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| Callings of priesthood, motherhood are both important to individuals |
by Courtney Pellett
PEL02002@BYUI.EDU
Scroll Staff |
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The priesthood is a great blessing in the lives of all who embrace it. There are many duties that men fulfill to be worthy of this calling.
Although it is not always seen as such, the priesthood is meant for each man, individually.
Every priesthood holder is commanded to “stand in his own office” and “labor in his own calling,” according to Doctrine and Covenants 84:109.
So how do priesthood holders labor in their callings?
“We can honor and respect the priesthood on a seven-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-day basis. We can banish profanity, pornography and drugs from our lives as well as any other unwholesome or unclean activity. We can provide our families with the priesthood leadership and the spiritual direction they require,” Bishop H. David Burton said in the May 2000 Ensign.
“We can do all this and much more if we will draw near to the Savior, honor the sacred priesthood we hold, and be faithful to the covenants we have made,” he said.
The duties of the men in the Church are of the utmost importance and are very sacred.
“I try to remember everyday that I represent the Lord in my dealings,” Kurt Anderson, a sophomore from Kingston, R.I. said.
“Even in such a place as BYU-Idaho, it is important to remember that we are always an example for someone, and I know that even if I don’t see someone watching me, there still might be. And the Lord always knows what we do,” he said.
The priesthood is a calling for the men of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and as wonderful as it is, the key calling women of the church hold is often overlooked: motherhood.
The Church’s standpoint on motherhood has been entirely positive and sincere since even the time of its organization. The First Presidency of the Church has often referred to motherhood as “the highest, holiest service ... assumed by mankind,” according to the message of the First Presidency to the Church in the November 1942 Improvement Era.
“I am so looking forward to my own call to become a wife and mother,” Janae VanOrman, a sophomore from Redcliff, Canada.
“The tender hand of the sister gives a gentle touch of healing and encouragement which the hand of a man, however well intentioned, can never quite duplicate,” Elder Boyd K. Packer said in the May 1998 Ensign.
“I think toward the times when my mother has taught me so many things and helped me to become who I am today,” VanOrman said. “I just want to be that kind of great influence on my own children and help them to be prepared for everything they will experience.”
Not only do women have the call to motherhood, but they also have countless other opportunities for service within the church.
Women ... serve as teachers, missionaries, chapel librarians, music directors, temple workers, have callings in the Relief Society and callings in the Young Women program, according to www.mormon.org.
Although womens’ callings are different, they both serve and to live with high standards.
“Both men and women are to serve their families and others, but the specific ways in which they do so are sometimes different,” Elder M. Russell Ballard said in a General Relief Society meeting.
It is by our separate callings as men and women that we are able to understand the importance of both the priesthood and motherhood, he said.
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