By Ashley Davis
Sister Sheri L. Dew, second counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offered the opening address at the Women”s Leadership Conference Saturday, March 3, in the Wilkinson Student Center Ballroom.
Echoing remarks previously made by President Gordon B. Hinckley regarding the power and divinity of faithful women, Sister Dew reminded women of their responsibility to assume a position of righteous leadership in whatever roles they currently occupy.
“True leadership is standing up when no one else will. As women who have made and who keep sacred covenants, we have an extra weighty responsibility to remember who we are and what it is we stand for,” Sister Dew said.
An individual”s identity dictates how she chooses to spend her time, Sister Dew said. The way people view themselves will affect their ability to be effective leaders, she said.
“You are daughters of God. When you start to see yourselves the way he sees you, things will start to change,” Sister Dew said.
Sister Dew suggested that women could come to understand the Lord”s feelings and plans for them through three avenues of revelation; priesthood blessings, study of prophetic teachings and personal revelation from the Holy Ghost.
“When we start to see ourselves the way the Lord does, things start to change … we become more confident, more patient and more tolerant. We become less critical, less judgmental and more eager to help others come to a similar understanding of their worth and ability,” Sister Dew said.
In order for women to fulfill the vision Christ has for them, they must strive to lead virtuous lives, said Ann N. Madsen, professor of ancient scriptures at BYU, in a conference workshop following Sister Dew”s address.
Madsen described five attributes of a virtuous woman. She said a virtuous woman is one who is pure in the desires of her heart and the thoughts of her mind. She is modest and pure in her dress, diligent in her study and prayer and quick to fufill the needs of others, Sister Madsen said.
“When our hearts are brimming with love, the charity of Christ, it takes a great deal to lead our minds and our heart to other things,” Madsen said.
One special leadership opportunity available to women is that of motherhood, said LaDawn Jacobs, mother of 11, in another conference workshop.
“Of all professions, motherhood is the vest way to rise to the stature of divinity. In our calling as mothers, we have the greatest potential for influence in this life. It is the noblest calling in all the world,” Jacobs said.
The influence of a mother”s teaching does not end with her own children, Jacobs said. It extends to grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on for generations to come, she said.
To prepare for the responsibilities of motherhood, Jacobs counseled those in attendance to gain every bit of education and learning possible.
She said women should develop their talents and take care of their physical bodies as they prepare to fulfill their roles as mothers. In addition, she emphasized the need to develop homemaking, organizational and time-management skills.
Most importantly, women preparing to be mothers should develop a personal faith and testimony of their Savior, Jesus Christ, Jacobs said.
Click on the video link above to see Sister Dew”s talk in its entirety.
