Nourish and Nurture

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the October 2000 Conference.

How can I not choose to write about one of my favorite talks ever? I liked this talk back then and I like it even more now. Sister Margaret D. Nadauld expounds on one of my favorite themes, the divine role of women. When I was younger, it was so empowering to hear that I had divine gifts I could develop for…lots of things I didn't feel particularly good at. And now when I hear talks like this, I always think about my daughters and hope I am teaching them to cultivate those same gifts! Sister Nadauld says,

Grateful daughters of God learn truths from their mothers and grandmothers and aunts. They teach their daughters the joyful art of creating a home. They seek fine educations for their children and have a thirst for knowledge themselves. They help their children develop skills that they can use in serving others. They know that the way they have chosen is not the easy way, but they know it is absolutely worth their finest efforts.…

Daughters of God know that it is the nurturing nature of women that can bring everlasting blessings, and they live to cultivate this divine attribute.

Then there's this famous quote, which I love: 

Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.

But this is the part that caught my attention most this time:

May mothers and fathers understand the great potential for good their daughters inherited from their heavenly home. We must nourish their gentleness, their nurturing nature, their innate spirituality and sensitivity, and their bright minds. Celebrate the fact that girls are different from boys. Be thankful for the position they have in God’s grand plan.

I love that: the potential for good we inherited from our "heavenly home." When I read that I think it surely must mean from Heavenly Mother! I'm sure our Heavenly Parents both taught us in the pre-earth life, but if we're really supposed to "celebrate the fact that girls are different from boys," it follows that our specific gifts were specifically given and nourished and nurtured in spirit daughters by our Heavenly Mother herself. I love to think about that. What nourishment did she give me that I still have within me? What nurturing qualities did she teach me that I can now use to bless others?

Other posts in this series:

What kind of women do we need?—by Rozy