Russell M. Nelson on the need for faithful, converted, courageous women

President Russell M. Nelson (b. Sept 9, 1924) was an internationally-renowned heart surgeon when he was called to serve as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1984. He was set apart as president of the Quorum of Twelve on July 15, 2015.

"Attacks against the Church, its doctrine, and our way of life are going to increase. Because of this, we need women who have a bedrock understanding of the doctrine of Christ and who will use that understanding to teach and help raise a sin-resistant generation. We need women who can detect deception in all of its forms. We need women who know how to access the power that God makes available to covenant keepers and who express their beliefs with confidence and charity. We need women who have the courage and vision of our Mother Eve.

"My dear sisters, nothing is more crucial to your eternal life than your own conversion. It is converted, covenant-keeping women—women like my dear wife Wendy—whose righteous lives will increasingly stand out in a deteriorating world and who will thus be seen as different and distinct in the happiest of ways.

"So today I plead with my sisters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to step forward! Take your rightful and needful place in your home, in your community, and in the kingdom of God—more than you ever have before.... And I promise you in the name of Jesus Christ that as you do so, the Holy Ghost will magnify your influence in an unprecedented way!"

- Russell M. Nelson, "A Plea to My Sisters," Ensign, November 2015, pp. 95-97
Click here to read the full talk

President Nelson gave a wonderful talk addressed to the women of the Church in the recent conference, sharing some expectations and challenges with them. In this segment, he foresaw increasing opposition to the Church and its doctrines as the difference between the approaches of world and the Church becomes more clear. His was a call for women to rise up with intelligence and spirit as defenders of the truth, as teachers of youth, and as examples of righteousness. I am blessed to know many women who are living examples of the actions and spirit President Nelson hopes all will exemplify.

So much depends on personal conversion and the subsequent actions of discipleship. "It is converted, covenant-keeping women... whose righteous  lives will increasingly stand out in a deteriorating world and who will thus be seen as different and distinct in the happiest of ways."