Hi, I’m Roseline. I’m a Mormon woman and a massage therapist.
I attended the Priesthood session action during October General Conference, and I am so glad I was able to go. It was an amazing experience to just be part of a group like Ordain Women.
I am so glad that women’s ordination is finally becoming a conversation. I don’t know what the future holds but I think we have to keep pressing forward. It may take awhile, but I believe it will happen if we keep having faith and humility.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise that it wasn’t as simple as showing up and asking for tickets, but the reaction was surprisingly disappointing. A lot of women were crying. It was hard to ask for something that we really wanted and then be completely written off. I was surprised that the man we asked so bluntly rejected us without offering anything to let us know that we had been heard and understood.
Personally, when my turn was up to ask, I was struck by the unfairness of it all. We were just asking for tickets but none of the men walking in at that point had tickets. There were still empty rows. It bothered me that he was taking one look at me and dismissing me. He didn’t know anything about me. So after he told me I wasn’t allowed in, I asked him, “How do you know that I’m not a man?” Everybody laughed when I told them I said that. Fortunately I didn’t have to see myself asking that question! But overall, my experience has made me think a lot about what I want to change in the future. It was really powerful.
I believe women should be ordained.