Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson #23 ;  1 Samuel 18 ,  1 Samuel 19 ,  1 Samuel 20 ,  1 Samuel 23–24 . This lesson focuses on David’s relationships with King Saul and his children, Jonathan and Michal. After the victorious battle with the Philistines, the women of the kingdom are heard proclaiming, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Sam. 18:7). David’s defeat of Goliath has gone viral, raising his profile to celebrity status. This causes Saul to essentially lose his mind with jealousy. Saul nourishes his jealousy and hatred toward homicidal proportions. Jonathan, however, sees David as a kindred. They immediately accept each other’s friend request. Declarations of affinity and vows of loyalty are made. Their loyalty is tested as Saul’s hatred runs parallel to Jonathan’s love. As Saul plots to kill David, Jonathan must choose between his allegiance to his father and his devotion to his friend. Jonathan isn’t the only one of Saul’s children to love David. His daughter, Michal, is also smitten with the young hero. Surprisingly, Saul arranges for her to marry David. The marital bliss is short, Saul is already plotting to kill his new son-in-law. Learning of the assassination plot, Michal demonstrates tremendous courage by convincing David to flee immediately and helps him escape out the window. She then pulls a Ferris Bueller (or perhaps Bueller pulled a Michal) by creating a figure out of an idol and goat hair in David’s bed and tells her father that David’s ill and resting. Saul is not so easily deceived. Concerned for his bosom buddy, Jonathan set’s out to find David. Upon their reunion, the bromance continues with words of affirmation and vows of friendship ( ala Anne and Diana ). They hatch a plan to confirm Saul’s murderous intentions towards David. Jonathan returns to his father, and David stays in hiding. Upon receiving confirmation, Jonathan sends the agreed upon – yes, my dad really does want to kill you, so run far away – message to David. David flees. Saul pursues with three thousand men. Eventually, Saul enters a cave to relieve himself. Fortuitously, David and company are hiding in the same cave! David’s men beseech him to take Saul down. Instead, David chooses extreme disrespect. He sneaks upon Saul and cuts off a piece of his robe. Later, David feels guilty. “David’s heart smote him“ (1 Sam. 24:5). He tells his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord” (1 Sam. 24:6). Like Jonathan, David is a man of integrity. When Saul goes low, David goes high . When Saul and David finally have their standoff, David tells Saul what transpired in the cave and shows him the fabric from his robe and says, “…that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it” (1 Sam. 24:11). Saul is overcome with David’s righteousness and weeps. He is in awe of David’s goodness in the face of his own evil deeds. Saul knows that David will be king and establish the kingdom of Israel. He asks one thing of David – to not eradicate his genealogical line from the Earth. David agrees, and Saul goes home. Though David and Jonathan’s narrative reads like the plot of the latest binge-worthy Netflix original, it also has some of the most beautiful and moving declarations of friendship ever written: “And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1 Sam. 18:1). “…Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David…” (1 Sam. 19:2). “And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord be between thee and me for ever.” (1 Sam. 20:23)..“…they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever.” (1 Sam. 20:41-42). David and Jonathan’s hearts were knitted together. I love this way of describing friendship and am inspired by the nature of their relationship. It is full of loyalty, righteousness, generosity, declarations of affinity, promises, trust and love. I have people in my life whose hearts have been knitted to mine. I reached out to some of my dearest girlfriends (This is the Mormon Women Project, after all. My best guyfriends will understand) to share what they believe are the essential characteristics of a true friend. Laura G. 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of my friendship with Laura G. She has been with me through some of the most painful and joyous moments of my life. When my marriage was falling apart, and I was confronted with the magnitude of my then husband’s infidelities, she sat on the phone with me and wept. In that moment, our souls were knitted together making us sisters. “Trust. Honesty. Unconditional love. Understanding. Self-confidence. Loyalty. I think it’s important to have a balanced/ well-rounded friendship – the things that you’re good at, I’m not so good at. And the things I’m good at, you may not be so good at.Dedication. Dedication is huge. Just being there for each other. Knowing what the other needs. Loyalty. No judgement. You need to not feel judgement from your friends. If you feel judged by your friends, they’re probably not your friends.” Cousin Angela Ang and I are best-friend-cousins. In the 80s, when we lived in different states, we’d record messages on cassette tapes and mail them back and forth. Now, we live in different different states and Marco Polo, frequently. Angela has a gift for empathy and insight. She’s the friend who can tell me the things I need to hear, but don’t want to hear. She is also one of my favorite people to discourse with, particularly about human behavior, pop culture and the gospel. “I think being a good friend is a balance of being a listener and meeting someone where they are at and helping them feel belonging. Not only letting me be myself but accepting me as I am. Loving me where I’m at. Listening to who I am and what I think without needing to change me or solve my problems. And balancing that with also being willing to problem solve with me, when I ask for help. It’s because of those times that they didn’t judge me and were there for me, that I would go to them to ask for help and get advice. Loyalty is a big one. Integrity with their loyalty. I know that though I might annoy them sometimes, or I might say things that elicit an eye roll, they really don’t think ill of me or are not going to gossip about me. And even though there are times when they may be like – come on, Angela, or that’s kind of ridiculous that she thinks that, or she’s in her stuff again – the core foundation is just a real loyalty, integrity and support I can trust. And also, the ability to critically think together and bounce ideas off each other. Someone to go to with your questions and your doubts.” Katie Katie is one of my favorite collaborators in the whole world. She’s creative, curious, supportive, risk-taking, passionate and one of the best “yes and-ers” you’ll ever meet. I love discussing all of the things they say you shouldn’t discuss with her – politics, religion, social justice, family, etc. We have differing political and religious affiliations, but share a deep desire to make our corner of the world a better place. Our friendship has made me a better friend and human. “Someone who celebrates with you in joy and shares your sorrows when you mourn or struggle. Someone who allows you space when you need it, and rejoices when you return. Someone who helps you come back to yourself, reminding you who you are, and who shifts with you as that self grows and expands. Someone who is on your team, your cheerleader.” Laura H. Laura H. is my oldest, dearest friend – age wise. There’s a 25 year age difference between us. We’ve also been friends for nearly two decades. Laura H. helps me not take myself to seriously and to take myself more seriously when I’m not. When I had the crazy idea to quit my job, break up with my boyfriend and move across the country to live the life I’d only imagined was possible, she was my biggest advocate. She kept the faith when I faltered. And when I decided to try a new coaching business, she was my first client. She believes in me, and I love her for that. “My immediate response was friends are there no matter how long they have been apart. It’s more than that – for me, there are a small handful of people that I consider my good friends and within that there are three that I know in my heart I could call anytime for anything, and I would have the support, love and honesty that would be in my best interest. Friends are people who show up when you’re in need and stand beside you to help you gain strength and clarity. Friends share intimate moments of each other’s’ lives, often during some of the happiest, saddest and ugliest personal moments, and there is unconditional love and support. Friends have a way of appearing when you need them even when you are not aware. I love that friends often come together because of their love for a person.” Kimalee Kimalee is my longest friendship. We’ve been friends since I was 13 years old. She’s the friend that I may not speak to for a long time – even years, but I know loves me and will be there when I need her. Kimalee calls this a forever friend. She’s like a mother bear in her loyalty. She’s also a lot of fun and is quick to laugh. She’s one of my favorite people to laugh with. “Empathy. Someone who sincerely feels what you are feeling and shares those emotions.Humor. Someone who laughs with you, who makes you laugh, and sometimes laughs at you.Trustworthy. Someone you can confide in. A walking vault of all your innermost secrets.Loyal. Someone who has your back. Always.Timeless. Someone who you can go for periods of time not seeing or talking to but pick up right where left off when you see them again.Just. Someone who doesn’t judge you for being you, but lets you know when your off track and helps you get back on the right path.Integrity.Faithful. A true friend makes it easier for you to follow Christ.Most of all what characteristics I think make a good friend is someone in your life that’s makes you a better you. Someone who knows what you need, even when you don’t. I am always stretching to make my myself a better person. A good friend has qualities that I admire that help me to not only see, but reach my potential. Someone who you can reciprocate those qualities with, and it is appreciated. And they let you know you are appreciated. They know you. I mean really know you. What you would say, how you would react, what flavor you like best. They enjoy the same activities you do. They introduce you to new and different adventures. They don’t always agree with you but respect your opinion. They make you feel like you are enough. They let you serve them. They show up when you are depressed and open your curtains to let the sunshine in. They sweep your floor. They buy you something just because it reminds them of you. They make you a priority. They care about things they don’t have an interest in just because you have that interest. They like your Facebook posts. They answer the phone and they listen. They have the best hugs. They support you in your activities. They change their plans to benefit the people around them. They help you move. They make your favorite food when they know you are coming over and even keep the ingredients on hand just in case. They know they don’t need to knock. They don’t see your size. They include you. They forgive. They answer your prayers to Heavenly Father.” Kellie Kellie is also a friend who has transcended into sisterhood. She is fierce in your loyalty and love. She has championed me in some of my craziest ideas and loved me in some of my darkest moments. She is generous and kind. I’ve worked hard to earn her trust and trust her completely. She articulates her appreciation and love for our friendship readily. And she’s the bitmoji queen. “Vulnerability.” [mic drop] True friendship is a vulnerable act. In order to connect in deep and meaningful ways, we have to allow ourselves to be fully seen by another. We have to trust. We have to love. It is a lot of work, which requires investments of time, attention, emotions, intellect and spirit. These women are some of my truest friends. They give me space to figure out my life. They know I’m going to make mistakes and have crazy ideas. They go on adventures with me. They laugh and cry with me. They tell me the truth with love and empathy. With every one of these acts, my heart delights in them and my soul is knitted to each of there’s.

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson #24 ;  2 Samuel 11 ;  2 Samuel 12:1–23 ;  Psalm 51 A couple weeks ago the Maxwell Institute at BYU hosted a Forgiveness and Reconciliation symposium  bringing together speakers from Rwanda, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. Speaking of the aftermath of apartheid in South Africa, Mpho Tutu van Furth —Anglican theologian and daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu , spoke about the steps required for forgiveness and reconciliation. First, victims need to tell their stories and name their hurt. If we skip the initial steps, we can never progress. If we call ourselves disciples of Christ, Mpho reminds us that taking part in the work of reconciliation is our vocation. This lesson in the manual is focused on David, his sin, and his search for forgiveness. That we all sin and need reconciliation is the central claim of Christianity—certainly applicable to all of us. Yet, David can never be fully reconciled to the Lord without Bathsheba. Her story is crucial. Her story in the first two chapters of second Samuel is a textbook example of how we might benefit by centering women in the scriptural narrative. Refocusing the narrative on a woman who is only named twice in the text enables the process of reconciliation for David. Bathsheba is not given a voice in these chapters of Samuel, that becomes our responsibility. Though women are without political and priestly power in the narrative of first and second Samuel, women play a significant role within this patriarchal structure. Biblical scholarship on the encounter between David and Bathsheba has been very polarized and aligns with our current #metoo context. The literature either depicts Bathsheba as the woman ‘asking for it’ or as the victim of rape by a powerful man. Though some scholars have worked to label Bathsheba the seductress, in my analysis one must make significant assumptions and leaps beyond the text to paint Bathsheba as a woman scheming to be the queen. Careful attention to the text yields important insight into her experience. Bathsheba’s lack of a voice in these chapters points to her lack of autonomy—her agency has been stripped by a powerful man. In 2 Samuel 11, Bathsheba is consistently the object of David’s actions. Bathsheba was bathing on the roof to complete ritual cleansing after menstruation—highlighting her adherence to the Law and ensuring that we know that the resulting child could not be Uriah’s. David saw a beautiful woman, “sent messengers and took her” (11:4). In the KJV “took her” is a not so subtle idiom for sexual intercourse—David sees Bathsheba as an object. The text sets up David as “a consummate usurper—of kingdoms and of wives.” [1] This is David’s sin. He sees something beautiful, and he wants it. Bathsheba is initially valuable to him only as an object on which to focus his power. Just as the definition of rape can be contested in contemporary discussions, some of the academic discussion of this episode points to the fraught nature of defining rape dependent on the biblical text. The Hebrew does not have a one-on-one equivalent for the English word rape. Beyond that, the biblical definition of rape is supremely narrow—a woman must cry out or else the assumption is that the sexual act is desired (Compare Deut 22:23-24 and 25-27 ). There is a significant distance between that and contemporary discussions of rape that importantly include a wider range of sexual coercion. David is the king, Bathsheba is not an equal in this situation. The imbalance of power leads us to consider how her agency has been curtailed. And without agency there can be no sin. The last line of chapter 11 is clear where the text places the responsibility for what happens between Bathsheba and David—“the thing David had done displeased the Lord” (11:27). Then the Lord sends the prophet Nathan to ensure that David is aware of his sin. With a parable, Nathan calls out David’s sin and helps David to begin the process of reconciliation. Speaking truth to sin is essential. Forgiveness and reconciliation will never be reached without it. Nathan’s words to David seem to hang in the air—“Thou art the man” (12:7). In my paraphrase–God gave you everything and you “despised” him. The punishment by YHWH aims squarely at David, though it is not without its effect on Bathsheba—she also loses a child. Bathsheba was not in a place to speak truth to power. Doing so could have had dire consequences. As prophet, Nathan had power. Nathan did what Bathsheba could not. (If there was any remaining question of David’s position before the Lord, the lack of response to his daughter Tamar’s rape by her half-brother Amnon in the following chapter further illuminates David’s depravity.) Gratefully, this is not the last time we will see Bathsheba. The first two chapters of Kings offers us Bathsheba transformed from a woman without a voice to an assertive and autonomous woman acting as a shrewd diplomat united with the prophet to work on behalf of her son, Solomon. When Matthew later writes his genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1), he includes Bathsheba and a handful of other women in his patriarchal genealogy reminding his reader that though all of these women were involved in some sort of scandal (as some might also judge Mary), ultimately they all did what was right in the sight of the Lord and became the foremothers of Jesus. Giving voice to Bathseba’s experience is essential. Her story matters. Only after we hear her voice can we turn to the possibility of redemption of David. [1] Jo Ann Hackett, “1 and 2 Samuel,” Woman’s Bible Commentary, Revised and Updated Carol Newsom, et al. eds.

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lessons #25 ;  Psalms Recently I was involved in an art project that required me to do some research about the natural world. Now, this is not my forte. While I can spend oodles of dreamy time with line and color and form, researching biology…well, I passed that class, we’ll just say. Waffles with my study partner helped a lot. But, this time, I actually got enthralled. The intricacy’s and efficiencies and power of divine creations – from goblet cells to volcanoes to galaxies to pomegranates. Truly, it was stunning. And so, I slid into designing the piece. I measured and schemed and rearranged things and played until I had one fabulous piece of textile art designed. And then I looked down and realized… um, no Savior. Whoops. WHOOPS. Here I had made this whole study on the wonders of our Heavenly Parent’s gift to us and left out the most important gift. And that made me wonder- when was the last time I gloried in my Savior? Not just bowed my head and contemplated during the sacrament — but PRAISED his existence. The fact that each day we can try again, and again. That we can be forgiven, even when we struggle to forgive ourselves. That we need never suffer alone. That we are known and loved perfectly. I fixed the art. The D&C 128: 23 offers a powerful verse:“Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons [AND DAUGHTERS] of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!” How can we praise today? Today, I said thank you to Christ for having patience with all the times I fail as a mother. For the reality of the atonement that lets me try again. Today, I thanked Christ for having a sense of humor… especially for my not-of-our-faith husband’s cheekiness. Today, I praised Christ for the color of golden green out my window that makes me just get peaceful inside. Today, I praise Christ for enough resources to get to USA to see my family. Today, I praise Christ for technology that I can communicate. Today, I praise Christ for hands to hold. Today, I praise Christ for a comfortable bed and a toddler who took a nap. Today, I praise for the resurrection and concept of renewal to help find ways to love my teenager. Today, I praise for new friends. Today, I praise. And then I found this song— and wanted to share: A Song of Praise Praise the Lord in song, praise the Lord with singingLift up your voices and shout for joy!Sing praises to Him, with your heart rejoice.Let the earth break forth, earth break forth in song.To thee, Lord of all, we give hymns of praising with adoration for thee aboveWith music and words, and with gratitude may our songs be heard and received with loveHe is my joy and my songHe lives, all glory—oh, let all within me adore him! Alleluia!My hosannas reach on high, from my heart this truth I cry:He lives, all glory! I revere His holy name.Praise the Lord in song, praise the Lord with singingLift up your voices and shout for joy!Sing praise to Him, with your heart rejoice.Let the angels and all men on earth break forth with their song Text: Jenna MosleyMusic: Jenna Mosley What are the things you can offer praise for RIGHT NOW?

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson #26 ;  1 Kings 3:5–28 ,  1 Kings 5–6 ;  7:1–12 ,  1 Kings 8:22–66 ;  9:1–9 ,  1 Kings 10–11 . Solomon was known as the wise king blessed with an understanding heart, and yet also sadly fulfilled Samuel’s prophesy of the ills that would befall the Israelites if they were ruled by a king. The abundance the Israelites enjoyed as God’s chosen people proved insufficient for their contentment as they also longed “to be like other nations” even at the cost of losing their sons, daughters, servants, and a significant portion of their income to the service of a king that Samuel prophesied they would bitterly regret (1 Samuel 8:5-20). King Solomon contributed to the fulfillment of this prophecy through the gradual turning of his heart from a focus on following the commandments of God and serving his people to becoming like those from other nations who worshipped idols. Known as a “Man of Wisdom” as the title of the lesson suggests, Solomon’s sagacity was of the heart variety rather than the mind. Emerging scientific research reveals more regarding the heart’s means of understanding. It has a logic of its own, acting independently from the brain and sending messages that the brain, in turn, understands and obeys. It was said that “All the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart” (1 Kings 10:24). It is through this kind of heart-reasoning that Solomon appears to have resolved the famous dispute between two harlots over a baby (1 Kings 3:16-28). The women shared a home together through birth and pregnancy, having likely left a house of prostitution to go in on a home together. Perhaps devoid of any other friends and family, they must have been midwives for each other as they were the only witnesses of their babies’ births. One night as both women were sleeping with their babies, one of the women rolled over her son, accidentally killing him. The grief-stricken mother managed to remove the other woman’s baby without her notice and replace him with her baby’s body. Solomon’s command to cut the baby in half reveals an understanding of the hearts of the two women, knowing that the true mother’s bowels yearned more for her son. As he perceived the intentions of the distraught woman’s heart well enough to attribute guilt, did his understanding heart also contemplate the depth of her pain at finding her lifeless baby, the guilt she must have felt over his death, and her loneliness? There is no account of any punishment affixed to her crime. As Solomon reigned, his focus appears to have shifted from serving the Lord to satisfying his own more selfish pursuits. He taxed his people heavily (1 Kings 12:4) in order to build an extravagant palace with golden drinking vessels and a throne of ivory and gold, with six steps and twelve lions around it (1 Kings 10). The more Solomon sought the riches and the honor of his international reputation, the more his heart followed suit. Still, the Lord continued to bless him with wisdom until his loyalty shifted entirely. Warned that non-Israelite women would “turn his heart to other gods,” he still acquired 700 wives and 300 concubines of various nationalities (1 Kings 11:2-4), manifesting a weakness similar to his father David. Solomon altered his own religious inclinations in an attempt to placate his many wives, having relinquished his desire to please God. When Solomon began his reign, he focused on what he needed to serve God and others, but his gaze eventually shifted to what was missing to procure his own happiness. Solomon evidently felt he lacked something essential to his happiness (the forbidden non-Israelite wives), and that this was worth betraying God. How would this perception of scarcity be possible in the face of the greatest abundance? Somehow all his honor, wealth, and many wives couldn’t satisfy his deepest needs, like a man who remains hungry at a feast. When those who appear to have it all can feel unsatisfied with their lives, like David longing for Bathsheba, it’s not surprising that most people spend a considerable portion of their lives feeling that they do not have the blessing they most desire to bring them happiness. When we see our weaknesses and the blessings we lack such as children, a spouse, or better health, especially when many others around us seem to have an abundance of these blessings, it can seem easier to be motivated by fear rather than love. My son Aaron recently turned seven, and my husband and I have long prayed for more children. I often dreaded sending Aaron to kindergarten and being alone in the quiet house. I feared what would happen if my life became so fulfilled with a career that I lost the feeling of emptiness. I clung to each milestone in case I only got one chance to see a baby take a first step. I feared taking the wrong approach to my fertility and somehow this being my fault. I truly am at a feast, and yet the one thing I felt I lacked made me feel as though I had to hoard the rolls at the table for fear that the basket would never be refilled. Then my house was empty. We had moved to a new state only days before kindergarten started, and even though it was painful to sit with the loneliness, I knew the Lord was offering me a gift of time to commune with Him. I was finally in a position to admit like Solomon that I’m like a child and don’t know how to fix myself. I read, wrote, prayed, meditated, and cared for my family while shrugging off others’ inquiries of “How do you stay busy?” Two years later, my husband and I still wait upon the Lord for more children. But an understanding heart gives me reason to enjoy every moment more freely, knowing that nothing can take the feast away because my basket is full of Christ. I recognize when negative thoughts or fears begin creeping up again, and I know where to turn when they do. One of my favorite scriptures is Psalms 27:14: “Wait upon the Lord: be of good courage and He will strengthen thy heart.” As I wait on Him, He helps me bear more of His light and love with more of His love. I know that many experience trials that seem far greater. Regardless of whether we seem to be as abundantly blessed as Solomon or in as dire need as the harlot who tragically lost her son, our love alone is not strong enough to bear the weight of the loneliness, childlessness, ill health, or lack of any other longed for blessing. Our hearts can fail us without courage (Latin root “cor” meaning heart) and a love greater than our own to serve as single adults sitting in a family ward, childless couples among friends with children, and under many other circumstances. And even when our heart has been strengthened, when we feel we have been given a more understanding heart, it can turn away like Solomon’s if we are not vigilant. I like the yoga imperative to “come back to heart center,” not looking for fulfillment outside ourselves like so many forbidden wives, but returning to the Spirit within until we feel and heart-think as God does.

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson #27 ;  1 Kings 12:1–20 ;  1 Kings 12:25–33 ;  13:33–34 ;  14:14–16, 21–24 ;  2 Chronicles 17:1–10 ;  20:1–30 . My family recently returned from spending 18 days in another country for a combination of work and vacation. I absolutely loved visiting the different cities and sites and experiencing just a little of the richness and depth of the culture and history in this area. As we talked to local people, I also had the opportunity to reflect on the impact of good and bad—or wicked and righteous as this lesson calls them—leaders. In the area we were staying, the regional leader is in league with the drug mafia. The result is corruption and elevated violence, as well as inefficiencies and poverty. The US State Department rates this area as a level 3 on the safety scale which means “reconsider travel.” When we first got there, I felt suspicious and nervous of everyone—the Uber driver, the man we passed on the street, the teens sitting near us in the bus station. But soon, I began to recognize that the people I interacted with were generally good, honest people who just had the unfortunate fate of being governed by a bad, or we could say wicked, leader. Some people were influenced to make poor choices because of this leader but many continued living their lives with integrity. In this lesson, we learn about some poor leaders who also had negative impacts on the people under them. Rehoboam succeeds his father, Solomon, as king. He places burdens on his people to the point that ten of the twelve tribes revolt. The ten tribes, known as the kingdom of Israel, appoint Jeroboam as their ruler. Both Rehoboam and Jeroboam teach their people to worship idols instead of God. As with the area we visited, everyone suffers because of their leadership and many make poor choices under this leadership. We don’t always have the opportunity to choose our leaders and, even if we do have a voice in the selection, the leader of our choice isn’t always the one who wins out. Of course, a great way to have an influential voice or to make a difference for good around us is to become a leader ourselves. This is not always possible, though. A number of circumstances limit our ability to lead or even to have our voice heard. In the US, gender is one of these (although there are many other of causes). According to the Center for American Women and Politics , women hold 20% of the seats in the US Congress and 23% of the seats in the US Senate. They make up only 12% of state governors and 21.8% of city mayors. CNBC reported that of the fortune 500 companies, only 24 have women CEOs. The US Department of Labor tells us that 36% of businesses owners are women—but 99.9% of them are considered small businesses (less than 500 employees). They account for 15% of employment. And of course, in our church 100% of bishops, stake presidents, regional representatives and general authorities are men. While women do hold leadership positions at church, it certainly is not gender balanced. Relief Society General Presidency (left to right): Sharon Eubank, First Counselor; Jean B. Bingham, President; and Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor. Since we will spend much time being led by others, the question is: how can we effectively respond to those leading us? The lesson points out that we each have agency. We don’t have to go along with poor or wicked leaders. Instead, we must exert the moral courage to find our own way instead of following a wayward leader or perhaps even find the courage to speak up and point out the error of the leader’s way. While few of us have need to fear for our personal safety if we speak up (as they did in the country we visited), speaking up is often difficult and often leads to retribution in some form. Yet it is important—particularly in cases where attributes such as race, gender, socio-economic standing or something similar work as a barricade to keep voices out. Often though, our leadership dilemma is more nuanced than those described in the lesson. Generally, our leaders at church or work are not in league with the drug mafia nor are they deserving of being called “wicked”. This is why I think it’s also important to remember Elder Holland’s words , “So be kind regarding human frailty—your own as well as that of those who serve with you in a Church led by volunteer, mortal men and women. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we.” There’s a time to take a stand or push back against poor leadership. There’s also a time to take a deep breath and recognize that while a particular leader may not be like Jehoshaphat, the last leader in the lesson manual who is remembered for his effective and righteous leadership, chances are the leader is doing her or his best.

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson #28 ;  1 Kings 17 ,  1 Kings 18 ,  1 Kings 19 . When Jesus taught about his own purpose, he frequently referenced two Old Testament figures: Moses and Elijah. These two embodied the Law and the Prophets, standing for the traditions that Christ both fulfilled and transcended. It was Moses and Elijah who appeared at Jesus’s transfiguration, ratifying Jesus’s messianic role with their own authority. And Moses and Elijah were and still are evoked in the Passover feast, which in turn typifies Christ’s atoning sacrifice. As Christ’s ministry and preaching demonstrated his fulfillment of the Mosaic law, Jesus’s teachings and actions also followed patterns found in the Elijah narrative of 1 Kings. Elijah’s struggle with the corruption that had taken over the Israelite government of his day prefigured Jesus’s contention with the corrupt scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem. Likewise, Elijah left the courts and cities to commune with God in the wilderness, mourning the wickedness of his people and setting the pattern for Jesus’s forty-day fast in the wilderness, preparation for his own role as redeemer of the house of Israel. Many of Jesus’s contemporaries wondered if he was Elijah himself come back to earth. In this, they recognized the preparatory messianic role described by Malachi, who said that Elijah’s return would signal the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” when all things would be restored and made right ( Malachi 4:5 ). But there is another way in which Jesus follows the pattern of Elijah. In Luke 4 , Jesus speaks of the people’s rejection of his authority and ministry, recalling Elijah’s own exile from his homeland: “Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow” (Luke 4:24-26). Jesus could have referenced any of several confrontational encounters between Elijah and the corrupt court of Israel. But while Elijah engages in many demonstrations of miraculous power, this visit to the widow of Sarepta (or Zarephath, as it is identified in 1King 17) is one of the few stories in which he finds an ally in faith. What qualities did the widow of Sarepta have that were worthy of Jesus’s mention? Directed by the Lord, Elijah arrived at her home as a beggar in need of food and shelter. At this point, the woman’s faithful heroism overcame two legitimately reasonable objections. A widow living in poverty, she could have simply insisted that her circumstances were too precarious, and she would have been justified in turning Elijah away. She was also a foreigner, a woman who had made no covenants to believe or support Israelite prophets. But she did not follow the example of her compatriot, the Baal-worshipping prophet-persecutor, Queen Jezebel. Although this widow could have seen Elijah as her enemy, she was receptive to the Lord’s injunction to help him (1 Kings 17:9). Although she did not belong to the house of Israel, she nonetheless offered her hospitality, believed in the efficacy of divine promises, and by her faith allowed miracles to happen. Like Elijah, Jesus was also nurtured and protected by many women disciples. Some were widows, some not. Most were of the house of Israel, but some were not. He cited the story of Elijah and the Sidonian widow early in his ministry and while preaching in his own home region of Galilee, but Jesus later journeyed northwest to the neighboring Sidon, following in the footsteps of the exiled Elijah. There he met a local woman who begged him to heal her daughter. When he replied that he was sent to minister only to the house of Israel, she was persistent, and he relented: “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour” ( Matthew 15:28 ). Jesus’s ministry was limited by geography and time, but his interactions with women, whether foreigners or Israelite, privileged or destitute, was telling. These encounters resulted in miracles of spiritual and physical healing. The women he met were quick to recognize Jesus’s divinity and to exercise faith in him. He in his turn was quick to recognize their worth as souls, quick to give blessings in exchange for their ministry of hospitality, and always ready to tell their stories and insist on their value when he taught his own apostles. What can we learn? The faith of these women can be emulated by anyone. We don’t need status, privilege, or property to be attuned to the Spirit and to exercise great faith. But Elijah and Jesus show a kind of faith as well. Their faith is not in traditions, hierarchies, or ethnic boundaries but in the human spirit at its most vulnerable and most pure. They received the ministry of those of humble means and had the discernment to recognize humanity’s capacity to love and believe. They recognized the worth of these souls and acknowledged them as women of faith and power, workers in the divine ministry of God. And both sides were blessed.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared that the COVID-19 virus was a global pandemic. The next day, President Russell M. Nelson closed every temple in the world, canceled all church events including local sacrament meetings and even one-to-one ministering visits, and started chartering flights to return missionaries to their home countries immediately. When I read the Church announcement, I had a crystal clear thought and posted this on Facebook: Today I’ve had a mental picture of standing in a line on a beach, linked arms with my Relief Society sisters, and a massive ocean wave is coming straight for us. We’re going to get submerged and when the water recedes, there will be a big mess to clean up. We will have sand in our hair and seaweed in our bras. But we will still be standing with our arms linked. Because the Relief Society women are extraordinary and we will take this on. When things were hard in 2020, as they often were, the Spirit reminded and encouraged me with the single word: extraordinary . Organization of the Relief Society by Paul Mann It comes from when the Relief Society was organized in 1842. There was some discussion about what to name the group. Eliza R. Snow hesitated about the title Relief Society , because it sounded too dramatic to her – “as though we are responding to extraordinary occasions instead of meeting the common occurrences.” Emma’s response was: “We ARE going to do something extraordinary. When a boat is stuck on the rapids with a multitude of Mormons on board, we shall consider that a loud call for relief. We expect extraordinary occasions and pressing calls.” [1] The past twenty (not just the last five) years have been one extraordinary occasion and pressing call after another, around the world. The Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine was just one thing on a very long list. There have been more so-called “once in a lifetime” events than I can even think of – financial crises and economic recessions, extreme weather conditions and massive natural disasters, political upheaval and wars … and the social pressures that respond get tighter and higher every year. 2025 is a continuation of the international demolition derby. It’s intimidating to ponder what to do or how to be extraordinary to deal with it all. So let’s back up to 1842 again. The Relief Society was not introduced by Joseph Smith, and the women who thought of it were not Emma Smith and Eliza R. Snow. The original creators of the Relief Society were Sarah Granger Kimball and Margaret Cook, and they wanted to start a sewing group. The Nauvoo Temple was under construction, and they noticed that the workers’ clothing was wearing out. They wanted to help with the temple and decided to make new shirts for the men. These were not women of influence in the Church – they were not Apostles’ wives (Sarah’s husband was not a member, and Margaret was single), they had no callings or responsibilities (those didn’t exist yet). They were regular, ordinary people of the community who wanted to contribute and basically said, “This is what I’m good at. This is what I’m capable of doing.” And they did it. [2] Little ideas can become big things. The entire Restoration of the Gospel, the translation of the Book of Mormon , and the creation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came about because a teenager prayed to ask which church he should join. Women have had plenty of ideas throughout the history of the Church. Emma Smith had a chat with her husband about cleaning her floor after the men spit tobacco during their meetings, and we got the Word of Wisdom. Aurelia Spencer Rogers was annoyed with rowdy boys in her town and saw that their moms needed some assistance, so she talked to her bishop and other Church leaders. They started Primary. Young Women Girls Camp grew out of concerns that Emily Higgs had about urban working girls’ lack of opportunity for spiritual and psychological healing in nature. And the Relief Society began with a sewing group of twelve women. [3] All of these things started at the local level by women who saw a need and took action to find a solution.  The Church is of course much bigger now than in the 1800s, and our individual ideas are unlikely to get to Salt Lake to be enacted church-wide. At the same time, decrees from the top aren’t necessarily going to meet local needs.  Bottom-up revelation is real. We don’t have to wait for someone at Church headquarters to announce something about a concerning situation; we can make changes locally. We all have different perspectives and can see and understand things that others don’t. If something affects us directly, I believe we can get revelation about how to respond. Before the youth program was revised, my ward’s Activity Day leaders noted that all of the youth groups participated in summer camp except the Faith in God girls, so they created a day camp similar to the Cub Scouts. It was so successful that a stake day camp for girls was started the next year. This is not a suggestion that we bypass the process to work with our ward and stake leaders. That process is councils! Ward council all the way up to the top councils at Church headquarters. I hope that all leaders – from bishops all the way to the First Presidency – listen to the spiritual promptings of the members and collaborate to find on-the-ground solutions to our challenges.  At the local level, we also have Eliza R. Snow’s phrase: a “common occurrence.” Taking someone dinner is a very common occurrence. Not extraordinary. Except to the receiver, it could be. In 2017, my husband had a health situation that landed him in the hospital emergency room and he took eight weeks off work. Ward members rallied around us immediately and brought us dinners. None of the dinners were elaborate. Two people didn’t cook at all – they both called restaurants and had take-out delivered to my house. It was such a relief because meal planning even in good times is a substantial mental burden for me. And I didn’t have to even think about it for two whole weeks! It was not extraordinary to the people who gave us dinners, but it was extraordinary for me to receive the dinners. The motto of Relief Society is “Charity never faileth,” and the charity extended to my family – love and care through dinners – was amazing. Common occurrences can be extraordinary. I heard a quote on a podcast – “God uses raindrops to carve canyons.” The Doctrine and Covenants says many times that “the fulness of the gospel will be proclaimed by the weak and the simple.” If you are feeling intimidated by the idea of extraordinary , we’re not talking about each of us being a flood to carve a canyon. We are referring to individual raindrops of service, and all of us together make the flood. I love this quote from Elder Clayton Christensen: “There is a calling far higher than that of stake president, bishop, or Relief Society president. It is to be a doer of good, a disciple of Christ, an intermediary through whom God answers others’ prayers.” [4] Relief Society women are extraordinary doers of good, and our raindrops have carved more than one canyon of service. Sister Sheri Dew was in the Relief Society general presidency in the 1990s, and the Church was contacted about refugees in Eastern Europe due to war in Kosovo. Winter was coming and the Relief Society church-wide was asked to make quilts. They wanted 40,000 quilts in 60 days. The women of the Church made 140,000 quilts in 60 days, and Sister Dew says they’ve “never been able to turn the spigot off” for quilt donations. [5] A couple of weeks into the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a call in Utah for Relief Society women to sew one million masks for people to wear, since personal protective gear was in such limited supply. There’s no way to count how many masks the women of the Church actually made – millions, plural. They only counted the ones made in Utah that the Church could officially keep track of. Every mask made and donated was a raindrop carving the canyon of help and health. Another analogy of working together in Relief Society extraordinary-ness is from Sister Sharon Eubank, when she compared living the gospel and working together in unity to being on a crew team.  “There is a thing that sometimes happens that is hard to achieve and hard to define. It’s called ‘swing.’ It happens only when all are rowing in such perfect unison that not a single action is out of sync. Rowers must rein in their fierce independence and at the same time hold true to their individual capabilities. Races are not won by clones. Good crews are good blends—someone to lead the charge, someone to hold something in reserve, someone to fight the fight, someone to make peace. No rower is more valuable than another, all are assets to the boat, but if they are to row well together, each must adjust to the needs and capabilities of the others—the shorter-armed person reaching a little farther, the longer-armed person pulling in just a bit. Differences can be turned to advantage instead of disadvantage. Only then will it feel as if the boat is moving on its own. Only then does pain entirely give way to exultation. Good ‘swing’ feels like poetry.” [6] Female Crew Team Here’s the catch that stood out to me about this analogy: rowers do all of this without looking where they’re going – their backs are to the finish line. The coxswain is the only person who sees where the boat is going and directs the team. If you look at anything except the person directly in front of you, you will throw off the rhythm of the whole boat and swamp it. We’re past the pandemic now, but we don’t know what’s going to happen next with politics or war or natural disasters or anything in general. We can’t see anything past today. Fortunately, our coxswain is Jesus Christ. He sees what’s coming. He guides us to focus our raindrop efforts and to respond to common occurrences with the extraordinary. He links arms with us when we’re submerged in the massive waves of life and helps us clean up the big messes. All the time, not just during quarantines. Joseph Smith said at a Nauvoo Relief Society meeting: “If you live up to these principles of charity and benevolence … If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.” [7] THAT is extraordinary. I want to be supported by angels through life. I want that for myself, and I want that for you. I invite you to join the Relief Society in doing – and being – extraordinary. [1] Exchange between Eliza R. Snow and Emma Smith – The First Fifty Years of Relief Society , editors Kate Holbrook, Jill Mulvay Derr, Matthew J. Grow, (Church Historians Press, 2016), section 1.2.1. churchhistorianspress.org/the-first-fifty-years-of-relief-society/part-1/1-2/1-2-1?lang=eng [2] “Relief Society Foundations,” Church historic sites, churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/history/sites/historic-nauvoo/relief-society-foundations?lang=eng [3] Erin Cowles, “Revelation: Shared, Diverse, and Proactive,” LDS Women Project Essays of Discipleship , June 7, 2020, ldswomenproject.com/2020/06/revelation-shared-diverse-and-proactive/ [4] Clayton Christensen, “My Ways Are Not Your Ways,” Ensign , February 2007, churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2007/02/my-ways-are-not-your-ways?lang=eng [5] Boyd Matheson, “A Conversation with Sheri Dew: Can American men and women ever be created equa?” Deseret News, October 3, 2018, deseret.com/2018/10/3/20655062/a-conversation-with-sheri-dew-can-american-men-and-women-ever-be-created-equal-podcast/ [6] Sharon Eubank, “By Union of Feeling, We Obtain Power With God,” October 2020 general conference. [7] Daughters in My Kingdom (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2011), chapter 10, page 171, churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/daughters-in-my-kingdom-the-history-and-work-of-relief-society/live-up-to-your-privilege?lang=eng

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson #29 ,  2 Kings 2:1–18 ;  2 Kings 5,   2 Kings 6:8–18 The focus of this lesson is “[to] help class members understand how the authority (mantle) passes from one prophet to another, to encourage them to obey the words of the prophets, and to assure them that the power of God is greater than any other power.” Our last conference was a solemn assembly. Our beloved Prophet Thomas S. Monson had passed away on January 2, 2018. Upon his death, the first presidency was dissolved and Presidents Eyring and Uchtdorf resumed their callings as Apostles. The Council of the Twelve Apostles became the presiding body until Russell M. Nelson was called and sustained in a solemn assembly. In 2 Kings 2, we see an example of how the prophetic authority was transferred in ancient times. Elijah was given the heads up that he was to be translated. So, he embarked on a four-city-I’m-Gettin-Translated tour. In each city, Elijah asks Elisha to stay put. Elisha’s like – You cray, cray? Stop talking nonsense…I mean, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee” (v. 6). The finale takes place at Jordan. Elijah is the go big or go home type. Channeling his inner Moses, Elijah takes his mantle (read cloth) origamis it into a rod and wacks the river like a Nana cleaning a rug. The waters part. What better place to have a heart-to-heart than on this newly exposed land. During their walk, Elisha asks to be chosen as the one to continue Elijah’s work “…let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me” (v. 9). Elijah knowing that only the Lord can fulfill this wish responds, “Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so” (v. 10). Elijah turns in all of his brownie-points and is rewarded with a first class translation with all of the amenities – chariots and horses of fire and a whirlwind. Elisha seeing all of this calls to Elijah, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof” (v. 12). The mantel falls from Elijah to Elisha. Elisha takes it and smacks the water to check if it still works. The waters part. He’s good to go. Elisha starts his own tour as headliner. He performs miracles and gives sound counsel. He also has 42 children dismembered by bears when they mock him. Clearly, he hasn’t worked through all of his playground issues. Nobody puts Baby in a corner and nobody, NOBODY makes fun of Elisha’s premature balding. By the time we get to chapter 5, Elisha is a well-established prophet. We also meet Naaman, a Syrian captain and leper. His army captured and enslaved a young Israelite girl, who now waits on Naaman’s wife. This young girl tells her mistress of Elisha and his ability to heal. Naaman seeks out Elisha who instructs Naaman to bath in Jordan seven times. Naaman gets all kinds of salty – You cray, cray? Stop talking nonsense. Everyone knows the Syrian rivers are better than Israelite. Naaman’s servant tells him to take three deep calming breaths and to stop being foolish. If the prophet tells you to jump, you jump. If he tells you to wash seven times in your least favorite river, you do it. Naaman plugs his nose and dives in. Naaman is healed. He is grateful. He and his men become believers in the God of Israel. The manual asks us to consider how this young Israelite girl is an example for us. I’d like us to go a step further and consider how our young women are examples for us and what we can do to further empower them. In our solemn assembly, we sustained President Russell M. Nelson as our prophet. President Nelson has pleaded with the women on this church, “My dear sisters, whatever your calling, whatever your circumstances, we need your impressions, your insights, and your inspiration. We need you to speak up and speak out in ward and stake councils. We need each married sister to speak as ‘a contributing and full partner’ as you unite with your husband in governing your family. Married or single, you sisters possess distinctive capabilities and special intuition you have received as gifts from God…We need women who know how to access the power that God makes available to covenant keepers and who express their beliefs with confidence and charity. We need women who have the courage and vision of our Mother Eve…So today I plead with my sisters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to step forward! Take your rightful and needful place in your home, in your community, and in the kingdom of God—more than you ever have before.” How do you speak up, speak out, contribute, access the power of God, step forward and take your rightful and needful place? How are you modeling this for the young women? How are you empowering the young women to do this? In her final message as General Young Women President, President Bonnie L. Oscarson , called upon us to see the true value of our young women and to utilize them now to build up the kingdom of Zion. “Every young woman in the Church should feel valued, have opportunities to serve, and feel that she has something of worth to contribute to this work…Do those who sit on ward councils, or hold any calling in the ward, see the young women as valuable resources to help fill the many needs within our wards? There is usually a long list of situations that require someone to serve, and we often think only of the adults in the ward to meet those needs…our young women can be called upon to provide service and minister to the needs of ward members with their mothers or other exemplary sisters. They are capable, eager, and willing to do so much more than merely attend church on Sundays!” Amen, President Oscarson! President Oscarson is right. We are guilty of under-utilizing our young women. If we limit their contributions as young women, we teach them that their contributions are limited. It wasn’t that long ago that I was a Young Women’s president. With the mantel of Young Women President of my ward, I felt compelled to find ways to empower our young women. If nothing else, I wanted them to have a testimony of message found in the YW theme – that they are loved and have to potential to be exalted like our Heavenly Mother. My presidency imagined various ways to make the young women more visible in our ward and give them opportunities for meaningful contribution. Sometimes we were successful and other times we weren’t. Our biggest struggle was attendance at midweek activities. Sometimes, I was the only one who showed up. This was frustrating, and I never found a solution. After listening to President Oscarson, it occurred to me that solution could have been partnering with an organization in our community, such as a nursing home or homeless shelter and have a that be our standing midweek activity. That would’ve given the young women opportunities to be part of our community in meaningful ways and worth my time if I was the only one able to make it. One thing that worked well was my presidency’s collaboration with the Relief Society presidency. We all felt it was important that the young women to be oriented toward the Relief Society and to build relationships with women in the ward who weren’t their mothers. We combined RS and YW opening exercises on the first Sundays. The young women lead all women in the YW theme. YW were invited to RS activities. Our most imaginative and empowering collaboration was the Welcome to Relief Society Ceremony. The Relief Society President, the Bishop and myself worked together to create a ritual that captured the significance of this transition while keeping within the guidelines of the Handbook and church policy. This was the ceremony we created: -Start the meeting with “As Sisters in Zion,” prayer, RS announcements, YW announcements and YW theme.-RS President talks about how the significance of joining the RS.-YW President talks briefly about the young woman leaving YW and gives the young woman a card and her copy of the in-class journal.-YW President says: “President [RS President’s name], I present to you [young woman’s name] for admittance into the -Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.-RS President says: “All who can welcome [young woman’s name] as a member of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, please show it by the uplifted hand.”-RS President welcomes the young woman and hands her anything she needs (ie, manual, copy of the RS motto, her VT list, the month’s newsletter, etc). Note, that my Bishop and I combed through the Handbook and couldn’t find any reason why the RS President couldn’t ask for the uplifted hand in welcoming a new sister into the RS. There is nothing that says a welcoming has to be done by a priesthood leader. This was a beautiful and moving ceremony. The young woman felt wanted and welcomed. The RS women felt that they had more responsibility in fellowshipping her having gone through this ritual with her. This ceremony may not work for you or your ward. You have to do what works for you and your stewardship. President Nelson has his prophet mantel and you have yours. It is our responsibility as LDS women to take upon our mantels and light the way and empower those young women coming behind us to do the same.

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson #30 ;  2 Chronicles 29–30 ,  2 Chronicles 32:1–23 ,  2 Chronicles 34 . In this lesson, the Prophetess Huldah is the fulcrum of this story. I had no idea who Huldah was, which speaks to my neglect of Old Testament scripture reading. I will focus on the House of the Lord in this commentary and urge you not to follow my example of Old Testament reading. Being an English graduate from BYU and having gone through the various literary courses, including Greek mythology, the first thing that came to mind as I filtered this commentary from a woman’s perspective, was the Greek goddess, Hestia and her Roman equivalent, Vesta. My mind automatically starts playing with the names and the sound effects of language. Huldah begins with “H” and has two syllables: Hestia is the same. I think the hearth may be similar to an altar, which we know is at the temple. And the burning of incense in the temple, on the altar, is addressed in Huldah’s revelations from God. Similarly, one of the duties of Hestia involved offering sacrifices to deity. Admittedly, these kinds of random associations did not always pass muster with and probably annoyed some of my BYU Professors. So, please don’t take my creative meanderings for Gospel. I will note that Hugh Nibley was among the “diffusionist” theorists who explain religious similarities as an imitation of ancient religions and rites (think Adam and Abraham, etc.), which may explain similarities between Old Testament history and other religions or mythologies of the world, including Huldah, Hestia and Vesta. 2 Chronicles 34 describes the Prophetess Huldah’s role during young King Josiah’s time, including a call to repentance. A cursory research of Huldah revealed she is considered by Jewish scholars to be one of the “Seven” prophetesses in the Old Testament, along with Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail and Esther. She is a prominent prophetic figure and even the Huldah Gates of the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount are named for her. Now let’s look at the roles of Hestia and Vesta: Hestia’s , Goddess of hearth and home, “…name and functions show the hearth’s importance in the social, religious, and political life of ancient Greece. It was essential for warmth, food preparation, and the completion of sacrificial offerings to deities…The accidental or negligent extinction of a domestic hearth-fire represented a failure of domestic and religious care for the family; failure to maintain Hestia’s public fire in her temple or shrine was a breach of duty to the broad community. A hearth fire might be deliberately, ritually extinguished at need, and its lighting or relighting should be accompanied by rituals of completion, purification and renewal, comparable with the rituals and connotations of an eternal flame and of sanctuary lamps. At the level of the polis, the hearths of Greek colonies and their mother cities were allied and sanctified through Hestia’s cult.” Vestas  has similar functions as a divine personification of Rome’s “public”, domestic, and colonial hearths, and bound Romans together within a form of extended family.” So, what does this have to do with this lesson in our Sunday school manual? These goddess’ functions could be compared to, and derivative of (according to “diffusionist” theory) of Huldah’s advice and reprimand from the Lord to the Kingdom of Judah in 2 Chronicles. In verses 23-25, the burning of incense that Huldah refers to has reference to temple ordinances that are either neglected or corrupted. As women, we often take the lead in Temple attendance, whether married, single, youth leaders, etc. Because of my reputation for family history work, there are so many names I’ve supplied baptisms for the youth’s summer temple excursions. I’ve been doing this for ten years or so and it happens that female ordinances on my temple list are done so much faster than the male ordinances. We could analyze the reasons and causal factors forever, but I truly don’t judge and I understand time constraints can be unbalanced between the genders. It just is. Consequently, we can be a major influence in this area as we strive to turn our hearts and our families to the fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles and 12th cousins 10x removed, in our ancestry. As such we keep the Hestian “home fires” burning. The worth of souls is great to the Lord and that includes the deceased immediate and extended family members, just as Vesta’s duty was over the extended family. This is also turning ourselves and family members away from the worldly pursuits or Huldah’s “other gods,” and honoring our covenants with the Lord as we become his hands in this work of salvation. If you don’t have a temple recommend or aren’t a member of the LDS church, there is so much worth and fulfillment in researching family history as well as indexing records for deceased individuals. They are vital to this grand work. Though we may not be commissioned to prophesy in an official capacity as Huldah was, it is clear that we are essential to the directive to come to the House of the Lord. It is a place of peace and divine direction. I believe women are or can be the cardinal peacemakers of this world.

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson #31 ;    Proverbs  and  Ecclesiastes . The young future Relief Society President Bathsheba W. Smith read Eliza R. Snow’s first draft of the poem “Eternal Father and Mother” in Nauvoo—we know it as “O My Father.” This introduction to the Mormon doctrine of a Heavenly Mother was so pivotal for Bathsheba that decades later she still remembered the room, the furniture, and a litany of other little details surrounding her when she read the poem. The details emblazoned on her memory emphasize the spiritual significance of the moment for her ( Young Women’s Journal 21:608 ). Latter-day Saints generally accept the doctrine of a Mother in Heaven but are often hesitant to talk about Her. The Gospel Topics essay is a good place to consider the origin of Latter-day Saint belief. Joseph Smith taught the doctrine privately to a number of different people before his death, including Eliza R. Snow who penned our most well-known expression of the doctrine. Cited in the footnotes of the Gospel Topics essay, David Paulsen and Martin Pulido’s BYU Studies article “ A Mother There ” challenges the folk doctrine that our Mother in Heaven is too sacred to talk about; prophets have been talking about her since Joseph Smith. President Hinckley reiterated that though we believe in a Mother in Heaven, we follow Jesus’ example and pray to the Father. But this does not mean that we cannot look for our Mother. And Proverbs is a great place to start. Proverbs belongs to the collection of writings in the Hebrew Bible known as the Ketuvim or “teachings.” More specifically they are classified specifically as wisdom literature. Here we have wise teachings of women and men presented as Solomon’s; however few scholars consider Solomon to be the author. Wisdom literature differs from other kinds of teachings; it offers a better way to live. In Proverbs, the focus is on living a whole and complete life—rather than a life that bifurcates the spiritual and the temporal. These teachings can offer an important companion to the Lord’s 1830 injunction that we live a wholly spiritual life. God does not see distinctions between the spiritual and the temporal ( D&C 29:34 ). Gaining wisdom is a central component in this attempt. Wisdom could be considered a desired state of mind, a gift of the Spirit, or I think, most importantly, representative of the Divine Feminine. Significant words in the Hebrew Bible such as spirit (ruach), presence (shekinah), and wisdom (chokmah) are all grammatically feminine in the Hebrew. If we closely read Proverbs, we should pay attention every time Wisdom is personified and referred to as she. This could just be a literary mechanism, but if we believe in a Mother in Heaven we must consider the possibility that it is more. Wisdom or Sophia represents the divine presence in the world—the feminine Divine. As well as the Divine Feminine, Proverbs also introduces a counterfeit—the “alien” or “forbidden” woman. The antithesis to Wisdom is the forbidden woman whose “slippery” words entice and flatter (interestingly it is not her dress). Stay away from her. For feminist theologians, Wisdom is a key figure in the Hebrew Bible. The recovery of Her is central to feminist interpretations of scripture. While such interpretations can be considered radical for Catholics and Protestants, for Mormons they are only as radical as was Joseph Smith. This is not heretical. This fits our Restoration understanding. My favorite chapter of Proverbs is the 8th, I particularly like the JPS* translation: It is Wisdom calling, Understanding raising her voice. She takes her stand at the topmost heights, By the wayside, at the crossroads, Near the gates at the city entrance; At the entryways, she shouts, O men, I call to you; My cry is to all mankind. (JPS Proverbs 8:1-4) She calls to us. She must loudly shout and cry out to us to see if we might listen. She was there at the beginning—“before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth….When he prepared the heavens, I was there…Then I was by him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always…” (KJV Proverbs 8:25-31). Wisdom is not explicitly participating in creation in the Hebrew text—but her presence could open that possibility. The plurality of the Hebrew word for god, elohim, might also support that assumption. From Brigham Young to Jeffrey R. Holland, multiple Latter-day Saint leaders have suggested that our Heavenly Mother participated in creation (See Paulsen and Pulido, 80). Wisdom’s words are astute and can be pointed. She could be speaking to us in this contemptuous political moment, “How long will you simpletons love naiveté? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?” (NET Proverbs 1:22). Elsewhere we are importuned: Keep your father’s commandment; Do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Tie them over your heart always; Bind them around your throat (JPS Proverbs 6:20-21). Though binding anything around our throats might sound a bit menacing, if we figuratively wrap the commandments and teachings like a pendant necklace around our necks then they will rest over our heart. We will demonstrate the importance of both commandments and teachings to our Father and Mother. Sometimes we dismiss the Mosaic Law as one of outward appearances, however a careful reader cannot miss the injunctions to write on our hearts consistent throughout the Hebrew Bible. Wisdom promises us that “those that seek me early will find me” (KJV Proverbs 8:17). Seeking Her is left to us. Happy is the woman who listens to me, Coming to my gates each day, Waiting outside my doors. (JPS Proverbs 8:34) *Translations consulted: Jewish Publication Society – JPS, King James Version – KJV, and New English Translation – NET.

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson #32 ;  Job 1–2 ;  Job 13:13–16 ;  19:23–27 ;  Job 27:2–6 ;  Job 42:10–17 When I was a teenager, I thought I understood the purpose of the book of Job. In my mind, Job modeled how to calmly and uncomplainingly accept everything God allows to come your way. My takeaway was that I should strive to be as mellow as possible about my trials, and I’d recognize I had achieved this when I didn’t even feel upset if something painful came my way. This reading fell apart when I did a closer reading as a young adult. Job is full of eloquent declarations of faith … and an awful lot of complaining and wishing he was dead or had never been born at all. I struggled to figure out what my new takeaway should be. Was Job an admirable role model, complaints and all, or did he make mistakes I should try and avoid? Interestingly, the takeaway became clearer when I stopped looking at Job himself and started looking at those around him. My focus shifted away from how I should respond to my trials, and instead towards how I should respond to the trials of those around me. It no longer mattered if Job’s responses were right or wrong; what mattered is how I fulfill my covenant responsibility to mourn with those that mourn. The book of Job is full of spectacular failures, as well as beautiful and simple successes, of ministering to those in our lives that are suffering. I’d always considered Job’s trials to be his physical ailments, poverty, and lost children, but there’s more to his grief that I had missed. Francine Bennion points out that Job’s framework for understanding suffering in the world had been severely tried . Though most of Eliphaz’s words were cruel and unfair, he highlighted an important truth when he declared, “Behold, thou hast instructed many…Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon thee, and thou art troubled” (4:3-5). Job thought he understood how suffering worked, but whatever his views were before, they proved inadequate for his current pain. And oh, did he struggle with this blow to his worldview. After his trials came, Job felt like God wasn’t listening to him (19:7), and that when he tried to gain an understanding of what was happening to him, God was silent (23:5). I find his pleadings heartbreaking, in part because so many of us have experienced similar pain. So many people in our lives experience suffering that lacks tidy answers. Sexual assault, infertility, divorce, faith crises, unemployment, loss of a loved one; the list goes on and on. The trials themselves are incredibly painful, but the deeper pain often comes because it hurts to not understand God’s role in the trials (10:1-16). So, what does Job teach us about assisting others as they rebuild their relationship with and understanding of God? A substantial chunk of Job is dedicated to his friends trying to tell Job why he shouldn’t feel the way he does. They reproach him for his despair, invent reasons why his suffering was his own fault, and basically tell Job they understand God better than he does. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t help. While it is tempting to provide tidy answers to someone that is suffering, reframing your understanding of how God acts in your life is a very personal process, and the answers are often very personal in nature. So if that doesn’t help, when can we do? I love the example President Rosemary Wixom shared in the April 2015 General Conference of a woman rebuilding her testimony after she experienced a faith crisis. She didn’t return because someone found the perfect words to answer her questions – instead, she explained that, “My parents knew my heart and allowed me space. They chose to love me while I was trying to figure it out for myself.” In addition, her ward family gave her a place where she could contribute on her own terms and loved her while she did the studying and soul-searching necessary to rebuild a testimony. Although Job’s friends ultimately failed him, they led out with this principle. I love that when they came to him, they wept and sat with him in silence for a week after his losses occurred (2:13). I will always be grateful to the people in my own life that have simply mourned with me during my trials. I’ve forgotten the words of counsel my bishop eventually gave me when I was suffering the consequences of someone else’s use of agency, but I will never forget how powerfully I felt God’s love for me when that bishop took out a box of Kleenex and wept with me. And when I was experiencing a painful faith crisis, my Relief Society president came to my house to listen to me without judgment. She didn’t offer me tidy answers or try to explain anything away – she offered me the safe, loving place I needed to rebuild my testimony without having to wrestle with feelings of shame or isolation from my ward family. Ultimately, personal pain requires personal revelation from God. Frequently, our role is to provide loving space while our loved ones search for it. I’m also fascinated by how Job’s life improved in the end. Most importantly, God did provide answers on His own timetable. But the community also came together to restore what he lost. In Job 42:11-12, we read, “Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters , and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning …” (emphasis added). I had never caught this before – that God’s later blessing of Job came partially through the small offerings of those that cared about him. It increased my desire to reach out and serve those that are hurting, despite my own limited abilities. Once I started focusing on my role in helping those that are suffering, I realized that what mattered most was where Job arrived in the end, not his individual process to get there. I realized that if I believe God when he told Joseph Smith that trials give us experience, then when trials come to those we love, they are at a starting place where they have something they need to learn. And learning takes time and often involves mistakes. God trusts us to love and serve them while they make this personal journey.

Gospel Doctrine Old Testament Lesson #33 ;  Jonah 1–2 ;  Jonah 3–4 ;  Micah 2:12–13 ;  4:1–7, 11–13 ;  5:2–4, 7–8 ;  6:6–8 ;  7:18–20 . The story of Jonah and the whale may be one of the best-known stories from the Old Testament, delighting young Sunday School students around the world almost as much as Noah and his menagerie. Much is made in the lesson of the size of the fish – what kind of animal could it have been? – and how Jonah would have survived. Also, Jonah is an unlikely and wily hero, making him relatable and personable when others’ perfections may feel unreachable. But when I was reviewing these chapters this week, something stood out to me that I had never noticed before: Jonah 2 is a complete prayer, uttered in the first person while Jonah is actually in the belly of the fish. This is a part of the story that I have never dwelt on before and that, at this point in my life, feels more relevant to me than all the other aspects of this story. How often do we wait until we are in the belly of the fish to utter our prayers of forgiveness and deliverance? It is interesting that at the very beginning of the prayer, Jonah describes his location not as the “fish’s belly” that had been used earlier, but as the “belly of hell”. This phrase seems both literal and figurative, describing the dark disgust that must have surrounded him physically but also the metaphorical darkness. It is in this belly of hell that many of us offer our most profound and sincere prayers, and certainly, we are not alone. Jonah, Joseph Smith (as recorded in Doctrine & Covenants 121’s prayer in Liberty Jail ), and Jesus (in Gethsemane) all have prayers recorded from their moments of greatest need. Jonah’s prayer is replete with language of darkness and bondage: In Chapter 2, verse 5, “The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.” And in verse 6, “I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever.” The water and the elements of the earth play a lead role in this profoundly earth-bound prayer, as Jonah is almost destroyed in the most foreboding and unknowable of God’s creations: the ocean. Natural power is everywhere, ready to crash over him as waves and bury him as mountains. And yet, there is a strikingly odd evocation in this prayer too, one seemingly out of line with the images of natural and organic power. In verse 4 and then again in 7, Jonah calls upon “thy holy temple,” an object which we in our modern minds imagine as a man-made, inorganic presence, but one imbued with enough divinity to suspend between heaven and earth. It is about as far away as seaweed wrapped around our heads as we can imagine. The temple is a concept intimately connected to Jonah in biblical scholarship. “The sign of Jonah” is considered to be the metaphorical representation of the Savior’s burial for three days and His resurrection, but it also is applied to the rebuilding of the Hebrew temple after the Second Temple Period. Jonah was, in essence, dead while in the fish, consumed and bonded by the elements of flesh and the earth. But while he is in that death-like state, he looks to a resurrection, a rebuilding, that is embodied not only by the Savior but by the promise of a future temple too. It is in the temple we make the covenants that bind us, that tether us to commitments we make to God, but also His commitment to save us from the “belly of hell”. I too often pray when I am in the belly of the fish. In praying for salvation, I would do well to look more often to the symbol of resurrection, rebirth and rebuilding: the temple. Jonah is a good reminder not to wait until we are consumed by the cares of our physical earth to look to that sacred redemption.