Women of Strength
Chapter One
copyright Tristi Pinkston 2012
The great
white castle stood high on a hill, surrounded by trees and a broad moat. War
had been waged against the kingdom, and soldiers from all the villages in the
land had been pressed into service. It had been weeks since the first arrow
flew, and as news of the battle reached the ears of the king, he grew concerned
for the well-being of his people.
As he met with his faithful messenger, a man who had climbed the
steep hill on legs too weak to carry him farther, the king made a decision. His
troops were tiring, and they needed his strength, his encouragement, to press
forward. He himself must ride forth to rally them, but that would mean leaving
his castle and all his treasures behind.
If the enemy were to break through the king’s lines of defense,
the kingdom would be lost. The king was tempted to stay behind the thick stone
walls and protect the castle himself, but he was wise. He knew the enemy must
be stopped before it could ever reach the gates. Once inside, it would be far
too easy for the marauders to swarm every room, plundering and stealing, and
finally setting their own leader on the throne. No—they must be stopped before
they ever got that close. The king must go out to meet his men and lead them
into that last furious battle himself.
But that meant trusting his castle would be protected while he was
gone. The king called together the knights who remained. He looked them over.
He thought about the character of each man. In the end, he selected those who
were the most dedicated, the most diligent, the most devoted, and he put them
in charge of guarding the castle gate. He knew these men would not flee from
danger or succumb to bribery. He could trust them to defend the castle and his
most precious possessions inside.
Elder Horacio A. Tenorio said, “We must make of our homes
fortresses to protect our families against the constant attacks of the
adversary” (Horacio A. Tenorio, “Let Us Build Fortresses,” Ensign, Nov. 1994).
Each of our homes is like a castle. Our most precious resources
live inside—the little princes and princesses who will become kings and queens.
Just as in days of old, our castles are under attack today. We are bombarded by
movies and television shows, obscene lyrics in music, crude language being used
on the playground and at the workplace, unkindness being shown at stores and in
parking lots, pornographic images on magazine covers and brought to life in the
clothing choices of some we may see or encounter. Our homes are havens, created
to give us respite from the world. We can come inside, raise our drawbridges,
and block out the world. We can create our own atmospheres. We can fight off
the advancing armies as they try to come in, but we need gatekeepers to stand
firm and protect us.
And when God needed to assign strong, dedicated, and courageous
people to be those gatekeepers, whom did He choose?
The women.
Our Heavenly Father asked us as His daughters to safeguard our
homes from the evils of the world around us. He did not do this because He felt
we should be kept tucked away—He did this because He knew He could trust us
with this most important of all tasks. Just as the king would not assign the
role of gatekeeper to a cowardly, whimpering squire incapable of wielding a
sword, our Father would not give the
crucially important charge of protecting the home to someone who was not up to
the challenge. He has great confidence in the strength of women. He knows that
a mother will stand between her child and any danger. He knows that a woman
will do whatever it takes to nurture and protect those she loves. Our God-given
assignment of nurturing the family was not made accidentally, nor was it
designed to make us feel less than the men or to put us down in any way. It is
God’s greatest compliment. He has placed His most valuable treasure—His children—under
the guard of women because He knows we will get the job done.
Margaret D. Nadauld stated in general conference: “A woman of
faith is fearless. She fears no evil, for God is with her. There
is no ambiguity, no uncertain trump in her life. She can live a principled life
because she studies the doctrine and teachings of a perfect teacher, the
Master. She is a noble example to all who know her. She is less than perfect,
of course, not because she doesn’t have perfect principles or the perfect example
in Christ, but because she is human. She stays away from the evil influence and
the unclean thing, and if it encroaches on her territory, she is as a lioness
protecting her cubs” (Margaret D. Nadauld, “A Woman of Faith,” Ensign, Nov. 2002).
We already know the world is becoming increasingly more wicked. It
has been prophesied since the beginning of time, and we see it happening all
around us. Our children are subjected daily to things our parents never had to
encounter. Sin is more and more blatant. Righteousness is considered
old-fashioned and boring. Those who adhere steadfastly to the principles of the
gospel are considered uptight zealots. Sometimes it’s easier to let a few
things slide, to let our grip on the iron rod loosen a little so we can more
easily fit in with our friends, coworkers, or just society in general. But this
is something we absolutely must not do.
We live in a day of warning (see Doctrine and
Covenants 63:58). Our prophets have cautioned us about this time in which we
live, and they have begged us to strengthen ourselves and to be prepared to
face the challenges that will arise. We know we can’t sit on the fence. The
Lord said, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will
spue thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). We know we have to choose one
side or the other, and if we believe we don’t have to make that choice, we are
very wrong. Those who don’t make a solid, firm choice for righteousness will
find themselves on the side of evil through default.
Throughout this book, I hope to make a case for righteousness. I
hope to demonstrate the strength of the sisters of this Church, to expound upon
the reasons for added diligence, and to explore the areas in which we will be
tested. I do this as much for myself as for any reader, to shore up my own
faltering steps and to keep myself attuned to the Lord’s compass. Our task is
tremendous, but our ability to complete it is even greater. We have been given
every tool necessary, and now the choice is ours—to pick up those tools and use
them in building up the kingdom of God.
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