Growing up in a house with no father was difficult. Especially when my mom was both working full-time and going to school. There were some days when I was young that I didn’t see my mom at all because she got home after I went to bed and left before I woke up. Thankfully, I was the youngest of seven children, and we all helped each other.
By learning about my mother’s struggles to care for her family, I developed a deep respect for her and what she did for us. She tried so hard to raise us the best way that she knew how.
Because the priesthood was not in my home growing up, I looked up to a lot of my adult leaders in the church. They were good friends in the ward, or close relatives that always administered priesthood ordinances in the home, and I turned to them for baptism, ordinations etc.
Until one day, my mother approached me and said something strange: “I’d like to give you a mother’s blessing.” She had mentioned that such things had been done in the past, but had fallen out of favor in the church. I thought it was a bit weird, but I said okay. She laid her hands on my head and gave me inspired counsel and cherished wisdom.
That moment changed my views forever. That tender moment sparked a desire to learn more about the role of women in the Church. I had no idea that women had conducted healings and blessings in the early Church. How wonderful it would be for women, especially those without men in the home, to be able to provide the same wisdom, counsel, and blessings the way they once did? How much better would we be as a people if women were allowed to bless sick children, and a widow could baptize her sons and daughters?
As a loving son, husband, and soon-to-be father, I believe women should be ordained.