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As a young mother, still in my twenties, I was called as Family History Leader in my ward. In this capacity, I organized the other family history consultants (all men but one) to put together family history activities and home visits. I worked closely with the High Priest Group Leader, and was surprised when he invited me to join monthly in their High Priest Group leadership meetings.

When we were in our early thirties, my husband was called onto the high council of a university stake. We were asked to speak once a month together in the various wards of the stake. We were also asked to have our 4 children participate through songs and talks. The stake president said, “We want the women of our stake to be taught by the experience of the women and well as the men who are their leaders.”

Our two oldest children have both served missions, and my husband and I both noticed that all communication that comes from church headquarters or the mission president in regard to their mission activity is addressed directly to my husband. They happen to be my step-children, so I assumed it had something to do with that aspect of our family dynamic.

When I became bishop of my ward about three years ago, one of the thoughts that stuck in my mind was a quote of President Hinckley’s: “If the women of this Church will be united and speak with one voice, their strength will be incalculable.” (I can’t recall exactly where this came from, but I wrote it in my journal way back in 2004, so I think it must have come from one of those worldwide leadership training meetings. It may have come from General Conference though...

Our mission as Mormons is not solely to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ; it is also to be seekers of truth. Joseph Smith’s seeking of truth led to the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That would have been enough, but he didn’t stop there. Through his short life, he was continuously seeking and sharing his discoveries with the members of the Church.

Emotions run raw around gender matters in the church. Some feel all is well in Zion, and accuse those who urge change of being presumptuous at best, heretical at worst. At the other end of the spectrum, some speak disdainfully of Latter-day Saints who fail to ask “serious” questions, or who are blind to any faults in the fabric of our status quo.

The desire to provide a place for people to share their stories of gender dynamics in the church and what steps they are taking to improve their experience led to the creation of this website.

When “Daughters in My Kingdom” came out, my husband looked through it and said, “You know, I’d really like to teach this in the Elders’ Quorum.” He’s not currently called as an Elders’ Quorum teacher so he asked the Elders’ Quorum president for special permission to teach it as the 1st Sunday lesson each month for a year.

Within a few Sundays of receiving his call, the new Elders’ Quorum president in our ward asked if he could speak to the sisters during the regular Relief Society time on Sunday. He wanted the entire lesson time. We, as attending sisters, had no idea what was on his agenda. I’m assuming the Relief Society president knew what was planned.

One thing I love about our ward is that (at least during the 8 years we’ve lived here) men & women (not married couples) are called as Gospel Doctrine teachers who teach on alternate weeks. As a young mother who has been teaching Gospel Doctrine for the past few years, my current counterpart is a lovely older gentleman (several decades older than I). We bring differing perspectives, life experiences, and teaching approaches to our callings, and I love the balance this creates

When I taught the Laurels, the Young Women president told me when I was initially called that the bishop’s top priority for our girls was for them to understand the importance of attending college and developing their minds before marriage, rather than looking at marriage as the end-all, be-all for young women in the church.

One thing I love about our ward is that (at least during the 8 years we’ve lived here) men & women (not married couples) are called as Gospel Doctrine teachers who teach on alternate weeks. As a young mother who has been teaching Gospel Doctrine for the past few years, my current counterpart is a lovely older gentleman (several decades older than I).

We each have the most power for good within our closest sphere of influence. The people whom we impact most profoundly are those who associate with us daily or weekly, at home, at the office, at church. Melissa Inouye has written, “Change in the LDS Church is not a process of lobbying higher-ups, but of each person seeing what needs to be done and then doing it within his or her own sphere of influence”

Just when Naomi Watkins thought she was done with school forever, she felt the Lord redirect her path. Now she wants to encourage other women to find that inspiration for themselves. To help with that goal, she founded Aspiring Mormon Women, a non-profit organization intended to support and celebrate the educational and professional aspirations of LDS women. “God does not place limits on us,” Naomi says, “and learning to listen to and follow the Spirit are paramount skills to

It can be easy for any of us to dismiss another person’s experiences. Perhaps our own experience has been vastly different from hers, or we feel her case to be an isolated one, far outside the norm. Maybe we think that she is taking things a little too hard, that she is interpreting our shared experiences too negatively, and that things really aren’t so bad. Rachel Chinn Rachel Chinn But we are taught that instead we must “mourn with those that mourn” and “comfort those tha