In 2020, I was struggling trying to support my husband who is a full time Ph.D. student, homeschool and care for my four young children, find direction in my own career and education, and do so far away from any family or support in a new area, all through a global pandemic. I felt lost, alone, and without direction. One day I read the following quote by President Nelson:
“Learn for yourselves who you really are. Ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, how He feels about you and your mission here on earth. If you ask with real intent, over time the Spirit will whisper the life-changing truth to you.”
I decided to take President Nelson’s advice and began asking God to help me know who I really was, what my mission was, and to see myself the way that God saw me.
I continued to pray for months. I studied my scriptures and tried to find answers. At the same time, I recognized a reemerging question that I have asked all my life but had always been silenced: where was my Mother? Who was She, and how could I come to know Her more? I began to seek for Her in my study and prayers.
During this last October conference, Sister Camille N. Johnson encouraged us to not be afraid to ask questions we don’t know the answers to in order to allow Christ to be the author of our stories. So, I asked for Her. And She was there. And I realized She had been there all along. Remembering Her was like remembering a song I knew as a child but hadn’t thought of in years. My soul knew Her.
I asked for God to show me who I really was, and They showed me Her.
Since coming to know my Mother in Heaven, I have been empowered and stepped into myself more boldly and confidently than ever before. I have begun to heal my issues with body image, and have reexamined my place in my family, community, and church as a woman created in Her image. I have come to know that my femaleness is not a secondary state to the males in my life, but that my worth and potential are equal just as our Father and Mother are equal. I am a better mother, a better woman, and a better disciple of Christ. I feel closer not just to Her, but to my Father in Heaven and brother Jesus Christ. I have come to understand that we are all part of Their divine family and have a greater desire to love and serve those around me as my brothers and sisters.
My husband and I have taught our children about Her, and how She and our Father work together in perfect unity. I feel so blessed to be able to provide answers to their questions about Her, especially to my three daughters, who have many of the same questions that I had growing up but didn’t know that I could receive an answer to. I know that armed with this knowledge of their divine nature and divine destiny they will be an unrestrainable force for good in the world, empowering their sisters and brothers and bringing the world closer to the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Joseph Smith stated that, “It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God,” and that “…if men [and women] do not comprehend the nature of God, they do not comprehend themselves.” God includes both of our Heavenly Parents. I feel that when we leave our Heavenly Mother out of the narrative, we are eliminating our ability to know half of the character of God. The knowledge of a Mother in Heaven is one of the most beautiful and empowering doctrines of our church, yet much of the time it is ignored and even silenced. When we don’t talk about Her place as the other half of God, women cannot fully see their place in our Heavenly Parents’ plan of happiness.
Sherri Dew has said that “if we could unleash the full influence of covenant-keeping women, the kingdom of God would change overnight.” When we leave Heavenly Mother out of the narrative, we are depriving our daughters of fully understanding their individual worth, divine nature, divine potential, and eternal destiny. How powerful it would be for each woman and girl in our church to have a full understanding of their place in our Heavenly Parents’ family and plan of happiness. Imagine the force for good in our world they would become.
The power of Her influence does not stop at women and girls. Men and boys need to know their Mother as well. Just as much as women, they need the example of a perfect and unified equal partnership as the Father and Mother have. They need the understanding of the divine nature and worth of their earthly mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters.
Girls need to know they are made in Her image. Boys need to know their Mother. We need Her in our church meetings, in our songs, in our art, in Her rightful place next to our Father. We need to speak of Her, teach of Her, and remove the superficial veil we have placed between Her and ourselves.
by Katie Jordan