It was written for me to read while speaking so it may not be perfectly written as an article but I had several people ask to read it so here it is. Enjoy :)
When Sister
Woods found out I was coming she asked me to come speak at girl’s camp, which
is more than a little funny, but we will get to that later. She asked me to speak to you about faith.
When I got the message
from Sister Woods asking me to speak to you I was playing with my son DJ. He is in a pretty heavy Superhero phase so of
course we were playing Batman and Superman defending the train station from the
giant baby (his little sister of course).
Later that night as I was putting him to bed DJ said “Mommy, I want to
be Batman! He’s good.” It got me thinking about heroes.
When
the world is in peril God doesn’t call on people in capes with utility belts,
or x-ray vision, God calls on people of faith.
Today I want to talk about some of the great women of faith God has
called upon in the past to be His superheroes.
First off basic re-cap
what is faith? As the primary song says:
Faith is knowing the sun
will rise, lighting each new day. Faith
is knowing the Lord will hear my prayers each time I pray. Faith is like a little seed: If planted, it will grow. Faith is a swelling within my heart. When I do right, I know.
As
the song says faith is believing and knowing things, even when we can’t see
them. Faith can be a hard thing to gain,
I sometimes think that the comparison to a seed is not a very good one because
as far as we can see the seed gets planted, we wait and water it and then a few
weeks later POP it’s a little sprout. Faith
is not the seed - it is the planting of
the seed. And it is exactly because we
can’t see the growth that it is faith.
Again faith is not the seed, the word of God is the seed. What we often don’t see is what is happening
to the seed under the soil. It swells
until it splits in half and the sprout then pushes and fights it’s way to the
surface. Personally I love this quote from C.S. Lewis
“I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun.
Not because I can see it, but by it I can see everything else.”
The Woman With the Issue of Blood
 |
| Painting by Simon Dewey |
My
first Heroine of Faith is the woman with the issue of blood from the New
Testament, I kind of think of her as the Bible version of Capitan America. She was a woman who was sick, basically she
was on her period every single day. That
would be bad enough today when we have hygiene supplies and are able to still
participate in daily activities, but during Bible times it was much worse. During the time a woman was bleeding she had
to be kept away from others because anyone who came in contact with her would
be made unclean. So not only was this
woman sick but she was unable to marry, have children, live with her family, or
even go out and see people. She had
spent all her money on doctors trying to find a cure and she was still
bleeding. One day she heard that Jesus
was coming through town and went out to see Him. The city streets were narrow and there was a
large crowd surrounding Jesus, there was no way she could quietly approach Him,
and because of her illness any person she touched would be made unclean and
have to go through a ritual cleansing.
In spite of all this she pushed her way through the large crowd, she had
faith that if she could just touch His robe she would be healed. According to the Bible she touched the hem of
his garments which means that at some point she must of gotten on the ground
and crawled toward the Savior, all the while being pushed and stepped on. (Can you imagine how humiliating that might
have been). After she touched Him the Savior turned and looked for her. According to Matthew 9:22 He said “Daughter,
be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole”. She then went out and told the people what
had been done for her. Just like
Captain America the Woman with the Issue of Blood began physically weak, she
wanted to serve and live a productive life but because of her health she was
unable to. And just like Captain America
she did everything in her power to make herself better. He put his trust in scientists who made him a
super solider, she took a leap (or crawl) of faith toward the Savior and was
healed becoming a witness of His power.
She possessed the Super Power of taking a Leap of Faith.
Once
upon a time my grandfather took my family fishing down in the canyon by his
house. We were all spread out along the
river up and down the canyon. My brother
Clark and I were together and having a great time hopping on rocks and moving
along the river bank. Before we knew it
the sun was setting and it was getting dark.
In a canyon the sun sets very rapidly and it goes from day light to dark
in a matter of only a few minutes. We
started heading back down the river trying to find our parents but before we
could it was night. We decided to keep heading down the river by
climbing along the rocks. Now these were
huge boulders, 10-15 feet high, so it should come as no surprise that after a
while we ended up taking a step onto what we thought was another rock and found
ourselves in a tree. At this point we lost it.
It was dark and we were cold and wet and now we were stuck in a
tree. We were crying and saying a prayer
when we heard our Dad calling us. He had
found us and was underneath the tree. We
could not see him but he could see us.
He could also see the ledge just a few feet beneath us. He called up to us saying to lower ourselves
and jump onto the ledge. Clark and I
had faith in our Dad. We knew he loved
us and that he could see what we could not.
Because of that we were able to take that leap of faith. The same is can be true of our Heavenly
Father. There will be times we find
ourselves stepping off a rock and into a tree, lost and scared and alone in the
dark. If we have built a relationship of
faith with our Heavenly Father then we will be able to trust Him to guide us,
and we will be able, like the woman with the issue of blood, gain the Super
Power to take a Leap of Faith. I’m not
saying that jumping out of that tree wasn’t scary, it was, but knowing that I
could trust my Dad made it possible for me to do. Someday when my daughter is older I want her
to say to me, “Mommy I want to be like the woman with the issue of blood, she’s
good. She has the faith to leap. ”
Hannah
Sometimes
we can do everything we should and have righteous desires and have the Lord say
no. I think you might want to say here
that as a woman of faith you realize that the Lord always answers our prayers –
just not always the way we want (or ask for). As women of faith sometimes we
have to turn our plans and our desires over to the Lord, just like Hannah did.
When
I was 19 years old I had a plan. There
was a boy in my life, I loved him more than anyone before and more than
anything I wanted to marry him. Every
night I would pray for that. Well, you
can probably guess what happened, the Lord (and the boy) said no. It was a dark time for me, I thought I had
done everything right and I hadn’t asked for anything unrighteous or selfish, I
wanted to make the covenants that God wanted me to. I wanted to go to the temple and start an
eternal family. It was during this time
that I came across Hannah again and a teacher pointed out her faith and her
ability to turn her plan over to the Lord.
So I did, I went to the Lord and said “Heavenly Father, you know how
much I wanted to marry that boy, but if that is not the plan please help me to
know what you want me to do.” And I felt
prompted to prepare for a mission. Now
this was before the age change so I still would be waiting another 18 months
before I could turn my papers in, but I told anyone who listened that I was
going on a mission. I took mission prep,
I studied my scriptures, I was even called to serve on the Missionary committee
and the teach mission prep in my ward.
Then, 9 months after my prayer, on my 20th birthday a boy
named David came to my birthday-party. A
week later we were dating, and 3 weeks after that he asked me “Are you going on
a mission or are you staying and marrying me?”
I told him I would have to get back to him. So I went to the Lord and said “Heavenly
Father, you know how much I want to get married and make these covenants, and
you know I am falling in love with David.
But You and I had a plan, and if going on a mission is what You want me
to do then I will still do it, but please guide me.” And I felt in my heart, almost like a voice,
“Leslie, David was always my plan for you.
But I needed you to be ready for him, and by preparing for a mission you
grew closer to me and ready for the covenants of the temple and marriage.” Well, 6 months later David and I were
married. Hannah was my hero and my
guide, and just like her I turned my plan over to the Lord, and told Him that I
would have the blessings of the gospel His way.
When we show our faith and use our Superpower of Trust in the Lord He
will guide us to an even better plan.
Someday I want my daughter to say “Mommy I want to be like Hannah, she’s
good. She had the faith to let go.”
Deborah
Next is Deborah, I think
of her as Black Widow. Deborah is the
only recorded female Judge in Israel, she was also a prophetess. Deborah was one of the most powerful women in
the Old Testament. She led the people in
prayer and preached to them. She made
judgments in disputes and prophesied about the future. She did everything that a king would do while
being the spiritual leader. At the time
Deborah was judge the Israelites were enslaved because of their wickedness. Deborah prophesied that Israel would win
their freedom with the strength of the Lord.
One day Deborah called before her a man named Barak (or you could think
of him as Hawkeye), we find their story in Judges 4:6, 8-9
“And she sent and called
Barak and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go
and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the
children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with
me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with thee.”
So
Deborah told Barak that the Lord wanted him to free their people in battle and
that the Lord would be with them. Barak
was scared and not sure that he could fulfil Deborah’s prophecy on his
own. So he begged her to go with him and
help him lead the arm. She went with
him and all happened as she had prophesied and the Israelites were freed. Just like the Avenger’s Black Widow and
Hawkeye, Deborah and Barak worked as a team.
They knew each other’s strengths and used them to succeed. Deborah knew that Barak could lead and raise
and army and Barak knew that Deborah could hold that army together and follow
the inspiration of the spirit. They were
a dream team. They had the spiritual
superpower of teamwork.
Within
the church men and women of faith can work together do amazing things just like
Deborah and Barak. It may be within
callings or within families but when we respect the strengths of the men around
us and they respect our strengths great things can happen. During the time I was preparing to serve a
mission I was called to serve as the Co-chair of the mission prep-committee in
my singles ward. Our job was to organize
missionary opportunities for the ward members and to help prepare those who
were getting ready for missions to serve.
My chair was a brother who had returned from his mission the year
before. It would have been very easy for
him to take control and to discount me, I hadn’t served a mission after
all. But he didn’t. We got to know each other and realized that
he was really good at creating missionary opportunities (not an easy feat in
Provo, UT) and that I loved to teach.
Over the 3 months we served together our mission prep class was the best
attended Sunday school class in the ward and we had 4 baptisms, we were a dream
team. Because we valued each other and
the faith the Lord had in each of us were able to accomplish so much. As you grow in the church you will have
opportunities to serve with the brethren, in callings and in your home. Strive to find your place and like Deborah
and Barak you can become a spiritual dream team. Someday I want my daughter to look at me and
say “Mommy I want to be like Deborah.
She’s good.” She is a Faithful
LEADER!”
Abish
Many of you know the
story of Ammon from the Book of Mormon, the guy who cut off all the arms and
converted an entire Lamanite kingdom.
One of the key players in his story is the Lamanite Woman Abish, oh and
by the way she reminds me of Spiderman.
She had been taught the gospel by her father, who learned of it through
a dream. She lived her life and her
faith without ever being able to share it explicitly for fear of being
killed. But when King was laying as dead
Abish was able to testify to the queen and the
people that what Ammon had taught was truth and that he was a man of God, and
they believed her. To me this shows that
she had lived her life in such a way that she was trusted and admired, people
cared what she said and were willing to listen and believe. Just like Spiderman Abish had to hide who she
was but that didn’t stop her from helping those around her. She knew that with her great knowledge came
great responsibility. Spiderman put on a
mask and ran around saving people, Abish hid her testimony but still went about
living the gospel and serving. She had
the superpower of the quiet example.
As
a 7 year old my family had just come back from living in Korea for a year. I was obsessed with all things Korea and made
lots of friends who were Korean. One
day, one of my Korean friends invited me to a birthday party, on Sunday. Now my family had a pretty firm, no parties
on Sunday rule, but this time my parents felt impressed to go. It was a family party so we all went, and it
was there that my parents met my friend Edward’s parents. They started asking about churches to attend
and one thing led to another and a few month later they joined the church. I wasn’t walking around handing out Book of
Mormons or spouting scriptures all the time.
All I did was be nice, make a friend, and live my life. Then when the time was right and they had
questions they knew they could ask my family.
If we live our lives people will see it, they will see that we are women
of faith, even if they don’t know that is what they are seeing. As women of faith God can use us to bring
others to the gospel. Someday I want my
daughter to look at me and say “Mommy I want to be Abish. She’s good.
She lived faithfully!
Rahab
My last woman of faith is
Rahab, and she is my Thor. Rahab was a
prostitute in the city of Jericho, but when the Israelite spies came into the
city she hid them and helped them escape.
Because of this she and everyone in her home was spared when the
Israelites destroyed the city. She repented,
converted, married in the covenant, and became and ancestor of Jesus
Christ. She was a hero in every sense
of the word, and if there was any doubt about why she did it we have her
testimony of the power of God. Joshua
2:9-11
“And she said unto the
men, I know that the Lord had given you the land and that your terror is fallen
upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the
water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto
the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and
Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon
as we heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any
more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in
heaven about and in earth beneath.”
What a cool woman right? Just like Thor, Rahab was fallen and an outsider. The Israelites battle was not her battle,
just like the battles on Earth did not belong to Thor. But just as Thor found good in the people of
earth Rahab found good and the true God in the people of Israel. She had the super power of knowing her divine
worth.
Here is the thing, looking at her, even years
later, she probably didn’t look like the typical woman of faith. Chances are she had tattoos, left over holes
from piercings; her foreign accent probably clung to her speech, and then no
matter where she went everyone probably knew her former profession. Even in the chapters of scripture where is
the undoubted heroine she is always referred to as “Rahab the Harlot” as if to
never let it be forgotten what a sinner she was. She probably had moments where she sat in
relief society or sacrament meeting and thought “I don’t fit in here, I don’t
belong”. There were probably times when
she was excluded, looked down on, or shut out by people because of her
past. But let me tell you, the Lord
knew who she was. The Lord knew that she
was a woman of faith and that He could use her as His superhero to save the
Israelite spies and help conquer Jericho.
At the beginning of my talk I mentioned that
it was pretty funny that Sister Woods had asked me to come up here and speak to
you today. The reason it is so funny is
because 10 years ago, when I was 16 I came down the mountain from girls camp,
walked in the door and told my mom I would never go back to girls camp. And I didn’t, until today.
You see young womens and
girls camp were hard for me. The girls I grew up with were legendary for our
ability to start drama, some of the leaders here probably remember us that way
even. We had cliques within cliques and
it always seemed that girls camp brought out the worst of it, I seemed to find
myself at the brunt of a lot of the snide remarks and mean jokes. I even had some rough encounters with leaders
saying unkind things. Unlike Rahab, who
from what I can tell never let the opinions of others define her or her faith,
I let those negative experiences define mine.
I could have focused on my friend MaryDawn, who always took the extra
time to make me laugh. I could have focused
on Sister Shelly Dowling who took me into her tent and told me how wonderful I
was and how loved and needed. But I
didn’t. I focused on the bad things
instead of the good.
The way I let those
negative comments by the other girls my age and some of my leaders make me feel
about my place in the church made me not want to come back. I went to seminary, because my mother was the
teacher and I didn’t want to disappoint her.
And I went to mutual, when I couldn’t come up with activities and
excuses to get out of it, but I spent my entire senior year of high school
feeling like I didn’t belong within the church, and because I didn’t fit with
what I saw as the “ideal girl” and I wasn’t in with the “good girls” I could
not be a woman of faith. I didn’t use
Rahab’s superpower. I didn’t exercise my
faith in the Lord and realize my divine worth, and because of it I lost out on
precious experiences.
What
I didn’t realize until later, was that none of us are the ideal girl. We are all like Rahab, broken sinners in
search of a loving God. Some of us are
more obviously broken than others, but none of us fit into the church
perfectly, we all need the Atonement to help us sand and buff the rough
edges. You may struggle with where you
fit into your ward or even the church as a whole, it may be difficult for you
or others to see your potential as a woman of faith, but God sees it. And if you let him use you like he did Rahab
you can be one of his Super Heroes. Someday
I want my daughter to come up to me and say “Mommy I want to be Rahab. She’s good.” She has the faith to know who
she is”
You
My
final woman of faith, is not a woman of the past, but a powerful woman of
today. It is you, and you are like the most powerful
superhero of them all, Superman. Just
like Superman you have powers you are just discovering and coming to
understand. You may possess the superpower
of meaningful prayer, understanding of the scriptures, teaching, seeing a need
and filling it. You may find you have
all these superpowers and more, but just like Superman until you learn who your
father is you will never reach your potential.
Superman had to go and learn about who he was and where he came from, he
went to is cave of solitude and communicated with his father and learned. Just like Superman to become a woman of
faith and be one of God’s superheroes you will need to grow closer to him. To commune with him and to study his words,
by learning who we are and where we came from we can become all that our father
wants us to be.
When you crawl to the
Lord and ask for His healing he will raise you up and who knows. You may raise righteous children who teach
the gospel to nations. You may work side
by side with the men and help build up the kingdom. You may bring others to the gospel. And you might even save another sister who
feel like she doesn’t belong from falling away.
You may do all of these things, and even more. The Lord needs you to be His women of
faith. He needs you to be His superheroes
here on earth to help save His children.
Someday I want a little
girl to look at you and say “Mommy I want to be like her, she’s good. She is a woman of Faith.”
