A Few Thoughts on Womanhood

One of my favorite parts of Easter this year was the studying I did throughout the week leading up to Easter Sunday. I used the study guide from The Small Seed, and while I didn't do everything it included, I loved their guidance on scriptures to read for each day.

While I was reading about Christ's trials and being condemned by Pilate, Matthew 27:19 jumped out at me. I had never noticed this scripture before, but Pilate's wife sent to him before he condemned Christ, and said "Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him."

Whoa.

I don't think it's a coincidence that a woman tried to stop Christ's death sentence, that some of Christ's last words were honoring his mother, that Christ first appeared to Mary after he was resurrected, or that it was through women that He first spread the good news that He lives.

I think Christ is the ultimate example of honoring womanhood, both for women and men to follow.

I've also loved learning about womanhood from our Prophet, President Nelson. His talk, A Plea to My Sisters, is one of my favorites. He clearly shows the honor he has for women, and his words empower, strengthen, and encourage me to be the strong woman my Heavenly Father is molding me to be.

"We need your strength, your conversion, your conviction, your ability to lead, your wisdom, and your voices." 

"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."

"So today I plead with my sisters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to step forward! Take your rightful and needful place in your home, in your community, and in the kingdom of God—more than you ever have before. I plead with you to fulfill President Kimball’s prophecy. And I promise you in the name of Jesus Christ that as you do so, the Holy Ghost will magnify your influence in an unprecedented way!

On a related note, here are some of the things I've been studying about women in the gospel. I have learned SO much!

• If you haven't seen this yet, the discourses from At the Pulpit are all online for free, and I have learned so much from them! 
• This article...SO. SO. SO. GOOD. That's all I can Say. "Crowned in Charity and Power," provided by Q.Noor 
• This blog about women in the scriptures! 

Compliments

I received two compliments from strangers last week that really touched me. I think those are often the most sincere of compliments, when someone goes out of their way to tell you something when they don't even know you. 

A few weeks ago in church, a speaker gave an analogy about an orange. He said that when you squeeze an orange, you expect orange juice to come out of it, not apple juice or watermelon juice. He then said something to the extent that when you squeeze, you get what is put into the fruit. He then likened this analogy to Laman, Lemual, and Nephi. When trials came for them, what they put in is what they got out. Laman and Lemual were complainers, so when trials came, they naturally complained about it. Nephi sought the Lord in his life and strove to follow Him, so when trials came, he naturally sought direction from God and submitted to His will.

Yesterday, I was pondering what I can be doing to be a better person. I felt prompted that I should seek to be more careful about what I put in--into myself and into others. If I put in kind words, compliments, faith, and testimony, that is what will come out when trials come.

I was able to attend Women's Conference last week, and one of my favorite talks was titled "Speak Up and Speak Out," by Sister Pearce, based on a talk from President Nelson. She quoted President Nelson:

"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."

I love this quote and think it applies for both men and women: as we "Speak Up and Speak Out," we will put in truth, confidence, kindness, power, and charity. When trials come, we will have God's help and know how to act and know what to say. As we follow Him, He will guide us and strengthen us.  

Taking a stand against Carl's Jr.

This semester, my favorite class was called Media, Family, and Human Development. I loved it because it taught me so much about the media--the good, the bad, the ugly. I feel so much more aware of the presence of the media in my life, and feel a strong sense to do my part in monitoring it and trying to make the world a little better through it.

I try to do this already with this blog and other social media posts by sharing goodness. But our final assignment for the class was actually to write a letter to anyone we wanted, asking for some sort of change. Most of my class (~80 people) actually decided to gang up on Carl's Jr., who sexualize women in their advertising campaign. We learned in class that companies basically have to take a second look or make a change when they receive so many complaints about their advertising.

This assignment made me want to be more active in responding to the media, because each voice can actually help make a difference. I've realized that we don't have to just avoid or ignore negative media, we can actively take a stand against it to make the world a better place. Not only that, we can thank media influencers who produce positive, inspiring, and uplifting media. We can safeguard and arm our families as we do so.

13th Article of Faith

Angels

When I was little, my favorite bed-time song my mom sang to me was called "Angel Lullaby." I still vividly remember how safe it made me feel as I drifted off to sleep.

In my New Testament class this week, a quote from Elder Holland was given about angels--about how we need to talk about angels and bear testimony of them. This struck me because I recently was able to have a very sacred experience where I felt the presence of a specific angel, my sweet, stillborn niece, baby Jane. I've also had other experiences where I've felt a specific angel helping me or comforting me and I've definitely seen angels in people around me.

Elder Holland has given amazing talks about angels, and I want to add my testimony to His that I know that angels exist, and that they surround us, helping us more than we realize. They are Divine Signatures from God.

"From the beginning down through the dispensations, God has used angels as His emissaries in conveying love and concern for His children."

"Usually such beings are not seen. Sometimes they are. But seen or unseen they are always near." 

 "I testify  of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face...the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal." 

"May we all believe more readily in, and have more gratitude for, the Lord's promise as contained in one of President Monson's favorite scriptures: 'I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left,..my Spirit shall be in your [heart], and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.' 

In the process of praying for those angels to attend us, may we all try to be a little more angelic ourselves--with a kind word, a strong arm, a declaration of faith and 'the covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted.' Perhaps then we can be emissaries sent from God." 

Elder Holland, "The Ministry of Angels," 2008

#Hallelujah

Happy Easter, everyone!

I love the video The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made this year. It is a great reminder to me of the love our Savior has for us, and the miraculous gift of the atonement available to all of us. "Jesus Christ died for us, and lived again. Follow Him and find new life. Discover how." 

I am so grateful for my Savior. 

Hallelujah.

Feminism

I never really liked saying I was a feminist, because I've always felt like that word implies extreme feminism. But really, I'm a supporter of women and #fairnessforall.

A few weeks ago, I watched a video in one of my classes that really changed my perspective and was a Divine Signature of direction for my life. It was called Miss Representation, and is a documentary about sexism in the media and America. 

This movie made me want to be more active and involved in my community, family, and church. It just made me want to be a better, stronger, smarter woman! It made me want to teach others about the sexism in American media and start a movement to change the world! Such a great movie. (Warning: we watched it edited. There is pretty extreme content in it)

Here are some of my notes from the movie: 

• 65% of women and girls have eating disorders, and depression doubled from 2000-2010
• Women spend more money on makeup than on their entire education. 
• The media makes girls learn to see themselves as objects, making them more likely to be depressed and have lower GPAs, self-worth, political efficacy, and cognitive abilities
• While women are 50% of the US, only 17% of Congress are women
• There are 34 female governors compared to 2300 male governors
• Iraq, Cuba, and Afghanistan have more women in politics than the US does
• There are hardly ever girl protagonists, and even chick-flicks revolve around men's lives. It's always about getting a man 
• When women are shown as action heroes, they are still objectified and for male viewers
• If female leaders are shown, they sacrificed their family and life to get there
• 70% of all characters on TV are men
• TV was part of re-domestication (getting women back in the home) after WWII when women had taken over the jobs (Think I Love Lucy)
• There is a media gender bias. In news articles, journalists introduce male quotes as "stated" and female quotes as "complained" or another emotional adjective. Women are 2x more likely to be described as emotional
• Female newscasters are always objectified! Katy Couric tried to change this by being modest, and all of her reviews were about her appearance 
• Congress is comprised of the fewest amount of women in 30 years 
• In G rated movies, the women are just as likely to be wearing as revealing clothing as shown in R rated movies

So here is what I've gotten out of this. I need to be engaged in my community and church. I need to be a strong, confident, educated woman to be an example to those around me. I need to be a critical viewer of the media and the gender bias so that I can teach my future children to do the same. I need to be more involved in politics. Lastly, I need to share this information with others (hence the blog), because informing is the first step to fix all of these problems. 

Is Harry Potter the Solution to all Your Problems?

I originally wrote this post for Bookroo, and it looks way better there :) Check it out! 

I’m currently reading the Harry Potter series...for the first time. I know, I know--what took me so long?!

Coincidentally, in one of my Human Development classes I recently read a research study called “Putting Harry Potter on the Bench” by Colman Noctor. It proposed something that intrigued me: Harry Potter is the solution to our problems.

Now that sounds a little funny.

The study is from a clinical psychotherapy treatment center where they use Therapeutic Story Time. Early on, the director was having trouble connecting to the youth. But it was all changed for the better when the he brought in Harry Potter. Suddenly, the youth opened up about problems they had never discussed before. They talked about their biggest fears and made significant, life-changing goals because they were using Harry Potter to describe their situations and help them overcome their problems. Here are some examples of how the youth applied Harry Potter:

• The Patronus Charm: This taught the youth to think of the happiest thought they have when they are feeling depressed or overcome by sadness (a.k.a., the dementors).
• The Mirror of Erised: The youth talked about what their hopes and dreams are. As the weeks continued and they revisited this topic, their goals helped them improve and work through their problems.
• The Boggarts: In a group discussion, everyone took a turn saying what the boggart would form if they were in front of it. With this prompt, they began sharing their greatest fears. But instead of focusing on the problem, they would say, like in Harry Potter, how to “solve” the problem. Just as Harry learned to use humor to cope with his greatest fear, the teenagers verbalized how they could similarly implement humor to help them cope with their greatest fears.
• Lord Voldemort: Everyone has bad things in their lives they have to defeat. The youth discussed how these hardships are part of us, but overcoming them makes us stronger.

This study amazed me. It reminded me of the power of books. Now, Harry Potter most likely won’t help you through all of your problems, but other books can. Pride and Prejudice can help you learn to not judge others. Les Miserables can inspire you to become a better person, like Jean Valjean. The books you read are always teaching you something.

Here’s a personal example. I couldn’t say my R’s until second grade. I vividly remember reading Wodney Wat (a book we sent out a few months ago in our picture book boxes), and how it made me not to feel alone--that there were others who struggled just as I did.

Now, I’m not saying all that all books teach healthy lessons. We need to be careful about what books we read because they all impact us.

So what are your children learning from their books? Maybe they’re learning knowledge, such as numbers, colors, and animals. Or perhaps they’re learning manners and kindness when they read about friendship and respect. Have they learned how to stand up to bullies from Harry standing up to Malfoy?

Books are powerful. Their messages help us cope with problems and challenge us to be better.

What is your favorite book, and how has it helped you? What about your child’s favorite book?