Hi, my name is Stuart. I was born of parents who were both converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Raised from birth in the Mormon faith tradition, I am grateful for all the gifts that this gave me. It was in the Church and the gospel that I learned guiding principles for my life, that I was taught the importance of service and compassion, where I heard stories of standing up for what is right, even when others oppose you. It was there that I first was encouraged to develop my interest and talent in music, through ward choirs and talent shows. I now study music composition at BYU and am an active singer-songwriter and performer in and around Provo, Utah.
I served a two-year proselyting mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in southwest Russia, where I spent time in several very small branches of the church. I loved the church members that I met during my time there and was inspired by the faith and dedication of many of them. Sadly, many of these branches struggled to fill enough priesthood and leadership positions to run efficiently, due to low numbers of active men, although there was never a shortage of active and eager women. Often times I thought to myself how much stronger the Church could be there if these leadership positions could be filled also by women.
I love my faith and my Church, and want to see it continue to grow and become even better. I fear that many are wary of the ordination of women to priesthood offices because it is difficult for them to imagine, having lived their whole lives in a world where that isn’t and never has been the way things are done. I believe that as more people continue to talk about this, it will become more and more of a realistic possibility in many church members’ minds, at which point we as a church will be more ready to receive a revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy human beings. I believe women should be ordained.