Hi. Mi nombre es Jeff.
I am a working father of three (girl, boy, girl). Born and raised in the middle of a large Mormon family, in the middle of a large Mormon town in Arizona. I ride my bike to work as a user experience designer in San Diego. In the Church, I’ve served in presidencies and as a teacher across the organization, been a missionary, a clerk and a greeter. I also have the irresistible urge to pick up chairs and trash after every meeting I attend. A short list of my interests includes: ping-pong, woodworking, wondering why people do things, photography, whistling, juggling, listening, philosophy, religion, sandwiches, art, and sitting in trees during thunderstorms.
I’m part of the Mormonism because I love its brightness: the cheerful service rendered, the testimonies borne, the optimism and the grit of its members. There is beauty all around. But I’m also saddened by its darkness: the shame and perfectionism, the judgments and gossip, the marginalization of those that don’t fit the married-with-kids, white, cisgender, heterosexual, loud-talking, unquestioning, male, mormon mold. Gender inequality and its many inequities cast a dark shadow here.
I wish that I could call on my wife, as a faithful priesthood holder in my home, for blessings of comfort and healing. I hope that someday I can watch my son prepare the sacrament, his older sister bless it, and their younger sister pass it. I long for the day that women’s voices are heard and heeded at all levels, in all matters, as they help to reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
I feel that the restoration of women’s ordinations in the LDS church will be a positive step in our continual Atonement.
I believe women should be ordained.