Our influence for good

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Women's Session of the October 1987 Conference.

I really liked ALL the talks from this women's session, but I couldn't NOT choose Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk "Lessons from Eve." It's so good! I'll just quote a few of my favorite parts:

Eve came as a partner, to build and to organize the bodies of mortal men. She was designed by Deity to co-create and nurture life, that the great plan of the Father might achieve fruition.…

The spiritual rewards of motherhood are available to all women. Nurturing the young, comforting the frightened, protecting the vulnerable, teaching and giving encouragement need not—and should not—be limited to our own children.

This made me wonder something I've wondered before. Of course you know I love the sacred role of  women in pregnancy and childbirth. But I'm curious about what a woman really does in "building and organizing the bodies of mortal men." Of course we often choose to accept children into our families. And we feed and care for them as they grow. But, though it certainly amazes me and I'm grateful to be part of it, I don't feel I really DO that much to participate. I don't know how to form the baby and let it grow inside me or make the breast milk—my body just does all that! It's not something I have to be worthy or smart or even use agency to do! It just…happens, and it's a blessing that it does—I know it doesn't "just happen" for every woman—but it makes me wonder about the significance of this "building and organizing bodies" role. Can we receive blessings for something we don't do by ourselves? Maybe the blessings just come from our willingness and submission to God's will as we seek His guidance on our mothering roles, whatever they are?

And as I write that, it also occurs to me that perhaps MOST of the things we do as mortals fall into that category of "something we don't do by ourselves." When we make sacrifices for missionary work or temple work or our callings—the true power is still coming from Jesus Christ. So maybe motherhood isn't so different after all. Hmm. I will have to think about that.

I also like the way Elder Nelson puts it here—his emphasis on the rewards of motherhood—and how no woman need miss out on those, whether she has her own children in this life or not. He seems to say that nurturing behavior leads to heavenly blessings for the nurturer, no matter who the recipient is.

I also liked this, and could feel the sincerity of it, coming from a man who lived in a regular family just like all the rest of us:

Sisters, be patient. I know something of the pressures you feel. Your kitchens are too small. Your budgets are too tight. Demands upon you exceed your capacity to help all who cry out to you… Take time for spiritual regeneration.…

When priorities are in place, one can more patiently tolerate unfinished business.…

I take that last part to mean that life is easier when you can say to yourself, "I chose what I'm doing right now—I'm doing it because I want to—I'm doing it on purpose!" This intentional thinking really does help me, when I remember to do it. It helps me be patient with all the things I don't get to do right now. It feels much easier to clean or cook or teach after I've reminded myself that I really do LIKE this life, and I wouldn't want any other! It may be true that "if I don't do this, no one else will!" but it's more USEFUL to think "I could be doing something else, but I choose this because I want to serve!" Maybe that's what Elder Nelson means when he says later:

Our highest sense of sacrifice is achieved as we make ourselves more sacred or holy.

…The laws of obedience and sacrifice are indelibly intertwined. …As we comply with these and other commandments, something wonderful happens to us. We become disciplined! We become disciples! We become more sacred and holy—like our Lord! 

Then Elder Nelson sounds so much like the President Nelson he is today:

With your mind so attuned to the Lord and his power, your influence for good becomes immeasurably great. And in this world of sin and temptation, the power of prayer will protect you and be a shield for your loved ones. 

I plead with the women of the Church to accept individual responsibility to know and to love the Lord. Communicate with him. He will impress upon your mind inspiration and personal revelation to give you strength.

I love that he was "pleading with the women of the church" even back then—over twenty years ago—and he is still pleading with us now, to improve ourselves, to learn more about revelation, and to draw on the power of God to help us influence the world for good. I'm trying to respond to all these calls to action, and I hope get even better at it in the next twenty years!


Other posts in this series:

Eve was the first courageous woman—by Jan Tolman