In my last ward I had the opportunity to work with the young women. As I prepared lessons I tried always to include voices of women. Sometimes I had to do a lot of digging to find them because recorded sermons by women are few and far between but I felt it was worth the effort. I wanted the young women to know that they have a rich legacy of strong spiritual giants some of whom also happen to be female.
Alma 32:23 is about how the Lord teaches His people. It says: "And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also."
A lot of our history within and without the church has neglected the voices of women, but this is not because women have not been saying important things. The text of the class was the book, At the Pulpit, 185 years of discourses by Latter-Day Saint Women. After studying the book it is clear that these sermons have been collected not just because they were spoken by women but because they are wise, inspired and they lead us to a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. I would like to encourage all of you who haven’t discovered this book to look it up. It is available online in the Gospel Library.
The class itself was designed to touch on the first principles and ordinances of the gospel, faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and charity. As I was preparing this talk I revisited many of the discourses again and picked up on some new insights that I hadn’t appreciated before. So, accept my apologies because this talk ended up being more about the text than about our class discussions.
Last year I got the idea that I would piece together a quilt. This was despite the fact that I have exactly zero experience sewing. I borrowed a sewing machine and jumped right in by cutting a bunch of random fabric into squares. Once I had a pile of squares I figured I’d just throw them together and it would look amazing. I don’t know how many of you in this ward are quilters but making a quilt isn’t something that should be done haphazardly. I was seriously undermining the craft. Luckily I had a friend who understood the artistry involved in quilting. She spent time with me, teaching me how to balance color and design and how to arrange the squares to highlight the characteristics of each fabric. To be honest, I had gone to her house because I wanted her to arrange them for me. But instead she gave me the advice and then stood back and made me do it myself. Only then would it truly be mine.
Francine Bennion is a sister that we studied in the class who compared building testimony to piecing a quilt. She suggested that we all start out with the very heart of gospel doctrine, our faith in Jesus Christ. From there we add layers of other gospel principles, understanding of scripture, personal revelation and unique life experience. In this way, even though we all begin with the same basics, each person creates an understanding that is completely unique.
When we studied this metaphor I thought back to my own quilting experience. I wondered how my quilt would have turned out if I had just thrown the squares together randomly and hadn’t put in the work and effort to make it beautiful. It probably would have been fine, but fine wasn’t really what I wanted. This is also how I feel about my testimony. I also reflected on the trust my friend put in me. Likewise our Heavenly Father puts trust in us. He gives us space to live our own lives and to learn as much as we are willing to learn.
Elsie Talmage Brandley, another wise sister we studied in class, said, “According to my belief, to know the fundamental truths of the gospel is to leave one free to go far and wide, anchored by that knowledge, in search of all else that earth and sea and skies have to teach.”
The possibilities are endless. The testimony that you build encompasses all goodness, knowledge and experience that you make the effort to gain.
Each of us is responsible for creating our own tapestry of testimony. The richness and beauty of each testimony directly correlates to the personal efforts of the artist.
Any quilter worth their salt can tell you the importance of community. Quilters are known to be a collaborative group. They trade fabrics, and teach each other technique. They also share patterns and get inspiration from each other. Likewise we can better build our testimonies by sharing our thoughts, and listening to the thoughts of others.
Sister Bennion found a great example of this in the Book of Mormon.
Nephi and Lehi had the same vision. Later, when Nephi describes it to his brothers he adds the detail that the water was filthy. He says, “...so much was our father’s mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.”
Even when these two righteous men were given the same vision they didn’t see the exact same thing.
I know this is true. We all know it is true. For those of us that get to attend Relief Society we saw an example of this just two weeks ago. Our discussion was about a talk from General Conference and almost every comment brought up a different response. We had all heard the same talk, but we each felt different things. I was so inspired by the comments that were shared and the value of the collective experiences we have had as a diverse group of women. I left that room with a whole new understanding. One that I missed when I was just left to my own opinion.
In 1996 Chieko Okazaki said, “The doctrines of the gospel are indispensable. They are essential, but the packaging is optional.”
She brought out a bottle of canned peaches and a basket full of fresh fruits.
"Let me share a simple example to show the difference between the doctrines of the church and the cultural packaging. Here is a bottle of Utah peaches, prepared by a Utah homemaker to feed her family during a snowy season. Hawaiian homemakers don’t bottle fruit. They pick enough fruit for a few days and store it in baskets like this for their families... The basket and the bottle are different containers, but the content is the same: fruit for a family. Is the bottle right and the basket wrong? No, they are both right. They are containers appropriate to the culture and the needs of the people. And they are both appropriate for the content they carry, which is the fruit."
She went on to say, "God has given us many gifts, much diversity, and many differences, but the essential thing is what we know about each other—that we are all his children. Our challenge as members of the church is for all of us to learn from each other, that we may all love each other and grow together."
It is vital to learn from each other because we all know different things. This is why it is important to study words and skills of good men, and in the context of this talk, good women, from all walks of life and areas of expertise.
When we expand our perspective to include every truth that exists in this world we gain a greater respect for the effort the Savior put into creating it. I believe that He loves it when we love this world that He created for us.
And this leads me to the last thought that I wanted to share today.
The most important part of making a quilt is to enjoy the process. We can enjoy the small moments in our lives that build our testimonies. For me, many of these moments are not overtly spiritual.
Sister Elaine Jack said something that touched my heart. She said, "Looking at a freshly mowed lawn, a completed family group sheet, a photocopied dissertation, loaves of perfect homemade bread, a washed and polished car, a poem just written with an elegant turn of phrase, or an exam well taken and then reflecting that it is good—these are some of the most satisfying experiences of life. Life at its best is in these moments. We’re rejoicing in the harvest and reaffirming that we are indeed made in our Creator’s likeness, for he, too, paused after his six days of labor, looked on everything that he had made, and saw that it was good. Rejoicing in the harvest goes hand in hand with acknowledging our Creator."
Brothers and sisters. I am so grateful that I have had this chance to study the gospel with you in this ward. I have learned from your life experiences and your shared testimony. I challenge all of us to search the world over for all wisdom and truth. May we respect each other because of our differences, and not despite them. And at the end of our lives, when that final harvest comes, my greatest hope is that we will each have our own richly woven quilt of testimony to wrap ourselves in, which will be all the more valuable because of the individual experiences we each had in creating it.
Marci Rigby
Alma 32:23 is about how the Lord teaches His people. It says: "And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also."
A lot of our history within and without the church has neglected the voices of women, but this is not because women have not been saying important things. The text of the class was the book, At the Pulpit, 185 years of discourses by Latter-Day Saint Women. After studying the book it is clear that these sermons have been collected not just because they were spoken by women but because they are wise, inspired and they lead us to a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. I would like to encourage all of you who haven’t discovered this book to look it up. It is available online in the Gospel Library.
The class itself was designed to touch on the first principles and ordinances of the gospel, faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and charity. As I was preparing this talk I revisited many of the discourses again and picked up on some new insights that I hadn’t appreciated before. So, accept my apologies because this talk ended up being more about the text than about our class discussions.
Last year I got the idea that I would piece together a quilt. This was despite the fact that I have exactly zero experience sewing. I borrowed a sewing machine and jumped right in by cutting a bunch of random fabric into squares. Once I had a pile of squares I figured I’d just throw them together and it would look amazing. I don’t know how many of you in this ward are quilters but making a quilt isn’t something that should be done haphazardly. I was seriously undermining the craft. Luckily I had a friend who understood the artistry involved in quilting. She spent time with me, teaching me how to balance color and design and how to arrange the squares to highlight the characteristics of each fabric. To be honest, I had gone to her house because I wanted her to arrange them for me. But instead she gave me the advice and then stood back and made me do it myself. Only then would it truly be mine.
Francine Bennion is a sister that we studied in the class who compared building testimony to piecing a quilt. She suggested that we all start out with the very heart of gospel doctrine, our faith in Jesus Christ. From there we add layers of other gospel principles, understanding of scripture, personal revelation and unique life experience. In this way, even though we all begin with the same basics, each person creates an understanding that is completely unique.
When we studied this metaphor I thought back to my own quilting experience. I wondered how my quilt would have turned out if I had just thrown the squares together randomly and hadn’t put in the work and effort to make it beautiful. It probably would have been fine, but fine wasn’t really what I wanted. This is also how I feel about my testimony. I also reflected on the trust my friend put in me. Likewise our Heavenly Father puts trust in us. He gives us space to live our own lives and to learn as much as we are willing to learn.
Elsie Talmage Brandley, another wise sister we studied in class, said, “According to my belief, to know the fundamental truths of the gospel is to leave one free to go far and wide, anchored by that knowledge, in search of all else that earth and sea and skies have to teach.”
The possibilities are endless. The testimony that you build encompasses all goodness, knowledge and experience that you make the effort to gain.
Each of us is responsible for creating our own tapestry of testimony. The richness and beauty of each testimony directly correlates to the personal efforts of the artist.
Any quilter worth their salt can tell you the importance of community. Quilters are known to be a collaborative group. They trade fabrics, and teach each other technique. They also share patterns and get inspiration from each other. Likewise we can better build our testimonies by sharing our thoughts, and listening to the thoughts of others.
Sister Bennion found a great example of this in the Book of Mormon.
Nephi and Lehi had the same vision. Later, when Nephi describes it to his brothers he adds the detail that the water was filthy. He says, “...so much was our father’s mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.”
Even when these two righteous men were given the same vision they didn’t see the exact same thing.
I know this is true. We all know it is true. For those of us that get to attend Relief Society we saw an example of this just two weeks ago. Our discussion was about a talk from General Conference and almost every comment brought up a different response. We had all heard the same talk, but we each felt different things. I was so inspired by the comments that were shared and the value of the collective experiences we have had as a diverse group of women. I left that room with a whole new understanding. One that I missed when I was just left to my own opinion.
In 1996 Chieko Okazaki said, “The doctrines of the gospel are indispensable. They are essential, but the packaging is optional.”
She brought out a bottle of canned peaches and a basket full of fresh fruits.
"Let me share a simple example to show the difference between the doctrines of the church and the cultural packaging. Here is a bottle of Utah peaches, prepared by a Utah homemaker to feed her family during a snowy season. Hawaiian homemakers don’t bottle fruit. They pick enough fruit for a few days and store it in baskets like this for their families... The basket and the bottle are different containers, but the content is the same: fruit for a family. Is the bottle right and the basket wrong? No, they are both right. They are containers appropriate to the culture and the needs of the people. And they are both appropriate for the content they carry, which is the fruit."
She went on to say, "God has given us many gifts, much diversity, and many differences, but the essential thing is what we know about each other—that we are all his children. Our challenge as members of the church is for all of us to learn from each other, that we may all love each other and grow together."
It is vital to learn from each other because we all know different things. This is why it is important to study words and skills of good men, and in the context of this talk, good women, from all walks of life and areas of expertise.
When we expand our perspective to include every truth that exists in this world we gain a greater respect for the effort the Savior put into creating it. I believe that He loves it when we love this world that He created for us.
And this leads me to the last thought that I wanted to share today.
The most important part of making a quilt is to enjoy the process. We can enjoy the small moments in our lives that build our testimonies. For me, many of these moments are not overtly spiritual.
Sister Elaine Jack said something that touched my heart. She said, "Looking at a freshly mowed lawn, a completed family group sheet, a photocopied dissertation, loaves of perfect homemade bread, a washed and polished car, a poem just written with an elegant turn of phrase, or an exam well taken and then reflecting that it is good—these are some of the most satisfying experiences of life. Life at its best is in these moments. We’re rejoicing in the harvest and reaffirming that we are indeed made in our Creator’s likeness, for he, too, paused after his six days of labor, looked on everything that he had made, and saw that it was good. Rejoicing in the harvest goes hand in hand with acknowledging our Creator."
Brothers and sisters. I am so grateful that I have had this chance to study the gospel with you in this ward. I have learned from your life experiences and your shared testimony. I challenge all of us to search the world over for all wisdom and truth. May we respect each other because of our differences, and not despite them. And at the end of our lives, when that final harvest comes, my greatest hope is that we will each have our own richly woven quilt of testimony to wrap ourselves in, which will be all the more valuable because of the individual experiences we each had in creating it.
Marci Rigby
Arlington First Ward Sacrament Meeting
Arlington, VA
2018 Nov 25
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