Growing up in the Church, I always felt underprivileged for being a woman. I wondered if God loved me less because he made me a woman. I felt this way because of polygamy. I felt this way because men held all the positions of power. I watched boys and men exclusively officiate in all the public rituals of the Church. In addition, the boys always got to go on cool trips and adventures through scouts.
As I grew and my life unfolded, I began to feel that in the eyes of the Church my worth was dependent upon my ability to attach myself to a man and bear children. This was reaffirmed to me through temple rituals and various cultural experiences. I served a mission and have had many of the callings a woman can have in the church.
Throughout all of it, I have always felt subordinate to men as they have the final say in how we execute our callings and experience our membership. I want more for my daughters. I want them to know that God loves them as much as He loves men. I don’t want my daughters to be limited in their potential to serve or in what they can become. I believe the Church will be a better organization for tapping into the potential that is within women by allowing them to be ordained and serve fully. I believe women should be ordained.