President Eyring conducting.

Choir sings: “Now Let Us Rejoice.”

Invocation: Kent F. Richards of the Seventy

President Monson

Church now has 15 million members. The Church is spreading across the Earth. Just one years since I announced the lowering of the missionary age. Now 80,333 missionaries, compared to 58,000 a year ago.

Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together. The Lord has prepared the means for us to share the Gospel in a multitude of ways. Please contribute to the ward missionary fund and general missionary fund of the Church. Thankful for contributions. The need for help is ongoing to help those who do not have the means.

Listen and learn from the talks.

Choir sings: “Israel, Israel, God is Calling.”

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I recently read an article by Jana Riess showing a study where only 10% of LDS women want the priesthood, while 48% of LDS men are supportive of them getting it.

Do you think that with such a low number of women seeking it (versus 100% of black LDS men seeking PH prior to the 1978 revelation) will draw much attention from the GAs beyond giving women more say in Councils, etc?

How would a new revelation on priesthood for women affect the 90% who do not want it? If we suddenly said they had to have a specific priesthood in order to get a temple recommend or serve in a calling, how would it turn their world upside down?

I don’t have a problem with God giving women a priesthood of some kind or the same kind. I do want it carefully considered and deliberated upon, and not just done because it is the sociological thing to do.  I think the cultural change caused by it could shock the Church right now, because most LDS women are not ready for it and not wanting it.

And there are other factors:

If women are given the exact priesthood men have, how will it affect the entire system? How would the traditional family and Proclamation on the Family be affected? With the family as the foundation of the Church, would such a major change without preparation of the members and families cause families to fall apart in the chaos that would ensue? Would it end up being like Obamacare – a huge and unpopular program that was implemented too fast and without much forethought on doing it right the first time?

And what if a different priesthood is given to women, which gave them some, but not all, the power of the men? What if there were a minor change that still accomodated the 90% of LDS women? Would it be sufficient for the women beloning to OW? Or would they then complain that it did not go far enough?  When would they state, “God has made his decision”?

Do you feel that the changes made recently in how women have more power in the Councils and as missionaries is perhaps the first step by the First Presidency to prepare the women (and members) of the Church for a form of priesthood?

Finally, if we are going to work a change, we have to bring possible solutions to the table, and not just whine and complain. How would YOU propose such change be made that works best for the women and families of the Church?

BTW, I have posted these and other questions at the FMH site, where their “diversity” is being celebrated, but no one (besides Silver Rain, who does not seek the PH) has chosen to answer my questions.

Barring health problems or one of my kids spilling something on my computer, I will be summarizing every talk at General Conference this weekend. Updates as soon as the talk ends. So set your channel to M* this weekend.

Have a great conference.

This is a guest post by Cynthia J.

Depending on how you define it, I suppose I can be labeled a feminist. I believe a woman can aspire to any level of education or any job she desires. I stayed single until I was 34. At that age, I already owned a house, a car, and managed my own accounts without a husband all those years, and remained active in the Church all that time. I have two daughters, and would love nothing more than for them to feel strong, confident, and excited about their dreams for the future, whether it be in politics, business, medicine, or mothering. I want my daughters to feel the confidence to do all of that for themselves just like I did. I have a strong voice in my family. I’m no shrinking violet (just ask my husband). I have opinions, ideas (often brilliant), and dreams of my own. I believe women can do anything they set their mind to do. So in that sense, I am a feminist.

But then again, yes, I’m a stay-at-home mom. My DH and I liked the idea of the two of us raising our kids rather than a day care. I simply couldn’t imagine leaving my children all day to go work, so I was happy to stay home. It has never felt like a sacrifice to me. And, unlike feminists of the world-at-large, I do not believe in the Gloria Steinem-esque views on abortion, feminizing boys (my three are decidedly masculine), dominating my husband by bully-whipping him into doing exactly 50% of the household chores after he gets home from his full-time job, changing the rules and prerequisites of jobs to make them easier for women to get, finding offense at every piece of male/female humor, telling women they have to work in order to feel fulfilled, or that there should be no differences between men and women, at all, ever. Those differences are there, they are obvious, and they are eternal (See the Proclamation on the Family). In that sense, I am, apparently, not a feminist.

When it comes to church, I’ve held callings in just about every organization, except Scouts (knock on wood). My favorite, to date, was as a missionary. The experiences I had on the mission were so profound in their impact on my life and my testimony, that I still think of those experiences today when I teach my children or in any way try to sort out life’s little problems. I’m sure the “Mormon Feminist” women who have gotten so much attention lately have had their own experiences in the gospel, just as I had, for them to be active members now. But I’m completely puzzled by these women. Never, ever in all my time as a working woman, a member, a missionary, or a mother did I think I was somehow being cheated by being “denied” the priesthood.

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