Stokes Sounds Off: 05/13/18

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Sunday, May 13, 2018

A Mother's Day Tribute

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to take this opportunity to post a Mother's Day tribute. The Lord has repeatedly emphasized the high importance of women. There is a reason that the last of the Lord's creations at the beginning of this world was a woman. This was His crowning achievement in that process, and it is my opinion that He saved the best for last because He knew we would all need the influence of righteous women.

The scriptures and numerous talks in General Conference have contained numerous accounts of the influence of righteous women through all dispensations of the world. We read in the Book of Mormon of the sons of Ammon, who volunteered to help defend the Nephite lands, since their fathers had promised never to use their weapons of war. The sons of Ammon had the courage to fight because they had been taught by their mothers that God would deliver them, and "[they did] not doubt [their] mothers knew it."

The influence of righteous women cannot be overstated. President Gordon B. Hinckley gave this address six months after his wife passed away, which focused on a tribute to the women in our lives. In my own life, I have been blessed to be influenced by so many wonderful women.

Among those women, just to name a few, are my mother (who, as I have noted previously, raised my siblings and me to be who we now are, and who took special care of me as a result of my health issues) to my mother-in-law (whom I have yet to meet, but to whom goes most of the credit for the way all of her children, especially my sweet wife Amy, have turned out) to sisters and sisters-in-law who have also sacrificed much for their families, to the women I have worked with through Church callings and in my missionary and temple service, and to all other women that have, in their own ways, influenced me at various points in my life.

Church leaders have repeatedly emphasized that the influence of a righteous and good woman on those with whom she comes in contact cannot be overstated. The women in each of our lives freely put aside their own wants, hopes, dreams, and desires in favor of giving all they can to the betterment of those within the scope of their influence.

The Lord, through scripture and the words of His Church leaders, has not only emphasized how important women are, but has also warned us as men about what will happen if we mistreat the women in our lives, or if we knowingly make them unhappy. As I noted at the beginning of this post, the fact that the Lord's final creation was a woman should be a clear indicator of the importance of such women in our lives.

It is my prayer that all of us, especially the men, will recognize the truth of these things, and treat the women in our lives accordingly. The crowning creation of the Lord should rightly be honored and revered, on this Mother's Day and always. That it may be so for all of us is my paryer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.