Eliza R. Snow

While many people pictured Mormon pioneer women as meek and mild, no one ever accused Eliza of such. She repeatedly protested this mischaracterization. One month before the Utah legislature returned to Utah women the suffrage they had lost when they gained statehood, she said:

Our enemies pretend that, in Utah, woman is held in a state of vassalage—that she does not act from choice, but by coercion. What nonsense!

I will now ask of this assemblage of intelligent ladies, Do you know of any place on the face of the earth, where woman has more liberty and where she enjoys such high and glorious privileges as she does here as a Latter-day Saint? No! the very idea of a woman here in a state of slavery is a burlesque on good common sense … as women of God, filling high and responsible positions, performing sacred duties—women who stand not as dictators, but as counselors to their husbands, and who, in the purest, noblest sense of refined womanhood, are truly their helpmates—we not only speak because we have the right, but justice and humanity demands we should!  (quoted in Jaynann Morgan Payne, “Eliza R. Snow: First Lady of the Pioneers,” Ensign, Sep 1973, 62

Stories of her feisty spirit are well-known. When Governor Boggs of Missouri ordered Mormons removed from his state and approved an extermination order, she confronted him boldly, in a way not common for women of her time. He told her this would cure her of her faith. She retorted that it would take a great deal more than this to do that. He was surprised and reportedly humbled by her response and said, “I must confess, you are a better soldier than I am.” Eliza was not honored by such a comment. Instead, she later said that unless he was a great deal better than the others of his type, it wasn’t much of a compliment.

When it came time to travel to new homes, Eliza went boldly on, once even learning to drive an ox-team. She knew how to handle horses, but found oxen a bit more challenging, although she was soon as skilled as any man. Newly arrived in Salt Lake City, she lived first in a small cabin which was covered by a roof made of willows and dirt. When it rained, the roof leaked. Even worse, it had housed mice nests and she found it was raining mice and mud into her home. Instead of crying or shrieking, she simply opened an umbrella and sat under it all night, laughing at what she saw as a funny situation.

Eliza R. Snow was born on January 21, 1804, in Becket, Massachusetts. Her parents became members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are often nicknamed Mormons, in the early days of the church, and four years later, Eliza converted in 1835 after her own personal prayers to find the truth were answered. Upon joining the church, she moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where the Mormons were gathered. She taught a school for young ladies because Joseph Smith was adamant that girls receive a good education. She soon convinced her brother Lorenzo to join her to study Hebrew under Joshua Seixas, but really to help him get to know Joseph Smith, whom Lorenzo had once heard speak. He soon joined the church and later became the president of the Mormons.

 Although she received a number of proposals, she had remained single until this time. She was sealed (married for eternity) to Joseph Smith as a plural wife two years before he was murdered. She was later, after Joseph’s death, married as a plural wife to Brigham Young for time only, meaning it was not an eternal marriage. He respected her intelligence and leadership abilities and often turned to her for counsel and for important leadership responsibilities. It was believed she was married to him simply to ensure her well-being, but although it might not have been a traditional marriage relationship, she always sat on his right at the dinner table and at prayer, and Brigham turned to her regularly for her wisdom. Eliza never had children.

Eliza was a noted author and poet, well-known both in the church and in the outside world. Many of her poems were turned into songs. Some of the most popular LDS hymns were her work and she published many books of poetry in both religious and secular fields. She was particularly noted for her theological writing and for her patriotic writing. Descending from early American colonists and being the descendant of a Revolutionary War soldier, she was particularly interested in and knowledgeable about history and government. She found it quite possible to be fully patriotic while disagreeing with some government actions, such as those taken illegally against the Mormons.

One of her most important roles was in helping to create and then rebuild the Relief Society. When Mormon women decided they wanted to start their own humanitarian organization, modeled after those common in the world at the time for women, they approached Eliza and asked her to write a constitution for them, since she was an author. She worked hard at it and when it was presented to Joseph Smith for approval, he praised it, saying it was the best he’d ever seen. However, he said he had something better for them than a constitution. He proposed to organize the women of the church in the pattern of the priesthood, meaning their organization would be set up like the one for the men. While men needed the power of the priesthood to minister to others, he said, the women would be able to do it with faith alone, surely a great compliment to his view of what women are capable of.

The women organized and Joseph Smith’s wife Emma was named president. Eliza served as the secretary. Later, the organization was disbanded for a time, while the church was unsettled and constantly moving. The women continued to serve, of course, but informally. In 1866, with the Mormons settled in Utah under Brigham Young, the Relief Society was reorganized. Brigham Young asked Eliza to help the women in each ward (congregation) to set up the program properly. She wasn’t officially made the General Relief Society president for the entire church until 1880, but she certainly filled the role. She studied the notes she had kept as secretary of the Relief Society in Nauvoo, when it was first organized, to understand how it was supposed to work and used that to train new leaders. She assisted them in following Brigham Young’s counsel to become self-sufficient, encouraging women to store grain for emergencies, raise their own silk, and get medical training. To this end, women were sent to medical school at a time when this was rare and controversial and others were trained as nurses. By her death, Eliza had helped to organize more than 300 Relief Societies.

Eliza’s Relief Societies were powerful organizations. They did more than serve meals to the hungry and to care for the poor, the original goals of the women who first conceived of the program. Under Eliza’s direction, they provided medical school scholarships, worked for women’s suffrage (which Mormon women had until Utah became a state and the secular government removed it), ran both a hospital and a newspaper, and performed a range of political activism.

She also helped in organizing the Primary for children and the Retrenchment Associations for Young Women. Because of her leadership in all the organizations overseen by women, she was informally known as the “presidentess”  as well as the Saints’ own poet.

Eliza had sometimes said she didn’t want to be famous or well-known, but she didn’t quite want to be forgotten either. Although she often wrote under pen names and did her work quietly, the challenges of the adult life she chose for herself thrust her into the limelight and she accepted it gracefully, always determined to put God before her own feelings and desires.

Start the Mormon Meetinghouse tour. In the previous article, we explored the foyer and chapel and learned what went on during a service. Learn about the Mormon chapel.

Today, we’ll explore two special classrooms: The Relief Society and the Primary Rooms.

Look below the tour to see the map. The Relief Society room is in the top right hand corner of the map. This room is especially for women and is therefore, usually the prettiest room. It normally has nice curtains, attractive paintings, tablecloths, flowers, and other feminine touches. They are usually the only classroom provided with padded seats.

Mormons meet for three hours each Sunday. The main worship service lasts an hour and ten minutes. Following this, the families go in various directions, with adults and teens having two classes to attend, and children attending their own program. Relief Society is normally held the last hour and is only for the women. The organization was founded in 1842, and centers around providing service to others. On Sundays, the women meet for a class that is especially tailored to the particular lives and needs of women. Some weeks they study the same topic as the men, but with a feminine focus if there is one. Other weeks, they study unique topics. Lessons are drawn from teachings of past church leaders, talks given in semi-annual conferences from current church leaders at the international level, and topics of special interest to women.

During the week, each Relief Society may choose to have special clubs, classes, or meetings to help women perform service, learn new skills, and pursue hobbies and friendships. Examples might include a mom and tots group, a blogging club, a humanitarian aid group, lessons in car and home repair, or craft programs. The choices are as diverse as the women themselves, and vary based on the interests and needs of each group.

A unique feature of the Relief Society is the visiting teaching program. Women, working with an assigned partner, are given three or four other women to visit monthly. They come to the home with a brief spiritual message to discuss, and they also work to build a friendship with these women. They are charged with watching for needs the church can fulfill and are the first person a woman calls when she needs help. A visiting teacher will then either provide the service, or help to find someone who can. For instance, a visiting teacher might bring in a meal when the sister (the Mormon form of address for adult women) is ill, watch her children when she has a doctor’s appointment, or alert leaders the family has nothing to eat. It is reassuring to women to know there is someone they can call when they need help or just a friend.

The Relief Society also operates a literacy program that is tailored to whatever needs the congregation might have. Some groups use a church program to teach reading. Others teach English to immigrants, tutor inner-city children, or help people learn to write their personal and family histories.

Now go back to the map and click on the Primary room, found in the bottom right hand corner. This room belongs to the children of the church, ages three to twelve. In most wards (congregations) the children are divided into two groups, Junior Primary and Senior Primary, with age eight being the dividing line. They will meet in the Primary room all together for opening exercises. During this time, they have a prayer, songs, a scripture and a talk given by a child. Even a three-year-old might stand at the pulpit on a step that allows him to reach the microphone, and give a two and a half minute talk on a gospel principle with the help of a parent. This allows children to learn from their peers, and also helps the children learn poise, confidence and public speaking skills, while encouraging him to share his thoughts on an aspect of his faith.

Following this, most Primaries send the older children off to age-divided classes. Their classrooms are small and usually contain a chalkboard, bulletin board, and chairs sized to the students. The teacher prepares a lesson from a manual that can be read online. Read the lesson manuals used to teach Mormon children.

These older children are called Valiants. They have been baptized and are learning to be valiant in keeping the baptismal covenants (promises) they made to God. Mormon children are baptized at age eight. The lessons are taught through the scriptures, and they follow the same four year plan as their parents and teenage siblings, allowing families to discuss together the scripture stories learned. The children spend two years learning the Bible, one learning the Book of Mormon, and one learning church history and the Doctrine and Covenants. This last book is a collection of revelations received in modern times.

After their lesson, the children return to the Primary room for Sharing Time. The younger children, who were already having sharing time, go to their own classes. The younger children are called CTRs, which stands for Choose the Right. They are preparing to be baptized and are learning enough about their religion to make a wise choice and are also learning to become like Jesus. In their lessons, they follow a two year program. When it is repeated, they are more mature and can handle the same lesson taught at a higher level. They spend one year on the Bible. The second year covers the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.

Also included in Junior Primary are the Sunbeams, who are three at the start of the year. Their lesson manual is used for only one year and contains stories from all the scriptures taught in simple ways.

In Sharing Time, the children receive a fifteen minute lesson from a member of the Primary Presidency, a group of three women who run the program. There is a theme for the entire year, such as “I Am a Child of God” or “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus.” Each month, they study an aspect of the theme during Sharing Time. They also have fifteen minutes of singing with a music leader. Much of this music is focused around the theme as well. Near the end of the year, the children do a program for the entire congregation, taking over the regular service to sing and to teach the adults what they’ve learned.

The Primary room has chairs in a variety of sizes placed in rows. Children sit with their own classes and teachers. It usually includes a piano and pictures of Jesus with children. There is a chalkboard and decorated bulletin boards.

The Primary oversees a nursery, as well. This is for children who are eighteen months old to age three. If they are three years old January 1, they graduate to the Sunbeam class. This is not just child-care. It is a true class. The children have a lesson manual with simple lessons that teach them about God and Jesus in easy to understand ways. They generally have about ten minutes of lesson time, a fifteen minute singing time, crafts, group play, stories, and a play time. At least two teachers are present at all times.

Senior nursery children have weekday programs. The boys participate in Cub Scouts and the girls have a similar program called Activity Days.

In the next article, we’ll learn about the Youth program for teenagers, and about the cultural hall.

The truth is that faithful Mormon women devote very little time to contemplating this subject, and don’t consider themselves mistreated in any way over it. There are several things an outside observer must understand in order to see why this is so.

Let’s begin with an explanation of what the priesthood is. The priesthood is the power and authority of God. It is the tool God used to create the earth and administer the work of the gospel. He delegates keys to worthy men to assist in this work.

The priesthood is given to young men beginning at age twelve and they receive increasing levels of responsibility as they advance through the offices. The first priesthood they receive is the Aaronic Priesthood. In the Old Testament, we see the Aaronic Priesthood was given only to men, under direction from God. The first office of this priesthood is the office of a deacon. Deacons are twelve or thirteen years old, or older if they’ve joined the church later. At fourteen, they become Teachers, and at sixteen, Priests. Priests are not the equivalent of a Catholic priest.

When they are adults, they can receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. Priesthood holders are specifically called to watch over the church and to serve. They bless and pass the Sacrament (similar to the communion), heal the sick, visit members in their homes to check on their well-being, and perform many other acts of service for the church.

Some church positions of leadership can only be held by priesthood holders, and this is where the controversy arises by those who don’t understand the priesthood or the culture.

It should first be noted that those who hold the priesthood cannot use it on themselves. If a priesthood holder is ill, he cannot give a special blessing of healing to himself. Just as a woman must do, he must find two other priesthood holders to come and administer that blessing. Everyone in the church can receive all the blessings and gifts of the priesthood, whether or not they hold the priesthood themselves, and all must receive those blessings from others.

They receive no extra rewards in Heaven, no special privileges, and no financial paycheck.They have a greater responsibility, but no additional rewards. The Mormons operate a lay church, and everyone volunteers. This is one reason women aren’t demanding to hold it. Most women consider themselves far too busy already, with more opportunities to lead and serve than they have time for. They see no special benefit in taking on the work of the priesthood as well as their own.

One question often asked of Mormon women is whether or not they object to not being allowed to become a bishop, which is the ecclesiastical equivalent of a pastor or minister. The general wisdom among Mormons is that no one who is worthy to do the job and who understands what it entails wants that job. Women are quite happy to know they can’t be given it. As mentioned earlier, it is not a paid position. The bishop holds a full-time job, and has a family. In between all the various aspects of his personal life, he does nearly everything a full-time pastor must do. He serves for about five years, and during this time, bishops generally have no time to themselves and spend a great many hours away from home.

Mormon women consider their first responsibility to be to their families. They are given the sacred gift of bearing and raising children, and of maintaining a pleasant and spiritual home. While not all women are able to marry or to have children, these women find other ways to serve, often spending time caring for extended family, or serving in demanding church leadership roles. They carry out the commandment to care for their own homes well, even if they live alone. Mormon women do not see this role as demeaning, but as an honor. What could be a greater privilege than to care for God’s children? Mormon women don’t feel the need for a paycheck to prove their worth. Their paycheck comes from the pleasures of being able to raise their own children or care for their families. They reach beyond cleaning and cooking and work to create a home at the highest levels. Parents don’t just bathe and feed children. They teach them and lead them.

Although their priorities are in the home, Mormon women do have many opportunities to be leaders and to serve. They can head up the Primary, which is the children’s auxiliary, the Young Women’s Organization, which is for teenagers, and the Relief Society, which is for the women of the church. There are other church jobs that do not require the priesthood and are open to either gender. Mormon women serve in their own congregations and all the way up the church structure to lead in the international church for these same organizations. The General Relief Society president, for instance, has a responsibility for all the women in the church, and oversees a worldwide organization larger than most corporations. Ample opportunities to lead are available to women in the church, and the priesthood is not necessary to give them the opportunities they need.

The bishop does not deliver the weekly sermon. In the Sunday services, known as Sacrament Meeting, men and women can give the prayers and the sermons. Each meeting has an opening and a closing prayer, and two to three speakers chosen from the congregation. This gives women many opportunities to preach and to pray. This service is followed by classes which are often taught by women. During the week, other meetings are held, also often run by women.

The Mormon women are not concerned about holding the priesthood, largely because they’re simply too busy with home, community and church service, and leadership, as well as a career for some, to give it much thought. They find complete satisfaction in the roles already available to them and do not in any way feel limited. Although the priesthood does provide opportunities to serve others-the entire function of the priesthood-women have many other, often more important ways, to serve.

The most important reason Mormon women don’t demand the priesthood, however, is that God has chosen that role for the men and another role for the women. With the great faith Mormon women are known for, they trust God and focus on the roles given them.