the power of one

I get really passionate when people ask me what I want to do with Anthropology and when we talk about the research I did in Ghana and it often leads to a dialogue containing a lot of talk about healing, about improving and maintaining sustainable solutions, about what we as individuals can do to really make a difference and implement effective change... I am trying to find my role in all of that. I have had a few really meaningful conversations with friends lately that have allowed me to think and feel even deeper than I did before. For those people I am grateful.

As I think about my future and work toward the goals I have, I find myself being more and more consumed with thoughts of inadequacy and recognition about how small I am. I am just one person, just one person in this big world. But then I think about all those one persons who have changed history, who have led revolutions, who have saved a life, cured a disease, put a smile on someone's face encouraging them to hold on for one more day, and then I realize that to be just one person is enough. There is strength in numbers, of that I am sure, but it just takes one to start a movement, one to circulate an idea, one to encourage hope and trust and love.

I believe that the most powerful force on earth is love. Love triumphs over hate, over poverty, over hurt, over sadness, over a whole myriad of emotions. It is that one thing that heals ALL things. The Atonement is a perfect example of that love, its a perfect example of how one person has influenced everyones life who ever has lived and who ever will live. Because of the love the Father has for us, he sent His son whom he loves to live and die for us. Christ loves His father and each one of us so He willingly lived and died for us. It is not only in the act of His atoning sacrifice that we can see and feel His love for us. It is in every act he did, every word He spoke, and every doctrinal truth that we receive.  His gospel is a perfect gospel and it is all centered around love. My purpose here is twofold with Christs, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Full-time missionaries are deeply invested in that work every hour of every day and though the rest of us cannot be physically and mentally devoted to it 100% of the time we can make sure that we are staying close to the spirit at all times thus allowing the Lord to use us as instruments in His hands when He needs us to extend His love to an individual, to a group, even to a whole community... but we cant do it without Christ.

This quote by Ezra Taft Benson spoke directly to the thoughts I was having...

"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature...Yes, Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world. Men changed for Christ will be captained by Christ"

That quote illustrates  perfectly the way I want to go about my work. The earth cannot be healed through the efforts of man alone. Christ must be involved. Just as the atonement can cleanse our lives, it will cleanse the earth as well. It is the only way to solve poverty and other world issues. Humanitarian efforts are incredible and noble and do a lot to alleviate suffering temporarily but the only true and complete healing will come when people take themselves out of the work and allow Christ to lead and guide everything they do. It is then that His love will allow for sustainable solutions through people who serve and love one another. It is then that we will see a happier and more successful people. Working together with Christ is the solution, but there is power in one heart and one voice. One person is worth so much.

The Mormon feminist...

The Mormon feminist argument...what does it come down to?

I have been reading some discussions from Mormon feminists about Ordaining women to the Priesthood and women being able to wear pants to church and other things like that...I'm no expert but these are my thoughts. I feel like I am a pretty Orthodox member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints yet I have trained my mind to be open and subjective through my studies in anthropology. The root argument behind these things and others is for gender equality. I spent 3 months last summer in Ghana, West Africa studying gender roles and to these women who believe they are entitled to the priesthood, arguing that they want to exercise equal authority as worthy men, I say that without separate gender roles, our social structure would cease to exist (in the world, but also in the church). This issue is not about men and women being unequal, its about your role as a woman and his role as a man. We are separate but equal, and being separate, we must be willing to fulfill separate roles. Argue what you may but our role as women is beautiful and important yet ultimately so different from the role of a man, women are beautiful and strong and kind and nurturing and gentle, we can enjoy the blessings of the priesthood as men do but we must seek them out through worthy priesthood holders in our lives, having faith that we can receive. The Lord does not withhold blessings because we do not directly hold the priesthood authority. We receive the same promises that men receive when we are faithful, maybe I don't understand their argument clearly so I apologize for my ignorance in that regard, but I am a mouthpiece for the Lord just as men are and I am just as important to the Lord as they are, I can administer and teach just as they can. My faith is just as strong and I am just as important within the structure and the administration of the church. I know this because I know that the Lord keeps his promises. The Family: A Proclamation to the World clearly defines the roles of a man and woman saying:

 "The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners."

 The greatest gift of all is eternal life D &C 14:7 and if I endure to the end I will be exalted on High with my husband and I can enjoy the blessings of his priesthood now and when we become like our Father, creating our own worlds. When you get married you become one with your spouse and one with God, by extension you are enjoying the priesthood just as readily as your husband is, or even outside of a marriage you can enjoy the priesthood through brothers, friends, fathers, grandfathers, bishops, home teachers...it all has a purpose. Christ's church is perfect. The people might not be, but the doctrine is. It is founded on principles and teachings that came straight from the Father, principles that have been the same since the beginning of time, principles that have been restored to us in the latter day through a prophet, Joseph Smith... principles that are sent to help us to return to live with Him again. He has a divine plan. We may not understand that plan now and we certainly won't understand it in a few days or even years, but He does have a plan and that plan is perfect. He made man and woman separate for a reason and He gave them separate responsibilities so as to provide the necessary balance needed for harmony in His kingdom. 

I agree that women have been marginalized for ages, and in many places around the world, they still are, even here in the United States. As we have been steadily fighting for rights throughout history we have often gotten them. Yes there is a ways to go, but true feelings of equality come in your own beliefs, in your own views of the divinity of women and our role here on earth. Men and women act as equal partners, but that does not mean that they hold the same responsibilities, they cannot if there is to be a balance in all things. To me it comes down to the doctrine and the principles of the Gospel. I believe that Jesus Christ is the head of this church and that Thomas S. Monson, his counselors, and the 12 Apostles are His special witnesses and they speak to us through Him. If there came a time when He wanted women to hold the priesthood keys so they could exercise the same authority that worthy men could, don't you think He would tell us through our prophet? I believe in modern day revelation, and I believe in our prophet. And if I am to believe those things, I believe that change in fundamental doctrines of the church will not come from lobbying. They will come directly from the mouthpiece of the Lord. 

At the end of the day I believe that our mission is greater than our roles, we all must work together to preach the Gospel to all nations and peoples, but we can't let things such as taking offense to things people say, or to the restrictions one may feel they are constrained by, get in the way of that mission. We must be advocates for truth. We must act in a way that will allow others to know Jesus Christ through us, we must believe in His church and in His leaders, we must KNOW Him, I mean really know Him so that we can better understand the roles He would have us play on this earth in order to further His kingdom on the earth and in heaven. He loves us, every single one of us, regardless of race, religion or gender. Believe in Him. That is all you need to do. If you do I promise you will one day know the reasons for the special organization of His church and I promise that you will find peace in your testimony because He will not leave you comfortless.

Journal #33: I'll Stand By You

     I want to be able to use this phrase. To let the people who help me with my research know that I will stand by them. That I will take the information I receive from observing their doctor-patient interactions and from interviewing them and analyze it as best as I can in order to present my research accurately. That I will be their friend. That I will strive every day to understand their culture and their minds. That I will stay true to myself and to my research. That even when the nights get lonely or when I feel like I do not want to go on I will remember the reason I am there. I am there to learn. To grow. To build relationships with these beautiful people. To stand by them as one child of God to another. It is so easy to get caught up in life but I think i will be able to feel sparks of truth ignite within my soul every day if I let that happen. The only way to do that is to let those relationships blossom. I want to learn how to build upon them day by day through trust and love.
     I have been thinking about collecting data and how that is going to be, really I have no idea. I have never really done it before. Participant Observation is different, I feel like I am doing that all day, every day. I love people watching. One reason anthropology is perfect for me. Are the people I interview and observe going to have walls put up? What if they are wearing a mask (figuratively) that hides their true thoughts and feelings? The scary thing about this research is that I will have no idea. I have to simply trust the information that I am given and I have to use it assuming that the people are being true to themselves and true to me. What does that really mean though? I think there are a lot of people in this world who could not answer that question. They are hidden behind so many layers of deceit, fear, sadness, etc...and they put up this facade so much so that they do not even know how to identify their true self. I am sure I even have my moments. While I am learning about the world around me, I am also learning about myself every day. I just thought about the movie Runaway Bride when Julia Roberts' character doesn't know what kind of eggs she likes. She just chose to like the same kinds of eggs that her significant other fancied at the time because she did not know which choice to make. That can be true to so many different aspects of our lives. We don't know which choice to make so we just go with whatever is convenient. I don't want my research to turn into data collection because of convenience. I want to take this experience as a challenge and a struggle, using it to find my true self while I help others to do so as well. It will take time. It will take me breaking down those walls with myself and with others so as to get the truest data that I can. The word 'nokware' means to be true in Twi. I want to be able to use that word and know that I have been true to myself in how I have sought out and collected data and I want the people I work with to be able to say the same of the interactions they've had with the doctors as well as their interactions with me. I just want to be able to stand by the people and my research in the end and say that I did my best and I kept the truth as best as I could.