Strong Women Strong Communities

In this episode, Cydni and Sher discuss the essential role of women in building strong, Christ-centered communities. Reflecting on historical examples and modern challenges, they highlight the unique influence women have when they embrace their divine nature and stand as witnesses of God. Today’s episode is “Strong Communities Need Strong Women,” and we are so glad you’re here!

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This week, pray to understand your spiritual gifts, then cultivate, use, and expand them—because as President Nelson promised, you will change the world as you do so.

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Show Notes

Drip-Drip Drop, Words and  Music by  Matt Hoiland
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Transcript

Strong Women Strong Communities

Cydni: [00:00:00] with a divine nature and an eternal destiny. That suppressed. that's suppressing that changed those things. You are suppressed bake.

That's what he said. That's not what he said. Okay. That suppressing, surpassing. What is this? You feel depressed? Satan. Go away. Satan. Yeah. Go away. Yeah. 

Sher: All right, Cydni Today we're gonna talk about women and why they're important in building good and solid communities.

Cydni: Yeah. Let's go women. Let's do this. Sher, I 

Sher: thought you were gonna say, let's go girls. Let's 

Cydni: go girls. There you go. Who run the world? Girls, what other song is out there?

Sher: I don't know. 'cause you asked. That's it. There's only two 

Cydni: all by Beyonce. All the songs about women ruling the world are by Beyonce. So I will say, I. I have struggled with this one, Sher, and I'm surprised that I have because it seems like a pretty simple topic to talk about women and building communities and why women are [00:01:00] important and the strength of women, But I have a few thoughts that I don't know. How to say, but I'm going to try and say them. 

Sher: They better not be offensive. 

Cydni: I'm going to try my hardest to be very offensive as a woman, I would like to cause chaos and be offensive. I would like to not make sense and be moody. Is that what we talked about in heaven? We're like, how should we make women? Let's make them not make sense and have high emotions that they can't control and make them hungry and tired.

Is that what we did? Probably. I'm killing that role, but I spend a lot of time on YouTube when we search for topics because there's such a broad buffet. I'm just going with buffets a lot lately. I think it's because I'm trying to be healthier, so I always am thinking about food naturally.

Anyway, I like to hear different perspectives, and one thought I have from studying is I have looked up TED Talks and I have looked up different articles. I have researched different preachers and speakers, and I just want to say that nowhere else have I [00:02:00] found a greater peace than the Church of Jesus Christ, the Latterday Saints. The prophet, the apostles and women from the latter day Saint Church when they talked about women, I. It was so beautiful and it was grounded and it was eternal, it uplifted my soul and it spoke truth to my heart more than anywhere else. And I just felt obligated to state this because I looked in so many places. I looked for the strength of women and the power of women and the power of community with women.

And everywhere that I felt truth and healing was when the prophet and the apostles talked about women. It is empowering and it's so beautiful. And this led me to reflect on my childhood. I have never thought about it before, but there's a lot of reasons why I think the idea of womanhood for me is a touchy subject my childhood was very colorful, there was a lot of problems and a lot of trials and a lot of obstacles. And it is something that really did affect my self-esteem and [00:03:00] my self-worth, and it made me want to hide as a woman. I didn't wanna become a woman. I share. I prayed that my bosom wouldn't grow. I was so embarrassed, and I will tell you that God granted me that wish he answered that prayer. 

Sher: He's always looking out for you, granting you miracles left and right. 

Cydni: Ask and you shall receive . I said, please God, I don't wanna have to wear a bra. And he said, I love you. Here's no bosom. And then later I was like, husband, how do you feel about spending a couple thousand dollars? But that's a story for another day. But I didn't want to, I was embarrassed and I feel like my whole life, I've struggled with accepting a feminine side, and I'm not really great with fashion and makeup. I like it, but I also use it to hide a little bit. 

Sher: I'm a rookie compared to you. I

Cydni: spend more time on YouTube tutorials, like how to dress as a woman. And here we both are in like gray and black again. 

Sher: I know. Did they say anything about sweats and hoodies? 

Cydni: I think they're super in right now.

Sher: Okay, [00:04:00] good. Then you and I have nailed it.

Cydni: Please follow us to be more feminine so the point is I had one thought come to mind every single Sunday I went to young women's. Maybe every Monday through Saturday was a bit chaotic and I was praying that God would bless my bra size. But on Sunday I stood up with other girls and, Leaders who loved me so much, and I'm forever grateful for them. And I would say this with them,

we are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us and we love Him. We will stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places as we strive to live. The young women values, which are. Faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice, and accountability. Good works. Integrity and virtue. Now I know they've changed it, but we are gonna go old school with this. Okay. Sher do you accept? 

Sher: Yeah, it's fine with me. I'm older school than you,

Cydni: we said the same one, I think, right? Yeah. Do you think you still know it? I

Sher: think I still know it. 

Cydni: But I just [00:05:00] had this aha moment even though my self worth may have been a bit attacked, that I stood and said this weekly. And I think that's why there's this seed in me that knows that despite anything else that's happened in my life, that things that happen to me are not who I am.

 But who I am is a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me and I love Him. how beautiful of a foundation, how blessed am I to believe that? And here I am years later looking for a topic of womanhood, and I'm finding the same feeling, and the same peace in the same place.

Sher: Cydni I love that you brought up the young women's theme because that theme has so much power, and I hope you forgive me, but I'm gonna state things just a little bit more bold than you did your childhood wasn't just chaotic and a little outta control, if I may say it was abusive, and this shows you what. Standing up and saying something true and factual, what it can do for a kid, a young woman growing up when you are saying something that [00:06:00] is true and positive and stating over and over again that you are Heavenly Father's daughter. There is so much power in that when you and I were growing up and we're, teenagers and your emotions are even more chaotic and more out of control during those years and saying something that is so true and positive about yourself every single week. How important of a foundation is that? Really you saying that, I realize how important saying that theme is every single week for the young women and the young men.

 So One of my all time favorite talks about women is from our current prophet President Nelson. He gave this in the year 2015. And it's called A Plea to my Sisters, how many times have you read this talk, Cydni?

Cydni: I am laughing so hard right now because we talked about which talk to listen to, to prepare, and I thought it was a different one, so I Oh, you did? I, yeah, I did The sister's gathering in Israel?, It's so funny 'cause you have a quote that I was like, Hmm, I don't remember him saying that. [00:07:00] But I love that talk and I will listen to it again. You should listen to the other one.

Sher: That's a good deal. I will do that. in this talk president Nelson says. Yet the women of this dispensation are distinct from the women of any other because this dispensation is distinct from any other. That sounds pretty obvious. And I am grateful Cydni that we got the dispensation that has indoor plumbing and ac. Those are the two things that immediately popped into my mind. 

Cydni: I'm thinking fast food. How would my children have eaten? I don't even know. They'd be like, go hunt. And Ben and I both would be like, we are vegetarian. You'd Go grab an herb from the wilderness. 

Sher: That's probably where I'd be too. All right. He does go on to say, but this distinction brings both privileges and responsibilities. And the reason I like this so much is because he points out that we have. Distinct responsibilities because of the times that we're living in.

Now, all women of the world had these responsibilities, but they were maybe a tad bit [00:08:00] different because of the times they were living in. He goes on to say that we are an important part of building the community. These are my words of Christ and of the gospel. he quoted President Spencer w Kimball, in 1979, president Kimball said this 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 women of the church are seen as distinct and different in happy ways from women of the world. And then President Nelson says, women are vital associates during this winding up scene. this is what I get from all of that it is our responsibility to reflect righteousness, and the more we follow Christ, the more others will be drawn to us and they will see the light in us and wanna be around us.

Now, I know this is what women throughout all dispensations. should be [00:09:00] doing. But the one thing that stands out a little bit different is what President Nelson said during this winding up scene. Our savior is going to return again, and we need to grab as many of our sisters and brothers and reflect the light of Christ in us so that we will be in the right place when the Savior returns. Again. That is our vital role. In this last dispensation, 

Cydni: Also, for me, it proves what I said in the beginning that you suggested when we were studying to, let's read the talk where the prophet talks about women and the fact that there wasn't one. there's many. Good point. And not only that, but also in both talks. I believe he quotes another prophet talking about women. And I think this is so amazing and beautiful to reflect on the fact that. I know a lot of people think that the LDS culture just keeps women in the kitchen, but a lot of us can't cook. We are solid examples of that. We can't cook or bake. I don't know how to make a curtain. I don't even have a cardigan. Okay. [00:10:00] So I just want to state that I still feel loved by our prophet and God not being this traditional woman that a lot of people think that we're supposed to be

Sher: and I do not fit that mold. I'm not married, and I feel welcome, and I feel loved and wanted, as part of our faith. 

Cydni: I also don't fit the stereotypical mold. I got married young and I have children and I stay home with them. I do carpool and go to sodas shops. 

Sher: I don't know how you stand it. You don't fit the mold at all. I don't even know why you even go to church. Cydni, 

Cydni: Once someone told me that I wear really tight dresses and she's not wrong. Sometimes I do, unless Mexican food, the day before that I don't. So that's the only thing you have as I'm scandalous , 

Sher: well, I know this will shock you, Cydni, but I was thinking about historically the role that women have played in societies and communities. And it reminded me of the saying as go, the women, so goes the nation. And you can see that throughout [00:11:00] history, if we truly wanna build strong and beautiful communities, you need the women because the nation will go the way the women are going. one of the things that really popped out to me. Is the pre-Civil War. What women did to stand up against slavery, to me, is a beautiful example of what we should be doing in our dispensation. Standing up against things that are against God and standing up strongly and boldly and speaking the truth people want to hear it. 

Some examples before the Civil War started is Christian women. They really started speaking up. They used their voices, they used their pens, they used their prayers. Examples that I've talked about before is Harriet Beecher Stowe. She wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. And Julia Ward how wrote one of my favorite all-time hymns the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

And they organized female anti-slavery societies in those anti-slavery societies. They did fundraisers, they wrote petitions, they hosted speakers, and they [00:12:00] created safe havens for formerly enslaved people. Women did that. Cydni, that was women that was putting together these anti-slavery societies that worked.

It woke people up. Also, they were part of the Underground Railroad as part of those safe havens for formerly enslaved people. Harriet Tubman, of course, was one of the conductors, so to speak, of the Underground Railroad. And , we've talked about her before.

 The other thing that women did is they started speaking up and they started speaking loudly about how slavery and Christianity did not go together. One of those women was Lucrecia Mott. She was a Quaker woman that absolutely loved Christ and she wasn't afraid to bear her testimony. She was very outspoken about slavery and very outspoken about women's rights as well, and she said. If our principles are good, why should they not be put into practice? 

Cydni: Ooh, 

Sher: I love that quote. It is so good.. If we really believe that living the gospel and [00:13:00] following in Christ's footsteps creates good, safe, happy, and positive communities and societies, then we should put that into practice. And people will want to be around us when they see that happening. But as part of that, all of these women had different skills and they had different abilities and. It's important to not forget to be your own woman, God created us individually and He wants us to use our individual talents. To help build the Kingdom of God. 

Cydni: When you said you need to be your own woman, it reminded me of a quote I've heard from Jeffrey R. Holland. He says, first of all, I want you to be proud. You are a woman. I want you to feel the reality of what that really means to know who you really are. You are literally a spirit daughter of Heavenly Parents with a divine nature and an eternal destiny. That surpassing truth should be fixed deep in your soul and be fundamental to every decision you make as you grow into mature [00:14:00] womanhood. Your Father in Heaven knows your name and knows your circumstance. He hears your prayers. He knows your hopes and dreams, including your fears and your frustrations, and he knows what you can become through faith in Him.

Personally. Just hearing him say, first of all, I want you to be proud you are a woman. It really did touch my heart because I feel like sometimes when we think about being a woman or feminine, it kind of has a weak, or like all the jokes we've made about staying in the kitchen.

It Really does have that, like be quiet, you sit still and say nothing. But then when I was listening to you talk about these women who stood up and spoke. There's no coincidence that the young women programs have the young women stand up and speak out loud who they are. That is beautiful.

Sher: And to go along with that in the same talk by President Nelson, he quoted President Packer who said this, we need women who are organized and women who can organize. We need women with executive ability who can plan and direct and administer. Women who can [00:15:00] teach, women who can speak out. We need women with the gift of discernment who can view the trends of the world and detect those that however popular are shallow or dangerous. That's exactly what you were saying it's important to start young, to stand up in young women's and say who you are, we're getting practice, getting our sea legs. So as we grow as adult women, that we will be courageous and stand up for what we believe and for what we know is right.

And also, as I was reading this, I thought, doesn't this sound like the spiritual gifts that we've been talking about last month and how important they are and that they're gifts from God? God has given all of his daughters and his sons these beautiful, wonderful gifts and he wants us to be our own unique self and contribute what you can.

speaking for myself, I think I get caught up into why I can't do things. ' cause I'm constantly comparing myself to others. But the Lord He wants us to use what we got. Just like the women that I mentioned earlier, [00:16:00] they all stood in their spot doing what they could, to abolish slavery.

I. One of the things I thought about as I was dwelling on the fact that I am comparing myself to people is I thought of the examples of my great-grandmothers. I just wanna tell you real briefly about a few of them. I've talked about one of them who.

Carried a pistol in her bosom and she's my favorite. But I don't think I told you this part. She was also a midwife and delivered over 3000 babies. just like put the gun to the woman's head. Yes. Finish the job. Sister Jones, another grandmother, she came across the planes and she was caught in a snowstorm and she had her feet completely frozen.

Another grandmother, in the words of my mom, she joined the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was kicked out of the royal family and then ended up moving into a dirt hut in the middle of the desert. None of these women are famous, not one of 'em, but these women are legendary in our family for following their good principles and putting those principles [00:17:00] into practice. They built communities in the middle of the desert and in the middle of nowhere. They did their responsibility so that I could have a better life and more importantly, have the opportunity to learn and follow God. So going back to President Nelson again. He ended his talk by saying, take your rightful and needful place in your home, in your community, and in the kingdom of God. So we are not meant to hide sisters. We are meant to build our communities and be examples for others to follow. We don't need to be famous, my grandmothers were not famous, but still follow us and 

Cydni: share all of our content with other people so that we could get more followers. 

Sher: We don't need to be famous. We just need to be a light to others. It is so important in gathering the kingdom before our Savior comes again. 

Cydni: I love that you talked about your own family and talked about the idea that you don't have to have a huge platform and be famous because one of my favorite women, as an example I have since I was a young teen, is [00:18:00] Sherry Do, she talks about her grandmother, who was a big influence in her life. this is what she said about her grandmother she lived a simple life in an obscure corner of a vineyard. There are only a handful of people still living who even remember her. But I remember her though. She died when I was just 11. I was profoundly influenced by this one faithful woman in like manner. Each of us is vital to the Lord's cause. How much good might we do if this very hour we rededicated ourselves to Him? Who is our redeemer and our rescuer? How much righteous influence might we have if we join the young women in their pledge to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places. 

speaking of Sherry Doe, when I was listening to a few of her talks, Almost in every one of her talks about motherhood and womanhood. She will talk about how important we are to Satan. As far as the [00:19:00] understanding that if he can get to us, he gets to everything and how critical it is to understand this. And she says, this is a day when the adversary has launched out an all out attack against womanhood because he knows, he absolutely knows that the influence of a righteous woman. Enormous and that it spans generations. He would have us be disinterested in marriage and motherhood. Confused by the world's view of men and women. Too harried by the pace of life to really live the gospel and to let it penetrate our souls at all cost. He wants to keep us at arms length from Jesus Christ for if we don't come into Christ, meaning that we never turn our lives over to Him.

We will go through our probation here on our own rather than experiencing what the Savior promised when He said, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. When I read this, I thought of the woman with an issue and how she was close enough to Christ to [00:20:00] touch him.

And because she was close enough to Christ to touch him, she was healed. So it stands to reason that Satan wouldn't want us to get that close to Christ because then he could heal us. And if he heals us, then we heal others. then that influence could change the world. And also, i'm the one who's gonna bring up chat GPT this time. Sure. 

Sher: That's weird. I also think it's ironic that the old lady is the one that uses tech more. This youngin doesn't know how to use it. People. 

Cydni: It's because I'm like into meditation. 

Sher: You are not, you're into a lot of things, but that's not one of them.

Cydni: It's because I'm trying to be into meditation and journaling stuff, but somebody talked about. That they once asked a question to chat GPT, if you were Satan and you wanted to stop young women from meeting her potential and fulfilling her life's purpose, how would you do it?

Here was the reply. If I were Satan and wanted to stop a young woman from meeting her potential and fulfilling her life's purpose, I would target her [00:21:00] mind, emotions and surroundings to create a sense of self-doubt, confusion, discouragement. My goal would be to keep her stuck, distracted, and disconnected from her true path.

Then listed 12 ways of doing it undermine her self worth. Create toxic relationships. Fuel the fear of failure. Distract her with superficial goals. Instill a victim mentality. Create constant comparison with others. Promote perfection, discourage emotional healing, foster burnout and overwhelm.

Normalize settling for less fuel imposter syndrome and block her connection to intuition or faith. Wow, that's scary. When AI takes over the world, we better watch out. I thought between Sherry do and ai, they got it pretty covered of why Satan would want to stop women and I feel a little disappointed in myself when I read through that list to see how many I [00:22:00] kind of fit in especially all of them 

Sher: for sure. When you were reading the list, I was like, check, check

Cydni: but there's organizations out there who encourage young women and women to stand up and recite words that matter. Words like we are daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us and we love Him. And this is why we must step into our role. Women that we have to embrace the power of womanhood. 

Sher: Cydni, as you were talking, I had this thought come into my mind you and I didn't really know each other and we decided we wanted to start a podcast for some unknown reason, we wanted it to be about a variety of faiths. We wanna talk about true principles, which I don't think that we have left that, but the fact is, that you and I. Love our faith and we love our religion, and I wanna uphold it because that's who we are. And I think that to me is something that I realize more and more as we work through this together, is that I am grateful for the knowledge that I have found [00:23:00] as being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, that I have found my footing. I have found my foundation it has helped me grow as a person, as a woman, and to know that I am a daughter of God. I don't know where I would be without it, 

Cydni: i'm gonna have to return to another quote from an apostle James e Faust. There was so many talks on womanhood that I couldn't listen to all of them, and that alone makes me feel so proud to be part of such an uplifting organization for women. But he says this, I wonder if you sisters fully understand the greatness of your gifts and talents and how all of you can achieve the highest place of honor in the church and in the world. One of your unique, precious and sublime gifts is your femininity. With its natural grace, goodness, and divinity. Femininity is not just lipstick, stylish, hairdos, and trendy clothes. It is the divine dormant of humanity. It finds expression in your qualities of your capacity to love your [00:24:00] spirituality delicacy. Radiance, sensitivity, creativity, charm, graciousness, gentleness, dignity, and quiet strength. It is manifested differently in each girl or woman, but each of you possess it. I loved this quote I looked up femininity and I watched several videos of people presenting what that means, and so many of them did not speak to me because it's not me

i'm not a fashion icon and I'll never be. I'm wearing my son's Crocs as we speak, and he is 12. It doesn't speak to me the world's idea of what a woman is or what a woman looks like. It does not speak to me. But when I listen to our prophet and the apostles and the women of the church who talk about what a woman is, that speaks to me.

 I think to tie this up with how much we've talked about spiritual gifts. I'm gonna go to the talk that I thought you told me to listen to Cher, and in it he says, one [00:25:00] of my favorite things that has blessed my life in the last few years because I've done this, but a reminder and a challenge for each of us to do this.

President Nelson says 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 

Sher: Now for our final thoughts, women have always played a vital role, in building strong Christ-centered communities, not by seeking fame, but by faithfully using their gifts and living gospel principles.

As President Nelson reminded us, this dispensation brings both responsibility and privilege, and our light can draw others to truth. From Pioneer Grandmothers to modern leaders, when women speak out. Organize, serve and reflect righteousness. They shape nations and strengthen the kingdom of God. So stand up, let us take our rightful place, not hidden, but shining [00:26:00] as builders of homes, communities, and faith. This is our prayer 

Cydni: from Cydni and Sher. Be sure to check out our new YouTube videos up on YouTube. Sydney and Share podcast on YouTube. They're good. They're pretty good. We're working on it. They're okay. 

You came prepared. I didn't because we both are giving a hundred percent to our roles.

You are prepared and organized. You know what you're gonna do. I don't know because I'm serious about this. You are not making me feel better. I picked a good role, 

Sher: Run that emotion out. Rage. Get jumping jack. Rage. Jumping jack. I don't wanna sound too gushy. Because of this dispensa, because, oh my gosh. Okay. I have it in my head. I have it [00:27:00] backwards. Un jumble it. Un jumble it. 

Everything's coming in backwards. Hold on. 

Cydni: We don't have to figure out what we're saying. No, we're just speaking. We have the pieces in a box. 

Sher: Mm-hmm. 

Cydni: They put together the puzzle. Exactly. There are only a hand feet. Whoa, whoa. We do that during games in our house if someone's taking too long. But like mean, we mean-spirited.

Sher: Does 

Cydni: that help? 

Sher: Yeah, 

Cydni: that's good. Have a great week.