"Count your blessings....

"Count your blessings; name them one by one. You don’t need a great big mansion of a house with an all-consuming mortgage that goes on forever. You do need a comfortable and pleasant home where love abides. Someone has said that there is no more beautiful picture than that of a good woman cooking a meal for those she loves. Weigh carefully that which you do. You do not need some of the extravagances that working outside the home might bring. Weigh carefully the importance of your being in the home when your children come from school." Gordon B. Hinckley


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"Nothing Else....

"Nothing else you will ever own, no worldly thing you will ever acquire will be worth so much as the love of your children." Gordon B. Hinckley


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"Life is never a failure....

"Life is never a failure until we call it such. There are so many who need your helping hands, your loving smile, your tender thoughtfulness." Gordon B. Hinckley


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"Now, my dear sisters....

"Now, my dear sisters, that is the way with you. You are doing the best you can, and that best results in good to yourself and to others. Do not nag yourself with a sense of failure. Get on your knees and ask for the blessings of the Lord; then stand on your feet and do what you are asked to do. Then leave the matter in the hands of the Lord. You will discover that you have accomplished something beyond price." Gordon B. Hinckley


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"You are creatures of divinity...."

"You are creatures of divinity; you are daughters of the Almighty. Limitless is your potential. Magnificent is your future, if you will take control of it. Do not let your lives drift in a fruitless and worthless manner." Gordon B. Hinckley


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"Please be more accepting of yourselves....."

" Please be more accepting of yourselves, including your body shape and style, with a little less longing to look like someone else. We are all different. Some are tall, and some are short. Some are round, and some are thin. And almost everyone at some time or other wants to be something they are not! But as one adviser to teenage girls said: “You can’t live your life worrying that the world is staring at you. When you let people’s opinions make you self-conscious you give away your power. … The key to feeling [confident] is to always listen to your inner self—[the realyou.]” 8 And in the kingdom of God, the real you is “more precious than rubies.” 9 Every young woman is a child of destiny and every adult woman a powerful force for good."  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland


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"Our clothing...."

"Our clothing or footwear need never be expensive, indeed should not be expensive...."


Elder Jeffrey R. Holland


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"Be a woman of Christ....

"Be a woman of Christ. Cherish your esteemed place in the sight of God. He needs you. This Church needs you. The world needs you. A woman’s abiding trust in God and unfailing devotion to things of the Spirit have always been an anchor when the wind and the waves of life were fiercest. 4 I say to you what the Prophet Joseph said more than 150 years ago: “If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.” 5"


Elder Jeffrey R. Holland


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"First of all, I want you to be proud you are a woman....."

"First of all, I want you to be proud you are a woman. I want you to feel the reality of what that means, to know who you truly are. You are literally a spirit daughter of heavenly parents with a divine nature and an eternal destiny.1 That surpassing truth should be fixed deep in your soul and be fundamental to every decision you make as you grow into mature womanhood. There could never be a greater authentication of your dignity, your worth, your privileges, and your promise. Your Father in Heaven knows your name and knows your circumstance. He hears your prayers. He knows your hopes and dreams, including your fears and frustrations. And He knows what you can become through faith in Him. Because of this divine heritage you, along with all of your spiritual sisters and brothers, have full equality in His sight and are empowered through obedience to become a rightful heir in His eternal kingdom, an “[heir] of God, and joint-[heir] with Christ.” 2 Seek to comprehend the significance of these doctrines. Everything Christ taught He taught to women as well as men. Indeed, in the restored light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a woman, including a young woman, occupies a majesty all her own in the divine design of the Creator. You are, as Elder James E. Talmage once phrased it, “a sanctified investiture which none shall dare profane.” 3"  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland


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"Many years ago....

"Many years ago the First Presidency issued a statement that has had a profound and lasting influence upon me. “Motherhood,” they wrote, “is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels.”" As quoted by Russell M Nelson.


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"In 1935....

 "In 1935 the First Presidency stated, “The true spirit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gives to woman the highest place of honor in human life” (in Messages of the First Presidency, 6:5)."


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"During my professional career....

"During my professional career as a doctor of medicine, I was occasionally asked why I chose to do that difficult work. I responded with my opinion that the highest and noblest work in this life is that of a mother. Since that option was not available to me, I thought that caring for the sick might come close. I tried to care for my patients as compassionately and competently as Mother cared for me." Russell M. Nelson 


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Spoken to the men, a promise to the women:

"I know what it is to love a daughter of God who with grace and devotion served with the full feminine splendor of her righteous womanhood. As a husband, consistently tell your wife how much you love her. It will bring her great happiness. As a son, tell your mother how you love her. It will give her great joy. Let us be grateful to our Father in Heaven for His precious daughters. Let us help them as much as we can. Then let us encourage every woman who questions her value to turn to her Heavenly Father and His glorified Son for a supernal confirmation of her immense individual worth. I testify that as each woman seeks it in faith and obedience, the Savior will continually prompt her through the Holy Ghost. That guidance will lead her to fulfillment, peace, and a consuming joy through magnifying her divinely appointed, sacred womanhood. I know the Savior will do that." Elder Richard G. Scott


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"So many of our sisters are disheartened...."

"So many of our sisters are disheartened, even discouraged, and disillusioned. Others are in serious trouble because of the choices they make. Satan has unleashed a seductive campaign to undermine the sanctity of womanhood, to deceive the daughters of God and divert them from their divine destiny. He well knows women are the compassionate, self-sacrificing, loving power that binds together the human family. He would focus their interests solely on their physical attributes and rob them of their exalting roles as wives and mothers. He has convinced many of the lie that they are third-class citizens in the kingdom of God. That falsehood has led some to trade their divinely given femininity for male coarseness." Elder Richard G. Scott


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"Woman is God's supreme creation.....

"“Woman is God’s supreme creation. Only after the earth had been formed, after the day had been separated from the night, after the waters had been divided from the land, after vegetation and animal life had been created, and after man had been placed on the earth, was woman created; and only then was the work pronounced complete and good.

“Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue with an understanding of why she should do so, who honors and respects her body as a thing sacred and divine, who cultivates her mind and constantly enlarges the horizon of her understanding, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth.”

 (Gordon B Hinckley, “Our Responsibility to Our Young Women,” Ensign, Sept. 1988, 11, as quoted by Richard G. Scott: http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=9a656a4430c0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD).

"When all is said and done....

"When all is said and done there is no association richer than the companionship of husband and wife, and nothing more portentous for good or evil than the unending consequences of marriage." President Gordon B. Hinckley.


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"Every sister who stands...."

"Every sister who stands for truth and righteousness diminishes the influence of evil. Every sister who strengthens and protects her family is doing the work of God. Every sister who lives as a woman of God becomes a beacon for others to follow and plants seeds of righteous influence that will be harvested for decades to come. Every sister who makes and keeps sacred covenants becomes an instrument in the hands of God."  M. Russel Ballard.

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From whence came this blog?

I've been pondering women and society, and how much damage is being done to women--and how to fix it.

I thought about what President Benson said, "The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums."

And I realized the world is speaking pretty loud about women--telling lies that get us all tied up in knots. And many many women around the world realize this and are starting to speak out, too--with blogs like "Bringing Lady Back" and "Classic". And they have some good ideas. But I don't just want good ideas. Even investing in those, I felt like I was missing something. Like there was something more to tell women about who they are, what is expected of them, and their value. Something that would comfort, strengthen, and guide women in a way that would not only bring joy and comfort, but offer them an alternative to the views of the world--and alternative beyond "Go back to before the feminists" or "embrace feminism."

In short, I have been craving the truth. And I knew that, while humans sometimes hit on truth through thought and reasoning, when culture becomes corrupt enough, we begin to lack the mental structures to even reach the truth through our own minds, colored by our experiences and cultures.

But I realized that I know where to find truth. Truth comes from God.

And he's not keeping it a secret. The world isn't the only one speaking out about women. The Lord is ALSO speaking out about women--in the scriptures and through the prophets and apostles.

So (since obviously I don't have enough writing projects already) I have started a collection of quotes about women from prophets and apostles, both ancient and modern. To make it easy for me to access anywhere, I'm posting it on a blog. It can be found here:

http://becominggreatwomen.blogspot.com/ 

The title comes from a talk Elder Faust gave to his granddaughters in 1985. I was going to call it "Far Above Rubies," but that blog title was taken (and the blog left blank).

Anyway, I'll be posting a quote or two a day. If you happen to have a favorite quote about women by a prophet or apostle, ancient or modern, send it to me and I'll add it to my collection. Please send the quote AND the reference so I can properly cite my sources and stay within the law. Thanks.