The 5th, and Most Important, Invitation that President Nelson Gave to the Women of the Church

By now, most have heard of the four invitations that President Nelson extended to the women of the Church during the Women’s Session of October 2018’s General Conference.

President Nelson invited the women of the Church by saying:

First, participate in a 10-day fast from social media and from any other media that bring negative and impure thoughts to your mind. Pray to know which influences to remove during your fast.

Second, I invite you to read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year.

Third, establish a pattern of regular temple attendance.

Fourth, participate fully in Relief Society.

A Fifth Invitation

I was visiting another ward’s Sacrament Meeting last week when a member of the Relief Society Presidency was speaking on these invitations given by President Nelson. She mentioned a 5th invitation, which was the first he extended in his talk during the Women’s Session.

Do you know what it was?

President Nelson said,

My dear sisters, you have special spiritual gifts and propensities. Tonight I urge you, with all the hope of my heart, to pray to understand your spiritual gifts—to cultivate, use, and expand them, even more than you ever have. You will change the world as you do so.

You will change the world.

That seems like quite the amazing promise for quite an important invitation. Why do you think he would have made that specific invitation?

I believe President Nelson understands the important role of women in the fulfilling of the prophecies of the latter days.

Tonight I urge you, with all the hope of my heart, to pray to understand your spiritual gifts.

In a General Conference talk in October of 2015, President Nelson said the following:

Thirty-six years ago, in 1979, President Spencer W. Kimball made a profound prophecy about the impact that covenant-keeping women would have on the future of the Lord’s Church. He prophesied: “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.”

When does President Nelson think this prophecy will be fulfilled?

My dear sisters, you who are our vital associates during this winding-up scene, the day that President Kimball foresaw is today. You are the women he foresaw! Your virtue, light, love, knowledge, courage, character, faith, and righteous lives will draw good women of the world, along with their families, to the Church in unprecedented numbers!

We, your brethren, need your strength, your conversion, your conviction, your ability to lead, your wisdom, and your voices. The kingdom of God is not and cannot be complete without women who make sacred covenants and then keep them, women who can speak with the power and authority of God!

Knowing how important the role of women is in the advancing of the work of salvation, it is critical that each woman play the part that she was foreordained to play. We don’t need women feeling less-than because they aren’t like somebody else, we don’t need women wishing they had different talents, we need women who realize the incredible, individual spiritual gifts they have been given. These individual and beautiful gifts are gifts that will influence and change the world in a positive way.

…cultivate, use, and expand them, even more than you ever have. You will change the world as you do so.

Have you followed through with this invitation? Do you understand and use your spiritual gifts to bless your family and God’s children?

Understanding Your Spiritual Gifts

In a General Conference talk in 1987, Marvin J. Ashton spoke beautifully on spiritual gifts:

One of the great tragedies of life, it seems to me, is when a person classifies himself as someone who has no talents or gifts. When, in disgust or discouragement, we allow ourselves to reach depressive levels of despair because of our demeaning self-appraisal, it is a sad day for us and a sad day in the eyes of God. For us to conclude that we have no gifts when we judge ourselves by stature, intelligence, grade-point average, wealth, power, position, or external appearance is not only unfair but unreasonable.

From D&C 46:11–12, we have this truth: “For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.

“To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.”

Elder Ashton then listed some of the less well-known spiritual gifts, that many of us possess. As you read through this list, consider if you, or someone you know, has some of these special gifts.

Let us review some of these less-conspicuous gifts: the gift of asking; the gift of listening; the gift of hearing and using a still, small voice; the gift of being able to weep; the gift of avoiding contention; the gift of being agreeable; the gift of avoiding vain repetition; the gift of seeking that which is righteous; the gift of not passing judgment; the gift of looking to God for guidance; the gift of being a disciple; the gift of caring for others; the gift of being able to ponder; the gift of offering prayer; the gift of bearing a mighty testimony; and the gift of receiving the Holy Ghost.

We must remember that to every man (and woman) is given a gift by the Spirit of God. It is our right and responsibility to accept our gifts and to share them. God’s gifts and powers are available to all of us.

While all of us possess one or more of these gifts, sometimes it is hard to recognize them in ourselves. I reached out to a few husbands of powerful and spiritually gifted women to have them share with me what they felt their wive’s spiritual gifts were.

Johnny Tanner of the YAWI Family said of his wife, Sarah, “The first thing that came to mind is service. She is always willing to help with no expectation of a return.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlZiZxknIBt/

Davey Orgill of April and Davey said that his wife, April, is “overly compassionate to everyone she comes in contact with.”

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Bryce Jurgensmeier of the Jurgy Family said his wife, Nellie, has the spiritual gift of empathy. “She can love someone immediately because she feels for them right away. When someone’s going through a hard time it really impacts her because she feels it (to an extent) and cares for them and their well-being so much. She gets so much joy with someone else’s happiness and it can consume her.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/rdr07SQVFO/

John Dye says of his wife Jenny, she “has a huge, compassionate heart. There is room enough for everyone. Blending families can be tough, but her willingness and ability to show patience and unconditional love has been something that has really impacted many lives for good.”

Pray to know your spiritual gifts, for you have them, just like these incredible women do. Ask your family and close friends to help you recognize them. Cultivate those gifts, for they are the ones God has given you to bless His children.

I repeat the invitation that President Nelson gave to the women of the Church:

My dear sisters, you have special spiritual gifts and propensities. Tonight I urge you, with all the hope of my heart, to pray to understand your spiritual gifts—to cultivate, use, and expand them, even more than you ever have. You will change the world as you do so.

Dear women of the Church, we love you! You are spectacular. You set yourselves apart from the world and we are so honored to know you. Be grateful for the gifts that you have, and seek to develop them. If you follow this invitation by the prophet of God, you will change the world!

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