Elder Boyd K. Packer
“Your wife is your partner in the leadership of the
family and should have full knowledge of and full
participation in all decisions relating to your home”
(in Conference Report, Apr. 1994, 26; or Ensign,
May 1994, 21).
Elder James E. Faust
“How should those who bear the priesthood treat
their wives and the other women in their family?
Our wives need to be cherished. They need to hear
their husbands call them blessed, and
the children need to hear their fathers
generously praise their mothers (see
Proverbs 31:28). The Lord values his
daughters just as much as he does his
sons. In marriage, neither is superior;
each has a different primary and
divine responsibility. Chief among these different
responsibilities for wives is the calling of
motherhood. I firmly believe that our dear faithful
sisters enjoy a special spiritual enrichment which is
inherent in their natures” (in Conference Report,
Oct. 1993, 54; or Ensign,Nov. 1993, 38–39).
“Both fathers and mothers do many intrinsically
different things for their children. Both mothers
and fathers are equipped to nurture children, but
their approaches are different. Mothers seem to take
a dominant role in preparing children to live
within their families, present and future. Fathers
seem best equipped to prepare children to function
in the environment outside the family” (in
Conference Report, Apr. 1993, 44–45; or Ensign,
May 1993, 35).
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
“We live in a day when there are many political,
legal, and social pressures for changes that confuse
gender and homogenize the differences between
men and women. Our eternal perspective sets us
against changes that alter those separate duties and
privileges of men and women that are essential to
accomplish the great plan of happiness. We do not
oppose all changes in the treatment of men and
women, since some changes in laws or customs
simply correct old wrongs that were never grounded
in eternal principles” (in Conference Report, Oct.
1993, 99; orEnsign,Nov. 1993, 73–74).Elder M. Russell Ballard
Sisters “want to be heard and valued and want to
make meaningful contributions to the stake or ward
and its members that will serve the Lord and help
accomplish the mission of the
Church....
“Brethren, please be sure you are
seeking the vital input of the sisters in
your council meetings” (in
Conference Report, Oct. 1993, 103; or
Ensign,Nov. 1993, 76).Sister Eliza R. Snow
“‘The status of women is one of the questions of the
day. Socially and politically it forces itself upon the
attention of the world. Some... refuse to concede
that woman is entitled to the enjoyment of any rights
other than those which the whims, fancies or
justice, as the case may be, of men may choose to
grant her. The reasons which they cannot meet
with argument they decry and ridicule; an old
refuge for those opposed to correct principles which
they are unable to controvert. Others, again, not
only recognize that woman’s status should be
improved, but are so radical in their extreme theories
that they would set her in antagonism to man,
assume for her a separate and opposing existence;
and to show how entirely independent she should
be would make her adopt the more reprehensible
phases of character which men present, and which
should be shunned or improved by them instead of
being copied by women. These are the two
extremes, and between them is the ‘golden mean.’”
(“Woman’s Status,” Woman’s Exponent,15 July
1872, 29).80 EQUALITY OFMEN ANDWOMEN