The Most Influential Thing I Learned in LDS Youth Programs
I spent 6 years in LDS Youth Programs. It's a formative time, and the Church doesn't like to let the teenagers loose. I don't blame them. I think I was one of the more logical, less rebellious teenagers, and I was still a raging ball of hormones. But I'm going to be honest. I didn't enjoy Young Women's. It was kind of just the thing I did out of duty, but I never related very well to other women, and I still don't. I didn't want to do the same activities, and I really didn't want to talk about marriage every single day. I liked the idea of seminary, but the disrespect shown for the entire program by many other youth always made me frustrated. However, it was in seminary, and not Young Women's that I learned the thing that most stuck. And it was about being a woman.
I share this a lot with people, because it impacted me so heavily. So, I may have told this to you already. If so, bear with me, or don't read at all.
When I was a freshman in high school, I had this amazing seminary teacher. His name was Brother Adams. One of the best things about Brother Adams was that he wasn't worried about the trappings. He didn't worry about games to make people want to come, or handouts to give. He just taught the scriptures, and if you wanted to listen, you were welcome to do so. If you listened, you would be filled with the richest spiritual thoughts. Brother Adams knew the scriptures like the back of his hand, and he had the deepest, and yet simplest, understanding of them. Let me explain that statement. At BYU, I took a lot of religion classes. And they were great. Don't get me wrong. But sometimes, the professors became so academic about the scriptures, that they forgot that the gospel is a gospel that can be lived and accessed by the simplest child. Brother Adams never forgot that. At the same time, if you had a complicated, deep question, you could ask him and he would know where in the scriptures to get your answer.
The part of the scriptures that we studied in that year was the Book of Mormon. When we got to Abish, Brother Adams told us something I would never forget. There was only one boy in our class that came, and he slept most of the time. And this day, he kind of let him, because he was talking to the women. Women are influential. Women have more power over men than they realize. You don't get to choose whether or not you influence a man. But you do get to choose how you influence him.
You can choose to save an entire country, as Abish did. Or you can choose to destroy an entire country, as the Daughter of Jared did. You can choose to help the prophet, as Rahab did. Or you can choose to destroy the prophet, as Delilah did. You can choose to protect the Kingdom of God, as Deborah did. Or you can choose to attack it, as Jezebel did. You can choose to be a missionary wherever you are placed, like Esther. Or you can bring down the missionaries wherever you are placed, like Isabel. Sometimes you even effect men without realizing it, like Bathsheba. Sometimes you are asked the unbelievable like Mary. And sometimes, you just lift where you stand, like Sariah. But you are a woman. And women make or break the Kingdom of God.
It's sometimes hard when you feel like the work of God is for men. It's not true, but you might feel that way. You have power. Sometimes, it is a power of your own. And sometimes, it is a supporting power. But that doesn't make it less. Let me give an example. Every once in awhile at the hospital, we have an "Only-in-Utah" moment where the intercom comes on and says, "Any available employee LDS Elder, please call the hospital operator." What it means is that some family would like a priesthood blessing. Usually, the father is a priesthood holder, but needs another priesthood holder. The hospital calls for employee priesthood holders so that there isn't a HIPAA violation waiting to happen and stuff. Obviously, I can't answer that intercom. But one time, it was kind of slow, and there weren't very many of us in the lab (or in the whole hospital) because of the time of day. The intercom said its piece and then one of the other MLSs, a male, LDS, priesthood holder one said, "Hannah, if I took my break now to answer that, would you cover me for a bit?" Why yes. Yes, I would. I feel like I participated in making that blessing happen. And I'm a woman.
There are lots of examples. But when he mentioned all those scripture women and contrasted them that way, I realized one thing: There are lots of men in the Bible and Book of Mormon. And let's be honest, a lot of the named men in the Bible did diddly-squat except begetting. But every single one of the 318 specific women in the scriptures did something. Good or bad.
I share this a lot with people, because it impacted me so heavily. So, I may have told this to you already. If so, bear with me, or don't read at all.
When I was a freshman in high school, I had this amazing seminary teacher. His name was Brother Adams. One of the best things about Brother Adams was that he wasn't worried about the trappings. He didn't worry about games to make people want to come, or handouts to give. He just taught the scriptures, and if you wanted to listen, you were welcome to do so. If you listened, you would be filled with the richest spiritual thoughts. Brother Adams knew the scriptures like the back of his hand, and he had the deepest, and yet simplest, understanding of them. Let me explain that statement. At BYU, I took a lot of religion classes. And they were great. Don't get me wrong. But sometimes, the professors became so academic about the scriptures, that they forgot that the gospel is a gospel that can be lived and accessed by the simplest child. Brother Adams never forgot that. At the same time, if you had a complicated, deep question, you could ask him and he would know where in the scriptures to get your answer.
The part of the scriptures that we studied in that year was the Book of Mormon. When we got to Abish, Brother Adams told us something I would never forget. There was only one boy in our class that came, and he slept most of the time. And this day, he kind of let him, because he was talking to the women. Women are influential. Women have more power over men than they realize. You don't get to choose whether or not you influence a man. But you do get to choose how you influence him.
You can choose to save an entire country, as Abish did. Or you can choose to destroy an entire country, as the Daughter of Jared did. You can choose to help the prophet, as Rahab did. Or you can choose to destroy the prophet, as Delilah did. You can choose to protect the Kingdom of God, as Deborah did. Or you can choose to attack it, as Jezebel did. You can choose to be a missionary wherever you are placed, like Esther. Or you can bring down the missionaries wherever you are placed, like Isabel. Sometimes you even effect men without realizing it, like Bathsheba. Sometimes you are asked the unbelievable like Mary. And sometimes, you just lift where you stand, like Sariah. But you are a woman. And women make or break the Kingdom of God.
It's sometimes hard when you feel like the work of God is for men. It's not true, but you might feel that way. You have power. Sometimes, it is a power of your own. And sometimes, it is a supporting power. But that doesn't make it less. Let me give an example. Every once in awhile at the hospital, we have an "Only-in-Utah" moment where the intercom comes on and says, "Any available employee LDS Elder, please call the hospital operator." What it means is that some family would like a priesthood blessing. Usually, the father is a priesthood holder, but needs another priesthood holder. The hospital calls for employee priesthood holders so that there isn't a HIPAA violation waiting to happen and stuff. Obviously, I can't answer that intercom. But one time, it was kind of slow, and there weren't very many of us in the lab (or in the whole hospital) because of the time of day. The intercom said its piece and then one of the other MLSs, a male, LDS, priesthood holder one said, "Hannah, if I took my break now to answer that, would you cover me for a bit?" Why yes. Yes, I would. I feel like I participated in making that blessing happen. And I'm a woman.
There are lots of examples. But when he mentioned all those scripture women and contrasted them that way, I realized one thing: There are lots of men in the Bible and Book of Mormon. And let's be honest, a lot of the named men in the Bible did diddly-squat except begetting. But every single one of the 318 specific women in the scriptures did something. Good or bad.
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