Boyd K. Packer cared about the women of the church. He gave two talks about the Relief Society and another one on keeping the elderly active in the church.

I wrote about these talks in three different posts quite a while ago:

“Boyd K. Packer’s Take on the Relief Society”

“More From President Packer”

“Again–President Packer”

What I get from these talks is:

• The Relief Society works with the Priesthood in building the kingdom of God. The Priesthood can’t do it without the Relief Society and the Relief Society can’t do it without the Priesthood.
• Women have an important work to do, which starts with knowing and understanding the doctrines of the gospel. We don’t have time to whine and complain or be jealous and rigid. It is our responsibility to be examples of truth and light across the world.
• The Relief Society sisters and Young Women need to work together. All ages, all callings, all gathered together to perform the work of the Lord. All are needed in the kingdom.
• Half of the work in this kingdom can ONLY be done by women.
• Women are a great asset to the Lord. He depends on us and wants us to rise to our fullest potential.

Don’t let Satan fool you into thinking its helpful to complain about how women are treated. It is much better to stand in holy places and happily follow the Lord in profound ways. This is our sacred work.

This is what struck me as the most important thing he said in this talk:

“We need women who will applaud decency and quality in everything from the fashion of clothing to crucial social issues. We need women who are organized and women who can organize. We need women with executive ability who can plan and direct and administer; women who can teach, women who can speak out. There is a great need for women who can receive inspiration to guide them personally in their teaching and in their leadership responsibilities. We need women with the gift of discernment who can view the trends in the world and detect those that, however popular, are shallow or dangerous. We need women who can discern those positions that may not be popular at all, but are right.”

The Relief Society  Oct. 1978

The Circle of Sisters  Oct 1980

The Relief Society  Apr. 1998

The Golden Years  Apr. 2003