I was invited to come and listen to presenters speaking at the 2016 Church History Symposium, going on today and tomorrow. This year, the focus is on Mormon women.

Eight years ago I first realized that I knew next to nothing about Mormon women, and certainly nothing about the organization of which I belonged; the Relief Society. I set out on a quest to learn all I could. In all this time, it has been my pleasure to learn so much fascinating history. The lives of these women may not have been amazing to them, but they are amazing to me. These women stand, for me, as a testimony of the truth they lived.

 

This morning, we heard from Keith A. Erekson, the Director of the Church History Library. He assured us there was a plethora of information written by and about women in the Library, much of it available online. If you have any interest in reading about early female Saints, search the catalog and start reading.

Leave it to the Church to make sure our library is the largest repository of female records and sources in the world. The library holds 9001 diaries and autobiographies of women. And they get new submissions every day.

 

 

He talked about finding the past, by searching all the sources that are being made available by the Church; finding the story of each woman’s profound testimony of her love of the Savior; and discovering our deep inquiry in melding their past with our present.

 

Some things he mentioned struck me deeply with questions about how I contribute to the problem or the solution.

 

1) When I read about these women, and see their one and only picture (for those who even had one taken), it’s easy to judge them, and perhaps all women, from only one story. Some kept journals, some wrote letters, most left a miniscule of information that we attempt to draw a complete story from.

 

What will be my history? What record am I keeping? How will my life be portrayed, through my good days, or through someone else’s eyes entirely?

 

2) What sort of history do I want left about me? Is my passion being lived? Does my passion represent the Lord? I look at so many women who are frustrated with their lives. In a recent RS lesson, where the discussion was about Pres. Nelson’s talk, “A Plea to My Sisters,” I was so sorry to see the lesson get lost in random comments from sisters still searching for themselves. Sometimes, I feel we tend to sit in our comfort zone without realizing all the Lord has in store for us. I wish we could talk, as a sisterhood, of our strength and promise from the Lord, as was so eloquently listed in Pres. Nelson’s talk.

 

If it is of interest to you, the Church History Library, is full of personal journals and testimonies of women who have found themselves in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They left behind something solid that has withstood the test of time. And how wonderful it is that we each have the opportunity to join our faith with theirs.

 

It was great for me to hear what the Church is doing to promote the lives of great women. Every woman is great. Her voice should be heard. Every woman has a testimony that should be shared. How wonderful to have women gathering this history, women writing this history, women who are interested in listening to, and talking about, these women. They have made their lives a success, because they have written their lives, their journeys, and their testimonies down for us to read later.