The work of women still must be done

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Women's Session of the October 1983 Conference.
There were two talks from this women's session that I really liked. President Hinckley's talk to the women of the church is full of his characteristic love and optimism. I loved President Hinckley so much for that quality—his ability to simultaneously encourage and inspire. Doesn't this sound so typical of him?
Add knowledge to knowledge. Refine your mind and skills in a chosen field of discipline. There are tremendous opportunities for you if you are prepared to take advantage of them. Nearly all of the honorable vocations of life are now open to women. Do not feel that because you are single God has forsaken you. The world needs you. The Church needs you. So very many people and causes need your strength and wisdom and talents. 
Put on thy beautiful garments, O daughters of Zion. Live up to the great and magnificent inheritance which the Lord God, your Father in Heaven, has provided for you. Rise above the dust of the world. Know that you are daughters of God, children with a divine birthright. Walk in the sun with your heads high, knowing that you are loved and honored, that you are a part of his kingdom, and that there is for you a great work to be done which cannot be left to others.
It's so stirring to think of it that way—that we are doing a work only we can do! In fact, one of the things this General Conference Odyssey has made me think about overall is the "common lot" of women through the generations. I know there are generational and cultural differences—obviously the assumptions we make and the things we take for granted vary over the years. But when I listen to these talks given to my mother's generation, what usually strikes me is how applicable and relevant they still are to ME today! Sister Barbara B. Smith touched on this theme in her talk:
While the demands made upon women in pioneer days may seem to be of more heroic proportions than those commonly faced by women today, in a sense we share the whole range of problems—disease, divorce, drugs, death, immorality, economic insecurity, abuse, loneliness, depression, single parenthood and on and on—problems with which women have always struggled and with which they must now contend. 
Then she goes on to say:
We are in a time when the swift changes of our social structure are thrusting enormous challenges upon us. We must remember that the work of women is important and still must be done. The spirit children of God must have the experience of mortality, and that means babies must be wanted, nurtured, loved, and cared for. The Lord has given women a primary responsibility in the establishment of good homes and well-cared-for families. No matter what the challenges are, we must find ways to accomplish this life-giving and eternal work. “Good family life is never an accident; it is always an achievement.” It was so for the women of the past, and it is so for us today. Our lives require discipline, coping without compromise, conversion of precepts into living principles that will make us saintly. 
Somehow the simplicity of this statement really struck me. Maybe it's because you hear so much about all the things women can do these days. And it's great! We have so many opportunities. We can contribute, as President Hinckley said, in so many different ways! But there is something sacred and ever-present about this "primary responsibility" of ours—the "wanting, nurturing, loving, and caring for" the spirit children of God. It seemed so clear, in the way she stated it, that THAT work is always needed and must always be done.

It seemed to capture, too, what I think is one of the hardest parts of our work—its seeming endlessness. It can seem so daunting. Are you tired? The work of women still calls to you.  Overwhelmed? No matter, the work is there. Heartsick? Fearful? Disillusioned? Ah, well. The work of women still must be done. But that makes it seem so godlike to me, too. We may falter and slow for a time, but ultimately, God's children need us—so we carry on.

No matter what else we do as women—we must keep doing our "life-giving and eternal work."

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