Skip to main content

Charly

The LDS culture certainly has ideas about a typical Relief Society woman. She can sew, quilt, cook, bake, garden, can, craft, decorate, sing or play an instrument, keep house, and raise a perfect family. The LDS comedy The RM makes fun of Relief Society and its more ridiculous traditions, such as elaborate centerpieces, cute handouts, and an overflow of interesting dinners for new moms.

Charly (the book), on the other hand, makes fun of this ideal in another light. Charly, a convert who does not fit this Mormon woman description at all, admits she plays a tape recording of the vacuum when a fellow Relief Society sister calls so that the sister thinks she's cleaning her house. However, she is a Relief Society sister in the true sense: she provides relief to those in need. She befriends the Native American sisters in her ward and strengthens them spiritually.

When I sometimes feel inadequate because I cannot sew or craft or can my own peaches, I remember Charly and the lesson that what makes a good wife, mother, and friend is not her homemaking skills but her spiritual gifts. Being a righteous woman is far more important and necessary than being an artistic one. We women ought to measure our success by our spirituality and measure our worth by Heavenly Father's love. We need to fulfill the purpose of Relief Society, as stated in the declaration. Of course, we are supposed to use our talents and learn new skills, but these do not define who we are. We are daughters of God with divine worth, qualities, and potential, and remembering and acting upon that knowledge is what qualifies us for the blessings of heaven.
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
no one woman can do it all- you certainly have enough talents and gifts to share and fill in the gaps other sisters don't have-DAD
March 15, 2011 at 1:14 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Callings

lds.org The Church runs on volunteered time and service, organized through callings. We choose to accept or reject these callings when Church leaders extend them to us. When we are faced with this choice we must remember the following: Church leaders truly are inspired from heaven. They know where we need to serve. We must not doubt them even if it is difficult not to. There are many reasons why a certain calling is right for us. Most obvious, we have the necessary qualities and skills for that position or, conversely, we need to develop the needed qualities and skills. Other reasons may not even be related to the calling. In my case, I needed to meet a certain person, who shared the same calling. We have since become close friends and blessings in each other's lives. When we magnify our callings, everyone benefits. We grow and the ward grows; we learn and the ward learns; we love and the ward loves us back. Every calling in the ward is important. 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 e...
3 comments
Read more

Pray Always

Last week I shared powerful scriptures to remember when faced with temptation. However, the devil is very powerful as well. We need a lot more tools than just a scripture to defeat him. The most powerful tool available to us is prayer. Brigham Young said, “Prayer keeps a man from sin. Sin keeps a man from prayer.” Prayer keeps a man from sin The Lord admonishes throughout the scriptures to pray always to avoid sin: “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38) “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work” (D&C 10:5) “Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation” (D&C 20:33) “Pray always, lest ye enter into temptation and lose your reward” (D&C 31:12) “Pray always that you enter not into temptation, that you may abide the day of his coming, whether in lif...
3 comments
Read more

See No Evil

I love watching movies! At home on the couch, at the theater, with friends, with family, in sickness or in health--it's all fun! But risky as well. Risky, that is, to my spirituality if I am not careful with what I choose to view. During high school, I used my best friend and a newspaper column as movie screeners. Then a former seminary teacher introduced me to a great Web site and a friend showed me another one. Both are free with a list of movies from about 15 years ago to current releases. [Click on the name for the link to the site.] Screenit : This Web site gives a short and full summary of the movie plot and the content, divided into categories. I like this site because it is very explicit: I know what language is in the movie and how many times it occurs. Note: In order to review movies before the release date, you must become a member. Kids in Mind : This site is similar to screenit, but somewhat less extensive (especially in the movie summary and language departmen...
2 comments
Read more