My Take on Women and the Priesthood

Let me start out with a story. When I was in the 8^th grade I got into an argument with one of my male friends because he had indicated that a girl could never make the football team, even if they were allowed to try out. Although his statement in my case was obviously true, I proceeded to send around a petition so that I would be able to try out for the team and had all my classmates sign it. I didn’t even want to play football. It just bothered me that he would tell me I’m not capable of doing something because of my gender. I suppose I’ve always been a bit of a feminist.

In light of my little petition, a few of my girlfriends and I were talking and it just so happened that I was the only “Mormon” in the bunch. Seemingly out of nowhere one of my best friends said to me, “I just don’t understand it. How can YOU belong to a church that oppresses women?” 

I sputtered. Honestly, I was blown away. Never in my 14 years of life had it crossed my mind that I was oppressed. “What?” I stammered out. “What do you mean?” 

“You can’t hold the priesthood.” Another friend said. 

Clearly, they had all talked about this beforehand. I was completely shocked by the question and while I don’t remember what I said exactly, I know it wasn’t a full or coherent answer to their sincere inquiry. 

In light of the recent movement of some women in the church petitioning to hold the priesthood, my friends’ questions resurfaced in my mind. Now, as an adult woman, I asked myself some hard questions and I’ve come up with the same answer I had back then, and I’d like to take the chance to answer it a little more fully than I did that day in the 8^th grade. 

There is no gender inequality in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, either doctrinally or in practice.  Never have I been made to feel inadequate or secondary in purpose or potential to my male counterparts. On the contrary, I have always been empowered, inspired, and motivated by leaders of the church, both male and female, to reach a little higher, seek an education, and achieve my full potential. 

The church is home to the largest and most successful women’s organization in the world, The Relief Society, and women and Mothers in the church are needed, honored, involved and respected. 

But women still can’t hold the priesthood. 

So why doesn’t that bother me even a little bit? Let me see if I can explain it. In the words of Elder Neil L. Andersen, one of the twelve apostles, “We sometimes overly associate the power of the priesthood with men in the Church. The priesthood is the power and authority of God given for the salvation and blessing of all—men, women, and children. A man may open the drapes so the warm sunlight comes into the room, but the man does not own the sun or the light or the warmth it brings. The blessings of the priesthood are infinitely greater than the one who is asked to administer the gift.”

I don’t need to hold the Priesthood to reach my full potential; neither do I need to hold the Priesthood in order to be blessed by it every day and every minute of my life.  I may be the one to carry our children into this world, but Bryce is still their father and is blessed by them and charged with the responsibility to help raise and protect them. Similarly, Bryce may be the one who brings the Priesthood into our home, but I have an equal opportunity to be blessed by that power as well as an equal responsibility to live up to the covenants and promises I have made. 

 

Furthermore, women do not need to be married or have a “Priesthood holder” in the home in order to be blessed by the power of the Priesthood. “In the worldwide leadership training Strengthening the Family and the Church through the Priesthood, we were taught that sisters who don’t have priesthood holders in their homes need never feel alone. They are blessed and strengthened through the ordinances they have received and the covenants they keep.” –Carole M Stephens, 1^st counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency. 

Sister Sheri L. Dew, who served as a counselor in the general Relief Society presidency, put it this way, “Sisters, some will try to persuade you that because you are not ordained to the priesthood, you have been shortchanged. They are simply wrong, and they do not understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. The blessings of the priesthood are available to every righteous man and woman. We may all receive the Holy Ghost, obtain personal revelation, and be endowed in the temple, from which we emerge ‘armed’ with power. The power of the priesthood heals, protects, and inoculates all of the righteous against the powers of darkness. Most significantly, the fullness of the priesthood contained in the highest ordinances of the house of the Lord can be received only by a man and woman together.”

I echo Sister Dew’s sentiments. I have personally been blessed beyond measure by the Priesthood power throughout my life. I am a witness of its power to heal, its ability to inspire, and its sure protection. I cannot imagine my life without the Priesthood, and there is no need for me to hold it in order to receive any of its blessings.  

In writing my thoughts down, it is not my intention to criticize or convert anyone. But I am a women in the LDS church, and I wanted my voice to be heard.

So.

So. The thing is, I haven't blogged on this little family blog of mine in almost a y e a r. It makes me so sad to look at this last post and realize all the things that I've missed out on documenting. So many sweet and precious moments. I spend so much time on the internet for Pretty Providence, I finally decided that it's a tiny bit ridiculous that I can't take a little time each week to keep a record of my little family, the most important thing in my life, other than the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I enlisted Sar to help me give the blog a little makeover, so that it was a space I could be proud of and excited about. Holy cow, is she talented or what? It only took her like a day, too. 

My goal is to blog at least once a week. I also might try to catch up on a few things I've missed here at first like, um... we had a daughter!! Ha. She is all my hopes and dreams, by the way. 

I will mainly be blogging about my family (for posterity, you know) but also about my thoughts, hopes, dreams, inspirations, and you know.. whatever I want, haha. 

Basically what I'm trying to get at is, I'm back. 

If you'd like to follow along, I'd love to have you! If not, no big deal, I love this little internet corner of mine, even if only my mama reads it. 

xoxo, 

Jess

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Fun News

Surprise! I have a new blog. Its called Pretty Providence.

My friend Sarah & I started this blog to help motivate us to achieve our financial goals. It has been so much fun so far! We would really love your support, input & ideas. We hope that this blog will be able to help and motivate others (you perhaps?) as well.

If you have a minute stop by & check it out!

Love you all.

Jessica

Day 24

Happy Thanksgiving!! We are truly so blessed. I am grateful for all my many blessings especially today for the gift of love. What a beautiful thing, the human capacity to love. However, Nothing can compare to Gods love.

Day 12

Today I am thankful for trials. I have had an extremely blessed and comparatively easy life. I have always felt a great weight of responsibility to help others as a result. However, these past few months have been really difficult. It is interesting that the two major trials in my life these past few months are also blessings and ones that we hoped & prayed for, starting with a pre-term baby who won't sleep at all unless you are holding him and even then woke up 5+ times a night and ending with a move away from family & everything familiar. I will spare you all the details of our trials, but suffice it to say that so many days these passed few months I have felt completely drained. Multiple times I have asked myself "can I do this?" I'm so grateful for my Savior. I know that although my trials may be small compared to some, they are not unimportant to him. I know that he loves me and that he knows what I am going through. I know that because of the atonement I am able to be more than I am on my own. He is everything.

Day 10

I am grateful for books. I love them so much. I have an insane fear that one day in the future kids will stop reading for enjoyment all together...and so we build our library. I will do anything neccesary to instill in my child (and future children) a love of reading. Starting with reading to them all the time, but if neccessary extending all the way to bribery and coercing. I think that one of the reasons I am so passionate about reading is that all of the books I have read have helped to shape me into the person I am today. As a young teenager I learned to feel great empathy so many others of the human race as I explored the world through the eyes of novels. I am so grateful that just because I don't have resources to travel the world doesn't mean I have to be ignorant of it. What a blessing it is to occasionally be transported away from this world as I lose myself in a great fantasy, ones that continue to push boundaries of creativity and inspire deep thoughts on religion, conscience & accountability. So thankful today for the written word.

Day 6

I am thankful for my body. Pregnancy & childbirth have completely changed the way I feel about and look at my body. Even though I am still not back to where I was before getting pregnant, I don't feel bitter at myself. I don't feel like less of a person. I don't wish I had someone else's body. Although I do have my insecure moments (I am still a woman after all), overall I feel much more gratitude for my body. The things it can do are incredible. My body was able to single handedly nurture Luke in the womb, deliver him to this earth, feed him for his first four months of life, run on little to no sleep & still entice my loving husband :). As I have started to work out again I appreciate the feeling of being "sore" and working to strengthen this body, not to look just like somebody else, but to reach my fullest potential and to help my body perform all the daunting tasks the future may hold for us.

I Eat Fruit Flavored Ice Cream & Pretend It is Healthy...

True story...

People, can you believe we are already in week 34? Because it is really starting to freak me out a little!

Would you like to see a picture of the ever expanding tummy? Here is a pic of me on Sunday at the end of week 33:

I look alot bigger in real life. Honest. I think that is because in real life I slouch alot, which really accentuates the tummy area, but in photos you usually stand up strait. Next time I will try to remember to slouch, so you can get the true effect of how I really look most of the time.

I can't believe how soon the little man is going to be here! It is getting so close. I think that one of the phrases I say most commonly these days is, "I just thought i'd feel more ready." In response everyone always says you can't really ever be ready. This is true, but I thought that I would FEEL ready, even if I wasn't really, & I don't. Well today one of my co-workers gave me this paper & on it it has the "Are you ready to be a mother? Test."

Here are a few of the tests for your reading pleasure. My favorite was the feeding test.

Mess Test: Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Now rub your hands in the wet flower bed and then rub on the walls. Cover the stains with crayon. Place a fish stick behind the couch & leave it there all summer.

Toy Test: Obtain a 55 gallon drum of LEGOs. Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. If you step on one, do not scream, you will wake your child up at night.

Grocery Store Test: Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop at the grocery store. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.

Feeding Test: Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a stout cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal into the mouth of the jug, while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.

Night Test: Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with eight to 12 pounds of sand. Soak it thoroughly in water. At 8pm begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9pm. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10pm. Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these until 4am. Set alarm for 5 am. Get up and make breakfast. Keep this up for five years. Look cheerful.

Final Assignment: Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet training, and child's table manners. Emphasize to them that they should never allow their children to run wild. Enjoy this experience. It will be the last time you will have all the answers.

I loved this test, mostly because it made me realize that I really won't ever feel ready. I am far to much of a neat freak/control freak/selfish person to ever be ready for this task, but I'm doing it anyway. Because I know it's right. Because I have faith in God's plan. Because I'm not alone in this thing. Because I already love this little guy so much, he is my buddy, & if he stopped kicking or something happened to him I don't know how I'd ever be okay again.

So let's get ready to rock & roll people! Because he's only got 6 weeks left to cook in there, give or take :).

Remembering A Friend

Bo,

I can still remember the first time I met you. We were coming over to your house on a Sunday for dessert. You & John were in the basement watching the living scriptures videos. You guys were teaching us who the characters were "that guy is Lamoni..." I was five years old.

After that I can remember playing tag in your front yard & a million other night games.

I particularly remember playing a game where we were all animals, & we picked which animals we were going to be off of Johns national geographics. We played around the huge weight set in your basement, & an imaginary stream was the dividing line. We were always a team. Jessica & Bo vs. Kelsey & John. I like to think we always won, but I don't really remember that part.

I remember the future missionary tag you always wore to church.

I can remember staying up all night on New Years Eve & eating tons of junk & rewinding "A Goofy Movie" a million times to dance to that weird song they play before the movie.

I can remember laughing our heads off at group piano lessons because John kept farting.

I remember how much better you were at piano than I was.

Later I remember you guys practicing the piano a ton in exchange for something from your parents. I think it was dirt bikes?

I remember digging a sand castle at Uba lake.

I remember moving away to Texas & moving back home & nothing had really changed.

I remember playing truth or dare & you always picked dare.

I remember when all my friends got into boys & everyone was jealous because we were friends with you & John. I remember you felt more like brothers.

I remember hiking Mt. Timpanogus.

I remember a double date to temple square where John made you go back up to your dates door after we dropped her off because you gave her a handshake goodnight :).

I remember you winning the school election.

I remember going boating.

I remember as we got older after family home evening with our families the four of us would go downstairs and talk about life.

I remember lots of fun times swimming.

I remember you always making everyone laugh.

I can remember how much you loved your family & how you lit up when you talked about John & Kayla, or Bridger, or your parents.

I don't remember you complaining or ever being negative. I don't remember you ever saying anything bad about anyone else.

You were always a good example to those around you. I am proud to be your friend.

I love you Bo. I know that I have no idea what you have been through these last few years, but I find peace in knowing you are out of pain now & again with our Savior who you love so much.

We will all miss you.

Love, Jess

2/3 Down! I can't believe I'm in my 3rd Trimester?!

Wow... This pregnancy has gone by so fast for me so far. I really can't believe I have less than 13 weeks left before the little guy is due! I feel like I have so much to do... I think I also thought that i'd be more mentally prepared to be a mother by now, but i'm still freaking out a little, is this normal??

That being said, I am getting more & more excited to meet our little guy, & I feel so connected to him already. I feel like we are buddies, & alot of times when I am having a particularly rough moment he will kick at me & it makes me smile my head off. This pregnancy thing really is miraculous, & I feel so blessed to be able to get pregnant & to have things going so smoothly so far.

I have a feeling this 3rd trimester will be the roughest for me. Here is why... I have NOT been sleeping well at all. Ask me how well I do without sleep?! All I have to say is, poor Bryce. It's a good thing he is like the most patient man ever. & I suppose I need to get used to not sleeping anyway!

My other recent & notable pregnancy change is major back pain. I think it is from sitting in a chair all day, or maybe I just seriously pulled something?! Who knows.

I have heard that both these symptoms get worse as you get bigger (which makes sense) so it will be an interesting ride! What a small price to pay though for this little guy. Honestly, I have had it really easy so far & I feel like it's only fair for me to be uncomfortable for 3 months strait :). Anything as long as he is a healthy boy.

Here is a picture of me last night at 27 weeks:

A Getaway & Downhill From Here!

Bryce is so sweet, we all know this by now, but he is usually not a big planner. As in, he hates planning anything & always wants me to make those types of decisions. Well he completely outdid himself this last weekend & suprised me with a little weekend getaway to Salt Lake :) he planned the whole thing himself & it was SUCH an amazing weekend for me. It included but was not limited to: eating at fabulous places that we had never tried before, my favorite used bookstore, lots of shopping, him continuously beating me at checkers, a movie, a walk in a park, church at a charming old chapel in Salt Lake, brunch at the Grand America & loving eachother & enjoying just being together. Here are some pictures if you want to see!

Also, in other news, I am MORE than halfway done with this pregnancy!!! Can you believe it? To celebrate, here is a picture of me at the halfway mark!

Boy or Girl?!?

So this is the question on everybody's minds! What will be the gender of our little tyke? We get to find out tomorrow :D:D!!!

In celebration I thought I would post some pictures of Bryce & I during our "early years" these are mostly for my Grandma K, who doesn't believe there could be a cuter baby than I was...enter Bryce.





Now here are a few of me :)







What do you guys think, who is cuter?! Just kidding, haha.

But seriously, I think that everyone should vote on here (just for fun) whether you think the little one will be a boy or a girl, and then whoever comments first will get the first texts or emails or whatever spilling the news!

Let's do this thing.

Yes, I made this shirt.

& I did it for $1.50 + one of Bryce's old t-shirts.

Can I first say how much I LOVE sewing? It's so easy & it is seriously a stress reliever for me. I love the feeling of creating something all on my own.

I need to give 2 shout outs quickly:

1: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to my amazing in-laws Mitch & Colleen Bailey. It is thanks to them that I have my sewing machine, & boy is she a beaut. They gave me the machine as a graduation gift, (wow, I know!) & I don't think I will ever sew a single thing without thinking of them, & feeling so blessed to have such awesome family!

2: THANK YOU sisters 4! (Check them out on my sidebar) For the awesome idea! I love your blog you totally inspire me! (Especailly you Soph!!) Keep up the posts I want to learn EVERYTHING!

So how i did it was I took a plain white t-shirt, and I cut out the neckline how I wanted it, & cut them cuff off the sleeves. Then for a pattern I took a t-shirt of mine that fit me nicely & laid it on top of my t-shirt, then i cut around it leaving about a half inch extra for the hem. Then I sewed up the sides. After that I cut about a million double layered circles of various sizes out of one of Bryce's old t-shirts. Then I pinned them on my shirt where I wanted them. After that I sewed all the circles on using a med. sized zig zag. (This part took forever.) I loved this project, so easy! (& time consuming I will admit, but still easy!) I got so many compliments when I wore it to work & I loved saying, "oh this? I made this!"

Now go make yours!!

Recovery... the rest.

Day 7: Wednesday was going to be my first day all alone, but I got a wonderful surprise Tuesday night when Sarah called to see if she could come and help me. I thought it was SO sweet of her to come all the way from Provo, thats a long drive. It was so nice to have her with me for a couple hours, she kept offering to help and do things for me but I just wanted to talk to whole time haha. It was really nice though since we don't see eachother enough as it is! It turned out to be sooo good that she came because after she left I was bored to tears! By the time Bryce got home I decided I would fall to peices if I had to stay another day in bed. We went on a little walk outside which felt nice, just to be somewhere else. I called my dad- I don't even remember why- but I had to ask him something and he was asking how my recovery was going and I just like started bawling haha. It is depressing because after a week you expect to feel better and you don't! He just teased me and stuff about having a weeklong vacation and then he had to go, but then he called me back a few minutes later with a plan for me to come visit "the palace of fun" aka: my parents house.

Day 8: Thursday. So Kelsey came and picked me up early that morning because I still couldn't drive yet and I spent the whole day with her at my parents. It was so nice to be somewhere "new" and do fun things. My parents gave her money and we went to cafe rio (tortilla soup for me) and later we went and got snow cones! We also watched 2 awesome girl movies namely: Newsies & John Tucker Must Die. It was so fun to spend a day with her. Bryce picked me up on his way home from work and took me to zupas to get soup. I was so spoiled.

Day 9: Friday. I slept in so late on Friday. When I woke up it was like 11, but I had nothing to do, so I just decided I was going back to work no matter what, but first I called Bryce and asked permission haha. Once I convinced him I just called Heather and told her I was coming in no matter what! Lol. It turned out to be really nice because work was busy and so it distracted me from the pain that I was feeling. After work Bryce and I ate whatever we could find at home, and then he took me to see Karate Kid!!! It was so nice and distracting and I really, really loved it! (Aside from the 12 year old romance...but whatever!)

Day 10: On Saturday things started turning around. I spent most of the day bustling around making father's day cupcakes to take to our respective houses the next day. Then we watched Back to the Future 1. After that I showered and got completely ready for the first time since my surgery lol. It took forever and I was exhausted after. Then we headed up to Park City and on the way we stopped at Noodles so I could have something yummy to eat! (Do you love how my days started revolving around eating real food?) It was so much fun to be able to hang out with family. Lizzie made me laugh so hard talking about Provo, Laur and Jeff came over later and Chris and Mike were even in town, so we all just hung out and talked and it was so nice.

Day 11: Fathers day! We were so lucky to get to see both of our wonderful fathers and celebrate with them. We really have been so blessed with such amazing role models and friends in our dads.

Day 12: Monday was my first full day back at work and it was so nice to be back! I just do better when I am busy and distracted! But I started feeling alot better on Monday and was able to start eating more stuff slowly but surely!

Day 13: It was so nice out that night!! Me and Bryce went on a walk for like an hour which made me realize how out of shape it can make you to do NOTHING for just 2 weeks. I had a side ache like within minutes. I'm so excited to get back into working out next week! But it was so nice to just spend the night together outside. I just feel so blessed. I have the best husband in the universe, we are best friends and we just have SO much fun together doing nothing. I love it. Such a good night.

Day 14: Wednesday was my first day when I didn't take a single pill! It felt so good. I didn't even realize it until I yawned (which still really hurts haha) and thought about when I could take meds next! I was so excited I decided to hold out for the rest of the day! Exactly on my two week mark I started feeling better!

On Day 16 I had my follow up appointment! They told me everything was recovering really well and in a few more weeks I shouldn't feel ANY more pain!!! I am so excited I can't even contain myself. You heard me. I really can't.