Not the divorced twenty-year old. Not the young mother in forced labor, permanently separated from her home. Not the high school dropout, or the homemaker who never got a college degree. Not the woman who faces social stigma for her faith. Not the wife or sister of an addict. Not the practicing lawyer, who is also the mother of young children. Not the primary president struggling with infertility.

When I was roughly 15, I said to my Mother in reference to Emma Smith, “Yeah, Emma was pretty cool except for that whole leaving the Church thing and starting her own.” Now, my Mother took the permissive approach to parenting. Up until that moment the only thing I was forbidden to do was watch The Exorcist.

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #10 focuses on some of Christ’s acts of mercy which expand the old, Mosaic Law to all people. The goal of the lesson from the manual is “to help class members understand that as we take the Savior’s yoke upon us and do his will, we will find the peace and joy that he has promised.”

What does it mean to be an Old Testament patriarch? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are set apart by their covenants with God: Abraham seeks out inspiration and is granted a posterity greater in number than the stars of the sky. His son Isaac receives the same blessing; and Jacob, after supplanting the birthright of his older twin, becomes Israel, the founder of a nation.