In the September 14, 1959 issue of Life Magazine, a group of men were profiled in the cover story that America came to laud and esteem as the Mercury Seven. These seven men, chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as the first astronauts and participants of the Mercury space program, became the most important celebrities in the country and were instantly associated worldwide with a variety of attractive gentlemanly attributes. Bravery, intelligence, patriotism, confidence, good looks, and a certain aura of unprecedented manliness contributed to the new overwhelming presence of America’s original space cowboys. Put simply, the Mercury Seven were the embodiment of America’s finest. They were the ideal men.
With backgrounds as accomplished military pilots, decorated veterans, scientists, and engineers, the Mercury Seven would soon be subjected to the greatest of physical and mental stresses over the next decade as each of them prepared for the rigorous demands of space travel. But as men and women around the world, including youth and children, looked to the astronauts as inspiring figures of historic accomplishment, there was another group equally as commendable and deserving of praise, and that is the women that stood by them, later referred to popularly as the original Astronaut Wives Club.
The Life Magazine issue published on September 21, 1959, the week following the Mercury Seven cover issue, introduced the world to the seven women who too would come to be associated with courage and bravery much like their husbands — but also a different, yet equally desirable set of qualities. Poise, glamour, resilience, dignified femininity, and exemplary motherhood were words associated with these women, resulting in their ascent as quintessential symbols of American domesticity. Those women were extraordinary for what they were, supportive of and complementary to their husbands, and many of the seven astronauts went on record saying that their wives were integral parts of their success.
But despite what we read and remember about the wives of the Mercury astronauts, several being accomplished students, professionals, and humanitarians in their own right, their true stories, attitudes, thoughts, and worries often went dismissed by media attention and popular perception — the lifeblood of 1960s America. And if they were not, they were often enhanced, edited, or copied so as to attract wider appeal. Such has been the case with so many important, stalwart, admirable, and righteous women of character both in and outside of the Church. All of us can think of important women in our lives whose achievements and dedication go or went unsung and unreported. And with the recent advent of widely successful mommy-blogs and the endless feed of carefully curated posts and images of seemingly flawless children, homes, and family situations, those that do go reported are often exaggerated or downright fake exhibitions of an otherwise glamor-less reality. It would seem that in fifty years, not much has changed. But with all of those examples in mind, let us remember the words of Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf when he wrote that “As we look at the history of this earth and at the history of the restored Church of Jesus Christ, it becomes obvious that women hold a special place in our Father’s plan for the eternal happiness and well-being of His children.”1 It is my hope today to highlight this truth and share a few insights as we honor our mothers and the women in our lives.
Most recently quoted by Elder Russel M. Nelson in his October 2015 General Conference address, Spencer W. Kimball, with his wife Camilla as voice, said at a Women’s fireside in 1979:
“Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world…will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different—in happy ways—from the women of the world.”2
It does not require much effort to observe this prophesy being fulfilled all around the world as women fill (and in certain parts of the world, make up the majority of) congregations each Sunday not only in Latter-day Saint meetinghouses, but in places of worship of all faiths. Women have been and continue to be incredible vehicles of faith and goodness for all people. President Kimball saw it nearly forty years ago, and so can we today.
But the calling of woman and motherhood certainly comes with responsibilities and admonitions, which the brethren carefully include in their messages to the Church. In the same General Conference, Elder Nelson added that
“…we need women who know how to make important things happen by their faith and who are courageous defenders of morality and families in a sin-sick world. We need women who are devoted to shepherding God’s children along the covenant path toward exaltation; women who know how to receive personal revelation, who understand the power and peace of the temple endowment; women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen children and families; women who teach fearlessly.”3
Notice the absence of the words want or desire or wish or hope for. The type of woman Elder Nelson described is a need. Call it a requirement. An obligation. A requisite for greater spiritual attainment and the growth of all people that women uniquely possess the capacity to fulfill. That is the essence of Elder Nelson’s plea — that not only women fulfill their God-given responsibilities, but that such attainment is needed for the welfare of the Kingdom. The effort and its resulting power, however subtle, is what often goes unnoticed by the world while everyone around you is, for the sake of my previous illustration, figuratively getting featured in issues of Life Magazine and orbiting the earth on international television. But the influence of your effort and power is what remains unforgotten and celebrated by those who love you the most, and I do not just mean your children, spouses, parents, families, or Facebook friends, or Instagram followers, but by our Father in Heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ — who made it a specific point in His earthly ministry to teach about what righteous women mean to us and what it means to be a righteous woman. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf reminded us that
“In the early days of the Restoration, the Lord spoke to Emma Smith through her husband, the Prophet Joseph Smith, giving her instructions and blessings: ‘[Be] faithful and walk in the paths of virtue before me. …Thou needest not fear. … Thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better. …Lift up thy heart and rejoice. … And a crown of righteousness thou shalt receive.’4 Of this revelation, the Lord declared, ‘This is my voice unto all.’5 Later, the Prophet Joseph Smith told the sisters, ‘If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.’6 7
From the early years of the Church, we can learn a lot of the influence of righteous women. The first known address given by a woman at a general assembly of the Church was in October 1845, and the speaker was Lucy Mack Smith. According to records from the last session of the conference, Lucy requested a moment to address the congregation. She said:
“I raised up 11 children, 7 boys. I raised them in the fear of God. When they were two or three years old I told them I wanted them to love God with all their hearts. I told them to do good. I want all you to do the same. God gives us our children and we are accountable…I want you to take your little children and teach them in the fear of God…I call you brothers and sisters and children. If you consider me a Mother in Israel I want you to say so. (President B. Young arose and said, ‘All who consider Mother Smith as a Mother in Israel signify it by saying yes.’ Loud shouts of ‘Yes!’).”8
Lucy Mack Smith was remarkable in a number of ways, not only for being the mother of the prophet or what many historians have concluded as the first woman baptized into the Church in 1830, but for never faltering in her faith during the early years of its establishment, and her endurance watching her sons and posterity endure a seemingly endless bombardment of trials and tragedy. Upon reading the account of Lucy’s message to the Church, I became interested in what being a “Mother in Israel” implies, and why President Young’s designation was so noteworthy.
“Every worthy woman who lives a virtuous life and who promotes righteousness in her family and in the Church is entitled both to the designation “mother in Israel” and to the promises given to Sarah and other biblical mothers in Israel. These promises are open to all faithful women who teach others to love the Lord and keep his commandments. The title designates intelligent and faithful support of the Church and its leaders…It is often found in patriarchal blessings and is a title and a promise with more than earthly significance. Motherhood is a God-given role vital to the exaltation of a woman and her family.”9
Additionally, President Joseph Fielding Smith said that “To be a mother in Israel in the full gospel sense is the highest reward that can come into the life of a woman.”10
As I considered throughout the week the influence of righteous women and the significance of motherhood of all types, I noticed myself becoming increasingly observant of motherly roles everywhere I went. One particular example occurred when I was standing at a store checkout line behind a young mother, schlepping four very small children who, conservatively speaking, all seemed to be having a hard time. The mother, looking exhausted and disheveled, appeared to have completely resigned, waiting for the moment when she could leave the store and most likely endure the behavior in what I predicted to be a minivan littered with toys, snack wrappers, spilled drinks, and broken things en route to a house equally disarrayed where at least the screaming children would not be bothering the public. In my mind, I wished her the best, reminding myself of that five-year gap between children that was recommended to me in my high school child development class. But then, the cashier, far more empathetic and in-tune with the mother’s experience than I was, peacefully said to the mother over the screaming of at least three of the children, “You know, what you do really matters. You may not see it now. They may not see it now. But you are really helping them.” In return, the mother said in a manner of relief, “Thanks. I really needed to hear that today.” And with that she shepherded the young ones out the door and I didn’t notice what car she drove away in. Underneath my feelings of guilt and ignorance, I learned a valuable lesson: That what all mothers do matters. And that they really do help us.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland reiterated this point when he said that
“…no love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child. When Isaiah, speaking messianically, wanted to convey Jehovah’s love, he invoked the image of a mother’s devotion. “Can a woman forget her sucking child?” he asks.11 How absurd, he implies, though not as absurd as thinking Christ will ever forget us.”12
I am always telling my Sunday School class that everything taught or shared in the Church must connect and circle back to Christ, so I appreciate Elder Holland’s words in helping me do so. The truth of the matter is that the influence of righteous women, particularly our mothers, can help us in our efforts to become more Christlike in this life. I testify that Jesus is the example of life, of what each of us, men and women alike, should strive to become. It is His influence that we should all seek and exemplify. He taught us with the parable of the ten virgins, his relationship with Mary and Martha, the Samaritan woman at the well, the woman healed by touching his clothes, and as he said to John while in the very act of the crucifixion, so he says to us all, “Behold thy mother!”13 That each of us do so is my prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
References
- Uchtdorf, Dieter F. “The Influence of Righteous Women,” Ensign, September, 2009, 5.
- Kimball, Spencer W. “The Role of Righteous Women,” Ensign, November, 1979, 102.
- Nelson, Russell M. “A Plea to My Sisters,” Ensign, November, 2015, 95.
- Doctrine and Covenants 25:2, 9, 10, 13, 15
- Doctrine and Covenants 25:16
- History of the Church, 4:605
- Uchtdorf, Dieter F. “The Influence of Righteous Women,” Ensign, September, 2009, 5.
- Lucy Mack Smith, “This Gospel of Glad Tidings To All People,” in At The Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women, ed. Jennifer Reeder and Kate Holbrook (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2017), 21-26.
- Sydney Smith Reynolds, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1992.
- Smith, Joseph Fielding. “Mothers in Israel,” Relief Society Magazine 57 (Dec. 1970)
- Isiah 49:15
- Holland, Jeffrey R. “Behold Thy Mother,” Ensign, November, 2015, 47.
- John 19:27
Dillon Boss 