First, may I commend President Bateman, his
staff, and the faculty for the truly great
things BYU is doing here on the campus and
all around the world.
You students are attending one of the greatest
universities in the world.
I hope you understand and know that.
Further, I’d like to congratulate our basketball
team.
I have chosen to speak to you today about
something that is very close to my heart.
I have been married to Sister Ballard, who
is with me here on the stand, for 50 years
this August.
The greatest day in my life was the day I
met Barbara Bowen.
My greatest accomplishment was convincing
her that I was the only true and living returned
missionary among all of those that she was
dating.
It was a most important day when we were married
in the Salt Lake Temple.
We are the parents of two sons and five daughters.
Perhaps being the father of our five daughters
and now the grandfather of 22 granddaughters
makes me an expert on the subject of women.
Initially I intended to speak to the women
in this audience.
But as I have considered the days that lie
ahead, I believe this message is vital to
both men and women.
So I invite you men to pay strict attention.
In future days your lives will be increasingly
influenced by the women who will become your
wives, your daughters, and your associates
with whom you will be privileged to work and
serve in the Church.
Let me set the stage by reading from a letter
sent recently to Church headquarters.
This woman wrote:
"I have a wonderful husband and children,
whom I love deeply.
I love the Lord and His Church more than I
can say.
I know the Church is true!
I realize I shouldn’t feel discouraged about
who I am.
Yet I have been going through an identity
crisis most of my life.
I have never dared utter these feelings out
loud but have hidden them behind the huge,
confident smile I wear to Church every week.
For years I have doubted if I had any value
beyond my roles as a wife and mother.
I have feared that men are that they might
have joy, but that women are that they might
be overlooked.
I long to feel that I, as a woman, matter
to the Lord."
Today I would like to respond to the issue
that underlies the concern of this faithful
woman.
Does the Lord respect women?
Do women matter to the Lord?
The answer is yes—a resounding yes!
Elder James E. Talmage stated that “the
world’s greatest champion of woman and womanhood
is Jesus the Christ.”
I believe that.
The first time the Lord acknowledged Himself
to be the Christ, it was to a Samaritan woman
at Jacob’s well.
He taught her about living water and proclaimed,
simply, “I . . . am he.”
And it was Martha to whom He proclaimed: “I
am the resurrection, and the life.
. . . And whosoever liveth and believeth in
me shall never die.”
"Then, during His greatest agony as He hung
on the cross, the Savior reached out to one
person—His mother—when in that terrible
but glorious moment He asked John the Beloved
to care for her as though she were his own."
Of this you may be certain: The Lord especially
loves righteous women—women who are not
only faithful but filled with faith, women
who are optimistic and cheerful because they
know who they are and where they are going,
women who are striving to live and serve as
women of God.
There are those who suggest that males are
favored of the Lord because they are ordained
to hold the priesthood.
Anyone who believes this does not understand
the great plan of happiness.
The premortal and mortal natures of men and
women were specified by the Lord Jehovah Himself,
and it is simply not within His character
to diminish the roles and responsibilities
of any of His children.
As President Joseph Fielding Smith explained,
“The Lord offers to his daughters every
spiritual gift and blessing that can be obtained
by his sons.”
All of us, men and women alike, receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost and are entitled to
personal revelation.
We may all take upon us the Lord’s name,
become sons and daughters of Christ, partake
of the ordinances of the temple from which
we emerge endowed with power, receive the
fulness of the gospel, and achieve exaltation
in the celestial kingdom.
These spiritual blessings are available to
men and women alike, according to their faithfulness
and their effort to receive them.
The basic doctrinal purpose for the creation
of the earth is to provide for God’s spirit
children the continuation of the process of
exaltation and eternal life.
God said to Moses:
"And I, God, created man in mine own image,
in the image of mine Only Begotten created
I him; male and female created I them.
And I, God, blessed them, and said unto them:
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth."
The Church’s proclamation on the family
confirms that God has not revoked or changed
this commandment.
The First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles
“solemnly proclaim that marriage between
a man and a woman is ordained of God and that
the family is central to the Creator’s plan
for the eternal destiny of His children.”
This doctrine sometimes causes women to ask:
“Is a woman’s value dependent exclusively
upon her role as a wife and mother?”
The answer is simple and obvious: No.
Although there is nothing a woman can do that
has more far-reaching, eternal impact than
to rear her children to walk in righteousness,
motherhood and marital status are not the
only measures of a woman’s worth.
Some women do not have the privilege of marrying
or rearing children in this life.
To the worthy, these blessings will come later.
Men and women who do have the privilege of
rearing children will of course be held accountable
for that priceless, eternal stewardship.
Although there is simply not a more significant
contribution you can make to society, to the
Church, or to the eternal destiny of our Father’s
children than what you will do as a mother
or father, motherhood and fatherhood are not
the only measures of goodness or of one’s
acceptance before the Lord.
Every righteous man and woman has a significant
role to play in the onward march of the kingdom
of God.
I have a deep and abiding feeling about women
and about the crucial difference they make
in every important setting—particularly
in the family and in the Church.
I have spoken boldly about the role women
must play in the council system of the Church.
We cannot fulfill our mission as a Church
without the inspired insight and support of
women.
For that reason I am concerned about what
I see happening with some of our young women.
Satan would have you dress, talk, and behave
in unnatural and destructive ways in your
relationships with young men.
The adversary is having a heyday distorting
attitudes about gender and roles and about
families and individual worth.
He is the author of mass confusion about the
value, the role, the contribution, and the
unique nature of women.
Today’s popular culture, which is preached
by every form of media from the silver screen
to the Internet, celebrates the sexy, saucy,
socially aggressive woman.
These distortions are seeping into the thinking
of some of our own women.
My deep desire is to clarify how we in the
presiding councils of the Church feel about
the sisters of this Church, how our Heavenly
Father feels about His daughters, and what
He expects of them.
My dear sisters, we believe in you.
We believe in and are counting on your goodness
and your strength, your propensity for virtue
and valor, your kindness and courage, your
strength and resilience.
We believe in your mission as women of God.
We realize that you are the emotional (and
sometimes spiritual) glue that holds families
and often ward families together.
We believe that the Church simply will not
accomplish what it must without your faith
and faithfulness, your innate tendency to
put the well-being of others ahead of your
own, and your spiritual strength and tenacity.
And we believe that God’s plan is for you
to become queens and to receive the highest
blessings any woman can receive in time or
eternity.
On the other hand, Satan’s plan is to get
you so preoccupied with the world’s glitzy
lie about women that you completely miss what
you have come here to do and to become.
Remember, he wants us to “be miserable like
unto himself.”
Never lose your precious identity by doing
anything that would jeopardize the promised
eternal future your Heavenly Father has provided
for you.
Young men, lest you get too comfortable while
I focus on the women, you have a significant
role in all of this.
You are sometimes the reason our young women
get distracted from their eternal mission
here.
Let the women in your life know that you want
them to be women of God and not women of the
world.
Of you the Lord expects protection and safety
for His daughters.
Great will be your remorse if you should steal
from anyone her virtue and purity.
My earnest plea and prayer is that young men
and women will understand that our sisters
have always been vital and integral to the
work of the Lord.
Faithful women have labored valiantly in the
cause of truth and righteousness from before
the foundations of this world.
In President Joseph F. Smith’s vision of
the redemption of the dead, he saw not only
Father Adam and other prophets but “our
glorious Mother Eve, with many of her faithful
daughters who had lived through the ages and
worshiped the true and living God.”
Think about the incomparable role of Eve,
whose actions set in motion the great plan
of our Father.
And what about Mary, the “precious and chosen
vessel” who bore the Christ child?
Surely no one would question the contribution
made by these majestic women.
Our dispensation is not without its heroines.
Countless women from every continent and walk
of life have made dramatic contributions to
the cause of Christ.
Consider Lucy Mack Smith, the mother of the
martyred prophets Joseph and Hyrum and the
grandmother of President Joseph F. Smith.
Her resilience and righteousness under the
most emotionally and spiritually taxing conditions
surely influenced her prophet sons and set
them firmly on the path toward fulfilling
their foreordained destiny.
At this point you may be thinking, “But
what about me and my contribution?
I’m not Eve or Mary or even Lucy Mack Smith.
I’m just regular, plain old me.
Is there something about my contribution that
is significant to the Lord?
Does He really need me?”
Remember, the righteous who are not highly
visible are valued too, and in the words of
a Book of Mormon prophet are “no less serviceable
unto the people.”
President Spencer W. Kimball responded to
that question this way:
"Both a righteous man and a righteous woman
are a blessing to all those whom their lives
touch.
[In] the world before we came here, faithful
women were given certain assignments while
faithful men were foreordained to certain
priesthood tasks.
While we do not now remember the particulars,
. . . we are accountable for those things
which long ago were expected of us."
Every sister in this Church who has made covenants
with the Lord has a divine mandate to help
save souls, to lead the women of the world,
to strengthen the homes of Zion, and to build
the kingdom of God.
Sister Eliza R. Snow, the second general president
of the Relief Society, said that “every
sister in this church should be a preacher
of righteousness . . . because we have greater
and higher privileges than any other females
upon the face of the earth.”
Every sister who stands for truth and righteousness
diminishes the influence of evil.
Every sister who strengthens and protects
her family is doing the work of God.
Every sister who lives as a woman of God becomes
a beacon for others to follow and plants seeds
of righteous influence that will be harvested
for decades to come.
Every sister who makes and keeps sacred covenants
becomes an instrument in the hands of God.
I have been drawn to an interchange between
God the Father and His eldest and Only Begotten
Son, who is the ultimate example of living
up to one’s premortal promises.
When God asked who would come to earth to
prepare a way for all mankind to be saved
and strengthened and blessed, it was Jesus
Christ who said, simply, “Here am I, send
me.”
Just as the Savior stepped forward to fulfill
His divine responsibilities, we have the challenge
and responsibility to do likewise.
If you are wondering if you make a difference
to the Lord, imagine the impact when you make
commitments such as the following:
“Father, if you need a woman to rear children
in righteousness, here am I, send me.”
“If you need a woman who will shun vulgarity
and dress modestly and speak with dignity
and show the world how joyous it is to keep
the commandments, here am I, send me.”
“If you need a woman who can resist the
alluring temptations of the world by keeping
her eyes fixed on eternity, here am I, send
me.”
“If you need a woman of faithful steadiness,
here am I, send me.”
Between now and the day the Lord comes again,
He needs women in every family, in every ward,
in every community, in every nation who will
step forward in righteousness and say by their
words and their actions, “Here am I, send
me.”
My question today is, Will you be one of those
women?
And will you men who hold the priesthood answer
the same call?
Now I know most of you want to.
But how will you do it?
How, in a world filled with deceptive messages
about women and the family—and the significance
of both to the Lord—will you perpetually
respond to the Lord, “Here am I, send me”?
For those who really want to live up to who
you are, for those who at all costs want to
repent if necessary and who want to see through
Satan’s deceptions, I have two suggestions:
First, listen to and follow those whom we
sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators.
Second, learn to hear the voice of the Spirit,
or the voice of the Lord as communicated by
the power of the Holy Ghost.
I cannot stress enough the importance of listening
to and following the prophet and the apostles.
In today’s world, where 24 hours a day the
media’s talking heads spew forth conflicting
opinions, where men and women jockey for everything
from your money to your vote, there is one
clear, unpolluted, unbiased voice that you
can always count on.
And that is the voice of the living prophet
and the apostles.
Their only motive is “the everlasting welfare
of your souls.”
Think of it!
Think about the value of having a source of
information that you can always count on,
that will always have your eternal interests
at heart, and that will always provide inspired
truth.
That is a phenomenal gift and guide.
Just four months ago President Hinckley spoke
to you in a Churchwide fireside.
Have you studied his message and identified
things you need to avoid or do differently?
I know a 17-year-old who just prior to the
prophet’s talk had pierced her ears a second
time.
She came home from the fireside, took off
the second set of earrings, and said to her
parents, “If President Hinckley says we
should only wear one set of earrings, that’s
good enough for me.”
Wearing two pairs of earrings may or may not
have eternal consequences for this young woman,
but her willingness to obey the prophet will.
And if she will obey him now, on something
relatively simple, how much easier it will
be to follow him when greater issues are at
stake.
Today I make you a promise.
It is a simple one, but it is true.
If you will listen to the living prophet and
the apostles and heed our counsel, you will
not go astray.
If you want to avoid the snares of Satan,
if you need direction when the choices in
front of you are puzzling and perplexing,
learn to hear the voice of the Lord as communicated
through the Holy Ghost.
And then, of course, do what it tells you
to do.
Nephi taught clearly that the Holy Ghost “is
the gift of God unto all those who diligently
seek him” and that “he that diligently
seeketh shall find.”
The stunning reality, my dear young brothers
and sisters, is that you control how close
you are to the Lord.
You determine just how clear and readily available
promptings from the Holy Ghost will be.
You determine this by your actions, by your
attitude, by the choices you make, by the
things you watch and wear and listen to and
read, and by how consistently and sincerely
you invite the Spirit into your life.
Contemplate for a moment the extent and the
impact of this blessing!
You have been given a gift that when exercised
and respected will give you the answers to
all of the confusing, thorny questions and
problems you will face in your lives.
I can only imagine some of the questions you
are facing right now.
Should you marry the young man you are now
dating, or not?
Should you finish your degree, or not?
Should you serve a mission, or not?
What career should you pursue?
Why pursue a career with vigor when all you’ve
ever really wanted is to be a mother?
As life progresses, how will you respond to
challenges that will inevitably come?
Will you know where to turn for peace and
consolation if you are called upon to bury
a child—as two of our own children have
done—or if a child threatens to stray from
the gospel path?
How will you know what to do when you face
financial reverses?
Where will you turn for insight and inspiration
when you are called upon to lead in your ward
or stake?
You young men are facing similar kinds of
questions.
To all of you there is only one way to safely
and confidently meet the obstacles and opportunities
that are part of life’s path.
First, listen to the prophet and the apostles.
Study the principles we teach.
Then take those principles to the Lord and
ask Him how you should apply them in your
life.
Ask Him to influence your thoughts, temper
your actions, and guide your steps.
“Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings,
and he will direct thee for good.”
He will communicate with you through the power
and presence of the Holy Ghost.
There are several things that greatly enhance
our ability to understand the promptings of
the Holy Ghost and thereby hear the voice
of God.
First is fasting and prayer.
When the sons of Mosiah were united with Alma
the Younger, they rejoiced in their reunion
and acknowledged that because “they had
given themselves to much prayer, and fasting,”
they had been gifted with the spirit of prophecy
and revelation, and “when they taught, they
taught with power and authority of God.”
Second is immersing yourself in the scriptures.
The word of God “will tell you all things
what ye should do.”
The scriptures are a conduit for personal
revelation.
Your generation is much more versed in holy
writ than was mine at your age.
You have been taught to read and study the
scriptures.
I urge you to intensify your study of them.
I promise that your ability to hear the voice
of the Lord as communicated through the Holy
Ghost will increase and improve.
Third is preparing to spend time in the house
of the Lord.
When the time appropriately comes for you
to go to the temple, you will leave the temple
“armed with . . . power” and with the
promise that as we “grow up” in our knowledge
of the Lord, we will “receive a fulness
of the Holy Ghost.”
The temple is a place of personal revelation.
If you are endowed, visit the temple regularly.
If you are not, prepare yourself to enter,
for inside the doors of the temple rests the
power that will fortify you against the vicissitudes
of life.
Fourth is listening to the counsel of your
father and mother.
They are wise and experienced.
Share with them, as my children have shared
with me, your fears and concerns.
Seek blessings from your father.
If for some reason he is not worthy or able,
go to your bishop or your stake president.
They love you and will count it a privilege
to bless your life.
You should also receive your patriarchal blessing.
Fifth is obedience and repentance.
There are certain things you simply cannot
do if you want to have the Holy Ghost with
you.
It is not possible to listen to vulgar lyrics,
watch movies filled with sexual innuendo,
tamper with pornography on the Internet (or
anywhere else for that matter), take the name
of the Lord in vain, wear revealing clothing,
compromise in any way the law of chastity,
or disregard the values of true manhood and
womanhood and expect the Holy Ghost to remain
with you.
Whenever anyone participates in those kinds
of activities, it should not be a surprise
if feelings of loneliness, discouragement,
and unworthiness follow.
Do not make the choice to go it alone rather
than have the Spirit of the Lord to guide,
to protect, to prompt, to warn, and to fill
you with peace.
Repent if you need to so you can enjoy the
companionship of the Spirit.
Women and men who can hear the voice of the
Lord, and who respond to those promptings,
become invaluable instruments in His hands.
I will never forget an experience I had following
a stake conference.
I was asked to participate in a blessing for
a young woman your age who was suffering with
cancer.
The family were converts, and they had found
peace through the promptings of the Spirit.
Prior to our giving the blessing, this dear
sister said to me: “Elder Ballard, I am
not afraid to die, but I would like to live
here with my family.
I am prepared to accept the will of my Father
in Heaven.
Please bless me to find peace and to know
that He will be with me.”
What faith, insight, and courage the Spirit
had blessed her with!
A few months later the family advised me that
Heavenly Father had called her home.
She died in peace, and the family lived in
peace because they were familiar with the
Spirit.
One of the sweetest messages the Spirit will
relay is how the Lord feels about you.
And that reassurance will strengthen you in
a way that almost nothing else can.
Now, finally, I turn again to you dear sisters,
you who have such a profound, innate spiritual
ability to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd.
You need never wonder again if you have worth
in the sight of the Lord and to the Brethren
in the presiding councils of the Church.
We love you.
We cherish you.
We respect you.
Never doubt that your influence is absolutely
vital to preserving the family and to assisting
with the growth and spiritual vitality of
the Church.
This Church will not reach its foreordained
destiny without you.
We men simply cannot nurture like you nurture.
Most of us don’t have the sensitivity—spiritual
and otherwise—that by your eternal nature
you inherently have.
Your influence on families and with children,
with youth, and with men is singular.
You are natural-born nurturers.
Because of these unusual gifts and talents,
you are vital to taking the gospel to all
the world, to demonstrating that there is
joy in living the way the prophets have counseled
us to live.
More than ever before we need women of faith,
virtue, vision, and charity, as the Relief
Society declaration proclaims.
We need women who can hear and who will respond
to the voice of the Lord, women who at all
costs will defend and protect the family.
We don’t need women who want to be like
men, sound like men, dress like men, drive
like some men drive, or act like men.
We do need women who rejoice in their womanhood
and have a spiritual confirmation of their
identity, their value, and their eternal destiny.
Above all, we need women who will stand up
for truth and righteousness and decry evil
at every turn and simply say, “Lord, here
am I, send me.”
I bear my witness and testimony to you this
morning, my beloved young members of this
church, that you are precious, that this is
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The kingdom of God will roll forward until
it fills the entire earth.
It is for you to be beacons and banners to
the entire world, to show the women and the
men of the world there is such a natural disposition
in women to do good, and to seek after things
of the Spirit, what is right and what is true.
I simply say to you this morning, God bless
the women of the Church, in the name of Jesus
Christ, amen.
