to the Muslim treatment of women.  Terry Davidson wrote an article entitled "Book tells Muslim men howto beat and control their wives".   This article discusses a 160-page book that appears to be flying off the shelves of bookstores.  "In the book's opening pages, it is written that `it might be necessary to restrain her with strength or even to threaten her" but later pages advise `the husband should treat the wife with kindness and love, even if she tends to be stupid and slow sometimes."  Other pages contain the rights of the husband, which include controlling when and if the wife can leave the house and that the wife "must `fulfil his desires'".  It is quite obvious to me that Muslim men are guilty of waging a war on their women and girls, and we are allowing them to do so.

                    Mary Nicholas wrote an article entitled "Women as Property of the State".   This article gives a short history of the treatment of women under communism.  "History is illustrative here.  Karl Marx had a female slave who was a child of 8, eventually using her as his mistress.  Uncle Joe's wife committed suicide, although there are mysteries surrounding that death, as the gun was found on one side of the bed and she was shot on the opposite side of the head….

                    "Disconcerting evidence of the left's view of women is available from the beginning of the Bolshevik revolution.  You can find the facts in the 1918 edition of the New York Times - so it must be true.  `Soviets Make Girls Property of the State.'  Correct.  That was the actual headline.  In certain Bolshevist Soviets, Russian `maidens,' when they reached the age of 18, were compelled to register at a government `Bureau of Free Love' (Vladimir Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies).  The Bolsheviks nationalized women - just like nationalizing GM and Chrysler.  They were treated as objects - commodities of the state.

                    "Under the decree, a woman `had the right to choose from among men between 19 and 50 a cohabitant husband.'  The consent of the man was not necessary, the man chosen having no right to make any protest."

                    In yet another article about how the leftist principles are waging war on women, Michael S. Iachetta wrote "Cause of Death:  No Father."  "Most children born to American women under thirty are now born out of wedlock, even though studies show that their children are more likely to experience poverty and other negative consequences as a result.  Studies also indicate that children raised in non-traditional homes are more likely to commit crimes and suffer abuse than children raised in traditional homes.  A series of incidents over the last few weeks illustrate this sad fact, and suggest that such children may also be more vulnerable to violence outside the home."

                    After describing several instances of how having no father in the home hurt both girls and boys, the author continued, "Many children who grow up in non-traditional homes will not suffer violence, and children who grow up in non-traditional homes are not the only ones who commit violent crimes.  Yet non-traditional home life increases the likelihood that children will suffer and inflict crimes like these, and a caring society must do everything it can to restrain and protect them.

                    "It is unlikely, though, that society will ever be able to replace the essential role of men as fathers who protect, love, and discipline their children.  Our only hope lies in returning to the norm of intact, traditional homes…."

                    The real war on women begins in the womb when baby girls - and boys - are aborted.  It continues when governments allow men to abuse girls and women, force women and/or girls into "legal" prostitution, or follow policies that destroy families.  All of these areas of "war" are exactly opposite the desires of God for his daughters.

                    The Young Women's theme begins, "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us and we love Him."  Heavenly Father truly does love His daughters, and wise daughters love him.  Heavenly Father knows and values each of His children - girls and boys, men and women.  He has a plan for each of His children, and that plan includes coming to earth to obtain a body and to learn to choose good over evil.  We honor our Heavenly Father when we make good choices and choose to keep His commandments. 

                    We as women and girls must acknowledge our relationship to Heavenly Father and our identity as His daughters.  Relief Society, like Young Women's, helps us to remember our divine heritage.

                    The Prophet Joseph Smith told the Relief Society sisters on April 28, 1842:  "You are now placed in a situation in which you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in [you]….  If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates."

                    Sister Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president, said:  "As daughters of God, you are preparing for eternal designations, and each of you has a female identity, nature, and responsibility.  The success of families, communities, this Church, and the precious plan of salvation is dependent on your faithfulness.  … [Our Heavenly Father] intended Relief Society to help build His people and prepare them for the blessings of the temple.  He established [Relief Society] to align His daughters with His work and to enlist their help in building His kingdom and strengthening the homes of Zion."

                    Heavenly Father gave specific work to His daughters to help build His kingdom.  In addition, He has given us the necessary spiritual gifts to help us accomplish our specific responsibilities.  As members of Relief Society, we receive many opportunities to use these spiritual gifts as we strive to strengthen families, help those in need, and learn how to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.

                    President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, spoke of discipleship:  "By patiently walking in the path of discipleship, we demonstrate to ourselves the measure of our faith and our willingness to accept God's will rather than ours."

                    Relief Society has a power to serve others and to help individuals increase in faith.  Zina D. H. Young, third Relief Society general president, recognized this power and promised the sisters in 1893, "If you will dig in the depths of your own hearts you will find, with the aid of the Spirit of the Lord, the pearl of great price, the testimony of this work."

                    We are daughters of God, and He has entrusted us with great responsibilities.  It is vital that we remember that we are His daughters and do our best to live as He would have us live.  As we strive to fulfill our divinely delegated responsibilities, we will help to build God's kingdom here on earth and become worthy to return to His presence to live with Him for eternity.

                    We as girls and women can put an end to the "war on women" when we refuse to be treated as "door mats" and prostitutes.  The demands for employer/government paid birth control are simply a "blind" to hide the desire for more and more open and free sex in order to further destroy our society.  Heavenly Father desires his daughters to be loved and protected by men who love them enough to marry them and provide for them.  Heavenly Father's plan for His sons and daughters is for them to be born to parents who love each other and who are legally married before the pregnancy takes place.  When we understand the value that God places on His daughters, we will gain the necessary self-esteem to demand to be treated as daughters of God should be treated.  We are daughters of a Heavenly King and deserve to be treated with love and respect.  We are daughters of Heavenly Father who loves us, and we love Him!