Hi, I’m Amy. I’m a lifelong member of the Church and lover of the scriptures. I teach in my ward’s Relief Society, and I love the words of the prophets. One of the greatest things about our Church is our belief in continuing revelation, that we can continue to grow and change as a Church because the restoration is ongoing.
Everything I learn from the scriptures, and from the temple, convinces me that when it comes to the priesthood, God desires all His children to receive it. I believe our Heavenly Parents want us all to share equally in the burdens and blessings of bringing forth the kingdom of God. It will happen in the Lord’s time and way, but it will not happen unless it is desired, unless we pray and plead with the Lord (Luke 18:1-8) and demonstrate our willingness to receive the greater blessings and knowledge that He desires to give us. I believe that “the knowledge and power of God are expanding, the veil o’er the earth is beginning to burst.” I have seen it happen already in the few years I’ve been alive. I have faith that it will continue to happen, that God will “yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
The gospel of Christ teaches us that God is no respecter of persons, that men and women are made of the same celestial material, that we are children of the same heavenly monarch with divine nature and destiny. Our highest and holiest ordinance is one of binding men and women together as an eternal unit, and commanding them to cleave to each other, because we understand that “neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:11). Women’s ordination is in perfect harmony with this understanding, that men and women, working together, endowed with God’s power and joined in covenant, is the only thing that can create heaven, both in this life and eternally. It is in perfect harmony with the doctrine of Christ, who invites all to come unto him, “black and white, bond and free, male and female…all are alike unto God” (2 Ne. 26:33).
I’ve come to appreciate this more and more as I’ve served in the temple, and been ministered to by female temple workers, who are empowered to perform ordinances and assist in ways only women can. In this holy place, these women are filled with the power of God and use that power to serve God’s children. They are an example to me as I, like Abraham, seek to become a “rightful heir” of God’s power, a power that brings “greater happiness and peace and rest” (Abraham 1:2) to those who bear it, and to those they serve. There is something remarkable about being ministered to by women, having women pass with me through my symbolic journey, their voices hushed, their spirits shining through, as they pronounce blessings upon me with authority. And having been foreordained to become a priestess, I would like to know what that means, and would like the chance to practice that divine and eternal role. I would like the opportunity to be a conduit for God’s power the way these women were for me, and the chance to once more have one of my sisters lay her hands on my head and bless me, enfolding me in the love of God. I believe that women should be ordained.