Psalm 51 ~ A psalm for healing from sin Catie Nielson Lord of love, have mercy on me. Your mercy is a deep river. Wash the pettiness from me and wring me out to dry. There’s a lot to make up for. I’ve hurt people, and I’ve hurt You. I grew up in a world of violence, born into many sins: cruelty, oppression, greed. But You want more than these words, You want me to taste it. It tastes bad, like vinegar, but You will make me clean. Help me feel the joy of healing ;make my heart do good for its own sake. Don’t leave me; Remind me of the joy in being saved and I’ll help other people feel it too. I’m haunted by guilt; instead, let me sing a song of love. Open my mouth for the song of Your love. I thought you wanted sacrifice, blood and fire; But instead you want my heart, broken and listening

Psalm for the Creator Lorren Lemmons For beloved bits of earth burrowed into my soul–– diamond-cold creek, edged with yarrow and thimbleberry; jagged canyon sheltered by craggy peaks; beachside cliffs watching distant dolphins in the surf; lichened cathedral of alders, joining animal supplicants beneath an emerald ceiling; marsh dunes brimming with feather and shell, baptized in salt tides–– I thank Him whose finger traced unshaped dust trailing riches in its wake, holy Jeweler setting stars in the velvet night, brushing watercolors over the newborn horizon.

The Sun of God Olivia Bown Flinders When I was a child I didn’t spell things right And I thought the Son of God was actually the Sun of God So every time I looked at the sun I thought I was looking at Jesus Hey Jesus while I ran on the playground Hey Jesus while I rolled in the grass Hey Jesus while I swam in the ocean Jesus makes me warm! Jesus gives me light! Jesus wants me for a sunbeam! And now looking back I think I was spelling Sun right all along

Psalm Merrijane Rice A dissonant tune twinned to plaintive words can live and spread like aspen roots, binding generations. David bargains, begs forgiveness, praises the Lord across centuries. Jesus hears, learns by heart, replies from crux of history, and far downstream, I catch faint, sacred strains of their ancient duet. I am listening, revising my part, practicing to lift up my voice and sing.

At the Well Angela Ricks Day after day The sun high The land dry I come to the well Empty Desperate for something To quench my thirst. Coming like Rachel With all her sheep. Jacob rolled away the heavy stone And water filled them all. Art thou greater than he? Then He rolled away the stone of my heavy heart Drew deep in the well And living water filled All that was empty in me.

How I Hear Him Kaye Whiting Romney I hear Him In the gentle breeze Of leaves Half-flushed With green and gold. I hear Him In the silhouette Of black Ash branches Gnarled and old. I hear Him On the river rocks, And then again on desert sand. He touches me In darkened caves Where I reach out to hold His hand. I hear Him In the desperate darkness When I toss and cannot sleep. He knows at least, I then will listen – to His voice in stillness deep. I hear him in the Holy promise of the Stained glass harvest wheat. I hear Him as I kneel at alters Where I plead for mercy sweet. I hear Him when my will is swallowed Up in His redemptive power. When I confess my sins before Him – Still, He loves me every hour.

Untitled Natalie Brown O, Jehovah, Thou Son of God, let my praise to Thee be found on my lips. Allow my tears to wash Thy feet, accept my offering and let Thy will eclipse. O, replace my ashes with Thy beauty, let Thine oil of joy soothe my mourning. As the stars fall down and worship Thee, let Thy light always in me be burning. O, Savior, Redeemer, bid me enter in, give me drink of living water. From my bed of anguish say to me, “Arise, beloved daughter.” O, Lord, my God, my Advocate, grant Thy peace unto my soul. Thy goodness, Thy grace, Thy life given for me, because of Thee I am eternally made whole.

Tethered to Heaven April Deme s Lines of heart and mind silken invisible but tensile and tough Even when I severed some myself I could feel the tug Someone on the other end who hadn’t wouldn’t let go Divine threads I am bound by them not imprisoned—attached. Tied to truth. Cocooned in connection. Woven with glory.

As anyone that has sung in a ward choir I’ve directed knows, I love a good praise song. I find exuberant harmony, declarations of God’s goodness, and a joyful “Hallelujah” irresistible. I may have even had the primary children hold neon scarves and shake musical instruments while we paraded around the primary room singing “Praise to the Man” when I was the primary music leader. “Girl Praying” by Heinrich Seufferheld in 1893 For most of my life, when I have turned to the Psalms, I have gone to them for their joy and gratitude that have inspired so many composers throughout the centuries. I still do. But as I have gotten older and seen more of the world, I’ve realized the Psalms offer so much more. To me, the Psalms offer a model for what it means to have a whole-hearted relationship with God – not just the pretty bits of our soul that we feel proud of, but truly bringing our entire flawed, complicated soul as an offering to him. The Psalmists rejoiced and grieved, recognized their personal strengths and weaknesses, sat inside peace and rage, expressed deep connection and deep loneliness, and pleaded in desperation and desolation. And although this range of emotion may not be the stuff of colorful scarves and tambourines, I still sing praises to a God that walks beside us through the messy and imperfect reality of our lives. Chieko Okazaki, former member of the Relief Society General Presidency, modeled and encouraged this kind of authentic and deeply meaningful relationship with the Lord throughout her life and ministry. Her teachings on honest prayers transformed the way I talked to God and deepened my connection with Him. Okazaki talks about how at times, we feel the need to churn out “nice prayers” to Heavenly Father – the polite formula of “we thank thee for the gospel, we ask thee to bless the missionaries . . . ” There is immense power in declarations of gratitude, yet sometimes our pain washes over us, and we need different words. Even our Savior used words of mourning from the Psalms on the cross when he declared, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”[1]. We face real sorrow in our lives, and God does not want us to wait to connect with him until we have shoved those feelings down. He wants us to bring them to Him and be made whole. Okazaki encourages us to allow our prayers to become something even more powerful by offering greater emotional depth and breadth. She teaches, referencing “polite prayers,” “But who are we trying to kid? Jesus … heard what you muttered when you picked up that one sock, just as you’ve been doing for the past eight years. He caught that worry about the dentist bill that flashed across your mind when you were putting toothpaste on your brush. He doesn’t want polite platitudes. He wants you! All of you! He wants to be the center of your total life – the worried you, the mad you, and the sad you as well as the inspired, happy, obedient, loving you” [2]. Because, after all, who better understands the ugly bits of our life experience better than the one who descended below it all to redeem us? As Okazaki so beautifully explained, “He understands your mother-pain when your five-year-old leaves for kindergarten, when a bully picks on your fifth-grader, when your daughter calls to say that the new baby has Down’s syndrome. He knows your mother-rage when a trusted babysitter sexually abuses your two-year-old, when someone gives your thirteen-year-old drugs, when someone seduces your seventeen-year-old. He knows the pain you live with when you come home to a quiet apartment where the only children who ever come are visitors, when you hear your former husband and his new wife were sealed in the temple last week, when your fiftieth wedding anniversary rolls around and your husband has been dead for two years. He knows all that. He’s been there. He’s been lower than all that” [3]. Not only has Christ felt all the ugly parts of our humanity, but he has felt them and loves us more deeply than anyone else could. As the psalmist of section 139 expressed, Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thought from far away. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, Lord, You know it all. You have encircled me behind and in front, And placed Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot comprehend it [4]. It truly is a wonderful thing that God sees us more authentically than anyone else could, and loves us more deeply for it. And I want to return that authenticity – to bring the depth of my soul when I converse with Him and invite that love into my life. I’ve experienced the fact that when I’m feeling pain or confusion, especially pain or confusion that I am not proud of, I can face these so much more effectively when I pray humbly with my entire soul, a soul that is capable of so much beauty and ugliness, joy and despair, faith and doubt. God doesn’t want me to wait to approach Him until I am what I wish I was — He wants to heal me when I reach out to Him in my brokenness. And I love that the emotional diversity of the Psalms demonstrate how powerful this whole-hearted relationship with God can be. [1] Psalm 22:1, King James Version [2] Okazaki, Chieko, Lighten Up! Page 183 [3] Okazaki, Chieko. Lighten Up! Page 175 [4] Psalm 139:1-6, New American Standard Bible (used for clarity in archaic terms)

Living Water (Jesus and the Samaritan Woman), by Simon Dewey As we approached 2022, I felt worried and intimidated. After the last three years studying Come, Follow Me, I felt a close connection with those books of scripture that I simply did not think I would have with the Old Testament. To add to this, I was asked to give a talk about the importance of the Old Testament. When reflecting on my experiences with the Old Testament, a story came to mind. It was told by M. Russell Ballard in the April 2011 General Conference . A young gold miner came to California and was feeling discouraged by his lack of success. When an older miner told him to keep trying, the young man responded by saying that he wanted the kind of gold nuggets he saw bulging in the experienced miner’s pouch. The older miner laughed and opened the pouch to show, not nuggets, but flecks and flecks of gold that together made a sizeable amount. As I pondered about the Old Testament and my experiences with it, I realized that my testimony is much like these flecks of gold–small moments and scripture verses that together make a grand culmination of spiritual experiences and insights that help me draw closer to God. I first love that the Old Testament has connections with people across religions and culture, as well as time and history. The story of Moses parting the Red Sea is in all four of our books of scripture, multiple times. It’s like a touchstone for humanity reminding us that God is our Savior. Furthermore, the prophecies and words of God shared within the Old Testament are quoted throughout other books of scripture, especially by our Savior. The same stories that I tell my children, the early Saints and pioneers told their children, and the Nephites told their children, and Christ was told by his parents, and so it is for generations. The Old Testament gives us names for Jehovah that teach us about his relationship with us. Jesus Christ is identified in the Old Testament as “Immanuel” (see Isaiah 7:114). I love the name Immanuel–God is with us. The following scriptures remind me of how Christ is with me, always. “Be still, and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1 “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 Another name that has personal significance to me is Adonai El-Roi–The God Who Sees Me. This name was spoken by Hagar in Genesis 16:13. She was frightened, alone, and felt invisible. God gave her the courage that He was with her. She was seen. God sees us, even when we don’t feel seen or even see ourselves. God sees where we’re going, even when we feel like our faith is taking us into the darkness. The following scriptures remind me of how Christ sees me, even as I feel invisible. “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.” Jeremiah 29:12 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” Isaiah 43:1 In the Old Testament, Jehovah loves individually and personally. I find connection with the women in the Old Testament more than any other book of scripture. For example, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Hannah all struggled with infertility. As I struggled to have a baby, I turned to these women and their stories. I could feel their pain, hope, joy, and sorrow. And through it all, the Old Testament reminded me that God has a plan for us. Another time I am reminded of God’s love for each one of us is in 1 Kings 19. Elijah was sad. He sat under a tree and told God he was done. So God sent an angel to comfort him, to give him food and water, to have him take a nap, and to just be with him. I’ve seen the same thing in my life. I’ve had some dark times. After my second son was born, I was almost hospitalized for postpartum depression. There have been angels on both sides of the veil to help me. To comfort me. To bring me physical and spiritual food. And to literally tell me to go take a nap and they waited with me. There are two specific aspects of the story of Moses that are poignant to me at this point. When he was called as a prophet to lead Israel out of Egypt, he told God, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent….I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue.” I’ve felt similarly in many church callings. And as God essentially told Moses, He’s told me: I made you. “Now therefore go and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say” (Exodus 4:10-12). Later, when he was leading Israel in the wilderness, he was overwhelmed. His father-in-law said “Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.” (Exodus 18:18) I have felt similarly as I’ve served in some capacities throughout my life. God has shown me how to delegate and rely on Him. I appreciate that the Old Testament can be valued as is. And even more if we know some of the history and word choice. For example, after everything else had been created, God created a “helpmeet” for Adam. This can sometimes feel diminutive–like a child, a helper. The Hebrew word is “Ezer.” This is used in all of scripture to describe 2 people–Eve (twice) and God Himself (16 times). Ezer means strength, power, rescuer, and protector. Each instance of God was of Him sustaining life of His human creations: preserving during periods of trouble and keeping alive in famine and battle ( I learned this in the Meridian Magazine podcast ). To me, this sheds light on the role of women and their divine nature. One last fleck of gold for me is Joshua, 24:15, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15. This was my family’s motto growing up. It reminds me that good choices have good consequences, and bad choices have sad consequences. At first, when I thought of the Old Testament, it seemed difficult to access and better suited for a scriptorian. However, studying this year has reminded me that my testimony of both this book of scripture and God’s role in my life are built by small and simple things. God’s love for us is infinite and His Son, Jesus Christ, is central to helping us truly access that.

Although the conversation happened several years ago now, I still think of it often. While serving in a leadership role, I was meeting with another church leader. We had been discussing several women who had left the church or who stood on the very precipice of leaving. Although each woman had her own circumstances, a deep-seated concern with gender inequities at church was a central thread in their unconnected stories. It was not the first conversation I had had with church leaders about gender inequities at church and their impact on women. And it would not be the last. The conversations were always difficult and this evening had been particularly draining. I had been aware of gender inequities at church for a long time. But I didn’t know how to process the information, let alone navigate a productive conversation on this topic. My coping mechanism had always been to ignore the existence of gender inequities as much as possible. But as I found myself drawn into more conversations, my coping mechanism was being stripped away and I was forced to face my own thoughts and feelings. “Banishment of Hagar and Ishmael” Guercino 1657. Conversations like this one were hard for me because I understood how these women felt and how these feelings could shake a person’s faith to the very core. They were also hard because as I talked with church leaders, I existed as two people: I was a church leader, with a strong and unmovable testimony, expressing my care and concern for other women and their heartbreaks. But at the same time, in a way I hardly admitted to myself and certainly didn’t want to admit to others, I was also one of these women: hurt and confused, standing not so far from the precipice I saw them teetering on. The conversations were hard for this church leader because while he was deeply committed to the people under his stewardship, he didn’t really understand these women’s feelings. He listened hard as we talked about things he had never thought about before: about women never speaking last in sacrament meeting, the significant difference in resources (callings and budget) used for boys’ activities vs girls’ activities, women not being part of their own baby’s blessing and rarely being included in leadership training or General Conference talks. While he felt sympathy and concern for these women and even recognized that some of the issues they pointed out represented true injustices, he didn’t fully grasp how these injustices led to hurt, doubt, and finally exit from church. On this night, as I was walking out of his office, exhausted from the heaviness of the topic and from my efforts of trying to stay fully within the church leader persona myself, he paused at the door. Then he said something that perhaps he thought summarized what we both felt. Although I don’t remember the words exactly, it went something like this: “Just because there are gender inequities at church doesn’t mean the Book of Mormon isn’t true.” I nodded. Of course. The Book of Mormon is true. And no amount of talking about a woman’s role to serve as a helpmeet to her husband changed that. But the conversation stayed with me, leaving a festering sense of dissatisfaction. Over the next few days and then over the next few years, I replayed that moment over and over in my head. Except in my replaying of it, I didn’t just nod and walk out. I responded. I said, “And just because the Book of Mormon is true doesn’t mean that there aren’t gender inequities at church that cause significant hurt and do damage to people’s testimonies.” It seemed to me that he had missed the point. I have thought about this conversation more as I have read the Old Testament this year. The Old Testament, and in fact all of the ancient scriptures, are glaringly sexist. Although numbers differ depending on exactly who you are counting (Named women only? Specific women even if they are unnamed? Women in a group of an unknown size?), there is no getting around the fact that women are hugely underrepresented. For example, a recent study found 93 women in the Bible who did 1.1% of the talking. The fact that the Old Testament is sexist should come as a surprise to no one. The stories of the Old Testament took place in sexist cultures. Scholars continue to debate exactly what role women had in Hebrew society and in fact do find evidence of areas where women had authority. And there are a few stories in the Old Testament depicting women in leadership roles. Still, women were seen as property throughout their lives, first of their fathers and then of their husbands. And examples of them exercising political power or leadership are few and far between. In the last decade or so, there has been a considerable effort to, as I have always thought of it, compensate for this shortcoming. Heather Ferrell has researched and identified every woman in the Old Testament and other scriptures and done tremendous work to make their stories more accessible and more widely known. The Church has developed an institute class titled Women in the Scriptures . There have even been scholarly articles discussing the possibility that some of the texts in the Old Testament were actually written by women. I’m thrilled to see more recognition of women’s voices and experiences. I believe that women need women heroes and that the efforts being made to rescue the stories of women from obscurity matter. Yet, there has always been part of me that is perhaps illogically frustrated by this celebration of obscure women, of the practice of drawing fundamental life lessons from women who often are barely more than a mention in a verse, lessons that require a huge amount of interpolation on our part. It wasn’t until I reflected on the conversation with this church leader that I fully understood my frustration. Just as I felt in that conversation years ago that we shouldn’t let the truth of the Book of Mormon overshadow the fact of sexism at church, I also feel that we shouldn’t let the meaning we can find in women’s stories in the Old Testament overshadow the basic sexism found in the book. Allowing one truth, no matter how important we believe it to be, to overshadow other truths causes several problems. It dismisses these truths and their importance. It shuts down conversations, not allowing a place for questions and searching. And perhaps most importantly, it leaves no path for change. The first step toward creating change is to recognize and name the problem that needs to be addressed clearly, without apologies or disclaimers. A person with anxiety, for example, must first learn to recognize when they are feeling anxious. They should use the word anxiety, name the problem, identify it. Not until the problem is identified can they start to address it. The same is true for racism or sexism. We can’t change behavior we haven’t first identified. The purpose of recognizing a problem is not to shame or assign blame. The point is to create change. When women come forward with concerns about sexism or gender inequities at church, the response cannot be that the Book of Mormon is true. Reminding them of the truth of the Book of Mormon doesn’t address their pain or allow the awareness to grow that is necessary for change. Similarly, we can’t lose sight of sexism in the Old Testament just because there are now more resources and efforts to include women in its stories and lessons. If someone laments the lack of women in the scriptures, our answer can’t be to refer them to the list of women’s names from the Old Testament without also acknowledging that women only speak 1.1% of the time and yes, their voices are sorely lacking. We must continue to recognize and name the problem if we really want to create change. If we want to give women a broader and more important role in our stories of faith now, we can’t gloss over their severely lacking role in the past. Just because we can now find meaning in these barely mentioned women doesn’t mean that barely mentioning women is acceptable. A few weeks ago as I sat in my Old Testament Sunday School class, I had a new thought, something I hadn’t considered before. In my mind, I went back to that office years ago. I hear this church leader say, “Just because there are gender inequities at church doesn’t mean the Book of Mormon isn’t true.” I think of my reversal of the words: “Just because the Book of Mormon is true doesn’t mean there aren’t gender inequities at church.” And I realize the flaw in my response. In both my interpretation of his original statement and in my reversal statement, there is a linking of the two parts of the sentence. I had not allowed both statements to exist within me as fully separate. If I had, I would not find one truth threatening to the other. I had found it difficult to talk authentically about gender inequities at church because on some unconscious level I was afraid that if a church leader realized how strongly I believed that the church had many sexist practices, he would conclude I must also think the Book of Mormon wasn’t true. Or maybe it went beyond that. I had to employ a coping mechanism of avoiding and ignoring sexist practices I saw because I wasn’t entirely sure myself that it was possible to be both deeply bothered by sexist practices at Church and also be deeply committed to the truth of The Book of Mormon. And while I really, really wanted to see change in how women were valued and treated at church, I also really, really wanted to stay firmly planted in my belief of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Perhaps I was the one missing the point. Because perhaps the point really is this: we don’t have to choose between truths. The Old Testament is sexist, generally glossing over women’s stories. The Old Testament has stories of faith from which I, as a woman, can gain spiritual insights. This isn’t possible because of or even in spite of the Old Testament being sexist. It is possible because of different characteristics of these stories, characteristics not related to the fact that the stories are sexist. Not only does one sentence not overshadow or compensate for the other, but the two sentences don’t even go together. I can acknowledge each as true and important without apology, without having to try to either minimize one or constantly interject the knowledge of the other. When I read the scriptures, I can accept my truths: I find meaning in Old Testament. The Old Testament is sexist. And instead of reversing that statement from years ago, I can simply state the truths I see in it: The church has a lot of sexist practices and policies. The Book of Mormon is true.

David Wilkie “Three Hebrew Women” As a young adult, I began to identify as a feminist while remaining an active member of the church. I clung to and cherished the gospel truths I had been taught as a young child, while also choosing to ask questions and consider different perspectives through a feminist lens. I felt strongly that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in its purity was inclusive and championed women. I learned that women had just as much access to priesthood power as men and that women can be powerful teachers, leaders, ministering sisters, and missionaries with many opportunities to preach, uplift, and bring others to the Savior. I learned more about the cherished doctrine of Heavenly Mother , and while much hasn’t been revealed about her, there are echoes and symbols of her divine power in the gospel. I gained a stronger testimony of the love my Heavenly Parents and Savior had for me. Even with the aspects of church culture, history, and scripture that I don’t completely agree with, I have been able to feel the Lord teach me and help me to truly understand how much He values His daughters. On the surface, the Bible seems very patriarchal with hints of misogyny. While definitely inspired by God, it was written by men who saw the world and their relationships with God through a masculine lens. Women spoken of in the Bible are often unnamed or only given a few verses to describe their accomplishments. Some are even unfairly villainized. The Bible has been used to excuse the oppression and abuse of women. It has been used to trample over the names of valiant women or refer to them as temptresses and liars like Eve and Sarah. It has been used to enforce Christianity as a male-dominated religion and to teach that women must be subservient. So how on earth can a feminist not only study the Bible but love it? Here are some tips for reading the Bible with a positive focus on women. 1. Appreciate the Bible for what it is As stated in the eighth Article of Faith, as members of the restored church we “believe the Bible to be the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly.” Just like the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants, the Bible was inspired by God and recorded by His prophets. However, during the Great Apostasy, many things were purposely changed or mistranslated. Without the Spirit and the priesthood, parts of the Bible were not accurately translated, unlike the Book of Mormon which was translated by the power of God. There were lots of inspired people who tried their best to help average people have access to the Bible, but they did not have the fullest of God’s power at their aid. The Bible was also corrupted by churches and governments so that it would fit within their agenda. Most of these groups wanted women silenced, so things were taken out or added to make men appear more dominant in the Bible. As Latter-day Saints, we have been commanded to study the scriptures, which includes the Bible. If we see the Bible for what it is, God’s words that have been tampered with and lean upon divine help and modern resources, we can feel uplifted and edified as we study the Bible. 2. Read between the lines When reading about the women in the Old Testament, it is helpful to ask ourselves questions. Who was the woman behind the few vague sentences attributed to her? What else made up her identity other than her relationships to men? If the Bible portrays her in a negative light, ask yourself why or how? Do your research into what life was like back then and why certain behaviors were deemed unseemly in women. What could have led her to make certain choices? Take the example of Noah’s nameless wife: We’re told that Noah’s wife boarded the ark with him, but we don’t know what emotions she must have felt. It must have been more than just her submission to her husband that led her on the ark, but a personal witness that this was the right thing to do, despite how much it may have hurt to know that her family and friends would be washed away in the flood. What a powerful conviction she must have had of God’s plan to be able to join her husband on the ark! Was Lot’s wife really as worldly as the Bible depicts her when she turned back to face Sodom, or was she worrying about her friends and family left behind, wondering how she could help them? We can’t let the faith, spiritual strength, and courage of Miriam get buried beneath her speaking out against Moses and being punished by the Lord. Even the most faithful have times of weakness and doubt, just as men throughout the scriptures such as David, Soloman, and Lehi. When prophets are teaching multitudes, imagine the mothers trying to keep their squirmy children quiet with the cheerios and coloring books of the time, hungering for the word of God and hoping to get a taste in between the cries of their little ones. It’s okay if you’re adding to the scripture account; often we don’t have much to work with but filling in the blanks can add to our understanding and appreciation of the faithful women in the Bible and help us to relate to them. It’s easy to say that there aren’t very many women in the scriptures, but when you look closely at each unnamed woman, you realize that there are actually many accounts of faithful women. Just because the men who wrote and translated the Bible didn’t see their importance doesn’t mean that God didn’t. 3. Pray for understanding Whenever reading the scriptures, it is always important to do so prayerfully. When we first started to study the Old Testament at the beginning of the year, I was a little concerned. I worried that it would test my faith as I read through the entire Old Testament. Right before starting with Come Follow Me, I prayed and asked the Lord to help me to appreciate the Old Testament and to have an open heart and mind. I have seen many answers to that prayer as I have read stories differently than before, learned unique insights, and have been introduced to amazing female characters I wasn’t familiar with before. When I start my study with a prayer, I always feel more uplifted and edified and I feel like I notice the importance of the women in the Bible more. I pray to know the connection between womanhood and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I pray for answers and comfort in regards to certain concerns about gender and the gospel. Through prayerful study, I let my Heavenly Parents teach me the doctrine of Their son and my identity as Their daughter with divine potential. Prayer is a powerful tool for helping us to understand and see ourselves and our potential through God’s eyes. I hope that these three tips will enhance your study of the Bible and other sacred texts. There is so much that we can learn about from our biblical foremothers. These women teach important truths of our own access to priesthood power, revelation, and saving ordinances that we have as daughters of Heavenly Parents. Choosing to focus on the women in the scriptures and what they can teach us, can open our minds to how valued we really are by Them. As you apply these tips to your study of the Old Testament, I know that you will feel empowered in your own personal work as a modern disciple of Jesus Christ.