My name is Jared and I believe, as did Joseph Smith, Eliza R. Snow, Brigham Young, and others, that women already hold the priesthood through the temple ordinances. I am a sixth-generation Mormon pursuing graduate studies in political science and I currently teach Sunday School in my home ward.
We are told that God “will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God” (Articles of Faith 1:9). Yet it is hard to be open-minded to female ordination when we, as a church, seem to be suffering from amnesia regarding our own history. Those familiar with LDS history know there is a rich tradition of women exercising priesthood authority, including the administering of blessings and the ordination of sisters to act as “deacons, teachers, &c.” in Relief Society (Minutes of the Nauvoo Female Relief Society, March 17, 1842).
Although I have long understood that endowed sisters do, in fact, hold the priesthood, it was not until attending the Ordain Women priesthood action in 2013 that I saw firsthand the pain and suffering that current church policy is inflicting upon our sisters. Until this time, my belief was based in LDS history and a sense of fairness. It never occurred to me that it was an issue which was actually inflicting harm upon church members. As one concerned father put it to his area authority in Highland, Utah, “I know the church has a lot to offer my sons, but what is there for my daughters?”
I believe women should be ordained.