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| Women counseled, encouraged to be self-reliant |
by Lindsey Christensen
CHR01014@BYUI.EDU
Scroll Staff |
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“We want you henceforth to be a self-sustaining people,” President Brigham Young said. “It is our duty to be active and diligent in doing everything we can to sustain ourselves.”
Being self-reliant encompasses many areas. Marion G. Romney, a former member of the First Presidency, said that self-reliance comprises of political, temporal and spiritual independence.
Of this fundamental gospel principle President Howard W. Hunter said, “As the covenant people we must be as self-sufficient as possible.”
Being self-sufficient is not a commandment that excludes women. The Lord’s plan to be self-sufficient includes everyone.
President Gordon B. Hinckley said in a talk to the youth, “You are moving in the most competitive age the world has ever known. All around you is competition. You need all the education you can get.” The reason for gaining education is because “that world will, in large measure, pay you what it thinks you are worth, and your worth will increase as you gain education and proficiency in your chosen field.”
Women need to be prepared for the uncertainties of life, which is why preparation and education are fundamental.
Gaining an education is vital for women in this day.
“There are impelling reasons for our sisters to plan toward employment,” President Hunter said.
Speaking of the women of the Church, President Hunter said, “We want them to obtain all the education and vocational training possible before marriage. If they become widowed or divorced and need to work, we want them to have dignified and rewarding employment. If a sister does not marry, she has every right to engage in a profession that allows her to magnify her talents and benefaction.”
President James E. Faust, member of the First Presidency, encouraged his daughters to gain all the education they could “not only to help them in their homemaking but also to prepare them to earn a living if that became necessary.”
Ecclesiastes 3:2 teaches there is a time and place for everything. “There is a time to plant and a time to pluck that which is planted.” Although the future is uncertain, now is the time for planting. The law of the harvest applies to education.
On the importance of education President Hinckley said, “I urge each of you young women to get all of the schooling you can get. You will need it for the world into which you will move.”
“For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet emphasis the need for obtaining an education. “The Lord wants you to educate your mind and improve your skills and abilities. Education will help you to be an influence for good in the world. It will help you better provide for yourself, your loved ones and those in need.”
These comments are not directed at just young men. It includes young women as well.
Donald C. Bird’s father died when he was four-years-old. His mother was left to care for the family’s financial needs. “Her degree was her insurance policy,” Bird, former vice president of BYU-Idaho, said.
“Young sisters, keep this in mind as you wonder if you should complete your education. You may be thinking that you want to always be in the home being a mom; however, you never know what may happen that would require you to do what my mother had to do,” Bird said.
Gaining an education, a skill set to fall back on is necessary. Without it there may be no “insurance policy.”
“Find purpose in your life. Choose the things you would like to do, and educate yourselves to be effective in their pursuit. You are hopeful that you will marry and that all will be taken care of. In this day and time, a girl needs an education,” President Gordon B. Hinckley said.
President Hinckley clarified the need for education, “She needs the means and skills by which to earn a living should she find herself in a situation where it becomes necessary to do so.”
He told the young women of the church, “You can include in the dream of the woman you would like to be a picture of one qualified to serve society and make a significant contribution to the world of which she will be a part.”
President Hinckley has a nurse who he thought young women could strive to be like. At a young age she decided to be a nurse, gained education and qualified for the highest rank in the field. She served a mission, has a good marriage, three children and serves in the Church. The demand for her skill set allows her to work as she desires.
In describing this nurse President Hinckley said, “She has a good life. She is the kind of woman of whom you might dream as you look to the future.”
D&C 130:19 states, “If a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.”
Education is more than leaving a university with a piece of paper. If women choose wisely and make good decisions concerning education, they have built their own safety net for the future.
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