John Bytheway:               00:00                   Welcome back to part two with Dr. Liz Darger. Doctrine & Covenants 124. Families and Family Trees. When you can open that up and say, this is my fifth great-grandfather, wait, what? You can see all these people and do you have one of these and would you like to create one of these? Could I show you how? That’s a very intriguing thing for everybody. In fact, I remember back in the days was that Alex Haley did that epic, a miniseries called Roots. He worked with I believe the genealogical department in Salt Lake City and he went on the Johnny Carson Show. This is before Jay Leno. Gave Johnny Carson a book of his family history. He was speechless that we had all these records of look at this, and he’s turning the pages as I remember. What a great way to do that. So you’re driving by a temple and you open up your app and say, oh, look at this.

Dr. Liz Darger:                  01:06                   It opened up some neat conversations the day after I was able to serve in that temple where people said, oh, how was your time at your temple? And they were intrigued and wanted to know and I said, oh, it was lovely. I had a wonderful experience. Again, it opened up these opportunities. People too, sometimes they don’t wanna offend, so they may not know what questions to ask or not ask or offensive even just as we give them a little taste of something, then they feel like, oh, okay, maybe this is okay for me to ask about or talk about or whatever else, and I was grateful for that experience and in fact that conversation led to conversations of a few of those members from that committee have indicated they would love to come out to Salt Lake City and go through the open house when that temple open house happens.

Hank Smith:                      01:51                   Yeah, there you go.

Dr. Liz Darger:                  01:51                   Which will be a a neat thing.

Hank Smith:                      01:54                   John, this year we have discussed over and over again the mainstream Protestant view of God. When the church is organized. Then comes Joseph Smith and completely upends the entire concept that God has an eternal hell for the vast majority of his children and a tiny little heaven once you die. That’s it. That he has a punishment prepared for you that no human being, no matter how evil could do to another human being, right? Eternal torment. Eternal torture. Here comes Joseph Smith and this doctrine, which Liz is showing us here of baptisms for the dead. A person can repent after they die. Sometimes we get so used to these type of doctrines. I think as members of the church, especially if we’ve been there our whole lives and we think, well, of course God is good, God is kind. No parent would ever want to torture their children for eternity, but that is the world that baptisms for the dead comes out of.

John Bytheway:               03:07                   Liz and Hank, I love that this starts with the first vision. God is real, God exists, but then everything that comes afterwards gives us more information about what kind of being God is that you’re saying, Hank what kind of a loving, merciful patient being he is. As the Doctrine and Covenants unfolds and these stories and the whole thing you’re talking about, Liz, these opportunities in the temple, we learn more about the character of God and it is such good news. It is glad tidings. It is the gospel. It is the good news of what kind of being he is and how he has made ample provision for the salvation of every one of his children.

Dr. Liz Darger:                  03:57                   I think in terms of the focus of the church and why the church and our church leaders talk so much about eternal marriage between a man and a woman, celestial marriage, eternal families, to live like God and with God is the ultimate goal. That’s where our Father in Heaven wants us is with him. There are other wonderful contingencies and these are wonderful kingdoms of glory. There is a place for everyone that we show through the laws. We are willing to keep the desires of our heart and where we want to be, but our Father in heaven, make no mistake about it, wants all of us to return to be with him.

Hank Smith:                      04:40                   Liz, John, when I think about the world that the Protestant America that this revelation comes out of and the opposite, the stark contrast that Joseph Smith is offering here in a view of God, I personally, I would have a very hard time believing in a God that had created living beings knowing that he or it, I guess would torture those living things for eternity. I could not accept that and maybe it’s because I’ve been exposed to the truth. John and Liz, I can see why the Lord would say those creeds are an abomination in my sight. What are they saying about me? Yeah, that I am a horrible being.

John Bytheway:               05:31                   Ever since section 76, which they used to call The Vision. Now we differentiate it with the first vision and the three degrees of glory that the idea of most people who will never hear of Christ are going to hell and then section 76 says, actually most people are going to a kingdom of glory because of the temple and what we’re talking about today. People who have not had a chance to hear the gospel and make covenants will have a chance to hear and make covenants. Such good news compared to, as you said, Hank, the world this was coming out of.

Dr. Liz Darger:                  06:09                   It reminds me of a story. I serve on the NCAA common ground leadership team as a person from a faith-based institution coming together with other athletic administrators from faith-based institutions and meeting with people that are LGBTQ advocates or part of the LGBTQ community to try and find common ground and create athletic departments that are safe or more inclusive for student athletes regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity or religious belief. I had a conversation with somebody at one of our common ground meetings, he was asking a little more about our belief in the afterlife in general. As I talked with him about our proxy work that we do in temples, vicarious work that we do for our ancestors, he said, well, okay, well what does that mean or what does that look like on the other side? Talking about this idea that those that have never heard about the gospel of Jesus Christ will have an opportunity there to be taught and as I was telling him about that, about no, we believe everybody will have opportunity, some on this earth, some in the next life, but that everyone will have opportunity. And he looked at me and he said, that is the most beautiful doctrine I’ve ever heard. It was one of those moments where I was like, you’re right. It is.

                                           07:23                   Where I’d taken that for granted. He recognized it as that is beautiful. President Oaks gave a great general conference talk in October, 2019 called Trust in the Lord and he talked a little bit about the Spirit World. He said, what the scriptures tell us about activity in the Spirit World principally concerns the work of salvation. Little else is revealed. The gospel is preached to the ignorant, the unrepentant and the rebellious so they can be freed from their bondage and go forward to the blessings a loving heavenly Father has in store for them. The Spirit World bondage that applies to righteous converted souls is their need to await and perhaps even be allowed to prompt the performance of their proxy ordinances on earth so they can be baptized and enjoy the blessings of the Holy Ghost. These mortal proxy ordinances also empower them to go forward under priesthood authority to enlarge the hosts of the righteous who can preach the gospel to the spirits in prison. That’s pretty remarkable. That’s a beautiful doctrine right there.

Hank Smith:                      08:24                   Liz I appreciate your story there. Those of us who’ve been in the church a long time, we couldn’t think of it any other way. Liz, you said earlier you’re not a parent but you have these nieces and nephews who are basically your kids. Can you imagine the idea that I would, I can’t even come up with the right word for it, you guys. It is abhorrent to me the idea that I could take one of my children. Even if they wanted to. Can I repent? No, you had your chance. It’s over. I am now going to torture you for eternity. I don’t wanna offend anyone out there who’s listening, but that to me is unacceptable. Can you repent after you die? Yes. Because you have a God who loves you and will give you a second chance and a third and a 20th and a 490th.

John Bytheway:               09:21                   And why would you say 490 Hank? Because…

Hank Smith:                      09:25                   That’s right out of the gospels, right? How often will I forgive?

John Bytheway:               09:28                   Seven times 70. Even if you’ve made that mistake again and again and again, if the Lord’s saying we should forgive that much, don’t you think he’s also pretty good at that?

Hank Smith:                      09:40                   The idea that death is the deadline, I don’t know you’re gonna get me worked up here, but the idea that our Heavenly Father and our Heavenly Mother and our Savior are going to torture people who never even had the chance to hear about their message and their love. To me, I just, I think the easy, the calmest word I could use is that’s unacceptable, but there’s far other terms for that belief and it is prominent lest anyone out there think it’s not, but we better move on. What should we do next?

Dr. Liz Darger:                  10:20                   Alright, let’s go to verse 45 and talk a little bit about the Lord here excusing the saints and of releasing them from his commandment for them to build a temple in Jackson County and I think there’s just some instructive things here. John, do you mind reading verse 49?

John Bytheway:               10:37                   Yes. 124 verse 49. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings.

Dr. Liz Darger:                  11:08                   Here we have the Lord saying, Hey, I asked you to build a temple but because of the persecutions of others, I’m releasing you from that responsibility. When I think about that in our lives, what that might look like, some things that come to my mind are there might be times where we feel like we aren’t measuring up or there’s so many things we’re being asked to do, how can we possibly do them all? The Lord loves effort and recognizes effort and sacrifice. We can only control what we can control. Are we striving? I love that word strive. John, as you and I know serving on the young men and young women general advisory councils that strive, strive to be helping our youth strive in their lives. In the temple recommend questions, there are a number of questions that use the word strive and I believe that’s instructive.

                                           12:05                   Are you striving for moral cleanliness in your thoughts and behaviors? Do you strive to keep the Sabbath Day holy? Do you strive to be honest in all that you do? The definition of strive is to devote serious effort or energy. Are we striving? And what is in our control? God recognizes that. He recognizes are we doing what’s in our control and are we giving our best efforts? Sometimes our best may look different depending on seasons of life. I have a lot of friends who are in the throes of motherhood right now with young children who are grappling with what their best looks like as a really busy mom with really energetic children, their scripture study doesn’t look the way it used to. Their temple attendance may not be as frequent as it was before their children, on and on and on, all the things. Their calling, maybe they’re not as able to give as much to their calling.

                                           13:03                   They are doing the noble work of being mothers. Their best may look different in that season of life than their best looked before they had children, but God knows our hearts and he loves effort and what is in our control. I feel like I had to learn that lesson when I was called to serve on the Young Women General Advisory Council. I’m in a busy job. It feels more like a lifestyle than a job, but it’s a great lifestyle. I love my work, but it’s kind of 24/7. Then I had started this doctoral program at BYU because I was nudged by others and then nudged by God to do this doctoral program and a few months later I’m called to serve on the Young Woman General Advisory Council and I’ve got these three very demanding parts of my life. At the same time, I had to learn that my best looked different in that season of life.

                                           13:54                   The amount of time I could devote to my studies and what the papers that I turned in, what they looked like and what I was able to give in my calling and in my work my best simply looked different, but I could still feel like it was my best efforts given my circumstance. I feel like that’s one of the lessons of this part of Section 124 is that what can we control and are we striving? God knows our hearts and knows when we are giving our best effort, even if it looks different than what our best effort looked like at a different season of life or different than our neighbor or our friend or our family member, he knows each of us individually. Are we doing our best in this season of life in this circumstance?

John Bytheway:               14:41                   Great lesson. The temple recommend question. Yeah, uses that word strive. It never says, are you achieving perfection in this area? it doesn’t say that. I love that idea of the Lord loves effort. I’m giving it what I can and there are seasons of life. There are. Thank you for sharing that. I hope people are listening to that. President Hinckley used to say, do the best you can, right? I remember hearing this and I hope it’s really true that Mother Teresa had said once, we are not called to be successful in all things. We’re called to be faithful in all things and that always had given me some hope that I’m just gonna try and I’m going to give it an effort. The Lord recognizes and loves effort. Thank you Liz.

Hank Smith:                      15:30                   One of my favorite stories to teach in my New Testament classes is in Mark 14, Mary brings in this really, really expensive oil, puts it on Jesus and she’s criticized by Judas. Then do you remember what Jesus says? He says, leave her alone. She has done what she could. I think the Lord would say that so often to us when we criticize other people, leave them alone, they’re doing what they can. It looks different for everybody like you said, Liz.

Dr. Liz Darger:                  16:02                   I love that. I think also as a single member of the church, there are times when I have felt and maybe other single members have felt that, am I really living up to what God needs me to do? I want to be married. I haven’t had that opportunity, so am I really living up to everything he expects of me? There have been a number of times in my life where I’ve been at a moment of maybe even a little personal crisis of revisiting that question every time I’ve gone to my Father in heaven to say, what do you want from me? I feel like I’m doing my best. I feel like I’m trying, but I’m not having dating opportunities that I would like or life just isn’t turning out the way that I thought it would. There would be times where I felt myself drifting from him and I still go to church and I still take the sacrament.

                                           16:52                   I still read the scriptures but I can feel myself drifting because I feel like I am disappointing him or that he’s disappointing me because I’m not married. Most everybody else is it seems like. I remember one of those fervent prayers I offered when I felt myself drifting a little bit from him and was pretty discouraged as I felt like it was like the third wave of friends getting married. Every time that happens, going back to our rebuild discussion, I would need to rebuild new friendships and I was sick of rebuilding new friendships. I remember going to my Father in heaven saying, why am I here and what do you want from me? This doesn’t seem to be working. I was in my late twenties I believe at the time the answer that came to me, the personal revelation I received were that I may not get married in this life.

                                           17:42                   It wasn’t that I wouldn’t, but it was that I may not, but that God had really important work that he needed me to do. The words that then came into my mind were from one of my favorite hymns Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing and the verse that came into my mind and heart was prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart. Oh, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above, and then those words that came to me were that you may not get married in this life, but the instruction that I felt was but focus on sealing your heart to me, meaning to God, while you wait for a chance to be sealed to a husband. That was a game changer. I had made sacred covenants in the house of the Lord years before, but I don’t know that I had really embraced everything that came with being endowed with God’s power in His house.

                                           18:39                   I don’t know that I really fully understood the remarkable blessings that are promised to us in the Endowment. That idea for me of sealing my heart to Gods knowing there was work that he would have me do in the meantime really has carried me through since then for almost 20 years now of focusing on the covenants that I’ve already made instead of dwelling on the covenants I have not yet had the opportunity to make. That opportunity will come, whether in this life or the next I know it will come, but in the meantime I’ve made some pretty important covenants. There are some really remarkable promises and blessings associated with me keeping those covenants as I have focused on those Mosiah 2:41 where it talks about consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. I have felt that in my life over and over and over again since then.

                                           19:34                   There are still times where I’m discouraged because I am not married and I don’t have my own children, but I would say my overall consistent state is one of happiness, peace and joy in living the gospel of Jesus Christ and the blessings that have come as I have leaned into sealing my heart to Gods and focusing on those covenants that I have made. When I think about controlling the controllables or striving with what’s in our control, I don’t have ultimate control of being married. I have control over how I live my own covenants and what I do to better understand those covenants and live those covenants out in my everyday life. I found that as I do that more and more, as I study them, better understand them and seek to live them, then I have felt not only God’s power in an increased way, but truly peace and joy in my life and confidence that God keeps his promises. So my time, I may look different than others, but he absolutely keeps his promises and I know that that will happen for me at some point and in the meantime I’m gonna focus on the incredible opportunities that I get to have the work that he needs me to do that maybe I wouldn’t be able to do if I were married or had kids right now, but he’s got a plan for all of us and it’s actually the same and it’s the same plan of of happiness, but the timeline looks different for some of us. As I better understood that I have felt so much more peace and happiness in my life, even as a single member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Hank Smith:                      21:02                   That’s well said Liz. I like how you took that principle where you talk to him about Jackson County, you tried, you really wanted to do it and these enemies stopped you from doing it. I can’t blame you for that. I accept of your offerings and then you take that and apply it to things we just don’t have control over in our lives. I think that’s beautiful. I had a student once who showed me a verse in the Book of Mormon, which I never really loved before. She showed this to me. It’s second Nephi five, it’s verse 16. Nephi says, we built a temple, we built it after the manner of the temple of Solomon, save it were not built with so many precious things. They weren’t found on the land, so we couldn’t build it like Solomon’s, but the manner of construction was like unto the temple of Solomon.

                                           21:51                   It’s kind of a funny verse where Nephi says, we built the temple like Solomon’s, except it really wasn’t like Solomon’s except you know, you know it kind of was like Solomon’s. She showed me this verse. She said, I love this verse and I remember thinking, really? Have you read the others? Then she taught me the most wonderful principles. She said, my roommates all have awesome fathers that they call and talk to and ask for blessings. She said, I do not have that. My father is not kind. Then she said, I love this verse because there’s just some things that aren’t found on my land. I built it as close as I could to what the Lord wanted, but Nephi says I couldn’t build it with so many of these things. They were not to be found upon the land. She had us all right in our scriptures, we just do what we can with what’s on our land. It seems very similar to what you’re teaching us Liz, is look, some things aren’t on my land. I’m not gonna focus on that.

John Bytheway:               22:48                   That’s a great way to apply that verse. It kind of reminds me too of the loaves and the fishes story. We gotta feed all these people. Well, I’ve got, well, I’ve got these two fish and these five loaves and the idea is what good is that gonna do? No, it’s not that. It’s bring what you have and I’ll magnify it. Bring what you have on your land. I’ll make it work.

Hank Smith:                      23:14                   Like the brother of Jared, can you touch these and light ’em up? Great idea. Let’s make it work. Liz, I love that. I appreciate you bringing this up because, correct me if I’m wrong you guys, but I believe now more than half of the adults in the church are single, so it’s the majority. If someone is listening going, yeah, that’s my position, or maybe if there’s a church leader who’s listening who’s going, yeah, that’s a lot of in my ward, what would you say to those two groups?

Dr. Liz Darger:                  23:47                   I’ve been really fortunate to be surrounded by incredible people in my life and I think that’s one of the keys to peace and happiness as a single member of the church. First of all, is truly striving to live your covenants and have faith in those promised blessings. But then also I have tried really hard to fill my life with incredible relationships. And nothing can take the place of a husband of being married, in fact, there are times where I’m like, oh, I really wish I had a husband right now to pay the bills or to fix this thing that’s broken in my home. There are those silly times, but then there are also the lonely times where it’s like, I really wish I had a husband right now to counsel together about this really hard thing or to just help me know that I’m loved and that I’m wanted, but I also have felt great meaning in other relationships in my life, including parents and siblings and dear friends and neighbors and ward members and that looks different for all of us.

                                           24:48                   I feel very fortunate. I have a lot of really meaningful relationships in my life, but that’s taken me being willing to reach out as well and not always waiting for someone else to reach out to me. I’ve been in a family ward since I was 31, so a long time now I’ve chosen to attend a family ward and I have loved it. There have been wonderful people who have welcomed me to sit on their pew or welcomed me over for dinner, but I also have had to do my own work too and offer to help someone with their crying baby or invite people over for dinner, even though I’m the single one, but invite a family over for dinner. It’s a two-way street. What I have found when I have reached out is I have been met by people that have been really grateful for the chance to get to know somebody whose life looks a little bit different than theirs, but sometimes it takes me being the one willing to reach out, not waiting, sitting on my pew, waiting for the family to make me belong because the one that’s not fitting the ideal situation, certainly we all can and should do more to help everyone feel they belong, but there’s also, but I have a responsibility too.

                                           25:59                   What am I doing to reach out to others? I’ve had incredible priesthood leaders, incredible bishops who have been so thoughtful in reaching out, asking me about my life, ask me how work’s going, ask me how my nieces and nephews are doing. Ask me did I do anything fun over the summer with friends. I’ve appreciated those opportunities for people to take an interest in my life. Even though it might look a little bit different when people ask about, how’s your family? Now it just feels very normal and natural. I talk about my parents and siblings and nieces and nephews that that’s my family and I’m grateful when people are still like, what’s new with your nieces and nephews? They know how important they are to me and give me the chance to share with great pride what my nieces and nephews are doing just like we do with others or tell me about your kids. You know, what are they up to? Really a lot of us just getting to know each other’s lives and if we don’t know what to ask, I think it’s okay to say that to just say, Hey, I really wanna get to know you better. A question I’ll ask sometimes of somebody that maybe I don’t know their life situation is I’ll say something like, Hey, what are you excited about in life right now? It’s very general. They can take it 100 different directions.

                                           27:14                   But it can help me get to know that what’s exciting to you in life right now. What are you looking forward to in life these days? That’s just a simple way to open it up for someone to share whatever it is that they want to share to better connect with you. But I’ve been really grateful for wonderful families that have helped me feel a part of their family as well and priesthood leaders that have realized that I have gifts and talents that I can offer and have put me to work to be a contributing member of the ward family. That means a lot to me to be recognized for ways I can contribute as well.

Hank Smith:                      27:45                   Yeah, the idea that a single member of the church can’t contribute to the ward is false. Liz, we’ve had you for a couple of hours now. I think we’re moving towards the end. What’s coming up? What do we have next?

Dr. Liz Darger:                  27:57                   I am excited because we are gonna talk about the Relief Society, which is in the online portion part of the lesson for this week. I love the Relief Society. I am a proud member of the Relief Society and have some family history with the Relief Society. As a brief overview, we know the Relief Society was organized in Nauvoo. Emma Smith was called to be the first president, and I want to read a little bit from a chapter in Daughters in My Kingdom, which for those that aren’t familiar with this, it is an incredible resource that you can still get in print, but also is on the Gospel Library app and is an excellent history of the Relief Society. It says Joseph Smith’s wife, Emma was chosen to serve as the president of this new society. Then she was asked to choose counselors. As the meeting continued, Joseph Smith said that his wife’s calling fulfilled a prophecy revealed to him about 12 years earlier in which the Lord spoke to her as an elect lady whom I have called and told her that she would be ordained under Joseph Smith’s hand to expound scriptures and to exhort the church according as it shall be given thee by my Spirit. End quote.

                                           29:11                   Joseph Smith read that entire revelation, which is now section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants to those in attendance. Going on a little bit, it says, with prophetic authority, Joseph Smith reiterated this point emphasizing that the counsel and warnings in this revelation meaning section, what’s now Section 25, applied to all members of the newly organized society. He said that not Emma alone, but others may attain to the same blessing. This revelation established foundational principles for Latter-day Saint Women. Remember that we’re gonna come back to that. This is this really established, these foundational principles for the Relief Society that Joseph reiterated Section 25, it’s not just for Emma, but it’s a pattern for all women, all members of the Relief Society. I want to spend just a few minutes talking about my great-great-grandmother, Clarissa Smith Williams. She was the sixth general president of The Relief Society.

                                           30:15                   She was the first Utah born general president of the Relief Society. She was a remarkable woman. Her father was George A. Smith and her mother was Susan Elizabeth West Smith, who was the last plural wife of George A. Smith. They shared a home with Bathsheba Smith, who was George A. Smith’s first wife and served as a General Relief Society President. I believe she was the fourth General Relief Society President. Just picture this relationship, which I think it’s hard for us to wrap our heads around in our modern day. George A. Smith who’s the church historian and Bathsheba Smith, his first wife and then Susan Elizabeth is the seventh wife. When Clarissa was a little girl, she became very close with Bathsheba Smith. It’s an interesting relationship to consider. Her mother was Susan Elizabeth West, Bathsheba was also a wife of George Smith, so this isn’t her mother and it’s not her aunt, it’s another wife of her father, but they became close.

                                           31:21                   Bathsheba Smith, who was the General Relief Society President at the time, noticed great leadership qualities in Clarissa, who again was not her daughter, not her niece, but they shared a home. There was an amicable relationship between Clarissa’s mother and Bathsheba. Clarissa had these leadership abilities that Bathsheba noticed early and Bathsheba invited Clarissa to become a part of Relief Society when she was 16. At the time, Relief Society functioned differently. It was, it really was something you were kind of invited into. It wasn’t just a, you hit a certain age, you’re a part of it. When I think about that, that the person that nudged Clarissa and invited her to become a part of Relief Society was Bathsheba Smith. To me, it deepens my testimony of this remarkable organization and covenant sisters that belong to it, how we can look out for each other. I believe that as covenant sisters, we are at our best when we can work through complicated relationships and there aren’t any more complicated relationships than plural marriage and all the complications of what that looked like that I really can’t even wrap my head around, but working through complicated relationships and not getting overtaken by comparisons to other women or saying, well, she’s great at that and I’m not good at that.

                                           32:42                   Not letting jealousy take over, but truly looking for ways to lift and encourage and include each other here. Bathsheba Smith does that with Clarissa when she’s young and sees this leadership ability and says, you need to be a part of this. You’ve got gifts and talents that can help us here and then so Clarissa as a teenager gets very involved in the Relief Society was actually dubbed the Little General because of her leadership ability. At one point, Bathsheba even told Clarissa, you’re gonna be General President of the Relief Society one day. She wasn’t the Relief Society President right after Bathsheba, but one later and she was called to be the General Relief Society President. When I think about that, again, I think about these two incredible women. Different generations shared a relationship with George A. Smith in terms of wife, but not this complicated family relationship. Yet they were sisters in the Relief Society and Bathsheba looked out for Clarissa.

                                           33:42                   Another story I want to share about Clarissa, this was before she was the General Relief Society President. She was married to William Nugent Williams, my great-great grandfather, and she was raising children. She was extended a call to serve as secretary of the ward Relief Society, which again, at the time was maybe even more encompassing now than a calling of a secretary of Relief Society in terms of the level of responsibility and I want to read a quote from our family history. This is in Clarissa’s words, she says, later, after I was married and had seven children, I was asked to be the secretary of the 17th ward Relief Society. I felt that I could not do this with all of my little babies, but my husband said, my dear, you must do it. It is the very thing you need to get away from the babies and I will help you all I can, either by taking care of the children or making out your reports or copying your minutes or any other thing I can do.

                                           34:40                   And then she says, I felt that I couldn’t refuse them, so I consented. I made out my own reports and copied my own minutes however, but my husband tended the children and helped make it possible for me to get out. That is such a beautiful example of being equally yoked in a marriage at a time when that was pretty non-traditional. I beam with pride of thinking of my great-great-grandfather, William Nugent Williams, who said, absolutely you should accept that call. You should get out of the house and go and serve others. I’ll take care of the kids or I’ll help write your reports. Whatever I need to do to help you to accept this responsibility. You’ve been given such a beautiful illustration of their marriage together.

John Bytheway:               35:30                   That’s a fun name. William N. Williams.

Hank Smith:                      35:34                   William Williams.

Dr. Liz Darger:                  35:36                   Clarissa, her time serving as Relief Society General President. She was known for a lot of things. One of her main concerns was the mortality rate of mothers and babies. There wasn’t great healthcare at the time, so she created initiatives to send women to New York and other places to become doctors and nurses with specific skills to help care for pregnant women and newborn babies. Worked really, really hard to get those resources back to Utah and trained physicians and nurses. She cared deeply about education for women. A lot of her efforts in social and education and welfare efforts really set a foundation for the church’s welfare efforts and she was known as a woman that cared deeply for children and deeply for women. She served nationally as well as a delegate as many women in the Relief Society did at that point. Representing the state of Utah internationally in conversations about women’s rights.

                                           36:43                   I just want to read because I’m a proud, great-great-granddaughter. I just wanna read something that was said about her by Amy Brown Lyman who was the next General Relief Society President after Clarissa. She said like her father, President George A. Smith, she is a person with kindness of heart, breadth of vision, liberality of views, honesty of purpose, straightforwardness of action. She is wise in decision, brave and courageous. From her mother she inherited gentleness and mildness, which are always in evidence, but when the occasion requires she can arise with vigor and even aggression in defense of a principle or in defense of heart and mind. She is an executive of rare ability presiding at meetings with grace and dignity, conducting business with wisdom, fairness, and dispatch, and showing the greatest consideration, courtesy and honor to her fellow officers. When I read that, I just think this is one woman and she happens to be my great-great-grandmother, but the Relief Society is full of unbelievable, remarkable women that are doing incredible things.

                                           37:53                   When we think of the first Relief Society organized and Emma Smith declaring we are going to do something extraordinary, we expect extraordinary occasions and pressing calls and we think of the legacy of these women, what they have accomplished together. That all started with wanting to help with the efforts to build the temple in Nauvoo. Joseph Smith saying, I have something better for you. I’m gonna organize this after the pattern of anciently how women were organized under the direction of the priesthood. It’s remarkable to think about when I think about the chance that I’ve had to be a member of the Relief Society and in my time serving on the Young Women General Board, being in the Relief Society building for those meetings up on Temple Square, to feel the spirit of these incredible women, my foremothers, to look at their portraits, to think of their sacrifice, their lives of consecration so that I get to be a part of that very same society that I get to serve in ways now that look different in many ways and look the same in other ways that we are called to bring relief and love how President Camille Johnson talked about the Relief Society and that Jesus Christ is relief.

                                           39:16                   She said in her April 2023 General Conference talk called Jesus Christ is Relief. She said, I testify that Jesus Christ is relief. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ we may be relieved of the burden and consequences of sin and be succored in our infirmities and because we love God and have covenanted to serve him, we can partner with the Savior to help provide temporal and spiritual relief for those in need and in the process find our own relief in Jesus Christ. I love that. I love that idea, that truth, that Jesus Christ is relief. When President Johnson gave that talk, I was in the conference center, it was my last general conference as a member of the Young Women Board. During that talk, I was flooded with thoughts and with truths and I ended up texting President Johnson right after during the congregational hymn because I just needed to get these thoughts out of what came to my mind and heart and I went back and found that text and this is what I texted her.

                                           40:23                   I said, wow, thank you. What powerful instruction through the Spirit, Jesus Christ is relief. Some of the personal revelation that came to me as you spoke was this, that we as covenant daughters of Heavenly Father are members of the Relief Society. If Jesus Christ is relief, then we are members of a society that represents him. What an empowering thought. Endowed with God’s power. I’ve often heard that as a Relief Society, we bring relief to others, which really means that we bring Jesus Christ to others and we bring others to Jesus Christ. What a wonderfully clear truth and powerful connection that I never made quite that way until you spoke this morning. Thank you for your prayerful preparation inspired leadership. I love and sustain you. This is an incredible society that we are privileged to be a part of. The work is the same today as it was then. It’s to bring relief through Jesus Christ to all the world. I am a proud, proud member of the Relief Society, so anxious to do my part, to help serve. So grateful to be able to be arm in arm with other sisters truly throughout the world in doing our part in this great work. It’s incredible. I love it.

Hank Smith:                      41:40                   Beautiful. Yeah, it’s fun, John to listen to someone who’s passionate. Yeah. Almost makes me want to join the Relief Society like, Hey, how come? Let us in.

John Bytheway:               41:53                   So much of the temple is family connections. This is your family connection and this is in a section largely about the temple. This fits really nicely. This is part of my story, and your grandfather too, second great grandfather. That story will mean something to you for your whole life. Everyone should find those kinds of stories in their lives ’cause they all relate back to the temple.

Hank Smith:                      42:17                   Yeah, I think it’s beautiful. As you were talking, I don’t know, I just can see President Williams, Clarissa Smith Williams reaching forward through the centuries and touching your heart. I think it’s beautiful. Like you said, John, we all need to have those.

John Bytheway:               42:32                   Yeah, and the temple lets us connect the spirit world to our world. From everything I’ve read, they think about it. Sometimes they see what we’re up to. I think other times they’re really busy with their own work on the other side of the veil, but we get to send joy to them. Sometimes there’s joy in heaven over a sinner that repents, so when we strive, we get to send them some joy. They send it down to us sometimes. It’s a great connection that the temples give us.

Hank Smith:                      43:02                   Yeah, and to think both of you that comes to Nauvoo, they’re only there for just a few years, a handful really of years before they move west, but in these years comes the ordinances. You talked about Liz, the Relief Society, which correct me if I’m wrong, the largest women’s organization in the world comes out of this handful of years that they were in Nauvoo, and I’ve always loved that quote from Emma Smith, we’re gonna do something extraordinary and they have.

Dr. Liz Darger:                  43:31                   Well, bringing us back to Joseph Smith as he organized the Relief Society, what is now Section 25 that was given to Emma, him saying that that applied to all of these sisters. That thought was reaffirmed by President Nelson in October of 2019. That section 25, which was written to Emma, really is for all of God’s covenant daughters. When President Nelson gave this absolutely groundbreaking talk, it was October of 2019 called Spiritual Treasures and I was serving in the Young Women General Advisory Council. I was at that session. I was actually sitting on the rostrum for that session. As President Nelson gave that talk from where I was sitting, I could see the teleprompter. Teleprompters you see before they say what they’re going to say, this talk changed my life. It changed my life. This is the talk where he absolutely took the scales from my eyes at least, and I think a lot of other men and women in the church about how women function with priesthood power by nature of making and keeping covenants in the House of the Lord.

                                           44:46                   I remember reading the words a little bit before he’s saying them. My eyes just got wide and I remember looking over at my friend Carol, who I serve with over here and looking at Vicki over here and grabbing their arm and saying, are you, are you seeing this? Are you hearing this? This is unbelievable. It’s unbelievable and I want to read just a few things that he said, but I hope every person listening to this podcast will go back and study that talk. Spiritual Treasures October 2019 from President Nelson. It was given in the women’s session. I think it’s critical that men study this talk as well. Just a few things he says, he talked about that he and Wendy had recently visited Harmony, Pennsylvania. He said everything that happened in this area has profound implications for your lives. The restoration of the priesthood along with the Lord’s counsel to Emma can guide and bless each of you.

                                           45:45                   How I yearn for you to understand that the restoration of the priesthood is just as relevant to you as a woman as it is to any man. Because the Melchizedek Priesthood has been restored, both covenant keeping women and men have access to all the spiritual blessings of the church. Or we might say to all the spiritual treasures the Lord has for his children. I literally could read the whole talk. He says, the heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood. I pray that truth will register upon each of your hearts because I believe it will change your life. Sisters, you have the right to draw liberally upon the Savior’s power to help your family and others you love. When he said those words, I thought this is going to change my life and it has changed my life. Then he gives instructions on how we are going to learn about this and how we access God’s power. He said, now you might be saying to yourself, this sounds wonderful, but how do I do it? How do I draw the Savior’s power into my life? You won’t find this process spelled out in any manual. Now, I’ll be honest when he said that part, I got a little frustrated.

                                           47:11                   I want a manual. I want a manual to tell me how this works. He said, the Holy Ghost will be your personal tutor as you seek to understand what the Lord would have you know and do. This process is neither quick nor easy, but it is spiritually invigorating. What could possibly be more exciting than to labor with the Spirit to understand God’s priesthood power. What I can tell you is that accessing the power of God in your life requires the same things that the Lord instructed Emma and each of you to do. So he didn’t give a manual, but he said the Holy Ghost will be your personal tutor. And then he said, the things you’ll need to do will be the same things that Emma was asked to do. And then he encouraged the women of the church to study Section 25 and to study all sections that talk about the priesthood. He said, from the dawning of time, women have been blessed with a unique moral compass, the ability to distinguish right from wrong. This gift is enhanced in those who make and keep covenants and it diminishes in those who willfully ignore the commandments of God.

                                           48:21                   I love that where he talks about this unique moral compass that women are blessed with. That’s something that’s been consistently taught from prophet seers and revelators. But then this nugget of that that is enhanced as we make and keep covenants or it can be diminished if we decide to willfully ignore those commandments. There’s no handbook, but he gives these little nuggets here and there of how we can access and function with God’s power in our life. And I’m gonna read one more part. As a righteous endowed Latter-day Saint woman, you speak and teach with power and authority from God, whether by exhortation or conversation. We need your voice teaching the doctrine of Christ. I entreat you to study prayerfully all the truths you can find about priesthood power. The whole talk is unbelievable. I’m sitting there, he’s giving this talk. Tears are streaming down my face.

                                           49:16                   I’m like grabbing their arms saying, this changes everything. It changes everything. Not because women didn’t function with priesthood power before because I believe we did. But now I know and understand what it is. I was making and keeping covenants before. So I was functioning with God’s power. I just didn’t know it or realize it or have a name for it. And to have a name for it has been extremely helpful for me. It reminds me actually in kind of a silly way of the Wizard of Oz, very silly way, but just go with me on this. Glinda’s there and Dorothy’s saying, will you help me get home? And Glinda is saying, you don’t need my help. You have the power. You’ve always had it. Saying, well, why didn’t you tell me? You wouldn’t have believed me. You needed to find out for yourself.

                                           50:14                   I’m hearing from a prophet, and I’ll be honest, I did believe him when he said it. I believed it. I was like, this is unbelievable. Everyone needs to hear this. I believed it. But then the next layer was his invitation for us to find out for ourselves how we function with God’s power. So he invited the women of the church to study because I was serving on the Young Women General Council. We were each asked to write articles for the Church News about this topic. We actually kind of had a little bit of a deadline of study about this and then write an article about what you’ve learned. If I’m being truthful, I was very stressed about it. That whole, not having a manual thing. I care very deeply about only teaching what we know, what has been revealed. I care very deeply about making sure that I would never lead someone astray with something that I think or something that I would speculate or whatever.

                                           51:10                   I have zero interest in speculating and taking us down paths that aren’t aligned with what’s been revealed by Prophet seers and revelators. Here we have a prophet telling us, go study about women and priesthood. Tell us what you learn. The Holy Ghost will be your tutor. There’s not a manual. That made me really nervous because I thought, oh, women and priesthood, that feels complicated. I really would love it if you just give me a manual and tell me what that means of how women function with priesthood power. But I trusted a prophet who said, study it and the Holy Ghost would be your personal tutor. And I did, and I studied section 25 and I studied the other sections of the Doctrine & Covenants and the truth that I learned, and I was able to then write a Church News article about how women teach and speak with power and authority from God. I just want to share one quote from that article of one of the things I learned.

                                           52:10                   I talked about an experience where I was a kind of a hostile crowd. This was with NCAA Common Ground, about 50 people, over half of whom were LGBTQ advocates. We were talking about how to find common ground. It was a situation where I was a little bit attacked for our eternal truth of eternal marriage to a man and a woman and the family proclamation. I was defending that doctrine and doing my best to do it in a very loving way, but it was a little bit hostile. So I tell about this experience as I have come to better understand my identity as a daughter of heavenly parents and my purpose as a disciple of Jesus Christ, who has been endowed with the right to priesthood power. I have felt remarkable confidence in teaching and testifying of truth. I have felt God’s power flowing through me in a very real sense.

                                           53:00                   There’s no need to fake anything when the real thing is available. The confidence I feel is real because God is real and his power is real for me. Now that there is a name for it for me, I see it everywhere. I see it in women that I serve with. I see it in my sisters. I see it. I see good women who have made covenants with God and are keeping those covenants who are functioning with God’s power to bless their own lives and the lives of those they love in service and in leadership. I can’t unsee it now that President Nelson has helped to remove those scales from my eyes, I can’t unsee it and I can’t imagine a world where I didn’t know or understand how I can function with God’s power. It has given me more confidence to proclaim. It has given me more confidence to defend.

                                           53:55                   It has given me more confidence to love and to include. It has given me confidence in every way. I am so grateful, so grateful for Joseph Smith. I’m so grateful for a loving Father in heaven and I’m grateful for his Son, Jesus Christ. I’m grateful for Emma Smith and her example of faith and really hard situations and I’m so grateful now to be led by President Nelson and I’m grateful for what he has taught us about women and priesthood. And I’m grateful that the young women of the church now are growing up understanding it, understanding when they go to the house of the Lord and receive ordinances and make covenants, they leave armed with God’s power. All of us men and women, and we are in this work together. It is not men above women, women above men. Truly it is us being equally yoked working together in marriages, in wards, in communities as brothers and sisters.

                                           55:00                   I am grateful for a living prophet who’s helped me to see with new eyes and the privilege it was to be in that building and feel of that spirit and sit on that rostrum and see those words and hear a prophet of God say them. I will never forget it the rest of my life, I will never forget it the rest of my life that we get to be on the earth with a living prophet who helps us better understand who we are and what we’re capable of and what God needs us to do. As we partner with him, he will make us equal to every task he asks us to do. He literally has endowed us with His power. What more incredible gift could there be on the earth? And I get to be a part of that. I’m so grateful. So grateful.

Hank Smith:                      55:45                   Wow.

John Bytheway:               55:46                   What a beautiful testimony. Amen. How awesome for you to be sitting there and see that on the teleprompter. I love what that did for you, says Heavenly Father wanted you there to see that I think. And this world is a more beautiful place because Liz Darger’s in it.

Hank Smith:                      56:06                   Yeah. Liz, this has been a fantastic day. This might seem silly, but to me, when you’ve taught us about the weary traveler, finding health and safety, contemplating the word of the Lord. This is perfect. That’s Liz’s episode. It’s the Nauvoo house.

John Bytheway:               56:23                   Yeah.

Hank Smith:                      56:24                   I think so many weary listeners are gonna find health and safety contemplating the word of the Lord, and it was just beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Liz, thanks for taking time for us.

Dr. Liz Darger:                  56:36                   Oh, thank you for having me. This has been a revelatory experience to prepare and a Nauvoo House experience to be here with both of you. Thanks for being my good brothers and for having me as a part of it today.

Hank Smith:                      56:48                   We love you and we support you and so much good that you’re doing. Our hearts are with you in this new assignment of chairing the the Committee and the NCAA. You are up for the task.

John Bytheway:               57:03                   But what a light you’re being. I love the stories of that. You’re taking your light with you to that place. I love what you said. We’re not just trying to be aligned. We’re trying to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ and His light. I can’t wait to hear more stories of you doing that in these places.

Hank Smith:                      57:22                   We are a team, aren’t we? We are a team and those of you listening, you’re part of our team. We are all a big team. Well, with that, we want to thank Dr. Liz Darger for being with us today. We want to thank our executive producer Shannon Sorensen, our sponsors David and Verla Sorensen, and every episode we remember our founder Steve Sorensen. We hope you’ll join us next week. We are coming close to the end of the Doctrine & Covenants on followHIM. Thank you for joining us on today’s episode. Do you or someone you know speak Spanish, Portuguese, or French? You can now watch and listen to our podcast in those languages. Links are in the description below. Today’s show notes and transcript are on our website. FollowHIM.co. That’s followHIM.co. Of course, none of this could happen without our incredible production crew. David Perry, Lisa Spice, Will Stoughton, Krystal Roberts, Ariel Cuadra, Heather Barlow, Amelia Kabwika, Sydney Smith and Annabelle Sorensen.